DUKE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
4 . • 
 

 /S o' 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 n 
 
 IN 
 
 THE SECRET SERVICE 
 
 The Tpecollections of a Spy 
 
 BY 
 
 MAJOR HENRI LE CARON 
 
 Mitb ipoitraits and ^facsimiles 
 
 “No citizen has a right to consider himself as belonging to himself; but all 
 ought to regard themselves as belonging to the State, inasmuch as each is a 
 part of the State ; and care for the part naturally looks to care for the whole.” 
 
 —Aristotle. 
 
 LONDON 
 
 WILLIAM HEINE MANN 
 
 1892 
 
 [All rights reserved ] 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2018 with funding from 
 Duke University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/twentyfiveyearsi01 leca 
 

 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It has seemed good in the sight of many people 
 that I should place on record, in some permanent 
 and acceptable form, the story of my eventful 
 life. And so I am about to write a book. The 
 task is a daring one—perhaps the most daring of 
 the many strange and unlooked-for incidents 
 which have marked my career of adventure. I 
 approach it with no light heart, but rather with a 
 keen appreciation of all its difficulties. 
 
 To cater, and cater successfully, for the reading 
 public of this fin de siecle period is an undertaking 
 which fairly taxes all the powers of resource and 
 experience of the most brilliant writers of our 
 time. And I am in no sense a practised writer, 
 much less a professional litterateur. I have spent 
 my life working at too high a pressure, and in too 
 excited an atmosphere, to allow of my qualifying 
 in any way for the role of author. 
 
 Nor am I handicapped in this way alone. I 
 am, unfortunately for my purpose, deprived of the 
 
IV 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 most important of collaborators a writer ever 
 called to his aid—the play of imagination. For 
 me there is no such thing as romance to be in- 
 dulged in here. The truth, the whole truth, and 
 nothing but the truth is what I have set myself 
 to tell regarding all those matters with which I 
 shall deal. There are many things, of course, to 
 which I may not refer ; but with respect to those 
 upon which I feel at liberty to touch, one unal¬ 
 terable characteristic will apply all through, and 
 that will be the absolute truthfulness of the 
 record. 
 
 This may seem strange language coming from 
 one who, for over a quarter of a century, has played 
 a double part, and who to-day is not one whit 
 ashamed of any single act done in that capacity. 
 Men’s lives, however, are not to be judged by the 
 outward show and the visible suggestion, but 
 rather by the inward sentiments and promptings 
 which accept conscience at once as the inspirer of 
 action and arbiter of fate. It is hard, I know, to 
 expect people in this cold prosaic age of ours to 
 fully understand how a man like myself should, of 
 his own free will, have entered upon a life such as 
 I have led, with such pureness of motive and 
 absence of selfish instinct as to entitle me to-day 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 v 
 
 to claim acceptance at the bar of public opinion 
 as an honest and a truthful man. 
 
 Yet such is my claim. When years ago, as 
 these subsequent pages will show, I was first 
 brought into contact with Fenian affairs, no fell 
 purpose, no material consideration prompted me 
 to work against the revolutionary plotters. A 
 young man, proud of his native land and full of 
 patriotic loyalty to its traditions, I had no desire, 
 no intention to do aught but frustrate the schemes 
 of my country’s foes. When, later on, I took my 
 place in the ranks of England’s defenders, the 
 same condition of mind prevailed, though the 
 conditions of service varied. 
 
 And so the situation has remained all through. 
 Forced by a variety of circumstances to play a 
 part I never sought, but to which, for conscientious 
 motives, I not unwillingly adapted myself, I can 
 admit no shame and plead no regret. By my 
 action lives have been saved, communities have 
 been benefited, and right and justice allowed to 
 triumph, to the confusion of law-breakers and 
 would-be murderers. And in this recollection I 
 have my consolation and my reward. Little else 
 indeed is left me in the shape of either the one or 
 the other. There is a popular fiction, I know. 
 
VI 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 which associates with my work fabulous payments 
 and frequent rewards. Would that it had been 
 so. Then would the play of memory be all the 
 sweeter for me. But, alas ! the facts were all the 
 other way. As I will show later, in the Secret 
 Service of England there is ever present danger, 
 and constantly recurring difficulty, but of recom¬ 
 pense, a particularly scant supply. 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PORTRAITS. 
 
 Major Henri Le Caron . 
 Alexander Sullivan 
 Patrick Egan 
 Charles Stewart Parnell 
 “Number One”—P. J. Tynan 
 
 . Frontispiece 
 . To face p. 62 
 
 160 
 178 
 
 22S 
 
 FACSIMILES. 
 
 The Oath of Allegiance.16 
 
 A Fenian Twenty-dollar Bond.27 
 
 My Commission as Major in the Army of the Irish 
 
 Republic.54 
 
 Patrick Egan’s Letter of Introduction . . . 234 
 
 Alexander Sullivan’s Cheque for Thirty Thousand 
 
 Dollars.264 
 
 . Appendix III. 
 
 Alexander Sullivan’s Letter 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE 
 
 SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 I. 
 
 Of my early youth little that is very interesting 
 or exciting can be told. A faded entry in the 
 aged records of the ancient borough of Colchester 
 evidences the fact that a certain Thomas Beach, 
 to wit myself, came into this world some fifty and 
 one years ago, on the 26th day of September 
 1841. My parents were English, as the American 
 would phrase it, “ from far away back,” my 
 grandfather tracing his lineage through many 
 generations in the county of Berkshire. The 
 second son of a family of thirteen, I fear I proved 
 a sore trial to a careful father and affectionate 
 mother, by my erratic methods and the varied 
 outbursts of my wild exuberant nature. My 
 earliest recollection is of the teetotal principle 
 on which we were all brought up, and the absence 
 of strong drink from all our household feasts. 
 The point is a trivial one, but not unworthy of 
 note, as it supplies the key to some of my suc¬ 
 cesses in later life, in keeping clear of danger 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 through intoxication, when almost all of those with 
 whom I dealt were victims to it. When others 
 lost their heads, and their caution as well, I was 
 enabled, through my distaste for drink, to benefit 
 in every way. 
 
 Living in a military town as I did, and coming 
 into daily contact with all the pomp and circum¬ 
 stance of soldiering, it was but natural that the 
 glory of the redcoat life should affect me, and that, 
 like so many other foolish boys, I should feel 
 drawn to the ranks. Of course I wanted to 
 enlist, and what wonder that for me life held no 
 nobler ambition and success, no grander figure than 
 that clothed with the uniform of the bold drummer- 
 boy. All my efforts, however, were naturally of 
 no avail, and I found the path to glory blocked 
 at every point. The fever, nevertheless, was 
 upon me, and my want of success only made me 
 the more determined to achieve my object in the 
 long run. Home held no promise of success, and 
 at home I decided I would no longer remain. So 
 it came about that one fine morning, when little 
 more than twelve years of age, I packed my 
 marbles, toys, and trophies, and in the early light 
 slipped quietly out on to the high-road en route 
 for that Mecca of all country boys—the great 
 glorious city of London ! 
 
 I had run away from home in grim earnest. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 Not for very long, however. Fortunately for 
 me—unfortunately as I thought in those young 
 days—I committed a grave blunder in tactics. 
 Meeting one of my school-fellows on the journey, 
 I was foolish enough to inform him of my pro¬ 
 ceeding and intention, and in this way my anxious 
 parents were soon put upon my track, and my 
 interesting and exciting escapade was brought to 
 an ignominious conclusion. I had, however, tasted 
 of the sweets of adventure, and it was not very 
 long before I made another attempt to rid myself 
 of the trammels of home life. Here again I was 
 fated to meet with defeat, but not before I had 
 made a distinct advance upon my first effort, for 
 two weeks were allowed to elapse before I was 
 discovered on this occasion. The natural con¬ 
 sequences attended these attempts of mine, and 
 soon I was written down as the black sheep of 
 the family, from whom no permanent good could 
 ever be expected. 
 
 The idea of keeping me longer at school was 
 quite given up, and in order the better to tie me 
 down, I was apprenticed for a period of seven 
 years to Mr. Thomas Knight, a Quaker, and well- 
 known draper in my native town. The arrange¬ 
 ment suited me not at all. Nothing could be more 
 uncongenial than a life worked out in the solemn 
 atmosphere of a staid and strict Quaker’s home, 
 
4 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 where the efforts to curb my impulsive nature 
 resulted in increasing bitterness of spirit on my 
 part every day. In eleven months it was con¬ 
 ceded on both sides that the continuation of the 
 arrangement was distinctly undesirable, and so I 
 was free once more. A short residence with my 
 parents followed; but the old promptings to wander 
 afar were too strong for me, and once more, for 
 the third and last time, I broke away, and reached 
 London at last, in the month of May 1857. 
 
 Through the kindness of relatives, employment 
 was secured for me in a leading business house ; 
 but my stay there was of short duration. With 
 my usual facility for doing everything wrong at 
 this period of my existence, I happened to acci¬ 
 dentally set fire to the premises, and was politely 
 told that after this my services could not be pro¬ 
 perly appreciated. I was not long out of em¬ 
 ployment, and strangely enough, through the 
 agency of one of the gentlemen whose house 
 had suffered through my carelessness, I was later 
 on enabled to obtain a much better situation than 
 I had held in their house. 
 
 From London I subsequently made my way to 
 Bath, and from Bath to Bristol, always in search 
 of change, though everywhere doing well. When 
 in Bristol, however, I was struck down with 
 fever, and reduced to a penniless condition. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 5 
 
 Then came the idea of returning to London, 
 which I duly carried out, walking all the way. 
 My foolhardiness proved almost fatal, for ere I 
 got to the metropolis, my illness came back upon 
 me, and I was scarce able to crawl to St. Bar¬ 
 tholomew’s Hospital in search of relief. 
 
 My stay at St. Bartholomew’s was not a very 
 long one. Horrified at the terrible death of a 
 patient lying next to me, and fearful that, if I 
 remained, something equally horrible might be 
 my fate, I managed to obtain possession of my 
 clothes and to leave the institution. Thoughts 
 of home and mother decided my return to Col¬ 
 chester, and thither I immediately proceeded to 
 make my way on foot. Again the fever at¬ 
 tacked me, and once more I had to seek the 
 friendly shelter of an hospital, this time taking 
 refuge in the Colchester and East Essex Insti¬ 
 tution. Here I remained till I was permanently 
 recovered, after which I entered the service of 
 Mr. William Baber of the town. However, my 
 efforts to lead a sober conventional life were all 
 in vain. The wild longing for change came back 
 in renewed strength, and in a little while I had 
 left London altogether behind and journeyed to 
 Paris via Havre. 
 
6 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 II. 
 
 I am amused as I look back now upon the utter 
 recklessness and daring of this proceeding of 
 mine. I knew not a soul in France ; of the lan¬ 
 guage, not a word was familiar ; and yet some¬ 
 how the longing to get away from England and to 
 try my luck on a new soil was irresistible. One 
 place was as good as another to me, and Paris 
 seemed rather more familiar than the other few 
 centres of activity with the names of which I 
 was then acquainted. And so to Paris I went. 
 It was my good fortune to hit upon an hotel 
 kept by an Englishwoman in the Faubourg St. 
 Honore, and here I tarried for a time while my 
 little stock of money lasted. This was not by 
 any means a long period, and soon I found my¬ 
 self reduced once more to a condition of penury, 
 having- in the interval gained little but an ac- 
 quaintance with the principal thoroughfares and 
 their shops, and a slight knowledge of the lan¬ 
 guage, to which latter I was helped in no in¬ 
 considerable degree by a wonderfully retentive 
 memory. 
 
 Things were at a very low ebb for me indeed, 
 when help came from an entirely unexpected 
 quarter. Happening one Sunday to pass by the 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 7 
 
 English Church in the Rue d’Aguesseau, of which, 
 by the way, the Rev. Dr. Forbes was at that time 
 chaplain, I was attracted by the music of the ser¬ 
 vice then proceeding, and entered the little unpre¬ 
 tentious place of worship. Here I joined heartily 
 in the service, with the order and details of which 
 I was perfectly familiar, having already sung in 
 the choir of my native town. My singing and 
 generally strange appearance attracted the atten¬ 
 tion of a member of the church, with whom I 
 formed an acquaintance. We left the church 
 together—not however before I had promised 
 my assistance in the choir—and at his request I 
 breakfasted with my English friend at one of the 
 cremeries in the Faubourg. Now, as then, a 
 respected citizen ol Paris, I am happy to number 
 this countryman among the truest and most 
 steadfast of my friends. 
 
 We passed the day together, attending the 
 remaining two services at the church, and in the 
 hours we spent in each other’s company I told 
 him my history and my needs. Warm-hearted 
 and impulsive, he immediately suggested that I 
 should vacate my room and share his lodging, 
 even going the length of advancing me money to 
 enable me to do so. Before a week had passed, 
 he had capped his goodness by securing a situation 
 for me; and I found myself at length comfortably 
 
8 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 installed in the house of Withers, a la Suis- 
 sesse, 52 Faubourg St. Honore. Through his 
 influence also I became a paid member of the 
 church choir, and in a very short time I was 
 the recipient of the friendship and confidence of 
 Dr. Forbes and his wife, from both of whom I 
 received very many kindnesses. Thanks to them, 
 I was very soon enabled to better my position, 
 and to change to the house of Arthur & Co., 
 where matters improved for me in every way. 
 There then succeeded some of the happiest days 
 of my life. Freed from care and anxiety, with 
 all the necessaries of life at my control, and a 
 fund of boyish spirits and perfect health, I was 
 without a trouble or a dark hour, happy and con¬ 
 tented in my daily task. 
 
 So the weeks and months came and went with¬ 
 out discovering any change in my position, till 
 an unlooked-for incident once more brought the 
 wild mad thirst for change and excitement back to 
 me, and sounded the death-knell of my quiet life. 
 On the 9th April 1861, the shot was fired at Fort 
 Sumpter which inaugurated the war of the Rebel¬ 
 lion of the United States. That shot echoed all 
 over the world, but in no place was the effect more 
 keenly marked than in the American colony in 
 Paris, which even in these early days was a very 
 
 numerous one. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 9 
 
 Arthur’s, the place of business of which I speak, 
 was one of the most favoured of the American 
 resorts, and here the excitement raged at fever 
 heat, as little by little the news came over the 
 sea. Those were not the days of the cable, 
 flashing the news of success or defeat simultane- 
 ously with its occurrence, and picturing in vivid 
 phrase and description every incident and climax 
 of warfare, till almost the figures move before 
 us, and our eyes and ears are deadened by the 
 smoke and sound of shot. The tidings came in 
 snatches, and the absence of completeness and 
 detail only served to give the greater impetus to 
 discussion and imagination. 
 
 There was no more excited student of the situa¬ 
 tion than myself; and very soon, of course, I was 
 fired with the idea of playing a part in the scenes 
 which I was following- with such enthusiasm and 
 
 o 
 
 zest. Friends and associates, many of them 
 American, were leaving on every hand for the 
 seat of war; and at last, throwing care and dis¬ 
 cretion to the winds, I took the plunge and 
 embarked on the Great Eastern on her first 
 voyage to New York. 
 
 I reached that city in good time, and without 
 delay enlisted in the Northern Army, in com¬ 
 pany with several of my American associates 
 from Paris. In connection with my enlistment 
 
IO 
 
 ; TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 there occurred a circumstance, trivial in itself 
 at the moment, yet fraught with the most im¬ 
 portant consequences in regard to my after-life. 
 
 1 his was the taking to myself of a new name 
 and a new nationality. I had no thought of 
 remaining in America for any length of time— 
 at the outset, indeed, I only enlisted for three 
 months, the period for which recruits were 
 sought—and, regarding the whole proceeding 
 more in the light of a good joke than anything 
 else, I came to the conclusion that I should not 
 cause anxiety to my parents by disclosing my 
 position, and decided to sustain the joke by play¬ 
 ing the part of a Frenchman and calling myself 
 Henri le Caron. So came into existence that 
 name and character which, in after years, proved 
 to be such a marvellous source of protection and 
 success to me personally, and of such continued 
 service to my native country, whose citizenship 
 I had, by my proceeding, to resign. 
 
 As subsequent events proved, however, I was 
 not to carry out my original idea of returning. 
 The three months came and went, and many 
 more followed in their wake, till five years 
 had passed and left me still in the United 
 States’ service. The life suited me. I made 
 many friends ; soldiering was a pleasant experi¬ 
 ence ; and I was particularly fortunate in escaping 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 1 1 
 
 its many mishaps. I had no care for the morrow, 
 and, happily for me, I found my morrows to 
 bring little if any care to me. Only on one 
 occasion was I seriously wounded. This was 
 when, during an engagement near Woodbury, 
 Tennessee, I had my horse killed under me by 
 a shell, my companion killed at my side, and 
 myself wounded by a splinter from the explosive, 
 which laid me up for about a month. 
 
 Interesting and animated as was my career as 
 a soldier, I must not delay to deal with it too 
 fully in detail, but must hurry on to that subse¬ 
 quent life of mine in America, which possesses 
 the greatest interest for the public at large. I 
 shall, however, before leaving it, run over very 
 shortly the different stages of my soldiering 
 experience. The facts may be interesting to 
 the many people in this country and America 
 who are lamiliar with the history of the American 
 war of the Rebellion. I enlisted as a private 
 soldier on August 7, 1861, in the 8th Penn¬ 
 sylvanian Reserves, changing therefrom to the 
 Anderson Cavalry, commanded by Colonel Wil¬ 
 liam J. Palmer. Here I remained for a year 
 and ten months, serving through the Peninsula 
 campaign of the army of the Potomac, includ¬ 
 ing the battles of Four Oaks, South Mountain, 
 Antietam, and Williamsport, all of which were 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 12 
 
 fought under the command of General George B. 
 MacClellan. 
 
 In October 1862, I joined, with my regiment, 
 the Western Army, under General William S. 
 Rosencranz, and participated in the advance from 
 Louisville, Nashville, and Murfreesboro’, including 
 the engagements at Tullahoma and Winchester, 
 and ending with the capture of Chattanooga and 
 Chicamanga in September of the same year. The 
 failure of Rosencranz at Chicamanga closed his 
 career. He was succeeded by General George 
 H. Thomas, who remained in command up to 
 the end of my service in the army. By this 
 time I had obtained a warrant as a non¬ 
 commissioned officer, and was principally en¬ 
 gaged in scouting duty. On the command in 
 which I served beinof ordered to the relief of 
 General Burnside at Knoxville, I left Chatta¬ 
 nooga, then in a state of siege and semi-famine, 
 and reaching Knoxville, I took part during the 
 whole of the winter of 1863 in the East Ten¬ 
 nessee campaign against the rebel General Long- 
 street, my engagements including Strawberry 
 Plain, Mossy Creek, and Dandridge. I was fortu¬ 
 nate enough to be recommended for a commission 
 in 1864, and, after my examination before a mili¬ 
 tary board, was gazetted Second Lieutenant in 
 the United States Army in the month of July of 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 
 that year. For the next twelve months I was 
 exclusively employed in scouting duty, in charge 
 of a mounted company, serving in this capacity 
 under General Lovel L. Rousseau in West Ten¬ 
 nessee. In December 1864, being attached to 
 General Stedman’s division of the Army of the 
 Cumberland, I was present at the battle of Nash¬ 
 ville, and took part in all the engagements through 
 Tennessee and Alabama, being promoted in the 
 course of them to the rank of First Lieutenant. 
 
 During 1865 I was appointed upon detached 
 service of various descriptions, filling amongst 
 other positions those of Acting Assistant-Adjutant- 
 General and Regimental Adjutant. At the close 
 of the war I joined the veteran organisations of 
 the Army of the Cumberland, and the Grand 
 Army of the Republic, and held the appointment 
 therein of Vice-Commander and Post-Surgeon, 
 
 o 
 
 ranking as Major. 
 
 Long ere this I had, of course, given up all 
 idea of returning to France, and had communi¬ 
 cated my whereabouts and position to my parents, 
 much to their anxiety and dismay. 
 
 Tragedy and comedy blended together in 
 strange fellowship in our experiences of those 
 days ; and, as I write, a couple of amusing ex¬ 
 amples of this occur to me. It was in 1865, when 
 engaged on scouting duty in connection with the 
 
14 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 guerilla warfare carried on by irregular bands of 
 Southerners, that I received the following order:— 
 
 “Head-Quarters, Third Sub-District, Middle Tennessee, 
 “Acting Assistant-Adjutant-General’s Office, 
 “Kingston Springs, Tenn., May 17, 1865. 
 
 “Sir,—T he following despatch has been received :— 
 
 “Nashville, May 16, 1S65. 
 
 “ Brig.-Gen. Thompson. 
 
 “ In accordance with orders heretofore published of the 
 Major-Gen. Commanding Dept, of Cumberland, Champ Fer- 
 gusson and his gang of cut-throats having refused to surrender, 
 are denounced as outlaws, and the military forces of this dis¬ 
 trict will deal with and treat him accordingly. 
 
 “ By Command of Major-Gen. Rousseau, 
 
 “ (Signed) H. C. Whitlemore, 
 
 “ Capt. and A.A.A.G.” 
 
 This, of course, meant sudden death to any of 
 the band who might come within range of our 
 rifles. The men, indeed, were nothing less than 
 murderers and robbers, carrying on their devilish 
 work under the plea of fighting for Southern in¬ 
 dependence. It was not long before an oppor¬ 
 tunity was afforded me of coming in contact with 
 a specimen of the class, and it is on this meeting 
 that one of my anecdotes will turn. 
 
 A few days after, when riding ahead of my 
 troop, in company with a couple of my men, in 
 order to “ prospect” the country, with a view to 
 finding suitable accommodation for our wants, I 
 came to a well-built farmhouse a few miles from 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 l 5 
 
 the Duck River. As we approached the front, 
 my attention was attracted by an armed man, in 
 the well-known butter-nut grey uniform of the 
 enemy, escaping from the back in a very hasty 
 and suspicious manner. Reading his true char¬ 
 acter in a moment, I shouted to him to halt, at the 
 same time directing my troopers to “head him 
 off” riofht and left. Disregarding our cries, he 
 started off in hot haste, while we pursued him in 
 equally hurried fashion. The chase was a hard 
 and a stern one, his flight being only broken for 
 a moment to allow of his discharging his carbine 
 at me. Not desiring to kill him, I saved my 
 powder, and in the end ran him to earth, and 
 stunned him with a blow from the butt-end of my 
 revolver. 
 
 When my companions arrived, we proceeded to 
 examine our prisoner, and found, on stripping 
 him of his grey covering, that underneath he wore 
 the unmistakable blue coat of our own regiment, 
 with the plain indication of a corporal’s stripes 
 having been torn therefrom. As we had a few 
 days previously discovered the stripped, bullet- 
 riddled body of a brave corporal of ours, who 
 had been murdered by some of these scoundrels, 
 we at once concluded that this was one of his 
 assassins, and my troop, coming up at this point, 
 dealt him scant mercy, and filled his body with 
 
i6 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 their bullets ere consciousness returned. A search 
 of his pockets revealed his identity, his pocket- 
 book containing: some two hundred dollars in 
 bills, and an oath of allegiance to the U.S. 
 Government, which he had doubtless used many 
 times to save his wretched life. The following 
 is a facsimile of the original document, which I 
 have kept through all these years—the stains 
 being those of the man’s blood :— 
 
 Making our way back to the house, we dis¬ 
 covered two weeping women, and half-a-dozen 
 small children. A single question elicited the 
 fact that the elder of the two was the mother, 
 while subsequent inquiries proved that the dead 
 man was the notorious William M. Guin, a nephew 
 of ex-U.S. Senator Guin, of California, and one 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 17 
 
 of the leaders of as notorious a gang of cut-throats 
 as ever operated in the South-West. Our custom 
 was to burn the houses of any persons found 
 harbouring these guerillas, but the heartrending 
 entreaties of the wretched women and children 
 caused me to leave them unmolested. Some 
 time afterwards, when peace was finally declared, 
 I was quartered at Waverley, in the same vici¬ 
 nity, and often met the unfortunate mother, 
 who knew me as “ the man who killed her boy,” 
 though, as she told me, she never blamed me, 
 having often warned her son that he would come 
 to a bad end. 
 
 And now for the other side of the picture. 
 During these operations, my men were principally 
 mounted on horses captured from the citizens, 
 who were invariably rebels; and as our habit 
 was to take every available animal when found, 
 the methods adopted to hide them in caves, 
 ravines, and swamps were sometimes very re¬ 
 markable. Upon one of my expeditions at the 
 time, in the direction of Vernon, on the Duck 
 River, I came across a fine black horse, which I 
 speedily confiscated to the use of “ Uncle Sam.” 
 My prize, however, did not long remain in my 
 possession, for in a few days my quarters were 
 invaded by a deputation of the fair sex, who pre¬ 
 sented me with the following amusing appeal :— 
 
 B 
 
is 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 i. 
 
 “ We write in good spirits to you, 
 
 For our glad expectations we hope to find true, 
 
 That you’ll act as a gentleman always should do, 
 
 And with a request from the ladies comply 
 Which a fame would attain you that never should die ; 
 While we’ll think of you ever with kindness sincere, 
 And say of you what it would please you to hear, 
 
 And wish for you always a life long and free 
 From grief and visitation that sometimes will be. 
 
 ii. 
 
 “ Now, what must you do these good wishes to gain, 
 
 And make us rejoice that we asked not in vain ? 
 
 Well, a something ’twill be a great boon to obtain 
 To us who now ask—and a kindness most true 
 And most earnestly wished for—but to you 
 It will be what they tell us a victory is— 
 
 Quite easy to “ Grant,” andjwe hope you’ll grant this. 
 
 hi. 
 
 “ We once (not long since) had a favourite here, 
 
 Obedient and gentle, deservedly dear; 
 
 He was patient, obeying our will without force, 
 
 And he seemed like a friend, though he was but a horse. 
 How much we esteemed him we never can say, 
 
 And Dixie we named him. You took him away ! 
 
 And sadly and truly we’ve missed him since then— 
 
 Oh, captain, do give us poor Dixie again. 
 
 If you have conquered one Dixie, be generous here; 
 Return us the other we all count so dear, 
 
 And we’ll say Captain Le Caron (and hold it so too) 
 
 Is the very best soldier that ever wore blue. 
 
 Your country is famed both in prose and in song ; 
 
 To its sons truth and justice are said to belong— 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 19 
 
 Good principle, honour, with bravery too; 
 
 Prove now to us, captain, that this is quite true. 
 
 Let 11s have our old friend—you have better by scores, 
 But to us none so dear can e’er stand at our doors; 
 
 None other can seem half so good or so wise, 
 
 So worthy our care as he was in our eyes. 
 
 You must be enlightened, be generous too ; 
 
 Give us back our poor Dixie, 
 
 Do, captain, please do. 
 
 Just say we may have him, that welcome word say, 
 
 And your petitioners will evermore pray. 
 
 “ Mary Barr. 
 
 “ Cynthia Barr. 
 
 “ Polly Hassell. 
 
 “ Mary L. G., a sympathiser. 
 
 “Vernon, Tennessee, 
 
 “July 1865. 
 
 “ To Captain Le Caron.” 
 
 I naturally pursued the only course which a 
 soldier could, and surrendered the horse. Strange 
 to say, one of my lieutenants afterwards surren¬ 
 dered his affections and future happiness to one 
 of these fair damsels, and still lives with her as 
 his wife, surrounded by a charming family, away 
 out in central Kansas. 
 
 III. 
 
 In the midst of all my soldiering, I wooed and 
 won my wife. She is the principal legacy left 
 me of those old campaigning days of mine, as 
 
20 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 bonny a wife and as sympathetic and valuable a 
 helpmate as ever husband was blessed with in this 
 world. Many years have gone by since we first 
 met away in Tennessee, where she, a bright-eyed 
 daring horsewoman, and I, a happy-go-lucky 
 cavalry officer, scampered the plains together in 
 pleasant company. Little thought either of us 
 then what the future years held in store. Yet 
 when these years came, and with them the 
 anxious moments, the uncertain intervals, and 
 the perilous hours, none was more brave, more 
 sympathetic than she. Carrying the secret of 
 my life close locked up in that courageous heart 
 of hers, helping me when need be, silent when 
 nought could be done, she proved as faithful an 
 ally and as perfect a foil as ever man placed like 
 me could have been given by Heaven. A look, 
 a gasp, a frightened movement, an uncertain turn 
 might have betrayed me, and all would have been 
 lost; a jealous action, a curious impulse, and she 
 might have wrecked my life ; a letter misplaced, a 
 drawer left open, a communication miscarried, and 
 my end was certain. But those things were not 
 to be. Brave, affectionate, and fearless, frequently 
 beseeching me to end this terrible career in which 
 each moment of the coming hours was charged 
 with danger if not death, she tended her family 
 lovingly, and faced the world with a countenance 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 2 I 
 
 which gave no sign, but a caution which never 
 slumbered. 
 
 I had not to wait for these later years, however, 
 to prove her readiness and resource. These had 
 been shown me long ere marriage was dreamt of 
 by either of us, and when, in one of the most 
 exciting episodes of my military career, she gave 
 me my freedom and my life. For our wooing 
 was not without its romance. Our first meeting 
 was quite a casual one. An officer in charge 
 of a party of thirty, engaged in scouting duty, I 
 stopped my little troop one night, in the winter 
 of 1862, at a house some fifteen miles from Nash¬ 
 ville, Tennessee, in order to rest our horses and 
 prepare our supper. We selected the house, and 
 stopped there without any prearrangement. This, 
 however, was in no way extraordinary. It was 
 quite the common practice to stop en route and 
 buy hospitality from the residents. The house 
 was the property of my wife’s uncle, and here she 
 lived. While our supper was being prepared, we 
 chatted agreeably together, and the time swept 
 pleasantly along, We were in fancied security, 
 and gave no thought to immediate danger. In 
 a moment, however, all was confusion. The 
 house was suddenly surrounded by a band of 
 irregular troops, calling themselves Confederates, 
 but in reality nothing more or less than marauders, 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 2 2 
 
 and soon the fortunes of war were turned 
 against us. 
 
 Half my little command, fortunately, escaped, 
 owing to their being with the horses at the time 
 of the enemy's approach, and so enabled to take 
 to flight. The other half, however, with myself, 
 were not so fortunate. We were in the house, 
 surprised, and immediately taken prisoners. A 
 large log smoke-house was improvised for a prison, 
 and in this my comrades and myself were placed, 
 tortured with indignation and hunger, as the 
 riotous sounds which followed proclaimed to us 
 that our captors were partaking of the supper 
 which had been originally intended for ourselves. 
 Our position altogether was anything but a happy 
 one. Death was very near. Irregular troops like 
 those with whom we had to deal seldom gave 
 quarter. If we escaped immediate death, it would 
 be only to be brought within the Southern line to 
 be condemned to a living death in prison. 
 
 We sat and pondered ; and as the probabilities 
 of the future loomed heavily and darkly before 
 us, the sounds of revelry in the adjoining house 
 gradually died away. Our captors, filled with the 
 good things provided for us, gradually dropped 
 to sleep, and soon nothing was heard but the 
 measured movement and breathing of the guard 
 stationed at our door. In a little time, however, 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 there was perfect silence, and our watchful ears 
 detected the absence of our sentry’s person. 
 Curious but silent we anxiously waited, and soon 
 heard the withdrawal of the bolt by some unknown 
 hand. Opening the door, we found the pathway 
 clear. My brave Tennessee girl, finding the 
 gang of irregulars all steeped in heavy slumber, 
 had decoyed our guard away on pretence of his 
 obtaining supper, and returning, had unbolted our 
 prison-house, prepared to face the consequences 
 when the sleeping ruffians awoke. Through her 
 action our safety was assured, and after walking 
 fifteen miles, we reached camp in the morning to 
 join our comrades, who had given us up for lost. 
 
 This happened on Christmas Eve 1862; and 
 it was not until April 1864—sixteen months 
 afterwards—that I again met the girl who had 
 done so much for me, and who was subsequently 
 to become my wife. 
 
 The house in which these exciting events had 
 taken place had meantime been totally destroyed 
 by the ravages of war, and she was now living 
 with her aunt in Nashville itself. I was stationed 
 in camp, there awaiting my examination before a 
 board of officers for further promotion, and here 
 occurred the most eventful engagement in which 
 I ever took part, where, conquering yet conquered, 
 I ignored all the articles of war and subscribed 
 
24 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 to those of marriage, entering into a treaty of 
 peace freighted with the happiest of results. 
 
 IV. 
 
 The war was now over and done, a thing of the 
 past. I was situated in Nashville with my wife 
 and family, and with my savings, happy in the 
 enjoyment of the moment, and the pleasant re¬ 
 miniscences of the past. Henri le Caron, the 
 agent of the British Government in the camps of 
 American Fenianism, did not exist, and I had not 
 the shadow of a conception as to what the future 
 held in store for me. The future indeed troubled 
 me not one whit. Looking back, as I do now, upon 
 all that has happened since then, I am filled with 
 astonishment as Qjeat and sincere as that which 
 affected the world when I first told my story in its 
 disjointed way before the Special Commission. It 
 may be that I am somewhat of a fatalist—I know 
 not what I may be called—but my ideas, strength¬ 
 ened by the experience of my life, are very clear on 
 one point. We may be free agents to a certain 
 extent; but, nevertheless, for some wise purpose 
 matters are arranged for us. We are impelled by 
 some unknown force to carry out, not of our own 
 volition or possible design, the work of this life, 
 indicated by a combination of circumstances, to 
 which unconsciously we adapt ourselves. In such a 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 25 
 
 manner did I become connected with Fenianism 
 and the Irish Party in America. For I never 
 sought Fenianism ; Fenianism rather came to me. 
 
 I use the phrase Fenianism as one that is 
 familiar, and requires no explanation from me. 
 All the world must surely know by this that 
 almost from time out of mind there has existed 
 in America a body of discontented and rebel¬ 
 lious Irish known as Fenians, who, working in 
 harmony with so-called Nationalists in this 
 country, seek the repeal of the Union between 
 Great Britain and Ireland. It will, however, 
 be necessary for me to say something about 
 the position of Fenianism at this time—I speak, 
 of course, of the year 1865—in order that what 
 follows may be quite clearly understood. 
 
 Fenianism at this period was in a rather bad 
 way. Its adherents in America and Ireland were 
 divided into two hostile camps, and its most 
 recent effort had been of a very poor and depres¬ 
 sing character. In fact, the division of forces had 
 been brought about by the failure of this selfsame 
 effort, an attempt at the emancipation of Ireland, 
 which is known as “ the ’65 movement.” It 
 was organised by the Fenians in Ireland and 
 America, under the direction of James Stephens; 
 and for the purpose of its development very many 
 officers and men crossed to Ireland from American 
 
26 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 soil. The attempted rising, however, proved, 
 like almost all Fenian efforts, a fiasco. It was 
 found that Stephens had wofully misrepresented 
 the state of affairs at home, both as regards 
 preparation and enthusiasm ; and those who had 
 come from America returned to their homes, 
 disgusted and indignant at the way in which they 
 had been sold. 
 
 In the result disaffection quickly spread, and 
 the organisation in America broke up into hostile 
 camps, the majority, under the leadership of Colonel 
 W. R. Roberts, revolting from the leadership of 
 Stephens and Mahoney, and declaring their belief 
 that “no direct invasion or armed insurrection 
 in Ireland would ever be successful in establish¬ 
 ing an Irish Republic upon Irish soil, and setting 
 her once more in her proper place as a nation 
 amongst the nations of the earth.” Not content, 
 however, with the situation, the seceders met in 
 convention in September 1865 in Cincinnati, and 
 formed themselves into what was known for the 
 next eventful five years of its existence as the 
 Senate Wing of the Fenian Brotherhood. They 
 scoffed at the idea of invading Ireland success¬ 
 fully, but by no means advocated a policy of 
 inaction. They simply sought to change the 
 base of operations. “The invasion of Canada” 
 became their cry; and with this as their programme 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE, 
 
 27 
 
 they succeeded in gaining the allegiance of some 
 thousands of the disaffected Irish, whose support 
 was attracted by the familiar device of a de facto 
 civil and military Irish Government upon paper, 
 framed upon the model of the United States. A 
 good deal of money was subscribed, and with 
 funds so obtained ammunition was purchased and 
 shipped along the Canadian border. 
 
 The methods of obtaining money were many 
 and varied, but none was more successful than 
 the issue of Fenian bonds. The following is a 
 reproduction of a twenty-dollar bond in my pos¬ 
 
 session. I hese bonds were given in exchange 
 for ready money to the many simple souls who 
 believed in the possibility of an Irish republic, 
 and who were quite ready to part with their 
 
28 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 little all, in the belief that later on, when their 
 country was “a nation once again,” they would 
 be repaid with interest. Very many of the 
 persons displaying this credulity were Irish girls 
 in service in the States, and thus came into vogue 
 the sneering reference to the agitation beino- 
 financed by the servant-girls of New York. 
 
 A curious feature of the intended invasion 
 was the publicity given to the design, and, more 
 remarkable still, the action, or rather want of 
 action, of the United States Government in 
 regard to it. This latter, indeed, was the subject 
 of very angry comment at the time on the part 
 of Englishmen resident in the States. It cer- 
 tainly seemed strange, and passing all compre¬ 
 hension, that the United States Government, 
 although in full possession of the facts, and quite 
 peaceful in its relations with England, could have 
 permitted the organisation of a raid upon a por¬ 
 tion of English possessions without movement 
 or demur on their part of any kind whatever. 
 Yet such is the deplorable fact. From the com¬ 
 mencement of the preparations till five days after 
 the Fenians had crossed at Black Rock, the 
 government of President Andrew Johnson did 
 nothing whatever to prevent this bandof marauders 
 from carrying out their much-talked-of invasion. 
 
 Let it not be thought that I exaggerate or draw 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 29 
 
 on my imagination. I do not. If evidence in 
 support of my statement be needed, it is to be 
 found in the speeches made from public platforms, 
 in open meetings, fully reported throughout the 
 country at the time. 
 
 It was during this period that I was brought 
 into close acquaintance with Fenianism and its 
 workings. Strangely enough, it was my army 
 associations which formed the medium. Through 
 an old companion-in-arms, the man O’Neill men¬ 
 tioned above, by whose side I had served and 
 fought, I learnt, at first casually, and in broken 
 conversation, what was transpiring in the circles 
 of the conspiracy. Indignant as I was at learning 
 what was being done against the interest of my 
 native country, I knew not how to circumvent 
 the operations of the conspirators, and did nothing 
 publicly in the matter. Without my own know¬ 
 ledge, however, I was to become one of the in¬ 
 struments for upsetting all these schemes. Writ¬ 
 ing as I regularly did to my father, I mentioned 
 simply by way of startling news the facts I learned 
 from O’Neill. My letters, written in the careless 
 spirit of a wanderer’s notes, were destined to be¬ 
 come political despatches of an important char¬ 
 acter. Without reference to me, my father made 
 immediate and effective use of them. Startled 
 and dismayed at the tidings I conveyed, he, true 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 Briton that he was, could not keep the informa¬ 
 tion to himself, but handed over my letters im¬ 
 mediately to John Gordon Rebow, the sitting 
 member for Colchester. 
 
 Mr. Rebow, fully concurring with my father as 
 to the importance of my news, proposed that he 
 should, without delay, communicate with the 
 Government of the day, to which my father 
 agreed. In this way my first connection with 
 the Government was brought about. So keenly 
 alive to the position of affairs did the Home 
 Secretary show himself, that he, as I learnt sub¬ 
 sequently, in the most earnest way requested my 
 father to correspond with me on the subject, and 
 to arrange for my transmitting through him to 
 the Government every detail with which I could 
 become acquainted. This I did, and continued 
 so doinsf until the raid into Canada had been 
 attempted, and attended with failure. 
 
 V. 
 
 Before proceeding further, I had perhaps better 
 odve some idea of what the raid was like. The 
 
 o 
 
 details should prove of interest, if for no other 
 purpose than that of contrast with those of the 
 second attempted invasion, of which I shall have 
 to speak more fully later on. This, which was 
 the first invasion of Canada by the Fenian orga- 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 3i 
 
 nisation, took place upon the morning of the 
 1 st of June 1866. As I have already stated, the 
 design had been flourished in the face of trovern- 
 ment and people for six months previously. All 
 this time active preparations were proceeding, 
 and thousands of stands of arms, together with 
 millions of rounds of ammunition, had been pur¬ 
 chased from the United States Government and 
 located at different points along the Canadian 
 border; while during the spring of the year, 
 military companies, armed and uniformed as 
 Irish Fenian soldiers, were drilled week by week 
 in many of the large cities of the United States. 
 
 No opposition was offered to the proceedings ; 
 indeed, John F. Finerty, the editor of the Chi¬ 
 cago Citizen, in a public speech made by him 
 at Chicago so late as February 5, 1886, declared 
 with great glee that Andrew Johnson, the then 
 President of the United States, openly en¬ 
 couraged the movement for the purpose of turn¬ 
 ing it to political account in the settlement of 
 the Alabama claims. Be the blame whose it 
 may, however, the result was not unsatisfactory. 
 The attempt proved a complete failure. The 
 Fenians were driven out of Canada, sixty of them 
 killed and two hundred taken prisoners, with the 
 loss of but six lives in the Canadian ranks. All 
 the same, however, the unsatisfactory condition 
 
3 2 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 of things I speak of existed, while, to make 
 matters worse, not a single one of the defeated 
 invaders was called to account by the United 
 States for the violation of the Neutrality Laws. 
 
 The whole affair, viewed from any but an 
 imaginative Fenian standpoint, was of a ludi¬ 
 crous character. The time for the operation was 
 chosen by the Fenian Secretary for War, General 
 T. W. Sweeny, then commanding the 16th 
 United States Infantry stationed at Nashville, 
 Tennessee. A particular route had been selected, 
 but when the amount of funds came to be ques¬ 
 tioned, the original idea of carrying the men by 
 steamer to Goodrich, Canada, had to be abandoned 
 for the less romantic but more economical process 
 of crossing the Niagara River in flat boats with 
 a steam tug called into requisition. Under the 
 command of General John O’Neill, and a number 
 of other gentlemen of high-sounding ranks, and 
 distinctly Irish patronymics, the raid actually came 
 off on the morning of the ist of June, when about 
 3 a.m. some 600 or 800 Irish patriots, full of 
 whisky and thirsting for glory, were quietly towed 
 across the Niagara River to a point on the 
 Canadian side called Waterloo ! 
 
 At 4 a.m. the Irish flag was planted on British 
 soil by Colonel Owen Starr, commanding the 
 contingent from Kentucky, one of the first to 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 33 
 
 land. Unfortunately no Canadian troops were 
 in the vicinity, and O’Neill’s command, which 
 had by the next day decreased to some 500, 
 marched upon and captured Fort Erie, contain¬ 
 ing a small detachment of the Welland battery. 
 Matters, however, were not long allowed to go 
 in favour of the invaders. In a very little time 
 the 22nd Battalion of Volunteers of Toronto—a 
 splendid band of citizen-soldiers—appeared upon 
 the scene, and at Ridgeway, a few miles inland, 
 there occurred a fair stand-up fight, in which the 
 Fenians in the end got the worst of the day’s 
 work. Ridgeway has frequently since been 
 claimed by the Fenian orators as a glorious 
 victory, but without justification. It is true that 
 at first, flushed with their almost bloodless vic¬ 
 tory at Fort Erie, the Fenians advanced fiercely 
 upon their opponents, and for the moment 
 repulsed them; but in the end the Canadians 
 triumphed, and succeeded in putting the invaders 
 to flight, driving them back to Fort Erie a 
 frenzied, ungovernable mob, only too thankful to 
 be taken as prisoners by the United States war 
 steamer Michigan, and protected from total annihi¬ 
 lation at the hands of the, by this time, thoroughly 
 aroused and wrathful Canadian citizens. 
 
 The following extracts from the official report 
 made by General O’Neill to Colonel William R. 
 
34 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 Roberts, President of the Fenian Brotherhood, 
 though very highly coloured, admits the defeat:— 
 
 “ Here truth compels me to make an admission I would fain 
 have kept from the public. Some of the men who crossed 
 over with us the night before (/>., the morning of the ist of June) 
 managed to leave the command during the day, and re-crossed 
 to Buffalo, while others remained in houses around the fort 
 marauding. (Real Irish patriots these !) This I record to 
 their lasting disgrace. 
 
 “ On account of this shameful desertion, and the fact that 
 arms had been sent out for 800 men, I had to destroy 300 
 stand to prevent them from falling into the hands of the 
 enemy. . . . 
 
 “At this time I could not depend upon more than 500 men, 
 one-tenth of the reputed number of the enemy, which I knew 
 was surrounding me—rather a critical position. 
 
 “Thus situated, and not knowing what was going on else¬ 
 where, I decided that the best course was to return to Fort 
 Erie and ascertain if crossings had been made at other points; 
 and, if so, I was content to sacrifice myself and my noble little 
 command for the sake of leaving the way open. 
 
 “I returned to the old fort (Erie), and about six o’clock 
 sent word to Captain W. J. Hynes, and his friends at Buffalo, 
 that the enemy would surround me with 5000 men before 
 morning, fully provided with artillery; that my little command, 
 which had by this time considerably decreased, could not hold 
 out long; but that, if a movement was going on elsewhere, 
 
 I was perfectly willing to make the old fort a slaughter-pen, 
 which I knew would be the case the next day if I remained. 
 
 “ Previous to this time, some of the officers and men, realising 
 the danger of their position, availed themselves of the small 
 boats and re-crossed the river ; but the greater portion of them— 
 317, including officers—remained until 2 a.m., June 3rd, when 
 all, except a few wounded men, went safely on board a large 
 
 / 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 35 
 
 scow attached to a tug-boat, and were hauled into American 
 waters. 
 
 “ Here they were hailed by the United States steamer, which 
 fired across their bows and demanded their surrender. With 
 this request we complied, not because we feared the twelve- 
 pounders or the still more powerful guns of the Michigan, but 
 because we respected the authority of the United States.” !!! 
 
 Thus fought the Irish patriots of 1866. Thus 
 ended the first Fenian raid upon Canada. Not a 
 glorious achievement, by any means. Quite the 
 reverse, in fact. Even the leader of the expedition 
 himself has to subscribe to failure and defeat. 
 And yet there have been, and are to-day, men who 
 boast of all this as a glorious victory, and proudly 
 vaunt the statement that they were present at and 
 participated in it. 
 
 Lucky it was that the movement was thus 
 defeated at its very start. If it had not, the 
 consequences might have been very different 
 indeed. The news of the temporary victory at 
 Fort Erie had a wonderful effect, and by the 7th 
 of June not less than 30,000 men had assembled 
 in and around Buffalo. The defeat of their 
 comrades, however, and the tardy issue of Andrew 
 Johnson’s proclamation enforcing the Neutrality 
 Laws, left them no opening, and so the whole 
 affair fizzled out in the most undignified manner. 
 U ndignified indeed it was for all parties concerned. 
 The prisoners were, without a single exception, 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 released on their own recognisances, and sent 
 home by the United States authorities ; while the 
 arms seized by the United States Government, 
 through General Meade, commanding in Buffalo, 
 were returned to the Fenian organisation, only to 
 be used for the same purpose some four years 
 later. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Meantime the conditions of peace, in purely 
 American matters, had set in, and the army was 
 reduced to a nominal footing. I took advantage 
 of the state of affairs to settle down to a civilian 
 style of life. The first question that called for 
 thought and care was my future vocation in life. 
 The father of a family, it became necessary for 
 me to look out for some means of obtaining a 
 settled income. Acting under the advice of an 
 old comrade, now a Senator of Illinois, I finally 
 determined to study medicine, and set to work in 
 this direction without delay. 
 
 While so engaged, I paid my first visit to 
 Europe in the autumn or “fall” of 1867, and 
 once more met my father and mother in the flesh. 
 My letters regarding Fenian matters were natu¬ 
 rally a topic of interesting conversation between 
 us, and my father with much pride showed me 
 the written acknowledgments he had received 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 37 
 
 for his action in the matter. Poor old father! 
 Never was Briton prouder than he of the service 
 he had been enabled to do his country—services 
 unpaid and as purely patriotic as ever English¬ 
 man rendered. No payment was ever made— 
 none was asked or expected—for whatever little 
 good I had been enabled to accomplish up to this 
 time. Matters, however, were now to develop 
 in a new and unexpected way. Mr. Rebow 
 expressed a desire to see me, and, accompanied 
 by my father, I visited him at his seat, Wyvenhoe 
 Park. He subsequently visited me on several 
 occasions at my father’s house, and had many 
 chats on the all-absorbing topic of Fenianism. 
 Learning from me that the organisation was still 
 prosperous and meant mischief—my friend O’Neill 
 having succeeded Colonel Roberts as president— 
 he gained my consent to enter into personal com¬ 
 munication with the English Government. In a 
 lew days I received through him an official com¬ 
 munication requesting me to attend at 50 Harley 
 Street. To Harley Street I went, and there met 
 two officials, by whom a proposition was made 
 that I should become a paid agent of the Govern¬ 
 ment, and that on my return to the United States 
 I should ally myself to the Fenian organisation, 
 in order to play the role of spy in the rebel ranks. 
 I knew that this proposal was coming. I had 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 thought over the whole matter carefully, and I 
 had come to the conclusion that I would consent, 
 which I did. My adventurous nature prompted 
 me to sympathy with the idea ; my British in¬ 
 stincts made me a willing worker from a sense of 
 right, and my past success promised good things 
 for the future. 
 
 I returned, therefore, to the States in the 
 Government service; and, taking advantage of 
 an early meeting with O’Neill in New York, I 
 proffered him my services as a military man in 
 case of active warfare. O’Neill, delighted at the 
 idea, promised me a position in the near future, 
 and I returned to my home in the West, pledged 
 to help the cause there meantime.* 
 
 And now a few words as to O’Neill. Taking 
 the prominent part he did in Fenian affairs at 
 this time, he certainly proved a very interesting 
 personality. General O’Neill, Irish by birth, was 
 born on the 8th of March 1834, in the town of 
 Drumgallon, parish of Clontifret, Co. Monaghan. 
 He emigrated when young with his family to the 
 United States, and settled at Elizabeth, New 
 Jersey. Enlisting in the 2nd U.S. Cavalry as a 
 
 * I was not the only member of the family fighting for Queen and 
 country then. Two others of my brothers entered the army at home. 
 One is to-day a commissioned officer in South Africa; the other, poor 
 fellow, left his bones to whiten on the battlefield of Tel-el-Kebir. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 39 
 
 private soldier in 1857, he was engaged in fight¬ 
 ing Indians in the Far West for some three years. 
 Upon the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion, 
 he was commissioned as lieutenant in the 5th 
 Indiana Cavalry. From this he received promo¬ 
 tion in the 15th U.S. Coloured Infantry, with 
 winch regiment he continued to the end of the 
 war. Resigning his command at the conclusion 
 of hostilities, he commenced business as a United 
 States Claim Agent in Nashville, Tennessee, 
 where, it will be remembered, I was stationed 
 with my regiment for a long time after the cessa¬ 
 tion of active operations. 
 
 When freed from the discipline of his military 
 service, O’Neill—ardent Fenian that he was— 
 threw himself heart and soul into the Irish rebel 
 movement in the States. He raised and com¬ 
 manded the Tennessee contingent in the move- 
 ment upon Canada in 1866, taking command of 
 the entire expedition by reason of his seniority 
 of rank and his proved knowledge of military 
 tactics. I have already quoted his report of the 
 termination of this “invasion.” 
 
 At the Cleveland Convention of September 
 1867, he was elected a senator of the Fenian 
 Brotherhood ; and on the 31st of December 1S67, 
 owing to the resignation of Colonel W. R. Roberts, 
 he was elected President of the Brotherhood. 
 
4 ° 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 In personal appearance O’Neill was a very 
 fine-looking man. Nature had dealt kindly with 
 him. Within a couple of inches of six feet in 
 height, possessing a fine physique and a distinctive 
 Celtic face, he combined an undoubted military 
 bearing with a rich sonorous voice, which lent to 
 his presence a certain persuasive charm. He 
 had one fault, however—a fault which developed 
 to the extremest point when he attained the 
 presidency of the Fenian Brotherhood. This 
 was his egotism. He was the most egotistical 
 soul I ever met in the whole course of my life. 
 In his belief, the Irish cause lived, moved, and 
 had its being in John O’Neill; and this absurd 
 self-love contributed to many disasters, which a 
 more even-headed leader would never have 
 brought about. 
 
 VII. 
 
 On my return to my Western home, I lost no 
 time in commencing my double life. I organised 
 a Fenian “circle” or camp in Lockport, Illinois, 
 and took the position of “ centre” or commander 
 of it, thus becoming the medium for receiving all 
 official reports and documents issued by O’Neill, 
 the contents of which documents were, of course, 
 communicated by me to the Home Government. 
 I went to work with a will, and was soon in the 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 41 
 
 very thick of the conspiracy, organised a military 
 company for the Irish Republican Army, and 
 eventually attended the Springfield Convention in 
 the position of a delegate. 
 
 While so engaged, I entered the Chicago 
 Medical College, and commenced my medical 
 studies in earnest. I was much assisted in this 
 direction by the kindly help of an old friend, Dr. 
 Bacon, who had been attached to my regiment in 
 war times as surgeon. He was then surgeon to 
 the Illinois State Penitentiary, and through him 
 I obtained the position created at this time of 
 Hospital Steward, or, in other words, Resident 
 Medical Officer in that institution. There was a 
 comfortable salary attached to the office, which 
 I found to be in every sense a useful post. 
 Although, as matters turned out, I was only to 
 spend some few months there, I gained even in 
 this short time a vast amount of experience in 
 almost every branch of medical study. 
 
 Life, indeed, in the Illinois Penitentiary gave 
 me experience in many ways. It brought me 
 for the first time into direct contact with many 
 of the evils which then affected official adminis¬ 
 tration. Things, of course, are different now, 
 though it must be confessed still anything but 
 perfect; but when compared with the usages of 
 olden times, the shortcomings of the present 
 
42 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 system are of no account whatever. At the time 
 of which I speak, money could accomplish every¬ 
 thing, from the obtaining of luxuries in prison 
 to the purchase of pardon and freedom itself. 
 Everything connected with the prison adminis¬ 
 tration was rotten to the core. Corruption 
 was in every place. The penitentiary contained 
 some fifteen hundred prisoners, and the whole 
 management of affairs affecting these men was 
 vested in three Commissioners, as they were 
 styled, whose proceedings were of the most 
 flagrant and jobbing character. So great did the 
 scandals of their doings become at one period, 
 that one of the three had to abscond ; but so 
 demoralised was the condition of affairs that no 
 attempt was made to arrest and bring him back. 
 These three men had no object save that of 
 gaining money. They were the proprietors of 
 a general shop inside the prison, from which the 
 prisoners purchased luxuries at usurious rates; 
 and the work of the prisoners themselves was let 
 out to contractors, who paid heavily for the privi¬ 
 lege of remaining undisturbed in their monopoly. 
 Everything was turned to money. In one case 
 I knew of a prisoner, failing to win his cause on 
 appeal, and having thereby to undergo a period 
 of seven years’ imprisonment, being offered his 
 release for a sum of 10,000 dollars, which offer he 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 43 
 
 refused, stating in the most business-like way that 
 he would only give 7000. This was not considered 
 satisfactory, and so the negotiations fell through. 
 
 No popular idea of prison life now indulged in 
 at all fits in with the actual condition of affairs 
 five-and-twenty years ago. Money was useful for 
 the purpose of commerce in the Commissioners’ 
 interest, and therefore was allowed free circula¬ 
 tion amongst those confined. Those who could 
 afford it, and whose cases were not finally decided 
 —appeals were constantly being heard — were 
 allowed to board at the Governor’s table, to wear 
 their own clothes, and in every way conduct 
 themselves as if in a private house. In those 
 days the prisoners were not shaved—they wore 
 their hair and whiskers as they pleased. Those 
 who could not afford to live the lives of gentlemen 
 had the store to go to for petty luxuries ; and so, 
 no matter how matters turned, the Commissioners 
 were the gainers. The Governor, or Warden, 
 as he was called, was their nominee, dependent 
 upon them for office ; and everything was governed 
 by their wishes and desires. 
 
 In such a vast assembly of criminals there 
 were many whose characters and careers formed 
 subjects for very interesting study to me. I was 
 fortunate in being connected with the prison at a 
 time when some more than usually clever and 
 
44 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 facile scoundrels were temporarily resident there. 
 Towering head and shoulders over the whole 
 crowd was that king of forgers, Colonel Cross, 
 perhaps the most daring, successful, and expert 
 penman of our time. About forty years of age at 
 this period, a man of fine commanding presence, 
 splendid diction, and gentlemanly demeanour, 
 Cross attracted me from the first day I was 
 brought into contact with him. The son of one 
 of the most prominent Episcopalian clergymen in 
 the United States, he was possessed of a wide 
 classical education, and discoursed with intelli¬ 
 gence and wondrous fluency on theology, medi¬ 
 cine, and every kind of science. 
 
 He was no ordinary criminal. Even in prison 
 he commanded admiration from his fellows, and 
 I was often amazed to see how respectful were 
 the salutations accorded him as he moved 
 about. He boasted, I learned afterwards with 
 truth, that he had never robbed a poor man ; 
 and, strange being that he was, he had borne 
 almost all the cost of the education of his 
 brother’s children. Indeed, at the time I met 
 him, he was educating in the most expensive 
 manner a poor little girl whom, in a moment of 
 generous caprice, he had adopted as his daughter. 
 
 When I was first brought into contact with 
 him, Cross had his case before the courts on 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 45 
 
 appeal, and, pending the decision, he was living 
 in the most expensive way in prison, boarding 
 at the Governor’s table, dressing in the most 
 fashionable way, and smoking the best of cigars. 
 Having no work to do, he interested himself in 
 the affairs of his fellow-prisoners ; and so clever 
 and capable was he, and so great a knowledge of 
 law did he possess, that he succeeded in preparing 
 the cases of many of them for appeal in such a 
 way as to allow of their regaining their liberty. 
 
 I had not been in the prison very long before 
 he appealed to me to take him as my assistant 
 in the hospital; and attracted by the man as I 
 was, I acceded to his request, to discover subse¬ 
 quently that I had a most valuable attendant, 
 whose knowledge of medicine was both extensive 
 and practical. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Tiie career of Cross would supply material for a 
 most exciting novel. He always went in for 
 “ big things,” as he phrased it. Nothing troubled 
 him more than the fact that he was then under¬ 
 going punishment for a small affair which he 
 contemptuously referred to as being too paltry 
 altogether for association with him. Perhaps the 
 “ biggest thing” he ever did was the forgery of a 
 cheque for ,£80,000 in Liverpool, and his escape 
 
4 6 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 with the booty. Like many other talented crimi¬ 
 nals, if he had but turned his ability to proper 
 account, he would undoubtedly have won a place 
 and name in the foremost ranks of honest men 
 to-day. He planned his enterprises with the 
 most consummate care, and worked them out for 
 months before reaching the final stage. An illus¬ 
 tration of his method was very well afforded by his 
 forgery on the Park National Bank of New York. 
 
 Determining to commit a forgery on this bank, 
 he set to work to obtain the needful introduction 
 and guarantee for his accomplice, who should 
 eventually present the forged cheque. He, by 
 the way, never presented a forged cheque him¬ 
 self—this was always the work of an accomplice. 
 In order, therefore, to obtain the introduction to 
 the bank, he opened some business with a certain 
 firm of brokers in Wall Street who happened to 
 “ deposit” at the particular bank in question. In 
 this way he ran up an account for a respectable 
 sum, to obtain the repayment for which he one 
 day went to the office in Wall Street accompanied 
 by one Simmons, the accomplice in the future 
 forgery. The cheque—a draft for twelve hundred 
 dollars—was duly drawn, when Cross asked his 
 friend Simmons to go to the bank to cash it, 
 requesting in a free-and-easy way that the broker 
 might send one of his clerks with him to identify 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 47 
 
 Simmons, he being a stranger. No suspicion 
 was indulged in—there was no ground for such, 
 and the request was willingly complied with. 
 Simmons, coached by Cross beforehand, had 
 a hundred-dollar bill in his pocket, the use for 
 which will be apparent in a moment. When the 
 clerk and he reached the bank, the necessary 
 introduction took place ; and in reply to the usual 
 question how he wished the money, Simmons 
 replied, “ In hundred-dollar bills.” As the clerk 
 counted the notes, Simmons drew his bill out of 
 his pocket, and mixing all up as he stood aside 
 to check his payment, he recalled the clerk’s 
 attention by the announcement that he had given 
 him thirteen instead of twelve bills. The clerk 
 indignantly protested he had made no mistake. 
 Simmons, playing the role of honest man, became 
 distressed, the manager was appealed to, one of 
 the notes eventually received back, and Simmons 
 retired, the recipient of most fulsome thanks, his 
 character and reputation fully established in the 
 minds of the banking officials. Of course the 
 clerk was one hundred dollars to the good at the 
 end of the day, but Simmons’ claim to honesty 
 in no way suffered by the fact, as no one for a 
 moment thought of a plot. 
 
 Content to lose the hundred-dollar bill, in the 
 promise of things to come, Cross continued his 
 
4 S 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 legitimate traffic with the brokers, Simmons, on 
 the most friendly terms at the bank, cashing the 
 cheques, which increased in amount as the time 
 passed. Months had passed, and nothing of an 
 illegal nature had been attempted, when at the 
 end of the fifth month a genuine cheque for thirty 
 dollars was by Cross changed to 30,000, and 
 cashed by Simmons without the slightest hesi¬ 
 tation or suspicion at the bank, both Cross and 
 he escaping with the booty. 
 
 Many and varied as were Cross’s tricks with 
 his pen, none was more daring or successful than 
 that which led to his escape from Sing-Sing 
 Prison, that famous home of criminals in New 
 York. Obtaining through outside agency a 
 printed and properly headed sheet of note-paper 
 and envelope from the Governor of the States’ 
 Office at Albany, he actually forged the order for 
 his own release, had it posted formally from Albany, 
 and, on its receipt, obtained his freedom without 
 provoking the slightest suspicion or inquiry. 
 
 I am glad to say that Colonel Cross still lives, 
 and is now working out an honest existence under 
 another name in the north-west of America. 
 
 My life at the Illinois Penitentiary was crowded 
 with incidents, and little leisure was left me. 
 Where real sickness did not exist, shamming and 
 malingering in their most ingenious phases were 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 49 
 
 resorted to. I was amazed at the talent brought 
 to bear upon their attempts to escape work by 
 those with whom I had to deal. Some of the 
 methods adopted were simply marvellous in their 
 conception and execution. A more quick-witted 
 lot of men it has never been my fate to meet. 
 Every twist and turn of daily life was subordinated 
 to the needs of the trickster, and not one single 
 daily incident seemed to be without its possibility 
 of application, either to assist in the attempt to 
 shirk work or to escape from imprisonment alto¬ 
 gether. Nothing in this way impressed me more 
 than the case of a man known as Joe Devine, 
 an eminent hotel sneak thief, some two-and-thirty 
 years of age, and of very distinguished appearance. 
 
 It happened that one afternoon about five 
 o’clock a negro prisoner died of consumption. 
 It was the practice to bury the dead immediately 
 the coffin was made ready; but, owing to the fact 
 that the coffin in this case was not ready till after 
 the prison gates had been locked for the night, 
 the burial had to be postponed till the following 
 morning. 
 
 Under the circumstances, I arranged that the 
 coffin with the body enclosed should remain for 
 the night in the prison bath-room. This Joe 
 Devine of whom I speak happened to be in 
 charge of the bath-room at this period, and it 
 
 D 
 
5o 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 therefore became his duty to see that proper 
 arrangements were made for the disposal of the 
 coffin for the night. Early the next morning, as 
 was customary, Devine and some of his fellow- 
 prisoners were allowed out of their cells some 
 little time before the others, in order to prepare 
 the bath-room and other places for their use. 
 With assistance Devine unscrewed the coffin, 
 took the dead negro out, and concealed himself 
 in his place, not, however, before he had worn 
 down the thread of the screws in the lid, so that 
 they could be thrust out with a heavy push from 
 the inside. The time for the funeral arrived in 
 due course, and the coffin was removed in a little 
 cart accompanied by two prisoners whose time 
 was nearly expired, and who were therefore trusted 
 outside the gates of the prison (being known by 
 the name of “trusties”), together with the clergy¬ 
 man of the jail. 
 
 Nothing happened till the grave was reached, 
 when Devine, presumably concluding that it would 
 be dangerous to remain longer where he was, 
 burst the lid of the coffin and jumped out, imme¬ 
 diately starting off at a run. The clergyman and 
 “ trusties” being too horrified to offer any resist¬ 
 ance, he escaped without molestation. The first 
 I heard of the matter was on the return of the 
 clergyman and the “trusties” with the news that 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 Si 
 
 the man had come to life ; but, as they explained 
 in their horrified way, he was white, not a nigger! 
 The roll was called, and Devine was missing ; so 
 we concluded he was the white man in question. 
 We then set to work to find the corpse of the poor 
 negro. For two hours the prisoners searched up 
 and down without any result. Eventually, how¬ 
 ever, the body was discovered underneath a pile 
 of towels in one of the box-seats of the bath-room, 
 the corpse being doubled up in two, the head and 
 feet meeting, in order to permit of its being con¬ 
 cealed in its narrow hiding-place. 
 
 Another escape equally effective, for the moment 
 at least, was that of a man known as Bill Forester, 
 a notorious bank robber, and one of the suspected 
 murderers of Nathan the Jew, whose death in 
 New York created a profound interest at the 
 time. Forester, fortunately for himself, selected 
 as his medium of exit one of the many boxes 
 employed by Mack & Co., contractors for shoe¬ 
 making, who employed some four hundred of the 
 convicts. Surrounded and hedged in between 
 boots and shoes, in one of the large boxes used 
 for their transport, Forester passed through the 
 prison gates in one of Mack’s vans, and not 
 till he had got a distance of a mile and a half 
 from the jail did he venture to emerge from his 
 hiding-place. His liberty, however, proved to 
 
52 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 be only of a temporary character, for, caught in 
 another State a little later, the enterprising burglar 
 was again arrested, and carried back to the Peni¬ 
 tentiary to complete his term of imprisonment. 
 
 His method had many imitations. None was 
 more novel or disastrous than that employed by 
 a fellow-convict whose name I cannot at the 
 moment recall. This poor fellow hit upon the 
 ingenious idea of getting out of durance vile 
 inside a load of horse-manure, and when the load 
 was half-way packed, he lay at full length with a 
 breathing space arranged, while the remainder 
 of the loading was completed. His intention, of 
 course, was to be freed from his uncomfortable 
 position within an hour, when the manure would 
 be discharged at the quay adjoining the prison. 
 To his horror, however, he discovered, when the 
 cart reached the quay, that a gang of fellow- 
 convicts were engaged unloading a boat under 
 the charge of armed wardens or sentries. To 
 attempt escape meant instant death, and there 
 he lay for hours with the heavy weight of the 
 upper portion of the cart’s load pressing upon 
 him. Six o’clock came and with it the return 
 of the men and sentries to prison. Through the 
 long weary hours of the night the poor fellow lay, 
 unable now to move from the consequences of 
 his continued prostration in the manure; and 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 53 
 
 when the morning arrived he was found but too 
 willing a captive. He was immediately placed 
 under my charge, but his recovery proved by no 
 means a rapid affair. 
 
 IX. 
 
 In the midst of all these exciting incidents of 
 prison life, I received a telegram from O’Neill 
 in New York, as follows: “Come at once, you 
 are needed for work.” To comply was to sur¬ 
 render my pleasant and interesting position, and 
 to lose for the moment all chance of pursuing my 
 medical study. On the other hand, however, 
 the opportunity of doing good service to my 
 native land presented itself. I did not hesitate. 
 Communicating immediately with the “Warden” 
 or Governor, I resigned my position, much to 
 his disgust. He sought an explanation. I could 
 give none. He offered an increased salary. I 
 was unable to explain why even this could 
 not tempt me, and so I left in a way which 
 was misunderstood, and under circumstances 
 which, by the very reason for their existence, 
 could not be appreciated. 
 
 Hurrying to New York, I soon presented 
 myself in person to O’Neill at the headquarters 
 of the Fenian Brotherhood, then situated in 
 the mansion at io West Fourth Street. Here 
 
54 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 I found the President of the Brotherhood, sur¬ 
 rounded by his staff of officials, transacting the 
 duties of their various positions with all the 
 pomp and ceremony usually associated with the 
 representatives of the greatest nations on earth. 
 I was not long left in suspense as to what was 
 required of me. Commissioned at the very 
 
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 outset as Major and Military Organiser of the 
 Irish Republican Army (at a salary of sixty dollars 
 per month, with seven dollars per day expenses), 
 I was instructed to proceed to the Eastern States 
 in company with a civil organiser, in order to 
 visit and reorganise the different military bodies 
 attached to the rebel society. To my unhappy 
 amazement, I learned that I was, while engaged 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 55 
 
 on this work, to address public meetings in sup¬ 
 port of the cause, and my miserable feelings were 
 accentuated by O’Neill’s desire that I should 
 accompany him, the very evening of my arrival, 
 to a large demonstration being held at Williams 
 burg, a suburb of Brooklyn. I w T as in a regular 
 mess, for if called on to speak—as I feared—I 
 should be found absolutely ignorant of Irish affairs. 
 There was nothing for it, however, but to keep 
 a brave face, for I had undertaken my work, and 
 in its lexicon there was no such word as fail. 
 
 The evening came, and with it our trip to 
 Williamsburg. On arrival there, in the company 
 of O’Neill and some brother officers, I found 
 several thousands of persons assembled. We 
 were greeted with the greatest enthusiasm, and 
 given the seats of honour to the right and left of 
 the chairman. My position was a very unhappy 
 one. I was in a state of excessive excitement, 
 for I greatly feared what was coming. Seated as 
 I was next to O’Neill, I could hear him tell the 
 chairman on whom to call, and how to describe 
 the speakers ; and, as each pause took place 
 between the speeches, I hung with nervous dread 
 on O’Neill’s words, fearing my name would be 
 the next. The meeting proceeded apace ; some 
 four or five of my companions had already spoken, 
 and I was beginning to think that, after all, the 
 
56 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 evil hour was postponed, and that for this night 
 at least I was safe. Not so, however. All but 
 O’Neill and myself had spoken, when, to my 
 painful surprise, I heard the General call upon 
 the chairman to announce Major Le Caron. The 
 moment was fraught with danger; my pulses 
 throbbed with maddening sensation ; my heart 
 seemed to stop its beating; my brain was on fire, 
 and failure stared me in the face. With an almost 
 superhuman effort I collected myself, and as the 
 chairman announced me as Major M‘Caron, 
 tickled by the error into which he had fallen, and 
 the vast cheat I was playing upon the whole of 
 them, I rose equal to the occasion, to be received 
 with the most enthusiastic of plaudits. 
 
 The hour was very late, and I took advantage 
 of the circumstance. Proud and happy as I was 
 at being with them that evening, and taking part 
 in such a magnificent demonstration, they could 
 not, I said, expect me to detain them long at 
 so advanced an hour. All had been said that 
 could be said upon the subject nearest and dearest 
 to their hearts. (Applause.) If what I had ex¬ 
 perienced that night was indicative of the spirit 
 of patriotism of the Irish in America—(tremendous 
 cheering)—then indeed there could be no fears 
 for the result. (Renewed plaudits.) And now I 
 would sit down. They were all impatiently wait- 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 57 
 
 ing, I knew, to hear the stirring words of the 
 gallant hero of Ridgeway, General O’Neill — 
 (thunders of applause)—and I would, in conclu¬ 
 sion, simply beg of them as lovers of liberty and 
 motherland—(excited cheering)—to place at the 
 disposal of General O’Neill the means (cash) 
 necessary to carry out the great work on which 
 he was engaged. This work, I was confident, 
 would result in the success of our holy cause, and 
 the liberation of dear old Ireland from the thral¬ 
 dom of the tyrant’s rule, which had blighted and 
 ruined her for seven hundred years. 
 
 These last words worked my hearers up to the 
 highest pitch of enthusiasm, and amidst their 
 excited shouts and cheers I resumed my seat, 
 with the comforting reflection that if it took so 
 little as this to arouse the Irish people, I could 
 play my role with but little difficulty. And as 
 time passed on, and my experience widened, the 
 justice of the reflection was fully assured. With 
 a little practice and scarce any labour, save that 
 necessitated by the use of a pair of scissors 
 and some paste, I succeeded in hoodwinking the 
 poor and deluded, together with the unprincipled, 
 blatant, professional Irish patriots. 
 
 Before, however, starting on my travels as 
 organiser, I had an experience which went far to 
 justify all I had previously thought and heard as 
 
58 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 regards the part played by Andrew Johnson in 
 connection with the first Canadian raid. I recall 
 the incident as important, as showing to what ex¬ 
 tremes American political exigencies have carried 
 men in catering for the Irish vote in America. 
 About American politics generally I shall have 
 something to say later on ; but as this matter fits 
 in chronologically here, I think it better to deal 
 with it now. Johnson, it must be remembered, 
 was not by any means a man above suspicion. 
 In 1S6S, so great was the disaffection with his 
 administration of the Presidency, that he was 
 impeached, though unsuccessfully, by the Senate. 
 
 It was in this year—1868—that, at O’Neill’s 
 request, I accompanied him to the White House 
 to have an interview with Johnson. O’Neill and 
 he had been personal friends from ’62, when 
 Johnson had acted as Military Governor in 
 Tennessee. The precise object of our visit was 
 the securing of Johnson’s influence in the return 
 of the arms to the Fenian Brotherhood, previously 
 seized by the American Government. It will be 
 remembered that I mentioned, some pages back, 
 that every gun taken by the United States 
 Government, after the first raid in 1866, was 
 returned to the Fenian organisation by this 
 government under a promise, only made to be 
 broken, that they should not be used in any 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 59 
 
 unlawful enterprise; and in consideration of 
 certain worthless bonds. 
 
 Our reception at the White House was a 
 cordial one, O’Neill’s distinctly so. During the 
 conversation the President used some remarkable 
 words. So strange did they sound in my ears, 
 that they impressed themselves upon my memory, 
 and are even now fresh in my recollection. 
 
 “General,” said Johnson, addressing O’Neill, 
 “ your people unfairly blame me a good deal for 
 the part I took in stopping your first move¬ 
 ment. Now I want you to understand that my 
 sympathies are entirely with you, and anything 
 which lies in my power I am willing to do to 
 assist you. But you must remember that I gave 
 you five full days before issuing any proclamation 
 stopping you. What, in God’s name, more did you 
 want? If you could not get there in five days, 
 by God, you could never get there; and then, 
 as President, I was compelled to enforce the 
 Neutrality Laws, or be denounced on every side.” 
 
 Such was the language used, such the position 
 assumed, and such the apology tendered to the 
 Fenian leader of 1868 by the President of the 
 United States Government. Can any comment 
 of mine point the moral and adorn the tale of all 
 this better than the incident itself can do when left 
 in its naked and startling significance ? I think not. 
 
6o 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 \ 
 
 X. 
 
 I entered with a will upon my duties as travelling 
 organiser, and was alike successful in winning 
 the confidence of almost every Fenian with whom 
 I was brought into contact, and in obtaining 
 the most important information and details for 
 the Home Government. Matters had meantime 
 proceeded apace, so that when the Philadelphia 
 Convention of 1868 was held, O’Neill’s determina¬ 
 tion to invade Canada a second time was ratified 
 without a dissentient voice. I was now promoted 
 to the rank of Inspector-General, and was from 
 time to time sent along the Canadian border to 
 locate the arms and ammunition. The situation 
 was becoming critical where British interests were 
 concerned; and, in order to grapple with the 
 pressure of the moment, I was placed in direct 
 communication with Lord Monck, then Governor- 
 General of Canada. I paid a visit to Ottawa, and 
 when there, planned a system of daily communi¬ 
 cation with the Chief Commissioner of Police in 
 Canada, Judge J. G. M‘Micken, with whom, from 
 this date to the total disruption of the Fenian 
 organisation in 1870, I acted in concert and in 
 the most perfect harmony. 
 
 I cannot speak too highly of the treatment I 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 61 
 
 received at Judge M'Micken’s hands. Compara¬ 
 tively young in years as I was then, distinctly 
 youthful in Secret Service experience, I found him 
 ever ready and willing to help me, meeting me 
 at a moment’s notice, placing everything at my 
 disposal, and watching over my safety and my 
 interests with a fatherly care which I shall ever 
 recall with thoughts of the keenest apprecia¬ 
 tion. Equally pleasant and agreeable was my 
 connection with the Home Government. Many 
 changes had taken place since my visit to 
 England, and those with whom I had first had 
 communication had disappeared from this work 
 to give place to Mr. Anderson, with whom alone 
 I had to deal from this time forward. I shall 
 have a good deal to say about Mr. Anderson 
 further on, and therefore I shall only delay here 
 to repeat what I have said above, that with 
 England as with Canada my connection was of 
 the most satisfactory and pleasant character. 
 
 XL 1 
 
 It was during the autumn of 1868 that, in the 
 course of my travels on behalf of the organisa¬ 
 tion, I first met Alexander Sullivan. Alexander 
 Sullivan is a well-known man to-day, but if by 
 any chance his identity has to be marked, little 
 
62 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 else need be mentioned beyond the words, “ The 
 Cronin affair.” He was a young man then, but 
 then as now he was the same Alexander Sullivan, 
 clever, unscrupulous, careful only of himself, sub¬ 
 ordinating everything to his personal ambition, 
 using Irish politics as a stepping-stone to advance¬ 
 ment in American affairs, and reckless who or 
 what suffered if but he did succeed. 
 
 The “ Arch Fiend” of Irish American politics, 
 as he has been dubbed, and the alleged chief con¬ 
 spirator in the brutal murder of Dr. Cronin, is no 
 ordinary man ; he is an individual with a history, 
 and that not by any means a creditable one. The 
 son of a British pensioner, born in Canada some 
 forty-five years ago, he left that country under a 
 cloud, and settled down in Detroit, where he 
 started a boot-and-shoe store in the Bresler 
 Block, Michigan Avenue. On the night of the 
 12th May 1868 a fire totally destroyed his shop 
 and its contents. The occurrence had its sus¬ 
 picious features, and Sullivan was arrested on a 
 charge of arson. Although the over-insurance 
 of his goods and other questionable proceedings 
 were proved at the trial, he gained his liberty 
 through an alibi, sustained by the evidence of 
 Margaret Buchanan, a teacher in the public 
 school of Detroit, who afterwards became his 
 wife. A man, as I have said, of stirring ambi- 
 
ALEXANDER SULLIVAN 
 
» 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 6 3 
 
 tion, he had from the outset of his career 
 in Detroit taken a prominent part in political 
 affairs, and his status as an Irish leader (he was 
 then a State “Centre” for Michigan) lent his 
 position and views a certain importance. He 
 took an active part in the then pending national 
 campaign upon the side and in the interests of 
 General Grant and Schyler Colfax, who in that 
 year were nominated as the respective Republican 
 candidates for President and Vice-President of 
 the republic. 
 
 It was at this time that Sullivan commenced 
 his political tricks in the manipulation of the Irish 
 vote in American party interests, and it was in 
 consequence of his action in this respect that I 
 was first brought into contact with him. Pre¬ 
 vious to this date, the Irish vote had been almost 
 exclusively Democratic ; but, from the loud and 
 frequent complaints which reached headquarters, 
 Sullivan was found to be using his influence in 
 the organisation for political purposes, and seek¬ 
 ing to bring about a change of policy in the 
 organisation itself, which threatened a serious 
 schism amongst our members. 
 
 I was despatched by the President to Detroit 
 in order to investigate the case, and if possible 
 settle the difficulty. I found ample proof of 
 Sullivan’s guilt of the charges alleged against 
 
64 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 him, and, after repeated interviews between us, 
 he agreed that the best thing: he could do would 
 be to hand in his resignation as State “ Centre” 
 of the Brotherhood, which he accordingly did. 
 My intercourse with him at this time left no 
 doubt on my mind as to his great ability. His 
 line of defence was an exceedingly clever one, 
 and is well worth recording here, as showing how 
 in these early days Sullivan had carefully mapped 
 out his policy in regard to Irish affairs, and their 
 connection with American matters. He con¬ 
 tended that, in all he had done, he had had the 
 best interests of Ireland at heart. He did not, 
 he said, consider that the Irish people in America 
 had ever occupied the position in the body politic 
 to which they were fairly entitled. The Irish 
 vote, argued he, had been hitherto solidly cast 
 for the Democratic party. Only a division of that 
 vote would cause them to be a potent power in 
 politics. With that position and influence to 
 which they were entitled assured to them, they 
 could make terms with the American Government 
 for the cause of Ireland. 
 
 The history of the past twenty years shows 
 how cleverly Sullivan worked out these views of 
 his, and gained acceptance for them at the hands 
 of his fellow-patriots. The pity of it is, however, 
 that in the result Ireland has gained not at all,. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 65 
 
 while Irish patriots like Sullivan and Egan have 
 filled their pockets and reaped their harvests in 
 Chili and elsewhere. 
 
 Sullivan’s immediate reward was his appoint¬ 
 ment as United States Collector of Internal 
 Revenue at Santa Fe, New Mexico. His resig¬ 
 nation of his official position in the Brotherhood 
 had come too late; his work bore fruit in the 
 Presidential election, the vote was split, and so 
 he earned his wage. It is worthy of note that 
 this was the first time the Irish vote was split, 
 and that Sullivan was the primary cause of it. 
 Ever since the vote has so remained, to the 
 advantage of the Irish leaders of both sides, who, 
 in the scramble for office, barter the adhesion of 
 their followers in the public market-place. 
 
 Santa Fe, however, did not hold Sullivan long. 
 His shady methods compelled him to make an 
 inglorious exit; and so he was to be found in the 
 year 1873 working with his wife, nde Buchanan, in 
 a reporting capacity on Chicago newspapers. 
 
 Here for the present, however, I must leave 
 Sullivan. I have dealt thus fully with the man 
 at this early stage, because of the strange influ¬ 
 ence he from this time forth wielded over Irish 
 politics in America ; and in order to properly 
 represent his character, I have somewhat antici¬ 
 pated events in his life which are far ahead of the 
 
66 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 time with which I am at present dealing. I have 
 done so advisedly, for Sullivan will play a large 
 part in the chapters to which I must now pro¬ 
 ceed. Where his personality will not thrust itself 
 upon the scene, his shadow will darken every 
 act and incident. From this time onward, for a 
 period of twenty years, I used the man as my 
 dupe. Feeding his vanity, assisting his ambition, 
 helping him in the hundred and odd ways in which 
 it was possible for me to do, I gained his friend¬ 
 ship and his confidence to such an extent, that no 
 man in the whole course of my career in the Secret 
 Service proved a more valuable, albeit an uncon¬ 
 scious, ally than he. 
 
 XII. 
 
 Before continuing my narrative, I will stop to 
 relate one of the few cases in which I was forced 
 into a very narrow place, and faced with the near 
 possibility of complete exposure. The incident 
 is useful as illustrating the dangers by which I 
 was surrounded, and the requirements of the 
 position in which I was placed. At a council of 
 war held in Troy House, Troy, New York, in 
 the month of November 1868, I came in contact 
 with John Roche, well known as one of the 
 shining lights of Irish nationality in that city. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 67 
 
 Roche was one of those hypercritical and over- 
 suspicious individuals who were constantly recog¬ 
 nising British detectives in every stranger whom 
 they met. He had been, I discovered, originally 
 a resident of Montreal, and as I had been in¬ 
 structed by O’Neill to visit and study the enemy’s 
 country, I indicated to Roche my desire of ascer¬ 
 taining the names of a few reliable brothers whom 
 I could visit. The truth was that the Canadian 
 Government were at this time particularly anxious 
 to find out the extent of the organisation which 
 they knew existed in several of their large cities, 
 notably Montreal, Kingstown, and Toronto ; and 
 I thought this a good opportunity of getting 
 some useful hints. 
 
 Roche furnished me with the names of several 
 leading members. Unluckily for me, I foolishly 
 wrote the particulars down in a note-book in 
 his presence. The act, in his opinion, was a 
 suspicious one. He watched me closely, and 
 evidently conceived the idea that my patriotism 
 was of a very incautious character, if not worse. 
 On the eighth of the following month, at the 
 Annual Convention held in the Masonic Hall, 
 Philadelphia, to which he was a delegate, I 
 found his suspicions solidified in the form of a 
 set of charges against me, imputing carelessness, 
 dangerous conduct, and suspicious acts. My 
 
68 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 friends, and they were legion, together with 
 myself, indignantly denied the allegations, and 
 virtuously demanded an inquiry, which was 
 granted, and a committee was appointed to lay 
 the charges. Roche was duly heard, injured 
 innocence was largely en evidence on my part, 
 and very quickly a unanimous verdict was re¬ 
 ported back to the Convention, asserting that 
 the charges were scandalous and without the 
 slightest foundation, it being fully demonstrated 
 by the following letter that I was authorised to 
 visit and acquaint myself with the other side, as 
 I represented to Roche :— 
 
 “Head-Quarters Fenian Brotherhood, 
 
 “ No. io West Fourth Street, 
 
 “ New York, October 23, 1868. 
 
 “ P. O. Box 5141. 
 
 “ Henry le Caron, 
 
 “ Care of Capt. T. O’Hagan, 
 
 “ Ogdensburg, N.Y. 
 
 “Dear Sir and Brother, —Yours of the 20th and 21st 
 came duly to hand and are perfectly satisfactory. 
 
 “ I think it better not to commence equalising goods just 
 yet; I will write you again on the matter. 
 
 “ It would be highly beneficial to us for you to avail your¬ 
 self of every opportunity to study the country on both sides 
 of the line for future emergencies. 
 
 “ Everything here is going on satisfactorily. 
 
 “ Yours fraternally, 
 
 “John O’Neill, 
 
 “ Pres. F.B.” 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 69 
 
 I did not, however, deem it prudent to let 
 matters rest even here, feeling that my ultimate 
 success in the interests of the Government 
 depended upon absolute confidence on the part of 
 the ruling powers. Accordingly I sat down and 
 immediately wrote out my resignation as an officer 
 of the Irish Republican Army, giving this want 
 of confidence as my reason, and couching my 
 letter in indignant terms. As I hoped and anti¬ 
 cipated, my letter brought the following welcome 
 response, which placed me on a surer footing than 
 ever, and brought me into even more confidential 
 relations with the head of the organisation than I 
 had hitherto enjoyed :— 
 
 “War Department, Fenian Brotherhood, 
 “No. 10 West Fourth Street, 
 
 “New York, December 29, 186S. 
 
 “ P. O. Box 5141, 
 
 “Major H. le Caron, 
 
 “ Box 1004, 
 
 “ Chicago, III. 
 
 “Major, —Your letter tendering your resignation as an 
 officer of the I.R.A. came duly to hand, but I delayed answer¬ 
 ing until such time as I could submit it to the President, who 
 was out of town, as without his instructions I could give you 
 nothing definite in reply. He now directs me to say that it is 
 his wish you should remain an officer of the organisation, 
 and that if you require a leave of absence for a month or 
 more, you can have it. He further says he hopes it will not 
 be long before the opportunity you refer to may be granted. 
 Your services have been thoroughly appreciated both by him 
 and the officials of both Departments, civil and military, there- 
 
7 ° 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 fore you should not notice the inuendoes or taunts of parties 
 who cannot value your services. If the officers of the organisa¬ 
 tion who have been vilified and calumniated were to resign 
 on that account, some of its best officers would not now be at 
 their post. The ‘Patriot’s meed is bitter;’ they must bear 
 with much, even from those who should be the first to defend 
 and sustain them. 
 
 “ Personally, I would advise you to act on the suggestions 
 of the President, and hope you will. 
 
 “The President will write you in a few days. Whatever 
 course you may decide upon pursuing in this matter, you shall 
 always carry with you the best wishes of 
 
 “Your friend and brother, 
 
 “J. Whitehead Byron, 
 
 “ Col. &= A.A.G., F.BA 
 
 I got thus safely out of my awkward position, 
 and learnt one good lesson. I never kept a 
 pocket-book again. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 The Annual Convention to which I have made 
 reference in connection with the Roche incident 
 took place in Philadelphia, “ the city of brotherly 
 love,” in the month of December 1868. It was 
 made the occasion of an immense demonstration, 
 no less than 6000 armed and uniformed Fenian 
 soldiers parading the streets. The convention 
 itself was numerically a large one, and was at¬ 
 tended by over 400 properly qualified delegates. 
 The proceedings were of the usual kind. Brag 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 7 i 
 
 and bluster were the order of the day. The deter¬ 
 mination to invade Canada once more was still 
 upheld by the vote of the assembly, and the 
 position of O’Neill and his colleagues was as 
 fixed and satisfactory as ever—that of myself, of 
 course, being included in this reference. 
 
 The report of the envoy to the sister organisa¬ 
 tion in Ireland—Daniel Sullivan, Secretary of 
 Civil Affairs—was an interesting document, and 
 contained full details of the Clerkenwell Explosion 
 of the previous year. This was the attempt to 
 blow up Clerkenwell Prison which Mr. Parnell 
 subsequently described in reply to Mr. Gladstone 
 —the old Mr. Gladstone, I mean, not the new- 
 one—as “a practical joke.” It was, however, as 
 we in Philadelphia were to learn, anything but a 
 practical joke. It was rather as cool and carefully 
 planned a scheme as ever Fenianism indulged in 
 to spite the British Government. If the attempt 
 failed to accomplish all that was expected of it, it 
 was yet very fruitful in drawing from Mr. Glad¬ 
 stone a confession about its effect being “ to bring 
 the Irish question within the range of practical 
 politics,” which has ever since proved the most 
 effective and popular argument advanced on 
 behalf of dynamite in the United States. 
 
 About this time, John Boyle O’Reilly, a very 
 well-known Irishman, late editor of the Boston 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 Pilot , a poet and novelist, and author of a 
 delightfully written novel, “ Moondyne,” the 
 material for which was obtained during his con¬ 
 finement in Australia as a Fenian prisoner, first 
 arrived in New York, having succeeded in 
 making his escape from the convict settlement at 
 Freemantle. With his appearance came the idea 
 of rescuing his fellow-prisoners. The proposal, 
 first mooted in uncertainty, was eventually taken 
 up with the greatest enthusiasm, and carried to 
 a most successful conclusion. For the purpose a 
 whaler was chartered by the organisation and 
 fitted out at New Bedford, Massachusetts, with 
 the ostensible object of whaling in the South 
 Seas, but, in reality, for bringing the convicts off 
 from Australia. The boat was partially manned 
 by trusted men of the organisation, though, to 
 keep up the deception, a certain number of well- 
 known whalers’ men went to make up the crew. 
 On arrival at Australia, some of the most trusted 
 Fenians were landed with instructions to open up 
 communication with the convicts, while the vessel 
 cruised about on the high seas. It was not 
 anticipated that the task set the men left on shore 
 would be a difficult one, because the convicts 
 were hired out as labourers during the day, and 
 communication with them was not by any means 
 a trying matter. As affairs turned out, it was 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 73 
 
 quite easy. The men from the whaler, however, 
 had not been landed more than a day or two, when 
 they found that they were not the only persons 
 arranging the convicts’ rescue. Two men— 
 McCarthy and Gray—were already at work in this 
 direction, having been sent out by the Supreme 
 Council of the Fenian Brotherhood in Ireland, at 
 the instigation, as he claimed to me subsequently, 
 of Patrick Egan. McCarthy and Gray had, it 
 appeared, already established communications 
 with the convicts; and so, in order to expedite 
 matters, the two sections of rescuers joined forces. 
 On a given day, the plot was carried to a success¬ 
 ful termination, and the rescued men were placed 
 on board the whaler, which immediately set out 
 for the States. Although an armed cruiser was 
 immediately despatched to stop it, and some firing 
 took place, the whaler succeeded in getting out of 
 Australian waters and on the high seas in safety. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 The year 1869 saw O’Neill still at the helm of 
 Fenian affairs, and large sums of money rolling in 
 to the coffers of the organisation ; although, as 
 always the case with Irish movements, dissensions 
 reigned within the ranks. The Stephens section, 
 now presided over by John Savage, who had 
 
74 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 succeeded John O’Mahony, was constantly 
 attacking the Senate wing, and many and bitter 
 were the feuds which raged. In my position as 
 Inspector-General of the Irish Republican Army, 
 I was fully engaged in my old work of inspecting 
 the companies, and directing the location of arms 
 along the Canadian country for coming active 
 operations. In this way I distributed fifteen 
 thousand stands of arms and almost three million 
 rounds of ammunition in the care of the many 
 trusted men stationed between Ogdensburg and 
 St. Albans. Some thousands of these guns were 
 breech-loaders, which had been re-modelled from 
 United States Government “ Springfields ” at 
 the arms factory, leased, and “ run ” by the 
 organisation at Trenton, New Jersey. The depot 
 from which the bulk were packed and shipped 
 was “Quinn and Nolan’s” of Albany. Quinn 
 was a United States Congressman and Senator of 
 the Fenian Brotherhood ; and Nolan, that very 
 Mayor Nolan so prominently mentioned by Mr. 
 Parnell in his evidence as one of the eminently 
 conservative (!) gentlemen who received him in 
 America. Constantly the recipient of compli¬ 
 ments for the admirable way in which I discharged 
 my duty, I was now promoted to the office of 
 Assistant Adjutant-General, with the rank of 
 Colonel ; and my new position enabled me not 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 75 
 
 only to become possessed of the originals of every 
 document, plan of proposed campaign, &c., but also 
 specimens of the Fenian army commissions and 
 uniforms of the time, which of course I conveyed 
 to the officials of the Canadian Government. 
 
 Successful as I was in evading detection 
 through all this work, those assisting me in 
 my Secret Service capacity were not always 
 destined to share in my good luck. This was 
 particularly the case on one occasion. I was 
 at the time shipping arms at Malone, N.Y., and 
 attended, on behalf of the Canadian Govern¬ 
 ment, by one of the staff of men placed at my 
 disposal for the purposes of immediate communi¬ 
 cation and the transit of any documents requiring 
 secrecy and despatch, as well as for personal 
 protection, should such prove necessary. This 
 man, John C. Rose, was one of the most faithful 
 and trusted servants of the Canadian administra¬ 
 tion, and for months he followed me along the 
 whole border. Though stopping at the same 
 hotels, and in constant communication with me, 
 no suspicion was aroused, until his identity was 
 disclosed by a visitor from the seat of Govern¬ 
 ment at Ottawa to'G. J. Mannix, the head-centre 
 of that Gibraltar of Fenianism, Malone. Men were 
 immediately set to watch him without my know¬ 
 ledge, and the fact of his being found always in 
 
7 6 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 my wake on my visits to and return from several 
 towns led to the belief that he was spying upon 
 my actions. A few nights after this belief had 
 been formed, poor Rose, on his return from send¬ 
 ing a despatch from the post-office, was waylaid, 
 robbed, and brutally beaten, and subsequently 
 brought back to the hotel in as sorry a plight as 
 I ever saw. I was immediately advised by my 
 Fenian friends as to the dangerous character of 
 this mutual enemy of ours, as he was termed ; and 
 though shocked and embittered by the treatment 
 accorded to the poor devoted fellow, I had, for 
 politic reasons, to applaud their cowardly assault, 
 and to denounce my brave friend, who was bear¬ 
 ing all his sufferings in silence and with a splendid 
 spirit. For months poor Rose was quite pros¬ 
 trated, and through this act of my brother Fenians, 
 I was deprived of the services and co-operation of 
 as faithful and capable an ally as ever was given me. 
 
 In the winter of 1869, the Fenian Senate an¬ 
 nounced the completion of the arrangements for 
 the invasion ; and in the month of December the 
 Ninth Annual Convention was called in New 
 York. In connection with this convention, I 
 was called upon to perform a little act which 
 served to more closely knit the bonds of friend¬ 
 ship between O’Neill and myself, and, if possible, 
 to obtain for me an even larger share of his con- 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 77 
 
 fidence than I had . hitherto enjoyed. O’Neill, as 
 was customary in Irish revolutionary circles, had, 
 in his capacity of leader, been making free with 
 the funds of the organisation. In a word, he 
 had been spending for personal purposes monies 
 received from the circles or camps. Professor 
 Brophy, the Treasurer, one of the few honest 
 deluded Irish patriots of the time, refused to cook 
 the accounts in order to cover the President’s 
 delinquencies. The books had to be submitted 
 to the Convention, and O’Neill was in a frightful 
 difficulty. In his embarrassment he came to me, 
 and, to my surprise, made a clean breast of the 
 whole matter. The opportunity was too good a 
 one to be lost. I advanced the money, and took 
 his note of hand, thus saving his reputation before 
 the Convention. 
 
 Need I say that money was never repiid me. 
 Surely not! The only memento which I have of 
 my dollars is O’Neill’s note of hand, which, as a 
 curiosity, I have preserved to this date. It is 
 certainly an interesting document, so I give it 
 here. 
 
 “New York, April 19, 1S70. 
 
 “$364, 41/100. 
 
 “ Received from Colonel H. le Caron, three hundred and 
 sixty-four dollars and 41/100, borrowed money, to be returned 
 whenever demanded. 
 
 “John O’Neill. 
 
 “.Pres. FJB." - 
 
78 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 A council of war followed, and all was now 
 activity. In view of active operations in Canada, 
 all monies were called in, and orders were issued 
 from head-quarters to have in readiness all the 
 military organisations. The final order was issued 
 in April as follows :— 
 
 “ P.O. Box 5141. 
 
 “ Head-Quarters Fenian Brotherhood, 
 
 “ No. 10 West Fourth Street, 
 
 “New York, February 10, 1870. 
 
 “ To the Military Officers of the Fenian Brotherhood. 
 
 “Brothers, —You have, no doubt, ere this received general 
 orders No. 1 from General Michael Kerwin, Secretary of War, 
 F.B. (head-quarters, No. 50 North 12th Street, Philadelphia, 
 Penna). A strict compliance until the requirements thereof is 
 hereby imperatively demanded. The success or failure of our 
 holy cause now depends upon the prompt and energetic per¬ 
 formance of the duties incumbent upon each and all of us, 
 and upon none does the responsibility rest so heavily as upon 
 the military officers of the F.B. 
 
 “ Brothers, if you be so situated that business or family 
 duties will prevent you from getting your commands in readi¬ 
 ness for active and immediate service , you will please forward 
 your resignations to the Secretary of War at once , and at the 
 same time send on the names of persons suitable to take your 
 places. If you are thoroughly in earnest, you will not hesitate 
 to give your assistance to those who may be appointed to fill 
 the vacancies created by your voluntary withdrawal from the 
 positions to which you have been commissioned. 
 
 “Your duty, if circumstances permit, will be to get your men 
 in readiness at the earliest practicable moment. If you should 
 resign, this duty will devolve upon your successors. If there 
 are any arms, ammunition, or military clothing within your 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 79 
 
 knowledge which can be forwarded to certain points, to be 
 named hereafter, so inform the Secretary of War, whom you 
 will address in reply to this circular, and he will, on receipt of 
 your communications, forward private instructions with regard 
 to your respective commands. 
 
 “Pay no attention to what may appear upon the surface or 
 in newspapers. We mean fight—speedy fight —and tiothing 
 else , thigin thu ? * 
 
 “ Officers receiving copies of Military Oath with this circular 
 will sign the same in presence of witness, and return to the 
 Secretary of War. 
 
 “ Ascertain and report how many of your men can and will 
 furnish their own transportation, and in the meantime try and 
 persuade all of them to save enough for that purpose. Military 
 men should not forget that the civic circles have supplied the 
 means wherewith to provide breech-loaders, ammunition, <Scc. 
 &c. Their liberality in these regards will, to a limited extent, 
 relieve them from the responsibility of advancing the means of 
 transportation. They will not, however, hesitate to co-operate 
 with the military branch of the F.B. in this matter. 
 
 “ Preserve the utmost secrecy with regard to this circular, and 
 reply at once. Delay, and you are guilty of neglect of duty ! 
 
 “Yours fraternally, 
 
 “John O’Neill, 
 
 “ President Fenian Brotherhood . 
 
 “Head-Quarters, War Department, F.B., 
 
 “ Deckertown, Sussex County, N.J., 
 '•'■April 28, 1870. 
 
 “ General Orders. 
 
 “No. 
 
 “ Commanding officers of regiments, companies, and detach¬ 
 ments will hold their respective commands in readiness to 
 move at a moment’s notice. 
 
 The Irish for “ Do you understand ? ” 
 
So 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 “ Officers of circles having no military organisations attached 
 will immediately take the necessary steps to organise the military 
 of their neighbourhoods, and forward to this office the names 
 of officers selected, so that they may be commissioned. 
 
 “ Commanding officers of companies will get as many men as 
 possible ready to move at once, leaving to the civic officers the 
 task of collecting and forwarding—if possible within twenty- 
 four hours thereafter—those who may not be able to move with 
 the first detachments. 
 
 “ Officers and men must avoid the use of uniforms or any 
 insignia that would distinguish them. 
 
 “ Officers must not be recognised by military titles, and 
 officers or men must not speak of Fenian matters while eti 
 route. 
 
 “ Take no man who is a loafer or a habitual drunkard. 
 
 “ Take no man who has not seen service, or who has not 
 sufficient character to ensure his good behaviour en route and 
 in presence of the enemy. 
 
 “ Any arms, uniforms, or war material remaining in the hands 
 of circles must be immediately packed and forwarded to the 
 points designated in circular of February 19, 1870. 
 
 “ Hold no communications with any person not authorised 
 from these head-quarters. All letters relating to military 
 matters must be addressed to M. Kerwin, Deckertown, Sussex 
 County, New Jersey. 
 
 “ Let no consideration prevent a prompt compliance with 
 this order. 
 
 “ M. Kerwin, 
 
 ‘ ! Brig. - Gen. and Sec. of War. 
 
 “ Approved, 
 
 “John O’Neill, 
 
 1 ‘ President Fenian Brotherhood. 
 
 h H. le Caron, 
 
 “ Col . and Adj .- General ." 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 Si 
 
 XV. 
 
 At this time I was out West, and receiving a 
 telegram from O’Neill, directing me to meet him 
 in Buffalo, I hurried thither without delay. I 
 reached that city only to find that O’Neill had 
 ordered an immediate movement on Canada, and 
 that, as he phrased it, “ no power on earth could 
 stop it.” This condition of things startled and 
 surprised me. His determination in the way of 
 immediate action was opposed to the decision of 
 the last council of war, and my chiefs in Canada 
 would, I feared, be quite unprepared. I at once 
 telegraphed the authorities at Ottawa, and was 
 soon in personal communication with their trusted 
 agents in Buffalo. Fortunately, as matters turned 
 out, the plan of action was the same as decided 
 upon at the last council of war, the full details 
 of which the authorities possessed ; and so the 
 situation was not so complex as I had at first 
 feared. 
 
 The next few days were busy ones. All mili¬ 
 tary commanders were ordered to report at given 
 points with their commands ; instructions were 
 issued for the placement of arms by the following 
 Tuesday, at rendezvous near the line at Franklin 
 and Malone, and I was appointed Adjutant- 
 
S2 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 General with the rank of Brigadier-General. We 
 had quick promotion and brave ranks in the 
 Fenian army ! 
 
 On Saturday, April 22, 1870, O’Neill and I 
 left Buffalo for St. Albans, he full of enthusiasm 
 and the belief that the Canadians would be taken 
 entirely by surprise, I laughing to myself at his 
 coming discomfiture. We arrived at Milton, Ver- 
 mont, at daylight on the following morning, to find 
 that everything was proceeding most satisfactorily. 
 Prompt action had been taken by those in charge 
 of the munitions of war, and by the following 
 Tuesday morning sufficient war material for our 
 army was ready at the appointed places. 
 
 This second and last invasion of Canada differed 
 in many respects from that of 1866. Then the 
 raid was loudly advertised for months before it 
 actually took place. This time everything was 
 different. Secrecy (as it was supposed) covered 
 every move and intention. Had not the Cana¬ 
 dian authorities been fully advised, the results, 
 under the circumstances, would have been un¬ 
 doubtedly serious. There was another important 
 feature about this second raid, and that was its 
 preparedness. Matters in connection with the 
 first affair had been of a very happy-go-lucky 
 character. Now the services of a number of 
 ex-military men of undoubted ability had been 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 secured, and war material for at least twelve 
 thousand men was actually on the ground. 
 
 O’Neill’s ideas may be set forth in very few 
 words. The chief object he had in view was to 
 obtain possession of Canada, not as the per¬ 
 manent seat of an Irish republic, but as the 
 only vulnerable point of attack—the base for 
 operations against England. His theory was 
 that the Fenians needed the ports and shipyards 
 of the Dominion from which they could despatch 
 privateers to prey upon English shipping. By 
 the possession of territory he anticipated they 
 could claim and obtain the rights of belligerents 
 from the United States. In this event he held 
 the promise of many men, eminent on the side of 
 both North and South during the War of Rebel- 
 lion, to enroll themselves under the Irish banner, 
 and to command expeditions which it was fondly 
 hoped and expected would wrest Ireland from 
 the hands of the oppressor. 
 
 His plan was to get across the boundary line 
 without delay, and then to intrench himself at 
 a point where his small contingent would form 
 the nucleus round which a large army and un¬ 
 limited support would rally from the United 
 States. Buffalo, Malone, and Franklin were the 
 three points from which attacks were to be made 
 However, “ the best laid schemes of mice and 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 S 4 
 
 men gang aft aglee.” O’Neill expected 1000 
 men to meet him at Franklin on the nieht of 
 Tuesday, April 25, 1870. The history of 1866 
 repeated itself. As was the case then, so now, 
 only a quarter of the number presented them¬ 
 selves. By the following morning only 500 
 had mustered. Every hour’s delay added to the 
 danger of failure and collapse ; and so he feared 
 to postpone the arrangements any longer. I 
 viewed the situation with a good deal of equa¬ 
 nimity, for on the previous night all my trusty 
 messengers had departed, carrying full details 
 as to the time, exact points of crossing, numbers, 
 place of operations, &c., to the enemy’s lines. 
 
 At eleven o’clock on Wednesday, O’Neill left 
 the Franklin Hotel to place himself at the head 
 of the Fenian army, not without hope and con¬ 
 fidence, yet struggling with the disappointing fact 
 that one-half his men had not arrived. His 
 chief anxiety appeared to be that the Canadians 
 would not ofive him a chance to fioTt. He mis- 
 apprehended the situation on this score, however, 
 as subsequent events showed. 
 
 Hubbard’s Farm, the Fenian camp and rendez¬ 
 vous, was situated about half a mile from Franklin, 
 and here all the available “invaders” were mus¬ 
 tered. Arranging them in line, O’Neill addressed 
 them as follows :— 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 85 
 
 “Soldiers, this is the advance-guard of the Irish- 
 American army for the liberation of Ireland from 
 the yoke of the oppressor. For your own country 
 you enter that of the enemy. The eyes of your 
 countrymen are upon you. Forward. March.” 
 
 And march they did, O’Neill, as he departed 
 at their head, instructing me to bring to his 
 support on their arrival a party of 400 men then 
 en route from St. Albans. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 Careless of consequences, I waited to see what 
 would happen. As I stood on the brow of the 
 hill where our company was situated, the scene 
 was indeed worthy of my study. Ludicrous as 
 were many of the elements which went to make 
 it up, the charm of nature was superior to them 
 all, and commanded my tribute of respect and’ 
 admiration. Right below me was a pretty valley, 
 down the very centre of which flowed a little 
 creek marking the boundary of Canadian territory, 
 and dividing by its narrow course the Canadian 
 from American soil. A soft pleasant sward sloped 
 gracefully down from where I stood to its bank, 
 while on the other side there rose in graceful 
 outlines the monarchs of a Canadian forest, 
 overtopped by a rocky cliff standing out in bold 
 
S 6 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 and picturesque relief. The soft sweet breezes 
 of the spring morning played upon our faces, 
 while the brilliant sunlight sent its rays flashing 
 upon our bayonets, and dancing on the waters 
 underneath. 
 
 Nature was in her very best and sweetest mood, 
 and yet little room for appreciation of her charms 
 existed in the breasts of those who, sweeping 
 down the valley’s side beneath me, were seeking, 
 in their own foolish way, to make “ Ireland a 
 nation once again.” They were a funny crowd. 
 All were armed, but few were uniformed. Here 
 and there a Fenian coat, with its green and grey 
 faced with gold, caught the eye, but only to stand 
 out in contrast with the surrounding garments of 
 more sombre hue and everyday appearance. The 
 men marched with a certain amount of military 
 precision, for all had received some degree of 
 military training. At last they reached the little 
 wooden bridge by which the water was crossed, 
 and deploying as skirmishers in close order, they 
 advanced with fixed bayonets, cheering wildly. 
 Not a soul appeared in front. The dark Canadian 
 trees hid from their view the ambushed Canadian 
 volunteers; and, fixed in their belief that nothing 
 was known of their coming, they advanced in a 
 spirit of effervescent enthusiasm. But not very 
 far, however. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 87 
 
 A few paces, and on their startled ears came 
 the ringing ping, ping, of the ambushed rides, as 
 the Canadians poured a deadly volley straight into 
 their ranks. Utterly taken aback, they stopped, 
 broke rank, and ded as in 1866, an ungovernable 
 mob, to return for a moment in order to pour a 
 volley on their almost invisible enemy, and to 
 dnally retreat up the hill to where I stood, still 
 under the fire of their adversaries, leaving their 
 dead to be subsequently buried by the Cana¬ 
 dians. 
 
 On the slope of the hill was a large structure 
 known as Richard’s Farm, to which the invaders 
 retreated and continued their firing, ineffective as 
 it was. 
 
 Seeing that all was over here, for a time at 
 least, I hurried off to the point where the St. 
 Albans contingent had by now arrived, and were 
 arming. The process took some time, and while 
 engaged in superintending it, I was afforded prac¬ 
 tical evidence of the termination of O’Neill’s part 
 in the fight. Standing in the middle of the public 
 road where the men were forming into line—it 
 was now half-past one, the “battle” which I have 
 just described having taken place about 11.30—I 
 was startled by the cry, “ Clear the road, clear the 
 road! ” and almost knocked down by a furiously 
 driven team of horses, to which was attached a 
 
88 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 covered carriage. As the conveyance flashed 
 by me, I caught through the carriage window a 
 hurried glimpse of the dejected face of O’Neill, 
 who was seated between two men. I understood 
 the situation in a moment, but said nothing. 
 To have given the command to shoot the horses 
 as they turned an adjacent corner would have 
 been the work of an instant, but it was no part 
 of my purpose to restore O’Neill to his com¬ 
 mand. I learned subsequently that O’Neill was 
 in the custody of the United States marshal, 
 General Foster, who, acting with that preci¬ 
 sion so peculiar to General Grant’s administra¬ 
 tion, when contrasted with that of Andrew John¬ 
 son’s, had, in consequence of the information 
 furnished, arrived on the scene of the battle 
 immediately after I left, and arrested O’Neill 
 for a breach of the Neutrality Laws. O’Neill, 
 who was in the company of his comrades, had 
 at first refused submission, and threatened force, 
 but on General Foster placing a revolver at his 
 head, he gave in. 
 
 When the news of O’Neill’s arrest reached us 
 later on in the afternoon, a council of war was held, 
 presided over by John Boyle O’Reilly, of whom 
 I have already spoken, the council being held in 
 a meadow, where we all stood in a circle. Con¬ 
 tingents were hourly arriving, and a strong attempt 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 89 
 
 was made to get Boyle O’Reilly to take command, 
 and lead the attack at some other point, but in the 
 end nothing was done. 
 
 Next morning, General Spear, the Secretary 
 of War of the Fenian Brotherhood, arrived at St. 
 Albans, and sought to do something practical in 
 the way of continuing the invasion. Through his 
 aide-de-camp , Colonel Brown, and subsequently in 
 person, he appealed to me to supply him with 
 400 or 500 stands of arms and ammunition within 
 twenty-four hours. Of course, it would never 
 have done for me to have allowed further opera¬ 
 tions, and so I pleaded it was impossible under the 
 condition of affairs then developed. Thousands 
 of Canadian troops had arrived on the border, 
 and the arms being located in places difficult to 
 get at, they were out of reach for the moment. 
 Luckily for me, the appearance of United States 
 troops in the vicinity put any further attempt at 
 war operations out of the question, for in order to 
 avoid arrest for breach of the Neutrality Laws, 
 the Fenians had to disappear with alacrity. I 
 left this point with the rest of them, and 
 hurrying to Malone, another of the places 
 where rendezvous had been arranged, I found a 
 similar state of things prevailing here, although 
 the arrest of O’Neill, and the unexpected appear¬ 
 ance of the United States troops, filled the in- 
 
9° 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 vaders with dismay, and utter demoralisation was 
 the result. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 On Friday, April 27th, under the excuse that I 
 was going to Burlington to see about O’Neill, I 
 went round by way of Rouses Point to Montreal. 
 I was elated with my success, and wanted to 
 report myself at head-quarters without delay. It 
 would not, however, have been safe for me to 
 have gone direct to Ottawa, and so I travelled 
 in a roundabout way. On the Friday night I 
 stopped with Judge Counsel, the Commissioner of 
 the Quebec police, and the following morning took 
 train to Ottawa. Before my journey concluded, 
 I found I had been altogether too premature 
 in my self-congratulations. In fact, that jour¬ 
 ney brought me even closer to discovery than 
 I had ever been before. 
 
 Nothing unusual happened till we got to Corn¬ 
 wall, where there was the usual half-hour’s delay 
 for dinner. Taking full advantage of it, I was 
 enjoying a hearty meal, when both my meal and 
 peace of mind were disturbed by an unlooked-for 
 incident. Struck by an unusual commotion at the 
 door of the dining-room, I looked round to find 
 advancing towards me two men, one remarkable 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 9» 
 
 for his tall military appearance, and the other for 
 his clerical attire. All eyes were turned upon 
 them, and as I ceased eating for the moment to 
 look up, I heard the clerical-looking person say, 
 as he pointed his finger towards me, “ That is the 
 man.” Advancing, the tall man, who subsequently 
 turned out to be the mayor of Cornwall, speaking 
 with a Scotch accent, said, “ You are my prisoner,” 
 accompanying the words with a grasp of my 
 shoulder. I imagined there was some mistake, 
 and laughed as I turned to resume my dinner, 
 asking at the same time what was the matter. 
 Not a movement, however, disturbed the solidity 
 of my Scotch friend’s face as he solemnly repeated 
 the words, “You are my prisoner,” adding, “you 
 must come with me at once.” 
 
 As I learned subsequently, the priestly looking 
 person was a wandering preacher, who had hap¬ 
 pened to be in the vicinity of Malone when I was 
 locating arms there, and I had been pointed out 
 to him then as the leading Fenian agent. His 
 memory was a very good one, and he immediately 
 recognised me when we met again. 
 
 Matters were beginning to look serious; but 
 still I could not comprehend what all this meant, 
 and being still hungry I said, “ But won’t you let 
 me finish my dinner?” “No,” was the sharp 
 reply; “come.” “For what reason?” quoth I, 
 
92 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 indignantly. “ Why am I arrested?” “You are 
 a Fenian,” came the reply, the words falling 
 clearly and distinctly on the hushed room, where 
 those present began to show signs of anger and 
 indignation towards me. I hurried out with my 
 captors, and was taken to a room adjoining the 
 ticket-office, there to have demanded of me my 
 luggage and my keys, with everything on my 
 person. I had no luggage save a hand-bag, yet 
 I had with me documents which would reveal 
 everything, if made public. My position was 
 dangerous—distinctly dangerous. The prospect 
 before me was that of disclosure and imprison¬ 
 ment amongst a strange people, where I had no 
 friend. Prompt action was called for, and so I asked 
 the mayor fora few minutes’private conversation. 
 Suspicious, and yet curious, he brought me into 
 the ticket-office, where we were left alone. Here 
 I told him the exact situation. It was true, I 
 said, that I was a Fenian, but also a Govern¬ 
 ment agent. I was even then on my way to 
 Ottawa to see Judge M‘Micken. To delay or 
 expose me would mean serious difficulty for the 
 Government. Let him send me on to Ottawa 
 under guard, if he liked, and then he would 
 prove my statements true. Did he want im¬ 
 mediate proof, then here were my papers, and 
 there a telegram to Judge M'Micken, advis- 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 93 
 
 mg him of my coming, which he himself would 
 despatch. 
 
 My manner must have impressed him, for he 
 decided to adopt my suggestion, and send me on 
 by the same train in which I had been travelling 
 (which had not yet gone, all this occupying but a 
 few minutes), under the escort of a lieutenant who, 
 with his Canadian regiment, was then returning 
 from the scene of the invasion. The details of 
 my arrest as a Fenian quickly spread amongst 
 my fellow-passengers, and travelled before me on 
 the route, and the reception I met with along my 
 journey was most disagreeable. For safety’s sake, 
 the lieutenant transferred me to the care of a 
 sergeant and couple of soldiers, and the carriage 
 in which we travelled was the sole point of attrac¬ 
 tion in the train. Crowding round this carriage, 
 the infuriated Canadians would hiss and hoot me, 
 while their cries of “ Hang him,” “ Lynch him,” 
 gave me a very uncomfortable idea of what would 
 happen to me if left alone amongst them. So 
 careful were my guardians of me, that they would 
 not even allow me to have the window raised, so 
 that I might smoke, fearing that in some way I 
 might take advantage of the open window to 
 escape. This was really a serious grievance with 
 me, for they could not possibly have inflicted a 
 greater deprivation than that in the matter of 
 
94 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 smoking. All through my life, even down to the 
 present time, I have been a great smoker, some¬ 
 times consuming as many as sixteen cigars in the 
 day, a statement which will probably puzzle some 
 people who hold that tobacco ruins the nerves. 
 
 On reaching Prescott Junction, I found that the 
 news of my capture—of course my name and rank 
 never transpired—had created such a sensation that 
 a special correspondent of the Toronto Globe had 
 travelled to meet me, in order to find out who and 
 what I was, and everything about me. He was 
 doomed to be disappointed, however, for I could 
 not be got to speak. When, eventually, we 
 arrived at Ottawa, I found my telegram to Judge 
 M'Micken had brought his representative to the 
 station, and by him, myself and my guards were 
 immediately conveyed to the police-office, where 
 the Commissioner was awaiting us. Pretty cer¬ 
 tain of my safety now, I was quite prepared to 
 smile, and really did laugh when brought into 
 the presence of my friend the judge. Not so 
 he, however. With proverbial soberness and 
 solemnity he heard the details of my capture, 
 received possession of my person, and gave a 
 formal receipt for my custody. Armed with this, 
 my guardians left, and then the old man’s genial 
 kindly nature asserted itself. By his instructions 
 I remained in his office till nightfall, when, in a 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 95 
 
 cab under cover of the darkness, I accompanied 
 him to the club to take up my quarters there for 
 the night. 
 
 In the club the Fenian prisoner of a few hours 
 previously was made a most welcome guest, and 
 had an exceedingly good time. My identity being 
 known to some of the officers who crowded the 
 club-house after their return from Franklin, I 
 found myself quite the hero of the hour, and had 
 most interesting chats over the experiences of the 
 raid on both sides of the fight. Amongst the 
 pleasant people whose acquaintance I then made 
 was Dr. Grant, the physician to Prince Arthur, 
 who was in Ottawa at that time. 
 
 With the following day came arrangements for 
 my departure for home, and it was decided that, 
 in order to avoid travelling over the same line 
 again, I should be driven during the night to Ann 
 Prior terminus—a distance of some forty miles 
 from Ottawa—from which place I could take a 
 branch line to my destination. Fortunate though 
 I thought myself, my troubles were not at an end. 
 This trip of mine to Ottawa was a chapter of 
 misfortunes. As I was on the point of starting, 
 I discovered that I had not sufficient money to 
 bring me home. Accordingly, Judge M'Micken 
 had to supply me with the needful funds. This, 
 however, did not prove by any means an easy 
 
9 6 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 thing to do. A cheque was duly drawn, but of 
 course I could not cash it, and the judge had to 
 have recourse to a friend. The amount was a 
 large one—three hundred and fifty dollars—and 
 it was beyond the resources of the club at the 
 moment. The services of the club porter there¬ 
 fore had to be utilised for the purpose of obtaining 
 the money. Here, unknown to us, seed was being 
 sown which was to bear evil fruit. The porter 
 knew, of course, that I was the Fenian prisoner, 
 although nothing more ; and, gossip that he was, 
 he let out the secret a little later. It became 
 public property; and the Canadian press published 
 the fact that an important Fenian had been in 
 Ottawa immediately after the raid, and received a 
 very large sum of money from the Government 
 official with whom he was in communication, adding 
 that the Fenians must have been nicely duped all 
 through. This was bringing danger very, very 
 near to me again; yet, marvellous to relate, 
 suspicion never rested upon me in connection 
 with the paragraph. I drove from Ottawa in the 
 night, got safely home, and was never troubled 
 further by my eventful visit. But, for a long 
 time, I treasured very unchristian-like feelings 
 towards that porter. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 97 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 With the fiasco at Pigeon Hill, and the equally 
 inglorious termination of the musters at other 
 points of the Canadian border, there died out 
 altogether the idea of attacking and seizing any 
 portion of Canada. O’Neill, after some confine¬ 
 ment, was brought to trial, and sentenced to six 
 months’ imprisonment, and the Fenian organisa¬ 
 tion literally went to pieces for the time. I had 
 no thought of its ever reviving again, and so 
 turned my attention once more to my medical 
 work, which I had had to completely neglect 
 from the time of my leaving Joliet and attaching 
 myself to O’Neill’s staff. 
 
 I had scarcely resumed my studies, however, 
 when a visit from O’Neill on his release showed 
 me that there was still some fight left in himself 
 and his comrades. He came to me as a matter 
 of fact to enlist my co-operation in some work of 
 a distinctly active character. In explanation of 
 the position of affairs, he laid before me the 
 originals of several letters to him from the Rev. 
 W. B. O’Donohoe, a young priest of Manitoba, 
 who was at the time acting as secretary for the 
 notorious Riel. The correspondence gave all 
 the details of a contemplated uprising of the half- 
 
98 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 breeds in the North-West against the Dominion 
 authorities, and stated, to my amazement and 
 disgust, that he—-this young priest—had received 
 permission from his Archbishop — Tasche—to 
 throw off his ecclesiastical Garments and take a 
 
 o 
 
 part therein. 
 
 In conclusion, O’Neill’s assistance and co-opera¬ 
 tion in the attempt was sought, and as he put it, 
 “anything to cripple the enemy” being his motto, 
 he was only too eager for the fray. He had one 
 great difficulty, however, and that was the want 
 of arms. Knowing that a quantity remained in 
 hiding- since the second raid, he had sought to 
 obtain possession of them, but had been referred 
 to me as the person who had deposited them with 
 their present custodians, and without whose per¬ 
 mission they could not be given up. I cheerfully 
 agreed to let him have 400 breech-loaders and 
 ammunition, and accompanied him to the points 
 where they were, for the purpose of their delivery, 
 but not before I had surreptitiously obtained the 
 use of the documents, and sent copies to both the 
 Home and Canadian Governments with full infor¬ 
 mation as to what was sur le tapis. 
 
 O’Neill, in company with a trusted confederate, 
 J. J. Donnelly, fitted out his expedition, and on 
 the 5th day of October 1871, after crossing the 
 line at Fort Pembina, was arrested with his party, 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 99 
 
 and all his war material seized, in consequence 
 of the information supplied by me. Riel, thus 
 deprived of the expected assistance, surrendered 
 at Fort Garry to Lord Wolseley without firing - a 
 shot. O’Neill and his party having been turned 
 over to the United States authorities, were, four 
 days afterwards, tried and acquitted. Strange as 
 it appears, these men, captured on Canadian soil, 
 were, by some egregious blunder, handed over 
 to the United States authorities, and by them 
 acquitted on the ludicrous technicality that the 
 offence was not committed on American, but 
 Canadian soil. 
 
 Subsequently O’Neill came back to me and 
 made my life a burthen. Discredited and dis¬ 
 heartened, he took to drink and went entirely to 
 the dogs, bringing to the verge of starvation an 
 affectionate but heart-broken wife, who, oncea sister 
 of mercy, had nursed and grown to love him in a 
 hospital where he was confined, and, disregarding 
 all her vows, had in the end married him. Drift¬ 
 ing slowly downward through disgrace and drink, 
 O’Neill, the once brilliant, if egotistical, Irishman 
 met a lone and miserable death. 
 
TOO 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 XIX. 
 
 On resuming my studies, I decided to enter the 
 Detroit College of Medicine, and so, taking my 
 family with me, I settled down there. There 
 were many reasons for my change of residence, 
 not the least important of which was that connected 
 with the unpopularity which I found attached to 
 me in my old home after my return from the 
 Canadian affair. O’Neill had many opponents, 
 and by these opponents I was attacked in company 
 with O’Neill, and the others engaged in the 
 affair, for having ruined the organisation by the 
 premature “ invasion ” which had taken place. 
 Therefore, I thought it better to remove to an¬ 
 other quarter where this state of feeling did not 
 exist, and where my Irish record would be of ser¬ 
 vice to me in the future. As far as Detroit was 
 concerned, I fixed upon it because of the desire 
 of Judge M'Micken that I should become ac¬ 
 quainted with, and obtain as much information as I 
 could about, Mackay Lomasney—whose name will 
 be familiar in connection with the London Bridge 
 explosion—and others just settled down there. 
 
 Lomasney was, in the eyes of the authorities, 
 an important man ; and his subsequent career, 
 terminating with the attempt to blow up London 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 ror 
 
 Bridge, in which he lost his own life, fully justified 
 their estimate. He had been engaged in the 
 ’65 and ’67 movements in Ireland, had been 
 charged with the murder of a policeman and 
 acquitted, but sentenced to twelve years’ penal 
 servitude for his work as a rebel, and, with others 
 whose names will appear later, had been amnestied 
 in the year 1870. He had now settled down in 
 Detroit as the proprietor of a book-store ; and as 
 he was known to be a most active revolutionist, 
 much curiosity was felt as to what he was actually 
 doing. I formed a very pleasant acquaintance 
 with Mackay Lomasney, and found him a most 
 entertaining man. The future dynamitard was at 
 this time about twenty-eight years of age. Though 
 of youthful appearance, his face was a most deter¬ 
 mined one, and the way in which it lent itself to 
 disguise truly marvellous. When covered with 
 the dark bushy hair, of which he had a profusion, 
 it was one face ; w’hen clean-shaven, quite another, 
 and impossible of recognition. Acting, as he 
 constantly did, as the delegate from the American 
 section to the Fenians at home, this faculty of 
 disguise proved of enormous service, and may 
 very well have had disastrous effects on police 
 vigilance. I have seen Lomasney both shaved, 
 on his return from Ireland, and unshaved, in his 
 American life ; and in all the men I have ever 
 
102 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 met, I never saw such a change produced by so 
 easy a process. I may dismiss Mackay Lomasney 
 from this point of my story by saying that, 
 beyond his activity in connection with the estab¬ 
 lishment of the Irish Confederation, his move¬ 
 ments gave little ground for apprehension, and, 
 as far as the Confederation was concerned, its 
 development proved of very little account. 
 
 But, if the Confederation was to accomplish 
 little, the men who with Lomasney took part 
 in its initiation were not without their claims 
 to attention. Foremost amongst them were two 
 bearing names destined to be familiar in latter- 
 day politics. These were O’Donovan Rossa and 
 John Devoy. As both will be found constantly 
 strutting across the stage of Irish-American affairs 
 from this date, I will pause here to refer to them 
 in some little detail. 
 
 Jeremiah O’Donovan—the “Rossa” was, he 
 claims, added in early years as the outward and 
 visible sign of the alleged fact of his being directly 
 descended from the Princes of Rossa—was, at the 
 time of his arrival, one of the most popular men 
 amongst the Irish in the United States. Sen- 
 tenced to imprisonment for life for taking part in 
 the ’65 movement, he had, according to general 
 rumour, undergone the severest of sufferings and 
 indignities in the British dungeons. A strong 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 103 
 
 current of sympathy set in in his favour in con¬ 
 sequence, and as both in public and private he 
 lost no opportunity of dilating upon his grievance, 
 the sentiment was in no sense allowed to waver 
 or grow weak. The man whose name was to be 
 so closely associated with dynamite and devilry in 
 later years, did not at this time suggest by his 
 appearance the possession of any undue ferocity. 
 His face, though determined, was yet not without 
 its kindly aspect, while his love for the bottle 
 betrayed a jovial rather than a fiendish instinct. 
 His fierceness, indeed, lay altogether in speech. 
 Voluble and sweeping in his language, he was 
 never so happy as when pouring out the vials of 
 his wrath on the British Government. 
 
 Devoy, the notorious author of the “ New 
 Departure,” was at once seen to be a man of 
 weighty influence. Forbidding of aspect, with a 
 perpetual scowl upon his face, he immediately 
 conveyed the idea of being a quarrelsome man, 
 an idea sustained and strengthened by both his 
 manner of speech and gruffness of voice. Ex¬ 
 perience of Devoy’s character only went to 
 prove the correctness of this view. Quarrelsome 
 and discontented, ambitious and unscrupulous, 
 his friendships were few and far between ; 
 and had it not been for his undoubted ability, 
 and the existence of those necessities which link 
 
104 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 adventurers together, he could never have reached 
 the prominent placewhich he subsequentlyattained 
 in the Fenian organisation. 
 
 With their fellow - prisoners who had been 
 amnestied, General Thomas F. Bourke, Thomas 
 Clarke Luby, Edmond Power, and Henry S. 
 Meledy, together with James J. O’Kelly, late 
 M.P. for Roscommon, but then a struggling re- 
 porter on a New York paper, Rossa and Devoy 
 brought the Irish Confederation into existence, 
 and formed its first “ directory ” or executive. 
 They indulged in the wild hope of being able 
 to gather in all the scattered Irish under one 
 banner, and to put an end once and for all to 
 the dissensions and divisions which had so disas¬ 
 trously affected Irish affairs in the past. They 
 were disappointed. Not by their unaided efforts 
 was this to be accomplished. Indeed, the Con¬ 
 federation was never popular. It was regarded 
 as a sort of close corporation “ run,” as we say in 
 the United States, in the interest of the exiles, 
 and, as a consequence, was jealously viewed by 
 the rank and file. Every effort that could be 
 made to bring about a fusion was tried by these 
 men, but without success. Even Stephens him¬ 
 self was brought over from France and put at the 
 head of affairs ; but his name had lost its charm, 
 and he had to return to Paris a discredited man. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 io 5 
 
 XX. 
 
 While my Fenian friends struggled on in this 
 way, I looked after my own affairs. Completing 
 my studies and business in Detroit, I moved 
 myself and my family to Wilmington, where I 
 settled down to make a home and secure an 
 income. I was now a fully Hedged M.D., and 
 so I immediately commenced practising at Braid- 
 wood, a suburb of Wilmington. Success attended 
 my start, my Irish connection and record bringing 
 me an amount of patronage almost beyond my 
 powers of attention. I had given up all idea of 
 anything definite happening in the way of Fenian 
 affairs, and turned my attention to local politics, 
 fdere, of course, my Irish friends were again of 
 use. Failing to obtain a seat on the School 
 Board, for which I had been nominated, I suc¬ 
 ceeded in getting an appointment on the Board 
 of Health. The office was really a sinecure, 
 with one hundred dollars a year attached. Not 
 content with it, I gained the much more lucra¬ 
 tive appointment of Supervisor of Braidwood, 
 attached to which was a daily fee of 2^ dollars, 
 and travelling allowances when engaged on 
 town business. Anybody acquainted with the 
 American political system, even to a moderate 
 
io6 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 extent, will know how paying such offices can 
 be made. 
 
 Meantime I had joined the Medical Society of 
 my State, and assisted in founding the State 
 Pharmaceutical Society. My activity did not 
 even stop here, and, in addition, I took a very 
 active part in bringing about much-needed legis¬ 
 lation on the question of the practice of medicine. 
 In these days there was no such thing as a State 
 law regulating the practice of medicine or phar¬ 
 macy, and I—let me frankly confess it—as much 
 for the sake of popularity as anything else, spared 
 no pains, even going to the extent of “lobby¬ 
 ing ” in Springfield, the State capital, in the 
 interest of legislation on these matters, in which 
 I was very successful. 
 
 Little as I imagined it then, events were at this 
 time shaping themselves to an end which, fre¬ 
 quently attempted, had never yet been wholly 
 accomplished by the aspiring leaders of the Irish 
 in America. This was the bringing together of 
 all Irishmen at home and abroad into one vast 
 and perfect organisation. The hour was coming, 
 and with it the men. Born in comparative poverty 
 and insignificance, but under an impressive name, 
 the association now being formed, the great Clan- 
 na-Gael of the future, was destined to be a power¬ 
 ful, rich, and far-reaching organisation, healthy of 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 107 
 
 limb and strong of hand, fated to leave its heavy 
 mark upon the pages of this half-century’s history. 
 From small beginnings have come great results. 
 
 Away back towards the end of the sixties, there 
 came into existence one of those temporal societies, 
 an off-shoot of the permanent conspiracy known 
 under the name “ Knights of the Inner Circle,” 
 which was joined by many Irish conspirators, 
 myself amongst the number. With its members 
 there became associated, in the latter end of 1869, 
 some three hundred members of the “Brian Boru” 
 Circle of the Fenian Brotherhood in New York 
 City, who, in consequence of a political quarrel 
 over electioneering matters, seceded from their 
 original body ; and by these men, acting in con¬ 
 cert with others under the name of the “ United 
 Irishmen,” what were really the first camps of the 
 Clan-na-Gael were established. 
 
 The V.C. (the cypher was arranged on the plan 
 of using the alphabetical letters immediately fol¬ 
 lowing those intended to be indicated) had for its 
 object the same intention which governed the 
 inception and development of all Irish conspiracy 
 in America—the freedom of Ireland from Eno-lish 
 
 O 
 
 control by armed force. It was, however, to 
 differ from its predecessors insomuch as, unlike 
 them, it was to be of an essentially secret char¬ 
 acter. P. R. Walsh of Cleveland, Ohio, known 
 
io8 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 as “the Father of the Clan,” was the apostle of 
 this new condition of things, and he, with others 
 of shrewd and far-seeing minds, argued with Qjeat 
 success, that if one lesson more important than 
 another was to be learnt from the past history and 
 miserable fiascos of the movement, it was that no 
 possible success could be achieved with a revolu¬ 
 tionary organisation working in the open day. 
 The Irish people, reasoned these priests of the 
 new faith, had not judgment enough to manage 
 their schemes for freedom. They revealed their 
 secrets to the heads of their Church ; they were 
 dictated to by these heads ; they feared to obey 
 their non-clerical leaders; and so were thwarted 
 the best schemes of the most active workers. A 
 revolutionary movement must be secret and un¬ 
 scrupulous, and, to be successful, they could not 
 enter on the contest for freedom with the yoke of 
 the Church around their neck. 
 
 Language like this reads strangely indeed in 
 the light of latter-day revelations, and the know¬ 
 ledge the world now has of Clan-na-Gael priests 
 and their work. But at the time it was not without 
 its appropriateness and significance. The priests 
 at the period of which I write were, neither in 
 Ireland nor America, the priests of these sub¬ 
 sequent years. Then, as in those days of old, 
 when religion was paramount and priestly control 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 109 
 
 salutary and effective, the ban of the Church was 
 not merely a phrase dangerous in sound, it was a 
 living dread reality, fearful in its consequences in 
 the eyes of those who in their lives worked out 
 that grand old characteristic of the Irish people, 
 faith in their Church and reverence toward its 
 rulers. It was reserved for the coming years to 
 bring to the view of a startled public a people 
 reckless and defiant of priestly control, because of 
 the teaching’s of their atheistic and communistic 
 leaders, and the self-surrender of all their higher 
 and priestly functions by those who were con¬ 
 tent to be led by, rather than to lead those whose 
 consciences were their charge and their respon¬ 
 sibility. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 The arguments were well put, and what was 
 more, they were well timed. They proved suc¬ 
 cessful. Everything appeared in favour of the 
 new move; and the re-establishment of the 
 Fenian organisation in Great Britain on a more 
 compact secret basis, under the title of the Irish 
 Republican Brotherhood\ was one of the many 
 satisfactory features of the moment. Matters, 
 however, moved slowly; and, although actually 
 established in 1869, it was not until the year 
 1873 that the movement became in any way 
 
I 10 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 general. Then it was that, merging almost all 
 other societies in itself, the Clan, now known as 
 the V.C. or United Brotherhood, established 
 subordinate bodies or “ Camps,” as they were 
 called, almost simultaneously in all the leading 
 centres of the United States. Secrecy was the 
 text preached in every direction. Every member 
 was bound by the most solemn of oaths to keep 
 secret all knowledge of the order and its pro¬ 
 ceedings which might come to him, under 
 penalty of death. A Masonic form of ritual was 
 adopted ; grips, passwords, signs, and terrorising 
 penalties were decided upon ; and all the pomp 
 and circumstance of mystery, so dear to the Irish 
 heart and so effective in such a conspiracy, were 
 called to the aid of those who now inculcated this 
 new doctrine. 
 
 Undoubtedly, there was no secret made 
 amongst its members as to the treasonable char¬ 
 acter of the organisation. The official printed 
 Constitution set forth the truth of the matter in 
 no uncertain way. “ The object,” it stated, “ is 
 to aid the Irish people in the attainment of the 
 complete and absolute independence of Ireland, 
 by the overthrow of English domination : a total 
 separation from that country, and the complete 
 severance of all political connection with it; the 
 establishment of an independent republic on 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 111 
 
 Irish soil, chosen by the free votes of the whole 
 Irish people, without distinction of creed or class, 
 and the restoration to all Irishmen of every creed 
 and class of their natural privileges of citizenship 
 and equal rights. It shall prepare unceasingly 
 for an armed insurrection in Ireland.” 
 
 The Ritual and forms of initiation were framed 
 entirely upon Masonic precedent; and, to the vast 
 majority of the members of the Clan, the state¬ 
 ment will come no doubt as a great surprise that 
 the much vaunted secret forms of the Masonic 
 order need be secret to them no longer, inas¬ 
 much as that, when being admitted to a Clan- 
 na-Gael club, they were going through the same 
 forms and ceremonies as attached themselves to 
 that great source of mystery and wonderment in 
 the eyes of the non-elect, the Masonic Brother¬ 
 hood. I have often laughed to myself at the 
 surprise shown by some Masons on the occa¬ 
 sion of their initiation to Clan-na-Gael clubs—for 
 there are Masons in the Clan—at being brought 
 once more into contact with the familiar pro¬ 
 cedure. One great feature of similarity exists 
 between the two ceremonies. In both the candi¬ 
 date is impressed with a deep sense of awe and 
 respect, to learn subsequently that nothing very 
 mysterious or wonderful is to come within his 
 knowledge. Though the effect is the same, how- 
 
11 2 
 
 T WENTY-FIVE YEA RS 
 
 ever, the causes are very different. In one case, 
 that of the Mason, nothing very strange happens 
 or is committed to his secrecy, for the simple 
 reason that the practice of brotherly love and 
 charity requires no unusual strain either on his 
 powers of wonder or reserve; while in the other 
 the poor confiding Irishman is simply intended 
 to play the part of a dupe, to move and subscribe 
 to order, but to be trusted in no single regard, 
 until by jobbery or manipulation he works his 
 way to the higher ranks of the organisation. 
 
 The candidates for membership were balloted 
 for in the usual club manner, three black balls 
 excluding. The successful ones having answered 
 different queries regarding their age, belief in 
 God, &c. &c., were, after being blindfolded and 
 shut out from view of their future associates, 
 brought forward and addressed by the Vice- 
 President of the meeting as follows :— 
 
 “ My Friends, —Animated by love, duty, and patriotism, 
 you have sought affiliation with us. We have deemed you 
 worthy of our confidence and our friendship. You are now 
 within these secret walls. The men who surround you have 
 all taken the obligations of our Order, and are endeavouring 
 to fulfil its duties. These duties must be cheerfully complied 
 with, or not at all undertaken. We are Jsjtinfo (Irishmen) 
 banded together for the purpose of freeing Jsfmboe (Ireland) 
 and elevating the position of the Jsjti (Irish) race. The lamp 
 of the bitter past plainly points our path, and we believe that 
 the first step on the road to freedom is secrecy. Destitute 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 of secrecy, defeat will again cloud our ^brightest hopes; and, 
 believing this, we shall hesitate at no sacrifice to maintain it. 
 Be prepared, then, to cast aside with us every thought that 
 may impede the growth of this holy feeling among Jsjtinfo 
 (Irishmen); for, once a member of this Order, you must 
 stand by its watchwords of Secrecy, Obedience, and Love. 
 With this explanation, I ask you are you willing to proceed?” 
 
 The answer being satisfactory, the candidates 
 were next placed opposite the President, and 
 addressed by him as follows :— 
 
 “ My Friends,— By your own voluntary act you are now 
 before us. You have learned the nature of the cause in which 
 we are engaged—-a cause honourable to our manhood, and 
 imposed upon us by every consideration of duty and patriotism. 
 We would not have an unwilling member amongst us, and we 
 give you, even now, the opportunity of withdrawing, if you so 
 desire. Every man here has taken a solemn and binding oath 
 to be faithful to the trust we repose in him. This oath, I 
 assure you, is one which does not conflict with any duty which 
 you owe to God, to your country, your neighbours, or yourself. 
 It must be taken before you can be admitted to light and fel¬ 
 lowship in our Order. With this assurance, and understand¬ 
 ing, as you do, that the object of this organisation is the free¬ 
 dom of Jsfmboe (Ireland), will you submit yourself to our rules 
 and regulations and take our obligation without mental reser¬ 
 vation ? ” 
 
 At the conclusion of the address, the questions 
 having been put, and correctly replied to, the 
 candidate took the oath as follows :— 
 
 “ I, -, do solemnly and sincerely swear, in the presence 
 
 of Almighty God, that I will labour, while life is left me, to 
 
 H 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 114 
 
 establish and defend a republican form of government in 
 Jsfmboe (Ireland). That I will never reveal the secrets of this 
 organisation to any person or persons not entitled to know 
 them. That I will obey and comply with the Constitution and 
 laws of the V.C., and promptly and faithfully execute all con¬ 
 stitutional orders coming to me from the proper authority, to 
 the best of my ability. That I will foster a spirit of unity, 
 nationality, and brotherly love among the people of Jsfmboe 
 (Ireland). 
 
 “ I furthermore swear that I do not now belong to any other 
 Jsjti sfvvpmvujpobsz (Irish revolutionary) society antagonistic to 
 this organisation, and that I will not become a member of such 
 society while connected with the V.C., and, finally, I swear 
 that I take this obligation without mental reservation, and that 
 any violation hereof is infamous and merits the severest punish¬ 
 ment. So help me God.” (Kiss the book.) 
 
 And then, in conclusion, the President made 
 the following; remarks :— 
 
 “ The name of this Order is the V.C. Its local sub-divisions 
 ate styled D.’s, and are known by members. This is D. No. 
 —. The leading object of the V.C. is to co-operate with the 
 J.S.C. (Irish Republican Brotherhood) in securing the inde¬ 
 pendence of Jsfmboe (Ireland), and the special object is to 
 secure the union of all Jsjti Obujpobmjtut (Irish Nationalists). 
 As it is essential for the safe and efficient working of our orga¬ 
 nisation to preserve the strictest secrecy in reference to it, you 
 will never mention the name of the V.C., or anything connected 
 therewith, to any one whom you do not know to be a member 
 thereof in good standing. And that we may be more effec¬ 
 tually guarded from exposure, as well as to secure concentration 
 of effort, you are prohibited by the supreme authority from 
 contributing money to, or otherwise aiding, any other Jsjti 
 sfwpmvujpobsz (Irish revolutionary) society. 
 
 “ Should you desire to secure some worthy person for mem- 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 TI 5 
 
 bership, you will first have him proposed here, and, if elected, 
 you may then indirectly and carefully ascertain his sentiments 
 on the subject of secret Jsjti Obujpobm (Irish National) organi¬ 
 sations, and, should his views be favourable, you might then 
 intimate that you believe there is a secret organisation in 
 existence working for Jsjti (Irish) liberty; and, if he appears 
 inclined to join it, you may admit that you are a member of it, 
 or acquainted with a member of it, and that you think you can 
 secure his admission therein ; but no further information must 
 you convey, nor use the name of any person connected with 
 the Order. . . . 
 
 “ Finally, my brother, be careful that you do not make an 
 improper use of these instructions, and let not the cause of 
 Jsfmboe (Ireland) or the interests of the Y.C. suffer through 
 any want of prudence, perseverance, and courage on your part 
 while travelling onwards on the path to freedom. (Two raps.) 
 
 “ Brothers ! It affords me great pleasure to introduce to you 
 your new brother.” (One rap.) 
 
 XXII. 
 
 Up to the year 1881 , when the administration 
 of the conspiracy underwent a change, with which 
 I will deal at its proper time, the Clan-na-Gael 
 was governed by an executive body (known in 
 the cypher as F.C.), presided over by a Chairman 
 elected by the body at the annual conventions, 
 and a Revolutionary Directory known without 
 any regard to the cypher by its initial letters R.D. 
 This Revolutionary Directory was composed of 
 seven men, three of whom were nominated by the 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 116 
 
 Executive, three by the Irish Republican Brother¬ 
 hood (known as the J.S.C.) in Ireland, and a 
 seventh selected by the six when appointed. The 
 Revolutionary Directory was, as its name implies, 
 a body dealing directly with revolutionary matters, 
 and it was chiefly characterised by the autocratic 
 power possessed by its members, about whose 
 action no detailed information was supplied, and 
 against whose proceedings there was, in conse¬ 
 quence, no basis for appeal. The names of all 
 these officers were known only to the delegates 
 who elected them, and to the Presiding Officer of 
 each camp, known as Senior Guardian. 
 
 To the Executive (or F.C.) was intrusted, 
 amongst other things, the arrangements regard¬ 
 ing the places and dates for holding the biennial 
 and annual conventions of the order ; and their 
 decision in this respect was carefully guarded, and 
 only at the very last moment communicated to 
 the high officials, in order to prevent any spies or 
 agents of the British Government from becoming 
 acquainted with their proceedings. The head of 
 each subordinate body was informed a week in 
 advance of the date and place of the convention ; 
 and he was instructed to arrange for the imme¬ 
 diate election of a delegate from his camp. So 
 close was the secret kept, that the delegate, if 
 other than the presiding officer, did not know till 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 ”7 
 
 the very hour of his starting where he was bound 
 for. Like convicts, the members were known by 
 numbers, never by names. Camps (known as 
 D.’s) were also numbered ; and, in order the better 
 to cover their doings from the outside world, each 
 camp had a public name by which it was known. 
 For instance, my own camp was known as the 
 “ Emmet Literary Association.” 
 
 During the early years of its existence I was 
 not a member of the Clan-na-Gael. Although, 
 as I have stated, I was one of the “ Knights of 
 the Inner Circle,” I did not take any prominent 
 part in the early days, when the V.C. succeeded, 
 or rather absorbed it. There were reasons for 
 my not doing so. My prominence and action in 
 the ill-fated Canadian raid had not been altogether 
 forgotten, and I was still held responsible, in cer¬ 
 tain minds, for the premature undertaking of it. 
 Another reason affecting my action was the diffi¬ 
 culty introduced by a clause in the new constitution 
 in regard to the question of nationality. This 
 clause read as follows :— 
 
 “All persons of Irish birth or descent, or of partial Irish 
 descent, shall be eligible to membership; but in cases of 
 persons of partial Irish descent, the camps are directed to 
 make special inquiries in regard to the history, character, and 
 sentiments of the person proposed.” 
 
 In view of the whole situation, I determined 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 i iS 
 
 that I should live down any ill-feeling which 
 might exist regarding my previous exploits, and 
 that I should take advantage of the interval thus 
 brought about by arranging some plan for my 
 election later, on the ground of my partial Irish 
 descent. I had, of course, hitherto passed myself 
 off as a Frenchman, strongly sympathising with 
 Irish affairs, though never laying any claim to 
 connection with the country. Now I had to 
 change my tactics a little, and so I gradually got 
 it put about that my mother—poor lady, she is 
 living to-day, and will probably never know till 
 she reads this of the liberty I took with her 
 birthright—was of Irish descent. Of course, as 
 the people out there had never seen or heard of 
 my mother, and it was quite a common thing for 
 French and Irish to intermarry, the deception 
 was not likely to be discovered, as indeed it never 
 was. 
 
 There was still yet another reason for my 
 being cautious. The most insane and implacable 
 enemy of O’Neill’s—and through my friendship 
 for O’Neill, of myself—Major William M Williams, 
 of old Fenian fame, was now high in the councils 
 of the new organisation. In the O’Neill rdgime, 
 presumably jealous of my position, he had de¬ 
 nounced me as an adventurer, and the ill-feeling 
 he had for me had culminated during the sittings 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 ”9 
 
 of a Fenian congress in an open attack, reported 
 in the New York papers as follows :— 
 
 “ The Fenian Congress and a Fenian Row. 
 
 “The Fenian Congress was in session yesterday. A quorum 
 of the Executive Committee appointed in Chicago was in session 
 all day. They say they intend to commence work as soon 
 as they obtain possession of the munitions of war. Major 
 M'Williams and Major Le Caron, two of the delegates, had a 
 little onset in front of the Whitney House last eve, and blood 
 might have flowed had it not been for the interference of 
 several delegates.” 
 
 The altercation, I may add, on this occasion 
 involved the use of revolvers, and created too 
 pronounced a feeling between us to allow of my 
 ever after expecting anything but the bitterest 
 opposition from M‘Williams. To my relief, 
 however, M‘Williams eventually got into a per¬ 
 sonal altercation with a fiercer antagonist than 
 myself, by whom he was shot in Columbia, S.C., 
 being killed on the spot. His exit cleared the 
 way of the only difficulty which existed at the 
 time of his death, and so I considered it prudent 
 to accept the invitation, often extended to me, 
 to join the Clan-na-Gael. I joined, and an 
 appointment upon the Military Board of the 
 organisation quickly followed. It must not, 
 however, be thought that I had been “out of 
 things” meantime. Not at all. Possessed, as I 
 
120 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 was, of more than one confiding friend, I secured 
 information about everything that took place. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 Slowly but surely the Clan-na-Gael was gaining 
 ground, despite all the forces arrayed against it. 
 Triumphing over Church opposition, conscientious 
 scruple on the score of joining secret societies, 
 and the single opposing Revolutionary faction 
 still faithful to the memory of Stephens, it had, 
 in 1876, a membership exceeding 11,000, which 
 included amongst its leading names those of 
 Alexander Sullivan, John Devoy, O’Donovan 
 Rossa, Thomas Clarke Luby, Thomas F. Burke, 
 Dr. Carroll, James Reynolds, Frank Agnew, 
 Colonel Clingen, Wm. J. Hynes, P. W. Dunne, 
 Michael Boland, Denis Feeley, J. J. Breslin, 
 Michael Kirwen, and General Millen. 
 
 These were the men who in the after years 
 were to be in the front rank of the Clan-na-Gael, 
 and by their position and influence to model and 
 direct the policy of the organisation. Of them 
 and their position at this time I shall now have 
 some little to s^y. 
 
 With Sullivan I have already dealt, and here I 
 need only state that, having established himself 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 I 21 
 
 in Chicago, he had taken to the study of law, in 
 which branch of the profession he was now—in 
 1876—preparing to practise. He had been main¬ 
 taining his questionable reputation, for he had 
 shot a man in cold blood; and though twice tried, 
 had been successful in escaping the consequences 
 of his act, owing to the employing of that process 
 so frequently charged against the Government 
 in Ireland—packing the jury. Of Devoy and 
 O’Donovan Rossa I have also spoken before. 
 The former, drifting to New York, had since we 
 parted with him been engaged on some two or 
 three American papers, and he was now, if I 
 remember aright, engaged on the New York 
 Herald staff. Rossa, very much to the front for 
 the moment, in consequence of his “skirmishing” 
 theory, had meantime been living on the proceeds 
 of the fund raised for himself and his fellow-exiles 
 on their arrival in 1871, and a special subscription 
 for himself, which Ford inaugurated in the Irish 
 World. Luby had been a well-known patriot 
 since 1865, when, in company with John O’Leary 
 and Charles J. Kickham, he had been sentenced 
 to a long term of penal servitude for the part he 
 played in Ireland as one of the editors of the 
 Irish People. General Thomas Fras. Burke had 
 served with the Confederate Army, and had been 
 amongst those who, in 1867, left America to lead 
 
12 2 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 in that most disheartening- of fiascos, the Irish 
 rising of 1865, as the result of his part in which 
 he was sentenced to death, but subsequently 
 amnestied. 
 
 Dr. William Carroll, one of the principal physi¬ 
 cians in Philadelphia, whose name will appear 
 prominently in the future, and who stood one of 
 the sponsors for Mr. Parnell on the occasion of his 
 arrival in America, was best known as the ad¬ 
 mirer, friend, and associate of John Mitchell, and 
 was himself nothing if not a Revolutionist. James 
 Reynolds of New Idaven, Conn., whom I first 
 met in connection with the secret organisation, 
 was by profession a gas- and brass-fitter, and an 
 avowed advocate of “extreme” measures. Pie 
 was in fact a member of the Revolutionary Direc¬ 
 tory of this period. Frank Agnew had a Fenian 
 record extending as far back as the Senate period 
 of the Fenian Brotherhood. Strangely enough, 
 I first came in contact with him when, on an in¬ 
 specting tour, I had occasion to inspect a Fenian 
 Company of which he was captain in Chicago. 
 He was one of those who arrived too late to be 
 of use in connection with the Fenian raid of ’70. 
 He was now a contractor of some importance in 
 Chicago, and a great friend and ally of Sullivan’s. 
 Of Colonel Clingen I need not say much, save 
 that he had been an old Fenian ally of mine in 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 123 
 
 days gone by, and had sat with myself on the 
 Military Board during O’Neill’s rdgimc. 
 
 Of the others I have mentioned, Hynes and 
 Dunne perhaps deserve the most prominent place, 
 by reason of the part they have recently played 
 in the Cronin affair. Both these men, it will 
 be remembered, came out as very strong oppo¬ 
 nents of Alexander Sullivan, whom they roundly 
 accused of causing Dr. Cronin’s death. Hynes 
 I knew as far back as 1865, when, as a clerk to 
 John O’Neill, he took a very active part in the 
 work of the Fenian Brotherhood. Owing to a 
 row between O’Neill and himself, he severed his 
 connection with active Fenianism, and obtained 
 a clerkship in one of the departments at Wash¬ 
 ington, finding his way, after a little time, to 
 Arkansas. Although returned as a carpet-bag 
 Congressman for the State, he failed to prosper, 
 and at last he found himself without a dollar in 
 Chicago. Here the first man to help him was 
 Alexander Sullivan, against whom he is now 
 arrayed. Through Sullivan’s political influence, 
 Hynes was engaged as professional juryman at 
 a fee of two dollars a day, from which position 
 he worked himself forward to that of a prominent 
 politician and a well-known member of the bar 
 at which he practises. 
 
 P. W. Dunne proved to be a duplicate of 
 
124 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 O’Donovan Rossa, in appearance and in many 
 other ways, with this one strong exception, that, 
 whereas Rossa never sacrificed any of his means for 
 the good of his countrymen, but rather lived upon 
 them in fact, Dunne sacrificed an almost princely 
 fortune. In early years he had been a prominent 
 distiller (a very lucrative business) in Peoria, 
 Illinois ; and he was one of the leading seceders 
 from the Stephens wing of the Fenian Brother¬ 
 hood, after the failure of 1865, in which he him¬ 
 self participated, in company with P. J. Meehan, 
 editor of the Irish A merican. H e was now situated 
 in Chicago, occupying the position of Superinten¬ 
 dent of Streets, and had preceded Sullivan and 
 Clingen upon the Executive of the Clan-na-Gael. 
 
 As for the remainder, Boland, once a lieutenant 
 in the United States Army, was now a practising 
 lawyer in Kentucky, having meantime taken part 
 in the ’66 raid on Canada. He was also one of 
 the most prominent of Clan-na-Gael officials, and 
 an advocate of extreme measures. Feeley, also 
 an attorney-at-law, had been a member of the 
 Royal Irish Constabulary in his early days, and 
 was now, as of yore, one of the most prominent 
 and bloodthirsty of rebels in the States. Kirwen 
 had been Brigadier-General and f'enian Secretary 
 of War during the Canadian raid of 1870, and had 
 preserved his Revolutionary record unbroken ; 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 12 5 
 
 while Breslin, chiefly remarkable for the part he 
 had played in helping James Stephens to escape 
 from Richmond prison (Ireland) in 1866, now, 
 as ever since then, a prominent and avowed 
 Revolutionist, was occupying his public life in 
 some municipal office of an important character, 
 while, in secret, playing his part on the Revolu- 
 
 v 
 
 tionary Directory of the Clan-na-Gael. 
 
 One name I have left to the last, and that is 
 General Millen’s. The discredited hero of the 
 Jubilee Explosion Scheme of 1887 was at this 
 time engfasfed on the editorial staff of the New 
 York Herald. Unlike almost every one whom 
 I have named, his military title was neither of 
 Fenian nor of American extraction. He had, 
 according to his own account, gained both his mili¬ 
 tary knowledge and his rank when, out in Mexico 
 on the part of the New York Herald ,, he had 
 thrown in his lot with Juarez prior to the over¬ 
 throw of the srovernment of Maximilian and the 
 
 o 
 
 establishment of the First Republic, of which 
 Juarez was President. Be the claims to military 
 knowledge which he advanced good or bad, they 
 were accepted with a certain amount of good faith 
 by the Clan leaders; and his usefulness in this 
 regard being appreciated, he held a position of 
 some importance at this time, being in fact Chair¬ 
 man of the Military Board. 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 126 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 My advent in the organisation, though gratifying 
 to a certain extent, did not satisfy me as fully as 
 I wished. I wanted to know everything that took 
 place on the inner side of the movement, and I found 
 that, as one of the rank and file, I could really learn 
 nothing. Accordingly, I set my wits to work to 
 see how I could accomplish my desire of gaining 
 such a position as would give me all I wanted. 
 Very little consideration was needed to show me 
 that, in a large centre like Chicago, where jealousy 
 and ambition governed every motive, it would be 
 impossible for a new-comer to get to the front, and 
 so I decided to work out my designs in a smaller 
 and more unimportant place, where internal dis¬ 
 sensions would find little if any home. It will 
 be remembered that Braidwood was the place 
 where I had my drug-store, and where I had had 
 strong evidence of my popularity in my election 
 as Supervisor by a majority of 103 over my 
 opponents. In the end, therefore, I determined 
 to establish a camp in Braidwood, and with the 
 assistance of the official organiser, a most promis¬ 
 ing “camp” was got together, to the Senior 
 Guardianship or Presidency of which I was 
 unanimously elected. Sullivan unconsciously 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 127 
 
 assisted me in my design. It was through his in¬ 
 fluence, though at my suggestion, that the official 
 organiser was sent down in the first instance. 
 
 Having once obtained the position, I spared 
 neither pains nor money to make myself secure 
 in it. My status and extensive practice as a 
 doctor permitted of my playing the role of the 
 generous patriot, and there was no subscription 
 list on which my name did not figure in some 
 capacity as the patriotic, political, charitable, or 
 religious friend. The latter was not by any 
 means the most infrequent, for religion of a 
 certain type plays a very large part in Irish 
 politics. Where money and the other arts failed, 
 then I took to diplomacy. Year in, year out, I 
 continued president of my camp, though always 
 at election time asking to be allowed to retire in 
 favour of some better and more deserving brother. 
 Of course it was simply a case of “swearing I 
 would ne’er consent, consenting.” 
 
 I was too useful to my brothers of “ Camp 463,” 
 now 204, to allow of their permitting me to retire 
 to the ranks. If no other reason but the question 
 of money came in, then this of itself alone would 
 have been sufficient. When a delegate had to 
 be despatched to conventions or gatherings else¬ 
 where, none were more ready to start than I, 
 while—more important still for the patriots—my 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 128 
 
 bills lor expenses, instead of being of the large 
 and unjustifiable character usually associated with 
 such proceedings, could only be got from me under 
 protest, and with every manifestation of desire to 
 save them outlay. Of course, this travelling about 
 from centre to centre, this mixing with many men 
 from many points, and the opportunities thus 
 afforded for gaining information and opening 
 up new sources of supply, admirably suited my 
 purpose ; and by taking advantage of the varied 
 openings given me, I was enabled to extend my 
 usefulness as a Secret Service agent to a very 
 appreciable extent. 
 
 Matters, indeed, were satisfactorily situated for 
 me at every point. As Senior Guardian of the 
 Braidwood camp, I was in receipt of every docu¬ 
 ment issued from head-quarters, and through me 
 many of these found their way to Mr. Anderson on 
 the English side of the water. My work in con¬ 
 nection with these documents taxed all my powers 
 of resource; and had it not been for the popular and 
 trusted position which I held, I could have accom¬ 
 plished very little in regard to them. A stringent 
 regulation of the Executive required that all docu- 
 men ts — when not returned to head-quarters, as 
 many had to be—should be burned in view of 
 the camp, in order that the most perfect secrecy 
 should be secured. It was, of course, impossible 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 129 
 
 for me to retain the originals of those which had 
 to be returned, and of them I could only keep 
 copies. With those requiring destruction in the 
 presence of my camp, I was enabled to act 
 differently. Always prepared for the emergency, 
 I was, by a sleight-of-hand performance, enabled 
 to substitute old and unimportant documents for 
 those which really should have been burnt, and 
 to retain in my possession, and subsequently 
 transmit to England, the originals of all the most 
 important. I was, of course, shaking hands with 
 danger and discovery at every turn, and yet so 
 marvellous was my success that I not only escaped 
 betrayal, but that which would undoubtedly have 
 led to it, namely, suspicion. 
 
 To this end, I was much assisted by the con¬ 
 fidence reposed in me by my fellow-officials, the 
 Junior Guardians, who exhibited their trust to the 
 extent of giving me possession of their keys of the 
 strong-box, of which they held possession during 
 their period of office. This contained all the 
 papers of the camp ; and with a view to its safety, 
 one key was given to the Senior Guardian, and 
 the other to the junior Guardian, the locks beino- 
 different in construction, so that the box could 
 only be opened by the concurrence of both 
 officials. Had I not been able to obtain the 
 confidence of my Junior Guardians to the extent 
 
17,0 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 of possessing their keys, I could never have 
 brought my designs to such a successful issue. 
 Strangely enough, when I appeared in the witness- 
 box at the Commission — for I was even then 
 Senior Guardian of my Clan-na-Gael camp — 
 I had both keys of our strong-box in my pos¬ 
 session, which I jokingly offered to Mr. Houston 
 as a memento of our strange and unlooked-for 
 meeting. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 Meantime, events had been developing them¬ 
 selves in a strange and unlooked - for way. 
 O’Donovan Rossa — speaking to the Irish in 
 America through the columns of the Irish World 
 — had advocated the establishment of a Skir¬ 
 mishing Fund in the following style :— 
 
 “ Five thousand dollars will have to be collected before the 
 campaign can be started. England will not know how or 
 where she is to be struck. A successful stroke or any stroke 
 that will do her 500,000 dollars’ worth of damage will bring us 
 funds enough to carry on the work : and by working on inces¬ 
 santly and persistently, the patient dirt and powder shock will 
 bring out enough perhaps to carry on the war.” 
 
 In the same issue of the Irish World, Patrick 
 Ford, in the course of a commendatory article, 
 said— 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 
 “ What will this irregular warfare of our Irish Skirmishers 
 effect ? It will do this much. It will harass and annoy Eng¬ 
 land. It will help to create her difficulty and hasten our oppor¬ 
 tunity. It will not only annoy England, but it will hush her 
 too. This is what we look for from the Skirmishers. One 
 hundred dollars expended on skirmishing may cause to Eng¬ 
 land a loss of 100,000,000 dollars. That would be a damaging 
 blow to the enemy; and what is to prevent the dealing one of 
 three or four such blows every year ? ” 
 
 Here I shall drop Rossa and his Skirmishing 
 Fund for the moment, to say a few words about 
 Ford. The opportunity seems a favourable one 
 for dealing 1 with a man whose name has been so 
 prominent of late years, and clearing up a few of 
 the many misconceptions which appear to exist 
 regarding him. Like O’Donovan Rossa, his 
 colleague at this time in skirmishing matters, 
 Ford’s position in Irish revolutionary affairs has 
 been quite misunderstood in British quarters 
 outside the Parnellite party. As a matter of 
 fact Ford is not, and never has been, a member 
 of the Clan-na-Gael. True it is that he was a 
 member of the old Fenian organisations which 
 preceded it—as, for instance, the Irish Confede¬ 
 ration, but in the membership of the last and 
 most powerful of all the branches of the Irish- 
 American conspiracy, the editor of the Irish 
 World has had no place. The secret of his 
 position and influence lies in his paper. This, 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 from the very moment of its start, has been a 
 pronounced success, reaching a high-water mark 
 of influence and circulation, which threw the puny 
 efforts of its competitors completely into the 
 shade. The paper came into existence at the 
 proper moment for itself; it was well edited, 
 well printed, and splendidly equipped with news 
 from every quarter, and on every point. It 
 caught the public fancy and “ went ” amazingly. 
 Ford, originally a printer and a man of no mean 
 attainment, gathered round him a staff of equally 
 clever writers, established correspondents at every 
 important centre, and working at very high pres¬ 
 sure, was on the point of failing on several occa¬ 
 sions, only to escape through the assistance of 
 friends, politicians, or capitalists, willing to oblige 
 for certain considerations. Indeed, if I am not 
 very much in error, matters are not in the most 
 favourable way for the paper at this very time. 
 
 Patrick Ford, according to Michael Davitt, is 
 a most worthy disciple of the Christian principles, 
 and a man whose life would serve as a model for 
 very many of those who criticise this dynamite 
 advocate’s character in no enthusiastic vein. 
 Speaking of the man simply “ on the view ” as 
 the American phrase has it, Davitt’s observa¬ 
 tions are not so far-fetched as they would appear 
 to be at the first blush. In appearance and 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 i 33 
 
 manner, the editor of the Irish World is quite 
 the opposite of the man you would figure to 
 yourself after reading his dynamite appeals and 
 exordiums in his own journal. Ouiet and unob¬ 
 trusive alike in look and speech, he is as mild 
 a mannered man as ever scuttled a ship. Of 
 medium height, spare of build and spare of feature, 
 without any ferocity whatever marking the outer 
 man, he gives the observer the idea of being a 
 quiet, sedate, and rather retiring business person. 
 Although a vigorous and effective writer, he is 
 not remarkable for his platform utterances, and 
 while a good talker, is by no means an orator. 
 
 Associated with Patrick Ford in his connection 
 with Irish-American affairs have been his brother 
 Augustine and his nephew Austin. Augustine, 
 whose name comes into prominence with Rossa 
 in the Skirmishing Fund affair, was the publisher, 
 as distinct from the editor, of the Irish World; 
 while Austin, then a young fellow, was afterwards 
 to become a member of the Clan-na-Gael, and to 
 serve as the medium of communication between 
 the leaders of the Revolutionary organisation and 
 his uncle, the editor of what was undoubtedly, 
 though unofficially, their mouthpiece, the Irish 
 World. There were many reasons for an 
 alliance, unofficial though it might be, existing 
 between the Irish World and those charged with 
 
[TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 the conduct of the vast secret conspiracy known 
 to the initiated as the V.C. For what the Irish 
 World , with its extended popularity, its great in¬ 
 fluence, and its enormous circulation, championed 
 in public, the Clan-na-Gael worked for in private. 
 Ford and his fellow-workers, in a different path, 
 understood each other full well; and when, within 
 a year after the establishment of the Skirmishing 
 Fund, it became desirable that the Clan-na-Gael 
 should take charge of it, there was no more ardent 
 advocate of the change than he. And as in the 
 early, so in the later years. When the new 
 departure came to the front, Ford and his Clan- 
 na-Gael friends were of the same mind as to its 
 importance, and the necessity for supporting it. 
 When dynamite came to be the order of the day, 
 he was its loucl-tongued apostle ; and when, later 
 still, “martyrs” like Brady and Curley suffered in 
 Ireland the just consequences of their fiendish 
 part in the Phoenix Park murders, the editor of 
 the Irish World was first to fill the gap with a 
 fund on behalf of their families, excluding from its 
 benefits all connected with those who had had 
 the good sense, though bad patriotism, to plead 
 “guilty” to their part in the fell transaction. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 *35 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 To return, however, to Rossa and his Skirmish¬ 
 ing Fund. As a prominent Fenian of “the old 
 guard,” and a member of the Clan-na-Gael, Rossa’s 
 influence, backed up by Ford’s advocacy, suc¬ 
 ceeded in getting together no less than 23,350 
 dollars by the 14th March following the issue of 
 the appeal—in something less than twelve months 
 in fact. Although, however, this large sum had 
 been accumulating during this period, and portions 
 of it had been ready at different times for use if 
 required, no skirmishing or pretence at skirmish¬ 
 ing had taken place, and some little dissatisfaction 
 commenced to manifest itself at the non-fruition 
 of the many promises which had been held out of 
 “ hurting England.” There then occurred the 
 transfer of the fund to the Clan-na-Gael under 
 very mysterious circumstances, which have never 
 been thoroughly explained or understood. The 
 nearest approach to an explanation was afforded 
 by a communication from Rossa, which appeared 
 in the Irish World of the 21st April 1877, which, 
 
 I think, I cannot do better than quote here. 
 
 “When I started this Skirmishing Fund, the council-men of 
 the two Irish revolutionary societies in America—the Fenian 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 13 6 
 
 Brotherhood and the Clan-na-Gael—took it into their heads 
 that I was going to interfere with the regular revolutionary 
 work, that I was going to play the deuce with everything, and 
 they gave me no friendly help. I have been doing all I could 
 to convince them that I am not the very desperate character I 
 was in prison or out of prison • and some six months ago, being 
 telegraphed to visit a convention of one of those societies, I 
 went there. I there proposed to receive into the trusteeship 
 and Executive Council of the Skirmishing Fund one or two of 
 their body, provided that the one or two meant skirmishing 
 work such as was laid down in our programme. This proposi¬ 
 tion of mine was accepted, and all passed off harmoniously. 
 
 “Here is how things stand now:—Mr. James J. Clancy, 
 who acted as treasurer of the fund, got married a few weeks 
 ago and ceased his connection with the Irish World. Then 
 Austin Ford wrote me (on 14th March) the following note :— 
 
 “ ‘ I told you that, at a certain Irish convention, I had con¬ 
 sented to admit to the trusteeship of the fund some members 
 of their body. They gave me several names to select from ; 
 and looking about for men who meant work, I took the names 
 of John J. Breslin, who rescued the Australian prisoners, and 
 who was the principal actor in the rescue of James Stephens 
 in 1865 ; of Doctor William Carroll, of Philadelphia, who left 
 his professional business (and being a particular friend of John 
 Mitchell), came to New York when Mitchell was going to Ire¬ 
 land two years ago, went on board the steamer to see him off, 
 went on the steamer with him to Ireland, having no other idea 
 in his head but to take care of him. The other name I took 
 was that of James Reynolds of Nevvhaven, Connecticut. He 
 is the man in whose name the Catalpa was registered, and he 
 mortgaged his property to raise $4000, when it was needed at 
 a crisis in connection with the expedition. Now Mr. Clancy 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 i37 
 
 and Mr. Ford have resigned, I have in connection with these 
 three men I have mentioned taken into the trusteeship John 
 Devoy, Thomas Clarke Luby, and Thomas Francis Bourke.’ 
 
 “ Last night Thomas Clarke Luby went to Washington, carry¬ 
 ing with him $17,500 in American bonds endorsed by me, 
 to have them transferred for safe keeping to the names of 
 Dr. Carroll, Thomas C. Luby, John Devoy, Tom Bourke, 
 John Breslin, and James Reynolds. . . . John O’Mahony 
 
 died. It was deemed well to send his remains to Ireland. 
 There was no money to bear the expenses. I thought I might 
 trespass on the skirmishing money. I consulted Mr. Ford 
 and Mr. Clancy about a loan. They said it could be legiti¬ 
 mately looked upon as within the pale of our work, and they 
 paid me $2030 to defray the expenses. The Clan-na-Gael 
 and the Fenian Brotherhood have promised to refund the 
 money.” 
 
 No secret was made of the connection which 
 now existed between the “trustees” and the 
 “fund,” for a public address was issued “to the 
 Irish people in the United States,” and published 
 in the Irish World of the 21st April, containing 
 the following passages :— 
 
 “But since the ‘skirmishing’ project was first announced, 
 circumstances have greatly altered. . . . Old Europe is 
 threatened with a general convulsion. War on the most 
 tremendous scale cannot much longer be staved off by all the 
 artifices and subtleties of all the diplomatists in the world. 
 Russia and Turkey are equally resolute to fight the inevitable 
 fight. . . . The rest of the Great Powers of Europe will be 
 drawn by an irresistible force into the arena. England, above 
 all, whether she likes it or not, must draw her sword once more 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 138 
 
 or meanly confess herself a third-class power. She is too 
 proud of the part to yield her high place without a blow. She 
 must first be beaten to her knees. 
 
 “ England’s difficulty then has all but come ; in other 
 words, ‘Ireland’s opportunity.’ Is Ireland prepared to seize 
 that opportunity? . . . 
 
 “In view of the altered circumstances of the time, ‘big 
 with fate to us and ours,’ we propose to enlarge the basis of 
 the ‘ Skirmishing Fund,’ established by Rossa, and of the 
 plans it was intended to further. We propose forthwith to 
 create a ‘Special National Fund’ to aid the work of Ireland’s 
 deliverance. 
 
 “Action, some may think, has been postponed too long. 
 Be this as it may, we are determined to lose as little further 
 time as possible ere we furnish our countrymen with practical 
 results of our work. But a blow must be followed up by blows. 
 Unhesitatingly then” (they ask for) “the means to do what may 
 give heart and inspiration to our brothers at home, and prepare 
 the way for the last grand struggle. 
 
 ... “ We shall only add that it is plain that ‘ the 
 
 Home Rule Agitation ’ has signally failed to satisfy the yearn¬ 
 ings of the Irish people. The O’Mahony funeral demonstration, 
 with its deep heroic significance, has exercised the vain mis¬ 
 leading phantom. Every true Irishman in Ireland (and shall 
 we not say in America too ?) once more believes in the old 
 creed of our gallant fathers — that the sole way to free or 
 regenerate Ireland is by total separation from England; and 
 that total separation can only be achieved by desperate sacri¬ 
 fices, daring enterprises, and the strong hand. 
 
 “ John J. Breslin, 
 
 “Thomas Clarke Luby, 
 
 “John Devoy, l New York. 
 
 “ Thomas Francis Bourke, 
 
 “Jer. O’Donovan Rossa, 
 
 “Wm. Carroll, M.D., Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 “ James Reynolds, New Haven, Conn.” 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 i39 
 
 The names of the trustees will, of course, be 
 familiar, as being amongst those regarding whom 
 I gave some details some few pages back, and 
 who were all remarkable fur their past Fenian 
 records and present prominence in the Clan-na- 
 Gael ranks. 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 While the Skirmishing Fund and its custodians 
 were engaging public attention in this way, the 
 secret work of the organisation was by no means 
 being neglected. The ordinary work of shipping 
 arms to Ireland, and communicating with the 
 sister society as regards members, organisation, 
 &c., was conducted with regularity and precision ; 
 while operations of an extraordinary character 
 were indulged in as opportunity offered. Amongst 
 these latter must be classed the negotiations, 
 commenced about this time, for an alliance 
 between the Revolutionary party in America and 
 the Russian Government. Wild and absurd as 
 the idea may at first appear, it is nevertheless an 
 undoubted fact that these negotiations were not 
 alone started in sober earnest, but they were in 
 the end finally completed and developed to the 
 stage of a regular diplomatic compact at head¬ 
 quarters in Russia. As is well known, the rela- 
 
140 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 tions between England and Russia were for some 
 three or four years previous to 1880 of a dis¬ 
 tinctly strained character, and war at many times 
 appeared imminent. Filled with the idea that 
 war would actually take place, the Clan-na-Gael 
 Executive caused overtures to be made to the 
 representative of the Russian Government, pro¬ 
 posing that they in America should fit out priva¬ 
 teers which, sailing with letters of marque from 
 Russia, should worry English vessels and assist 
 in every way possible in furthering the designs 
 of Russia, in return for which Russia should 
 pledge assistance to the Irish in their attempt 
 to wrest Ireland from English domination. 
 
 The matter assumed the proportions of a really 
 serious proposal, an$ Dr. William Carroll, of 
 Philadelphia, about whom I have already spoken, 
 and who was one of the trustees of the Skirmish¬ 
 ing Fund, as well as Chairman of the Executive 
 Body of the Clan-na-Gael, was delegated by the 
 Executive to represent their interests in the 
 negotiation. Dr. Carroll, through the assistance 
 of Senator Jones of Florida, was placed in com¬ 
 munication with the Russian minister at Washing- 
 ton, and to this gentleman the Clan-na-Gael 
 ambassador represented that some millionaires— 
 the names of two were mentioned—were pre¬ 
 pared to subsidise the undertaking, and that 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 141 
 
 several points had been fixed upon for fitting out 
 the privateers, San Francisco being notably one 
 of them. So satisfactorily did the negotia¬ 
 tions progress for the Clan-na-Gael people, that 
 in a few months Dr. Carroll left America for 
 the Russian capital, where, it was subsequently 
 reported in an official way, the treaty between 
 the Russian Government and the Revolutionary 
 organisation was formally ratified. 
 
 It was a significant fact that shortly after this 
 the Russian minister at Washington was re- 
 called. The report in the official ranks of the 
 Clan-na-Gael was that the proceeding was the 
 result of an action taken by the British Govern¬ 
 ment in consequence of what had occurred. Of 
 course, regarding this view of the occurrence, as 
 far as I can speak, there was neither definite in¬ 
 formation nor proof. 
 
 This was but one of the many wild schemes 
 indulged in at this period. Another had to do 
 with the manufacture of a submarine torpedo- 
 boat, with which it was intended to inflict terrific 
 damage on the British navy under water. After 
 one failure, the boat was actually built at the 
 shipyard on the Jersey side of the North River 
 at a cost of some 37,000 dollars ; but nothing ever 
 came of it, for it was apparently completed only 
 to be towed to New Haven, where it lay, and 
 
142 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 where, for aught I know, it may be rotting at the 
 present day. Its principal use, as far as I could 
 make out, was in supplying a certain number of 
 patriots, charged with the control of its construc¬ 
 tion, some five dollars a day each as recognition 
 for their invaluable services. 
 
 On the other plots and schemes I can only 
 touch in the lightest possible way. They in¬ 
 cluded the assassination of Queen Victoria, the 
 kidnapping of the Prince of Wales or Prince 
 Arthur, an attack on Portland Prison, with the 
 rescue of Michael Davitt therefrom, and a hundred 
 and one odd schemes in which Dhuleep Singh, 
 General Carroll Thevis, Aylward, and other 
 soldiers of fortune or discontent all figured. 
 
 c> 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 The month of September ’78 was remarkable for 
 the arrival in America of Michael Davitt. He 
 had been released from Portland Prison on ticket- 
 of-leave several months previously, and having 
 travelled through Ireland in the meantime, now 
 came to the States with the ostensible object of 
 lecturing. This first visit of his differed from the 
 
 o 
 
 second one paid in 1880 by reason of the change 
 which his opinions underwent in the interval. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 M3 
 
 When in September 1878 Davitt landed in 
 America to be met by Devoy and others, and 
 welcomed in an effusive address, he took pains, 
 in replying, to state he was still faithful to the 
 principles of his youth, for which he had suffered 
 imprisonment, and that the dungeon had not 
 changed his political convictions in the least. 
 Apparently not, for during his visit Davitt put 
 in an appearance at several Clan-na-Gael camps, 
 and took part in their proceedings as a duly 
 accredited brother and representative. Contact 
 with Devoy, however, and with the theories on 
 the subject of the “ New Departure,” to which 
 Devoy at this time was giving prominence, must 
 have changed Davitt’s views somewhat, for refer- 
 ences to past principles, life-long convictions, &c., 
 soon made way for pleasant pictures and pro¬ 
 phecies of the development known as the “New 
 Departure,” which was at last to bring the Irish 
 political plotter within sight of his Mecca. 
 
 There is no need for me at this late day to 
 deal at any great length with what has since 
 been known as the “ New Departure.” It proved 
 to be nothing more or less than the scheme which 
 found its development and outcome in the Parnel- 
 lite movement, viz., the bringing together the two 
 forces of Irish discontent—the Constitutional and 
 the Revolutionary sections—and, while allying 
 
144 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 them for strategic and financial purposes, yet so 
 arranging the compact that each was allowed to 
 work in its own way for the accomplishment of 
 the object which all had in view—the repeal of 
 the Union between Great Britain and Ireland. 
 
 The exact terms of the treaty or alliance pro¬ 
 posed by the American Fenians, after consultation 
 with Davitt, were set forth in a cable sent to Mr. 
 Parnell by Devoy and some of his fellow-trus¬ 
 tees of the Skirmishing Fund in the month of 
 October 1878, at a time indeed while Davitt was 
 still in the country. As the cable has a historic 
 interest, I will quote it in full here :— 
 
 ‘•The Nationalists here will support you on the following 
 conditions :— 
 
 “ First, abandonment of the federal demand, and substitu¬ 
 tion of a general declaration in favour of self-government. 
 
 “ Second, vigorous agitation of the Land Question on the 
 basis of a peasant proprietary, while accepting concessions 
 tending to abolish arbitrary evictions. 
 
 “Third, exclusion of all sectarian issues from the platform. 
 
 “ F'ourth, Irish members to vote together on all imperial and 
 home questions, adopt an aggressive policy, and energetically 
 resist coercive legislation. 
 
 “ Fifth, advocacy of all struggling nationalities in the British 
 Empire and elsewhere.” 
 
 Following up this proposal, to which, by the 
 way, no direct public reply was ever given, there 
 appeared in the press letters from John Devoy 
 advocating the new move in arguments which I 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 MS 
 
 think I can best summarise by using the follow¬ 
 ing extracts from one of his epistles :—• 
 
 “ The question whether the advanced Irish National party 
 —the party of separation—should continue the policy of isola¬ 
 tion from the public life of the country, which was inaugurated 
 some twenty years ago by James Stephens and his associates, 
 or return to older methods—methods as old at least as the 
 days of the United Irishman —is agitating the minds of Irish 
 Nationalists on both sides of the Atlantic just now; and cer¬ 
 tainly no similar incident has aroused such wide discussion in 
 Ireland for many a day as the publication of the views of the 
 exiled Nationalists resident in New York on the subject. 
 
 “The object aimed at by the Irish National party—the re¬ 
 covery of Ireland’s national independence, and the severance 
 of all political connection with England—is one that would 
 require the utmost efforts and the greatest sacrifices on the part 
 of the whole Irish people. ... I am not one of those who 
 despair of Ireland’s freedom, and am as much in favour of con¬ 
 tinuing the struggle to-day as some of those who talk loudest 
 against constitutional agitation. I am convinced that the whole 
 Irish people can be enlisted in an effort to free their native 
 land, and that they have within themselves the power to over¬ 
 come all obstacles in their way. ... I am also convinced 
 that one section of the people alone can never win independ¬ 
 ence ; and no political party, no matter how devoted or deter¬ 
 mined, can ever win the support of the whole people if they 
 never come before the public, and take no part in the every¬ 
 day life of the country. I have often said it before, and I repeat 
 it now again, that a mere conspiracy will never free Ireland. I 
 am not arguing against conspiracy, but only pointing out the 
 necessity of Irish Nationalists taking whatever public action 
 for the advancement of the National cause they may find 
 within their reach, such action as will place the aims and 
 objects of the National party in a more favourable light before 
 the world, and help to win the support of the Irish people.” 
 
 K 
 
146 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 XXIX. 
 
 While the ball was thus rolling- in this way, 
 Davitt completed his tour in America, and returned 
 to Ireland to resume his work there. He did not 
 return alone, however, for in his wake there 
 travelled his new colleague, Devoy, who, journey¬ 
 ing as one of the secret agents of the Clan-na- 
 Gael, went to Ireland to inspect and report on 
 the condition of the Revolutionary organisa¬ 
 tion there to the V.C. Convention, to be held 
 in Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, in July 1879. 
 Associated with Devoy in this work of inspection 
 was General Millen, acting in the capacity of 
 military envoy. Devoy, while in Ireland, made 
 good use of his time. While he organised the 
 Irish Republican Brotherhood in their secret 
 meetings, he openly advocated the proposed 
 alliance with all his might and main. In Ireland, 
 however, as the report which he afterwards made 
 to the Clan-na-Gael showed, the Fenians were 
 not so ripe as his colleagues in America for giving 
 up, even temporarily, their secret methods for 
 constitutional agitation; and the work which he 
 was to accomplish was not destined to bear too 
 early fruit. 
 
 As the report which Devoy presented of the 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 147 
 
 visit thus made gave an interesting account of 
 how matters stood in Fenian circles there at this 
 period, I give a few extracts. They are important 
 as showing the condition of the Revolutionary 
 forces, which £ave Mr. Parnell so much trouble a 
 year or two later, when, through me, he appealed 
 to Devoy to come over and cripple the opposition 
 he was receiving from this quarter:— 
 
 “Three of the best organised counties—Dublin, Louth, and 
 Wexford—seceded from the S.C. (Supreme Council or Execu¬ 
 tive of the Irish Republican Brotherhood), and believing the 
 statements, so often repeated, that the American organisation 
 supported Mr. Stephens, transferred their allegiance to that 
 gentleman. There still remained with the S.C. (Supreme 
 Council), Ulster, Connaught, Munster, a portion of Leinster, 
 Scotland, and South of England ; but the work in these districts 
 was almost paralysed, and the attention of the men distracted 
 by repeated visits and communications of a conflicting nature 
 from contending factions, who all claimed to be ‘working for 
 Ireland.’ The numbers stood at this time (1878) as follows 
 About 19,000 men stood by the S.C., some 3000 acted independ¬ 
 ently in the North of England, and not more than 1500, chiefly 
 in Leinster, followed Mr. Stephens. No real work could be 
 done ; it was a struggle for existence, and ultimately the majority 
 prevailed. When your former envoy arrived in Ireland, this 
 was the state of things he found existing. As you have been 
 informed, he succeeded, with the help of another member of 
 the V.C. residing in Ireland, in first gaining over the Leinster 
 men to the S.C., by telling them the real truth about the state 
 of things in America. 
 
 “A reorganisation of the S.C. satisfactory to all parties con¬ 
 cerned was then effected) and an efficient secretary elected) 
 
148 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 who has since then rendered invaluable service in repairing the 
 damage done during the short period of turmoil and conten¬ 
 tion. Some years before the organisation had been a compact 
 body of over 40,000 men, acting under its elected council, and 
 making commendable efforts to arm its members in spite of the 
 most discouraging difficulties. At the beginning of last year, 
 after the S.C. had triumphed over the difficulties above men¬ 
 tioned, it was reduced to about 24,000 men, the confidence of 
 many of its members greatly shaken, and much of the material 
 accumulated during past years badly damaged through neglect 
 or entirely lost. 
 
 “It was deemed better to endeavour to weld into a solid 
 mass the united fragments than to increase its size by the 
 addition of new members. Some mistakes were made, but, 
 upon the whole, the action of the S.C. seemed to me judicious 
 and safe. Some 17,000 dollars had been sent by the F.C. 
 (10,000 dollars came from the National Fund for arms) for the 
 purpose of introducing arms into the country ; but it was left in 
 the hands of the R. D. until my arrival, in the belief that the 
 machinery of the movement had undergone too great a strain 
 to be able to bear much pressure, and the hands of the S.C. 
 were too full with the work of restoration to allow them to 
 undertake any more. The organisation was just beginning to 
 breathe a little freely, and to feel that it was again a solid living 
 body, when I arrived to confer with the S.C. as to the best 
 means to infuse new life and vigour into it. 
 
 “ 1 began with Tipperary, Limerick, and Clare, and con¬ 
 tinued my tour till I had a fair idea of the condition of the 
 organisation in all of the seven provinces. . . . Besidescountyand 
 circle meetings, I attended provincial conventions in Munster, 
 Ulster, Connaught, North of England, and South of England, 
 and local district meetings in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Derry, 
 Ennis, Glasgow, Dundalk, and other towns. 
 
 “ When Leinster and Munster shall have been thoroughly 
 reorganised, which will take some time, I hope to see 50,000 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 149 
 
 good members in Ireland alone, and I should not care to see 
 many more. In Ulster, Connaught, Tipperary, and Clare the 
 great bulk of the men are small farmers or farmers’ sons, and, 
 on the whole, there is a much better representation than in’65. 
 I am glad to be able to report also the presence in the organi¬ 
 sation, and in positions of trust, of a lew of the smaller landed 
 gentry, a few professional men, and a large sprinkling of com¬ 
 fortable business men.” 
 
 Nothing calls for further attention in connection 
 with this visit of Devoy and Millen to Ireland, 
 beyond the fact that the expenses of it were de¬ 
 frayed out of a sum of 10,000 dollars taken from 
 the Skirmishing Fund for the purpose. Nor need 
 I speak in any detail of the proceedings of the 
 Wilkesbarre Convention to which the delegates 
 reported. There was no incident connected 
 therewith which calls for any special mention, as 
 particularly affecting events at this period. 
 
 Though lacking official recognition and support, 
 the scheme of the “ New Departure” was creat¬ 
 ing a good deal of enthusiasm throughout the 
 ranks of the Gaels; and the reports which con¬ 
 tinued to come from Ireland as to the condition 
 of the Land Question kept the matter fully alive. 
 The arrival, too, of Mr. Parnell in New York in 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 iS° 
 
 the month of January 1880 gave a fresh impetus 
 to the whole thing. And whatever doubt had 
 heretofore existed as to the possibility of working 
 the new move, and making it subservient to the 
 requirements of the Revolutionary organisation, 
 took immediate flight after a week’s experience 
 of Mr. Parnell in America. In the view of the 
 conspirators scattered throughout the States, Mr. 
 Parnell had given himself over, body and soul, to 
 the chiefs of the Clan-na-Gael. At every point, 
 under every circumstance, without a single excep¬ 
 tion, well-known and trusted men of the secret 
 councils were by his side and at his elbow, push¬ 
 ing him forward into prominence here, bespeaking 
 a welcome for him there, and answering for his 
 thorough fealty to the grand old cause at all 
 manner of times. Nor did his own utterances 
 leave any room for question. Brimful of refer¬ 
 ences of deep meaning, and constantly lit up with 
 the flashing of bayonets and rattling of musketry, 
 his speeches breathed the sounds of war and the 
 policy of the hill-side in every note, till men 
 listening- to his accents thought that at last the 
 hour and the man had come. Poor fools ! They 
 knew not that his enthusiasm was the enthusiasm 
 of the dollar, or its equivalent in English coin 
 when totted up to ^40,000, and his only weapon 
 the House of Commons lie! 
 
/ 
 
 IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 Mr. Parnell’s efforts in America to collect funds 
 for the famine-stricken Irish—this was the osten¬ 
 sible object of his visit—were cut short by the 
 general election which took place in Ireland in 
 the spring of 1880, and he left hurriedly, but not 
 before he had laid the foundations of the Land 
 League, and played into the hands of the secret 
 conspirators by giving them a very leading share 
 in its control. Exit therefore Mr Parnell to give 
 way to Michael Davitt, and enter Mr. Davitt once 
 more on the American stage in quite a new role. 
 Flushed with the triumphs of his recent proceed¬ 
 ings in Ireland in the establishment of the Land 
 League organisation, and the position he had 
 suddenly sprung into, he now came out as a 
 Constitutionalist pure and simple. There were 
 no more visits to Clan-na-Gael camps, for the time 
 at least. All was open and above board. He 
 had his fad ; that fad was the Land League ; and 
 his fad was to win in the political race, hands 
 down. No matter where he went, it was the 
 same story. Travelling Braidvvood-way in order 
 to lecture in my district, he spent three days in 
 my company, part of which time he was my guest, 
 and fell ill on my hands, when I honestly and 
 successfully ministered to his needs. In our 
 intercourse at this period we had many talks over 
 the situation, and with me as with everybody else, 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 * 5 2 
 
 he could only speak of the new movement. At 
 his request, I told him the whole story of the 
 second Canadian raid; and so great was his 
 enthusiasm in his new role, that he seized upon 
 the fiasco I related as yet another proof for me 
 of the utter impossibility of doing anything in the 
 way of active operations. Amused and interested, 
 I watched the dark determined face "lowing with 
 light and enthusiasm, and wondered within me 
 how long this born conspirator would be content 
 to walk in the trammels of a truly constitutional 
 path. The opportunity, however, was too good 
 to be neglected, and I improved it by getting 
 some very useful information unawares from my 
 patient and guest. 
 
 I was quite an courant with Land League 
 matters, for as an official of the Clan-na-Gael I 
 had been instructed to develop the movement in 
 my district, which I accordingly did, following the 
 usual practice of enrolling my colleagues of the 
 Clan-na-Gael as members of the League Branch, 
 and thus keeping the control in our own hands. 
 At public meetings held in favour of the open 
 movement—it will be noted I speak of the Land 
 League as the “open,” and the Clan-na-Gael as 
 the “secret” movement—I frequently presided, 
 and when the occasion arose, introduced Davitt 
 and Devoy. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE , 
 
 153 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 So matters progressed and developed, the only 
 important incident of the interval being the dis¬ 
 covery that James J. O’Kelly, late M.P. for 
 Roscommon, after being despatched by the 
 Revolutionary Directory of the Clan-na-Gael to 
 England with moneys to attend to the shipping 
 of arms to Ireland, had thrown in his lot with the 
 advocates of the New Departure in Ireland, and 
 been returned to Parliament with the funds placed 
 at his disposal by the Revolutionary chiefs in 
 New York. This, of course, was not the only 
 occasion on which the moneys subscribed for 
 blowing up England went to subsidise the New 
 Departure. Davitt and Devoy had both drawn 
 upon them to a large extent, though Davitt con¬ 
 scientiously paid every farthing of his share back 
 in 1882. 
 
 In the month of November 1880, John Devoy 
 issued a very peculiar circular to the Senior 
 Guardians of the V.C., or Clan-na-Gael camps, 
 which was remarkable as showing how loyal after 
 all this author of the New Departure was to 
 the methods of revolutionary work, and how he 
 regarded the Land League but as the stepping- 
 
T 54 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 stone to more decisive things. This is how he 
 put the matter :— 
 
 P.O. Box 4, 479. 
 
 New York, November 1, 1SS0. 
 
 “ Dear Sir and Brother,— I propose to give a course of 
 lectures this winter on the subject of “The Irish National 
 Cause and the Present Crisis,” with a view to stirring up our 
 people here and increasing the resources of the National 
 movement. I will stipulate beforehand that the proceeds 
 shall either go to the Revolutionary Fund of the V.C. or to 
 the National Fund, so that we may be better prepared to meet 
 any emergency that may be forced upon us by England. 
 'W hile believing that all our efforts should be directed to 
 restraining the people in Ireland from any premature insur¬ 
 rectionary movement, I think the excitement at home should 
 be utilised for the purpose of procuring the funds necessary to 
 enable the National party to complete the preparations for the 
 struggle for independence. The ti?ne for that struggle must 
 be selected by us and not by England; but one must not 
 forget that our hand may be forced in spite of all our 
 endeavours; and it therefore behoves us to commence stirring 
 up our people in America now. I think the Land League 
 has now money enough for present purposes, and that the 
 state of things prevailing in Ireland demands that all money 
 that can be got from our people here should be devoted to 
 revolutionary purposes. I am convinced, in fact, that the 
 doing of this is the best help we can at present give the Land 
 League. The prosecutions have already given the agitation a 
 more decidedly national tone. Let us help to broaden it into 
 a truly national movement, and make it serviceable to the cause 
 of independence. 
 
 “ If you agree with this view of the situation, I should be 
 glad to receive your assistance in organising lectures in your 
 vicinity, provided your doing so would not be detrimental to 
 the interests of the V. C. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 “ I intend to begin in the New England States, then to go 
 through a portion of New York State and Penna, and thence 
 west. Communicate to the P.O. Pox mentioned.—Frater¬ 
 nally yours, 
 
 “John Devoy.” 
 
 I was only too willing 1 to arrange for such a 
 lecture as Devoy wanted, for thereby I should 
 be bringing Devoy and myself into contact, with 
 every probability of getting useful information. 
 Accordingly, Devoy lectured for me somewhere 
 about January or February ’8i, and during his 
 stay visited and addressed my camp. He made 
 a visit of some three or four days to my district, 
 and as I had hoped and anticipated, we had 
 many and long confidential chats together. The 
 position of affairs was fully discussed. Devoy 
 was very pronounced in his views about 
 money subscribed for Land League purposes. 
 What had been only hinted at in his letter, he 
 gave very plain utterance to in his speech. The 
 money subscribed for the Land League, he con¬ 
 tended, should not all go for bread, and in this 
 connection he outlined to me the ideas of the 
 Revolutionary Directory of the Clan-na-Gael (of 
 which he was a member) at this time. These 
 were, to put it shortly, to strike and damage the 
 British Government where and when they could. 
 “The organisation on this side,” said he, meaning 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 156 
 
 America, “ have agreed to furnish the means, 
 and the organisation in Ireland have signified 
 their willingness to carry out a system of warfare, 
 characterised by all the rigours of Nihilism.” 
 
 All, however, was not plain sailing to him, 
 and with amazing frankness he explained to me 
 what his fears were. There was, he admitted, 
 no possibility of a rising, as the leaders in Ireland 
 were all against such a movement in the weak 
 condition in which the organisation was. But, 
 on the other hand, all attempts made to restrain 
 the fire-eating elements would be met with failure, 
 unless something practical was done. The atti¬ 
 tude of Rossa and his followers had also to be 
 considered. If no active work was done, some 
 of our best men would flock to Rossa’s standard 
 and so weaken the organisation (Rossa, I should 
 explain, had by this time taken up an independent 
 attitude, and was working in connection with 
 the fragments that remained of the old Fenian 
 Brotherhood). It was thoroughly understood 
 that work had been done by Rossa’s emissaries 
 or rather some of them ; hence the danger. The 
 name of Boyton, whom I did not know at the time, 
 but who was, as I learnt, a brother of Boyton the 
 swimmer, engaged as a League organiser in Ire¬ 
 land, then came up, and I was informed that Boyton 
 was one of those occupied in developing the new 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 iS 7 
 
 policy. By this I mean active warfare aux Clan- 
 na-Gael as distinct from the constitutional work 
 openly advocated by the Land League. Devoy 
 remarked regarding this active policy that it was 
 being well looked after, but would take time to 
 complete. 
 
 Devoy’s confidences were in fact most exhaus¬ 
 tive, and enabled me to send quite an interesting 
 budget by the next mail to Mr. Anderson. I 
 learnt, as a further item of news, that much trouble 
 was being experienced in keeping the I.R.B. (the 
 sister society) men in some parts of Ireland, 
 notably in Mayo, where they had the best 
 organisation and most arms, from making what 
 Devoy described as “fools of themselves.” He, 
 it appeared, feared attacks on the military when 
 the latter were attending evictions. This striking 
 interview between the Clan-na-Gael leader and 
 the Secret Service agent concluded with the 
 important announcement on the part of the 
 former that he had received a letter from Mr. 
 Parnell, through a friend, in which Mr. Parnell 
 stated he was exasperated and was willing to 
 do anything. He (Mr. Parnell) had agreed 
 to the calling of the 1882 Convention, and to 
 its being a National Movement Convention; 
 and, in conclusion, Devoy said Mr. Parnell’s 
 personal attitude towards the National (i.e., Re- 
 
158 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 volutionary) party was well and satisfactorily 
 understood. 
 
 This was, indeed, a time of confidences with 
 me. I had communications with Alexander 
 Sullivan and Meledy within a very short period 
 from this, and from them—Sullivan being one of 
 the Executive, and Meledy a leading member of 
 the Clan-na-Gael—I learnt, though at different 
 times, that a new plan of campaign was coming 
 into force, nothing more or less indeed than 
 one of cold-blooded murder and destruction. It 
 appeared that a man called Wheeler had invented 
 a new hand-grenade, and had offered a supply to 
 the organisation. They were of such a portable 
 character as to be easily carried in a satchel, 
 and were especially adapted for the purpose in 
 view. Meledy told me he had offered to take 
 part in the work of placing them in Ireland and 
 England. 
 
 The significance of the matter was lost upon 
 me at the time, but was fully appreciated by me 
 later on, when I learnt of the informer Carey’s 
 evidence in connection with the Phcenix Park 
 murders and the Invincible conspiracy, in the 
 course of which he confessed that he and his 
 confederates had arranged to kill Earl Cowper, 
 the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, by a hand bomb 
 just perfected in the organisation, which could be 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 J 59 
 
 easily thrown from a window in a house in Cork 
 Hill, Dublin, which they had selected for the 
 purpose. 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 My private affairs permitted of my taking a holi¬ 
 day in the early part of the year 1881, and so I 
 determined to make a trip to Europe. Happen¬ 
 ing to communicate my intention to my old friend, 
 Colonel Clingen, now the commander of the 
 Clan-na-Gael guards in Chicago, and a very 
 prominent member of the organisation, he gave 
 me to understand that the Executive would avail 
 themselves of my journey to send by me docu¬ 
 ments which could not be trusted to the mails. 
 Nothing could have suited me better, and I 
 willingly consented to be of any service I possibly 
 could. Devoy, it subsequently transpired, was 
 the correspondent whose communications I was 
 to convey, and by an arrangement of Clingen’s 
 a meeting took place between Devoy and myself 
 at the Palmer House, Chicago, in the month of 
 March 1881. Devoy on this occasion handed 
 me sealed packets addressed to John O’Leary 
 and Patrick Egan in Paris. O’Leary was then 
 regarded as the representative agent and official 
 means of communication between the Clan-na-Gael 
 
i6o 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 and the Irish Republican Brotherhood in Ireland ; 
 Egan was the treasurer and accredited repre¬ 
 sentative of the Irish Land League. 
 
 Journeying by way of Liverpool, I reached 
 England on the 12th of April 1881, and stopping 
 in London in order to see Mr. Anderson and 
 show him the packets, as well as to receive 
 instructions, I eventually travelled to Paris. On 
 arrival there I drove to the Hotel Brighton, where 
 I had learned Egan was located, and where I 
 determined to take up my abode. The first 
 person I met with in the hotel was Egan himself. 
 He was coming down the stairs in view of me, 
 as I asked for him, in company with Mrs. A. M. 
 Sullivan (wife of the late M.P.), both being bound 
 for the opera, where, on their invitation, I subse¬ 
 quently joined them. I made myself known to 
 Egan at once, only to find of course that he had 
 received some hint of my coming, and was quite 
 expecting me. 
 
 As I washed and prepared to take myself to 
 the opera, to see some more of this strange man, 
 I endeavoured to recall his appearance, and to 
 see how far he fitted in with the idea I already 
 held regarding him. A man of bright cheery 
 presence, stout build, and jovial look and voice, 
 the latter very marked in its Irish accent, with 
 bright laughing eyes and warm handshake and 
 
PATRICK EGAN 
 

IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 161 
 
 a closely cut head of tawny hair, he was the last 
 person in the world you would take for a deep 
 conspirator, and a constructor of murder. I was 
 puzzled and bewildered—I could not make it out; 
 and so giving up all thought of trying to read the 
 man’s character on the outward view, I deter¬ 
 mined I should leave my further studies in this 
 direction to a later date and go and enjoy the 
 opera, which I did. 
 
 The next morning saw me en route for the 
 residence of John O’Leary, to whom I wished to 
 deliver my second packet without delay. I dis¬ 
 covered him without much difficulty in his abode 
 at the Hotel de la Couronne, in the Ouartier 
 Latin. I found the old man surrounded by his 
 books and manuscripts, and from his appearance 
 more fit for the patient secluded life of the student 
 than the troublous career of the rebel. Seated in 
 his room, and gazing affectionately on his different 
 treasures of old and rare editions, he seemed 
 to have little in common with my friends of 
 the Clan. Yet I found him fully posted, and 
 as keen to talk with me as possible. At first 
 somewhat suspicious and uncertain in his manner, 
 he gradually lost his appearance of distrust, and 
 in the end gossiped with me quite freely. As 
 he opened Devoy’s packet in my presence, I was 
 enabled to discover that I had been the bearer 
 
162 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 of a very long document, with an enclosure, to 
 which he paid great heed. 
 
 From the very start I found O’Leary opposed 
 to the “active” policy. He was as strong and 
 bitter an opponent of the murderous idea as one 
 could wish to meet; and, unlike Irish patriots in 
 general, he was not without the courage of his 
 convictions. He showed me a copy of the Dublin 
 Irishman (the unfortunate Pigott’s paper), of some 
 date in the month previous, containing a letter 
 over his signature, denouncing all secret warfare. 
 In fact, so far did this really honest patriot go, 
 that he refused in his official capacity to take any 
 responsibility for expenditure in connection with 
 the “active” policy. While condemning such 
 methods, however, he avowed himself in full 
 accord with an open insurrectionary movement; 
 and he spoke in the bitterest terms of the way 
 in which J. J. O’Kelly and others had played 
 false, while acting as paid members of the organi¬ 
 sation. Another point in connection with our 
 talks was the opposition shown by O’Leary to 
 the Parnellite alliance. He would have nothing 
 to do with such a joining of forces as was pro¬ 
 posed, and he was all against mixing up the honest 
 rebel movement with one which was, in his opinion, 
 worthy of great distrust. 
 
 I enjoyed my talks with O’Leary because in 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 163 
 
 him I found a fine, honest, fearless spirit. The 
 man was old and grey, with furrowed brow and 
 stooped figure, the result of his long confinement 
 in English prisons. There was little about him 
 then to remind one of the bright-eyed daring 
 prisoner who, fifteen years before, had, from the 
 dock of a Dublin court-house, hurled defiance at 
 judge, jury, and Government alike ; but there still 
 remained with him the same fearlessness of tone 
 and honesty of conviction which marked him 
 out then, as now, a prince amongst his fellows 
 of the Irish conspiracy. 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 In strong contrast to O’Leary was another old 
 Irish rebel whose acquaintance I made in Paris 
 for the first time. He was a man whose name 
 was familiar to me as a household word, but with 
 whom I had never before been brought directly 
 into contact. I speak of James Stephens, the leader 
 with whose name it was at one time possible to con¬ 
 jure in Ireland, who had been the head and front 
 of the Fenian Brotherhood in Ireland in 1865, 
 whose word was law to its sworn thousands, 
 and who, after making his escape from Rich¬ 
 mond Bridewell in Dublin, ended his inglorious 
 
164 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 public career by an unromantic exit in petti¬ 
 coats. Curious being that he was, he inspired 
 feelings of the sincerest affection on the part of 
 his immediate followers; and there were few 
 things that, in their regard for him, they would 
 not seek to accomplish on his behalf. 
 
 His escape from Richmond Prison, attended 
 with tremendous risk as it was for all concerned, 
 was a case in point ; and as it is a matter about 
 which present-day folk remember little if any¬ 
 thing, I feel tempted to give the story in the old 
 man’s words, as he told it to me. 
 
 “ The two brave men,” said he, “ brave men 
 and true, who were instrumental in releasing me 
 were J. J. Breslin and Daniel Byrne. Breslin 
 was a man of great expediency, or he never could 
 have procured the impression of the key which 
 opened my cell, and which was hung on a nail 
 in the Governor’s safe. He had to distract the 
 Governor’s attention ; steal the key, putting 
 another in its place; get the impression, and then 
 return the key to its proper place again. The 
 most singular circumstance connected with my 
 escape was that while Kickham, who was deaf, 
 occupied the cell on my right, M‘Leod, a thief, 
 was in the cell on my left. A gong was placed 
 in his cell communicating with the Governor’s 
 office, in order to allow of his giving the alarm if 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 165 
 
 necessary ; and he could not have helped hear¬ 
 ing me get out, when Breslin and Byrne, at one 
 o’clock in the morning, stood beside my cell. 
 He did hear me ; but that thief, base as he was, 
 was not base enough to sell me to the British 
 Government. But then my trouble began. We 
 had only a few minutes to do our work in. It 
 was pitch dark, and the storm howled furiously. 
 The ladder provided for my scaling the wall 
 proved too short. Breslin, who was chief 
 hospital warden, and Byrne, who was night- 
 watchman and ‘ lock up,’ were armed with two 
 revolvers each. They had also provided for 
 me. Our intention was to fight, if discovered, 
 until killed. 
 
 “ The short ladder nearly proved fatal. I could 
 not reach the top of the wall, which was twenty 
 feet high, so Byrne got a table out of the dining¬ 
 room and placed the ladder upon it. Even then 
 it was too short. I had to come down a^ain. 
 Breslin was fairly wild. Another table was 
 procured, and again I tried. After a dreadful 
 struggle, I succeeded in getting outside of the 
 wall. It was no joke to jump twenty feet into 
 the darkness. I had to do it, however, or be 
 caught. Breslin gave me directions where to go 
 if I did not break my neck in falling ; and he 
 and Byrne returned to their duty. I let go my 
 
i66 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 hold, and down I went, fortunately falling on 
 soft ground. 
 
 “ My directions were to follow a gravel walk 
 (for I was in a garden) until I came to another 
 wall twenty feet high, where I was to throw a 
 stone over as a signal to eleven men, all armed, 
 who were waiting outside to receive me. 
 
 ‘ I had some difficulty in finding the walk, and 
 could get no stone of any size in the dark. At 
 last I reached the garden wall, and threw over a 
 handful of gravel. A rope with a weight attached 
 was thrown over the wall. I climbed up by its 
 aid, and soon found myself in the arms of my 
 body-guard. We embraced with joy, and I soon 
 made them disperse. I went to a house in sight 
 of the jail, and remained there fourteen days. I 
 afterwards went to a fashionable boarding-house 
 in the finest part of Dublin and stayed two 
 months. I left Dublin in the brigantine Concord , 
 in company with Flood and Kelly, on the 12th 
 of March, and landed in Ardrossan on the after¬ 
 noon of the 15th.” 
 
 Poor Stephens now lives in his humble garret 
 in Paris, an exile broken in fortune, health, and 
 hope, smoking his short black pipe and brooding 
 over these days that are no more. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 167 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 All this time Egan and I had been constantly 
 together. My desire was, of course, to make a 
 study of the man, and to get to know as much 
 about him as I possibly could. Everything 
 played into my hands. Egan was ignorant both 
 of the geography and the language of the French 
 capital, and he very largely availed himself of 
 the help which I was enabled to render him, as 
 the result of my supposed French nationality and 
 knowledge of the city. My position, altogether, 
 was a very pleasant one at this period. Egan 
 lived in a most extravagant fashion, and as he 
 would pay for everything and would not allow 
 me to share in any outlay, 1 had the best of all 
 things without any strain on my pocket whatever. 
 He frequented the most expensive cafes, had 
 the choicest of dishes, would only be content 
 with the best boxes at places of entertainment, 
 and, in a word, spent his money right royally. 
 The information should be pleasant reading for 
 the poor dupes in America and Ireland who 
 subscribed the funds over which he was then 
 presiding. 
 
 We cemented a strong friendship, and I was 
 with him almost at all times. I made a point of 
 
i6S 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 being in his rooms when his letters arrived, and he 
 was certainly very frank and open in acquainting 
 me with their contents. As a result, I obtained 
 full and accurate information as to the position 
 and progress of affairs in Ireland during my stay. 
 There was not the faintest shadow of a sugges¬ 
 tion of secrecy between us as to our attitude 
 towards Revolutionary matters. I remember 
 well on one occasion Egan summing up his own 
 position in these words—which I noted at the 
 time—“ I am a Land Leaguer, and something 
 else when the opportunity presents itself.” He 
 boasted to me of his having been the backbone 
 of the Fenian organisation in Dublin for many 
 years, and admitted the fact, with which I was 
 acquainted, that he was a member of the Supreme 
 Council or executive body there. 
 
 In our talks on Revolutionary organisations, 
 I found Egan an enthusiastic advocate of the 
 “active” policy spoken of by Devoy, and he 
 heartily entered into a discussion with me as to 
 the ways and means of carrying it out. In this 
 connection reference was made to Mr. Parnell, 
 and he assured me most emphatically that 
 “ Parnell was all right as a Revolutionist.” In 
 support of this statement he cited the fact that 
 some twelve months previously Mr. Parnell 
 sought admission into the ranks of the Irish 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 169 
 
 Revolutionary Brotherhood, but was refused. 
 “ Parnell,” remarked Egan with a wise look, 
 “thought a good deal of the organisation, but 
 it was not then in a flourishing condition, and 
 we thought he would think a great deal more of 
 it by being on the outside rather than in it.” 
 
 Our conversations naturally tended in the direc¬ 
 tion of finance; and when the topic cropped up, 
 Egan dealt with it in no nervous spirit, regarding 
 me as quite a worthy recipient of his confidence. 
 About this time a demand was being made for a 
 public audit of the accounts of the League. He 
 explained that an audit committee of three mem¬ 
 bers of the League had already gone over his 
 books, and this was all the audit that could pos¬ 
 sibly take place. His reasons for such a strong 
 statement were very frankly given. A public 
 audit would, he said, be the very thing Dublin 
 Castle—meaning the Irish Government—would 
 like to have, but this was out of the question. It 
 was impossible for him to make public many of 
 the items of his expenditure! I laughed to 
 myself as he said this, wondering whether the 
 expenses of our many extravagant trips about 
 Paris came under this head. 
 
 But he was dealing with far more dangerous 
 
 o o 
 
 matters. He stated explicitly, in a very signifi¬ 
 cant way, that the money had been used for other 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 170 
 
 purposes than those of constitutional agitation. 
 Amongst these sources of outlay were the ex¬ 
 penses of the Dutch officers from Amsterdam to 
 assist the Boers in their revolt against British 
 
 o 
 
 control in South Africa; and coming nearer home, 
 the varied expenditure in connection with parties 
 attached to the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 
 Ireland. Altogether our talks on this branch of 
 the subject enlightened me on many points, and 
 supplied me with sufficient material to form a 
 fixed belief in my mind that his idea, at least, 
 was identical with that held in the States—that 
 the open agitation was but a branch of the move¬ 
 ment to obtain the separation of Ireland from 
 England. 
 
 I use the phrase “his idea,” but to be really 
 accurate I should say “ their idea,” for Egan 
 always spoke on behalf of his colleagues—with one 
 exception, which I can recall—and represented 
 that a complete harmony of view prevailed. And 
 in everything that happened subsequently during 
 my stay in England, I found this representation 
 of his sustained by fact, save the single excep¬ 
 tion of which I speak—namely, in the case of Mr. 
 A. M. Sullivan. I had not long to wait for an 
 opportunity of putting the statement to the test as 
 far as several of the M.P.’s were concerned ; for 
 very shortly after this conversation, Egan and I 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 1 7 1 
 
 travelled to London, and by him I was introduced 
 into the House of Commons, and to several Irish 
 M.P.’s, with the significant description “one of 
 our friends from America.” I well remember that 
 amongst those I first met in this way was Mr. 
 Parnell himself, from whom I received a very 
 warm greeting On this occasion I was accom- 
 modated with a seat under the gallery of the 
 House. This was but one of several visits I paid 
 to the House at this time, in the course of which 
 I constantly came in contact with Egan. When 
 alone I generally sent in my card to Mr. Parnell, 
 and he obtained the necessary admission for me, 
 much to his disgust, I am sure, when a later day 
 came and I put in an appearance in the witness- 
 box of Probate Court No. i, London. 
 
 At every point I, of course, made careful notes 
 of what occurred, and, either verbally or in writing, 
 reported them to my chief, so that the Govern¬ 
 ment were not really so deplorably ignorant as 
 the Parnellites then proudly hoped and believed. 
 In fact, not one occurrence of importance with 
 which Egan became acquainted—and he really 
 knew everything, and kept nothing back from 
 me—was delayed by a single post from head¬ 
 quarters at the Home Office in London. To 
 resume, however. After this first visit to London, 
 Egan and I returned to Paris by different routes 
 
172 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 and on arriving there the same close intercourse 
 prevailed between us. I had not been very long 
 back, when Egan informed me that Mr. Parnell 
 had written him expressing a very strong desire 
 to see me before my return to America. Nothing 
 loth, I promised to call upon the Irish leader 
 when next in London, and I duly carried out my 
 promise. 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 Making my way down to the House on the 
 occasion of my next appearance in London, I 
 obtained admission to the Lobby—admission was 
 then an easier matter than now—and encountered 
 Mr. J. J. O’Kelly in my search for Mr. Parnell. 
 The late envoy of the Clan-na-Gael, who, unfaith¬ 
 ful to his trust, had got into Parliament with 
 skirmishing money instead of attending to the 
 shipping of arms for “active” work, had a long 
 chat with me over the situation, before the Irish 
 leader put in an appearance. While we talked 
 in this way, O’Kelly complained bitterly of 
 the opposition which the open or constitutional 
 movement known as the Land League was still 
 receiving from the Irish Republican Brotherhood 
 or secret organisation in Ireland, and he stoutly 
 advocated coercion on the part of the directors of 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 i 73 
 
 the American branch of the conspiracy in order 
 to brin" the Irish malcontents into line. 
 
 o 
 
 His remarks, however, were cut short by the 
 appearance of Mr. Parnell, who, leading the way, 
 conducted us to a corridor outside the Library of 
 the House, where an interview of over an hour 
 took place, O’Kelly remaining for a little until 
 the conversation was well under way. O’Kelly, 
 while he remained, did almost all the talking. 
 His remarks were a repetition of what he had 
 already said to me in private. When he left, Mr. 
 Parnell adopted the same line of complaint, speak¬ 
 ing in low tones, as we walked up and down the 
 corridor, to prevent any one being continually 
 within ear-shot. I was told detectives were 
 watching us, and that spies held a place in every 
 corner. As I afterwards learnt, the statement 
 was not without foundation, for every movement 
 of myself and my companion was noted, with 
 details as regards time, and duly reported to 
 Government officials within twenty-four hours. 
 
 The whole matter, said Mr. Parnell, following 
 up O’Kelly’s remarks, rested in our hands in 
 America. We had the money, he said, and if 
 we stopped the supplies the home organisation 
 would act as desired. He expressed his belief 
 that Devoy could do more than any one else to 
 bring about a clear understanding and alliance; 
 
174 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 and he commissioned me to use my influence with 
 Devoy, and to arrange for his presence in Paris 
 at as early a date as possible. So anxious was he 
 to bring Devoy over that he undertook to pay all 
 his expenses. Still speaking in this connection, 
 he asked me to at once proceed from New York, 
 after seeing Devoy, to other prominent members 
 of the organisation, mentioning particularly the 
 names of Alexander Sullivan and William J. 
 Hynes, the presence of either of whom, upon this 
 side of the water, he desired for the purpose of 
 bringing about a thorough understanding and 
 complete harmony of working. Special reference 
 was also made to Dr. William Carroll of Phila¬ 
 delphia, and his attitude towards the open move¬ 
 ment. Dr. Carroll, I may here explain, had 
 been elected Chairman of the Executive Body at 
 the Wilkesbarre Convention of 1879, but had 
 resigned in 1880 in consequence of his opposition 
 to the way in which the New Departure was 
 being worked, and the treatment he received. 
 This was the same Dr. Carroll who had spent 
 the previous year in Europe, having been specially 
 charged with the carriage of negotiations between 
 the V.C. and the Russian Government. 
 
 After arranging these matters with me, Mr. 
 Parnell entered into details regarding the position 
 of the Irish Question at this time. His remarks 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 *75 
 
 on this point were a veritable bombshell to me. 
 He started off by stating that he had long since 
 ceased to believe that anything but the force of 
 arms would accomplish the final redemption of 
 Ireland. He saw no reason why, when we were 
 fully prepared, an open insurrectionary movement 
 could not be brought about. He went carefully 
 into the question of resources and necessaries. 
 He stated what the League could furnish in the 
 way of men and money, and informed me as to 
 the assistance which he looked for from the 
 American organisation. He spoke of having in 
 the League Treasury at the end of that year an 
 available sum of ,£100,000. He discussed with 
 me the details of the position occupied by the 
 home and American Revolutionary organisations, 
 and defended the American policy for the time 
 being. I parted with him with the assurance that 
 I would do all he wished. 
 
 The interview had certainly proved a startling 
 one for me; and as I proceeded to my seat under 
 the gallery of the House, I pondered over the 
 manner and method of my late companion, to 
 discover, if I could, any incident in the course of 
 our hour’s talk which would materially affect all that 
 he had said. But there was none. The manner 
 of the League chief had been grave and impassive, 
 as was his wont; he had been business-like all 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 176 
 
 through ; there was no uncertainty, no indistinct¬ 
 ness in his utterance. He had certainly made 
 a plunge, but it was a plunge taken with all 
 deliberation and premeditation. I went over 
 all the points in my own mind again, carefully 
 impressed them on my memory, and took my seat 
 in the house beside General Roberts, with whom 
 I had an interesting talk in an undertone, and to 
 whom I pointed out some of the celebrities on 
 both sides. If I remember aright, it was the 
 occasion of a vote of thanks to General Roberts 
 for his march on Candahar; and when the vote 
 had been recorded, a large number of mem¬ 
 bers crowded round to speak to him, whereupon 
 I left. 
 
 Reaching the street, I called a hansom at once, 
 and late hour though it was, I drove direct to 
 Mr. Anderson’s private house in order to acquaint 
 him with what had happened, while the facts 
 were fresh in my memory. Carefully I went 
 into every detail, and as carefully Mr. Anderson 
 followed, taking a note as I went along of the 
 principal points. The early dawn had crept 
 upon us ere my report was finished, and con¬ 
 cluding at last, I took my departure, to lose no 
 time in getting that sleep for which I commenced 
 to pine, and which I considered I had very fairly 
 earned. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 177 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 I saw Mr. Parnell once more. This was when 
 I went to say good-bye to him. I found him in 
 the tea-room of the House of Commons, as 
 cordial as ever. Indeed, he was particularly 
 agreeable on this occasion, presenting me with a 
 photograph of himself, on which he wrote, “ Yours 
 very truly, Charles S. Parnell.” This portrait, 
 which is here reproduced, I kept as an inter¬ 
 esting souvenir for a long time, but had to 
 surrender it at last to the Special Commission, 
 amongst the records of which it is now duly 
 numbered. Soon after I left London for Ire¬ 
 land, not, however, before I had seen a good 
 deal of Egan, and spent several pleasant evenings 
 in his company, at the house of Mr. A. M. 
 Sullivan, M.P., who now, poor man! is no more. 
 I well remember Egan’s impressing upon me the 
 necessity for my covering my revolutionary senti¬ 
 ments whenever Mr. Sullivan was near. It would 
 never do, I was told, to talk of revolutionary 
 matters, for he was ultramontane. This advice 
 I followed, noting the fact in my own mind to 
 Mr. Sullivan's credit. 
 
 Talented, witty, and brilliant, Mr. Sullivan 
 made a magnificent raconteur. Even now I can 
 
 M 
 
I 7 S 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 recall many of his happy efforts which would well 
 bear reproduction. I shall not, however, yield to 
 the temptation of bringing them in here, but will 
 content myself with recalling one pleasant story 
 told about the irrepressible Mr. Biggar. Mr. 
 Biggar, as I was informed by way of preface, was 
 known as the great objector and “counter-out,” 
 sometimes, sad to relate, moving that the House 
 be counted when it was not to the interests of the 
 party to take any notice of the want of a quorum. 
 Very pious in disposition, he rarely failed to 
 attend early mass, in spite of late sittings and 
 consequent fatigue. One morning Mr. Biggar, 
 fatigued after a very heavy night’s sitting, but 
 still devotionally inclined, attended mass at St. 
 George’s in Southwark. So tired out was he 
 that he fell fast asleep in his chair as the service 
 proceeded, and so he remained until all had been 
 concluded and every one had gone. Upon being 
 vigorously aroused by the verger, Mr. Biggar 
 started up, rubbed his eyes, looked at the roof, 
 and fancying himself at the moment in the House 
 of Commons, with the master instinct strong 
 within him, loudly exclaimed, “ Mr. Speaker, I 
 moye that the House be counted.” 
 
 Thanks to Egan, I travelled to Dublin under 
 happy circumstances. I was the bearer of letters 
 of introduction to Dr. Kenny, M.P., O’Rorke, 
 
l/Z{ t'C'Ts'-y fa it X 
 
 'V v/ 
 

 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 179 
 
 Egan’s brother-in-law, and to those in charge at 
 the Land League head-quarters. I anticipated 
 an interesting time, and I was not disappointed. 
 Dr. Kenny, though his memory is now very 
 deficient—shall I say ?—proved the most enter¬ 
 taining of men, and I had both lunch and dinner 
 at his hospitable board in Gardiner Street. It 
 was in his company I paid my visit to Kilmain- 
 ham Prison, and through his kind introduction 
 that I made the acquaintance of John Dillon, 
 P. J. Sheridan, M. J. Boyton, and the others I 
 met on the occasion. My visit and its incidents 
 afforded a very good insight into how matters 
 were conducted, and proved to me how very 
 easy it was to carry on communication with the 
 outside world—at least when you were an Irish 
 political prisoner. To my surprise there was no 
 attempt made by the warder to hear the con¬ 
 versation I had with Boyton. On the contrary, 
 this interesting official most obligingly took him¬ 
 self off. 
 
 This meeting with Boyton was full of interest 
 to me. He was the man, it will be remembered, 
 who had been named by Devoy as carrying out 
 the arrangements for the “ active ” policy of 
 Ireland, and who was best known as the brother 
 of Captain Boyton the swimmer. From him in 
 the secrecy of conversation, undisturbed by the 
 
i8o 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 presence of a warder or fellow-prisoner, I learnt 
 that the Land League had placed the Fenian or 
 National cause in a far stronger position than 
 ever in Ireland. Could the Clan-na-Gael only 
 see the national spirit which had been developed 
 all over Ireland, they would never oppose it, he 
 believed. In counties where the Revolutionary 
 organisation had been dead for years, continued 
 he, there was now material for work, and men 
 ready to go as far as any one. All these men 
 wanted was organisation and leaders. He 
 besought my assistance in proving his claim to 
 be a naturalised American citizen, which, if 
 established, would mean his release. I left him 
 with no doubt in my mind as to his being a 
 thorough-paced Revolutionist. When I got out¬ 
 side the prison, I received from Dr. Kenny a 
 letter which Boyton had intrusted to him after 
 leaving, containing a couple of his photos. 
 Boyton, need I state, was a paid Land League 
 organiser like Sheridan, the director of the 
 Invincibles. My meeting with Sheridan was, 
 by the way, almost a momentary affair, and that 
 with Dillon in the presence of a warder. 
 
 After a very interesting time in Dublin, I 
 left by North Wall boat, being “seen off,” as 
 the phrase is, by Egan’s business partner and 
 brother-in-law, O'Rorke, and Andrew Kettle, 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 181 
 
 both Leaguers remaining on the bridge of the 
 boat talking to me till we left. The detailed 
 report of all I had seen and heard was duly 
 submitted to Mr. Anderson. I was commended 
 for my success, said good-bye to everybody, 
 and once more took ship for home, in order to 
 get back in time for the Convention of the Clan- 
 na-Gael, which was to take place very soon. Of 
 course there was another matter which prompted 
 my speedy return, and that was the work I had 
 undertaken to do on behalf of Mr. Parnell. I 
 had to see Devoy and the others, to report the 
 Irish leader’s views to them, and having acquitted 
 myself of all I had to do as a Revolutionary 
 envoy, to find out as much as possible of the 
 result, in order that I might utilise the informa¬ 
 tion in my capacity as an agent of the Secret 
 Service. 
 
 XXXVII. 
 
 I reached New York somewhere in the month 
 of June 1881. Devoy was not there when I 
 arrived, and so I had to telegraph to him 
 at New Haven, Conn., in order to arrange an 
 interview. My telegram was followed by a 
 written report of all that had happened ; and as 
 Devoy was detained at New Haven, a lengthy 
 
182 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 correspondence took place between us. Though 
 at first reluctant to go to Europe, he eventually 
 undertook to do so. His consent, however, was 
 conditional on his colleagues agreeing to the 
 undertaking, and with them he promised to 
 confer immediately on his return. Later on he 
 telegraphed me to lay his correspondence before 
 Sullivan and Hynes, when I discussed the matter 
 with them. The following is one of the letters I 
 had from Devoy in connection with this matter. 
 It is, unfortunately, the only one I retained in my 
 possession, the others having been forwarded with 
 my despatches at this period, as they were of a 
 far more important character. 
 
 “41 Orange Street, Newhaven, 
 
 “ Office of Mr. Reynolds, 
 J une 2 4> 1881. 
 
 “ Dear Friend, —I am sorry I was obliged to leave here 
 for New York last Saturday, consequently I did not get your 
 letters till my return last night. They would have been sent 
 on to me, but I was expected to return. I am much obliged 
 for the information you have given me, and the interest you 
 have taken in a matter that affects us all so closely. I have 
 not heard from H. (Hynes), but yesterday I received a note 
 from E. (Egan) urging me strongly to go over, but I did not 
 understand for what purpose till I got your explanation. I 
 should like to go very much if I could spare the time, and if I 
 thought my visit would produce the effect anticipated, but I 
 am afraid it would not. I have no authority to speak for 
 anybody, and no man would undertake to speak for the V.C. 
 without its consent, and which must take time to get; and 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 1 
 
 none of us, even if vve had that consent, could give any 
 guarantee for the individuals on the other side, who are 
 hostile, and who, I feel certain, do not represent the opinion 
 of the home organisation. There can be no change there 
 until there is a change of persons, and that is sure to come in 
 time. All I could do would be to tell E. (Egan) and P. 
 (Parnell), on my own responsibility, what I believe would be 
 satisfactory to our friends here, and make propositions that I 
 might have felt morally certain would be approved of; but I 
 would not, on any consideration, have them pay my expenses; 
 that would place me in a false position at once. I have asked 
 advice, and if certain friends here think it the right thing to do, 
 I shall start next Wednesday; but, at present, I do not think 
 I shall be so advised. They seem to misunderstand our dis¬ 
 satisfaction here. It is not their action in Ireland, but the 
 action they allow their friends to take in their name here. 
 There is little difference of opinion about the essential point, 
 but we cannot tolerate the kind of thing begun in Buffalo. 
 Please drop me a line to P.O. box 4,479, New York City, and 
 even if I should go it will reach me. I will write again.—• 
 Yours in haste, “John Devoy.” 
 
 Before proceeding to Sullivan and Hynes, I 
 took a trip to Philadelphia, in order to see Dr. 
 Carroll and convey Mr. Parnell’s views to him. 
 With him I found very little sympathy for the 
 proposal. He was as antagonistic to the open 
 movement as possible. As for Davitt, he had 
 lost all faith in him. “When Davitt ceases to be 
 a Revolutionist,” he remarked, “ I have no further 
 use for him.” As for any practical alliance be¬ 
 tween the two forces, his idea was that no two 
 or three people should take upon themselves to 
 
184 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 decide, but that the whole question should be 
 brought up before the coming Convention. Alto¬ 
 gether, Dr. Carroll appeared anything but an 
 enthusiast on Mr. Parnell’s behalf, although in 
 the end he went the length of saying that he was 
 glad to find by Mr. Parnell’s attitude that there 
 was a returning sense of reason on his part. 
 From Philadelphia I journeyed to Chicago, where 
 I saw Alexander Sullivan and William J. Hynes. 
 I dealt with them separately at first, but in the 
 end a conference took place between the three of 
 us. The news I brought them appeared to be a 
 source of gratification. They apparently fully 
 realised the importance of the situation, and 
 determined in the end that one of them at least 
 should go. 
 
 I had now completed my part of the work, and 
 so, content with my labours, I returned home, 
 wrote a full account of my proceedings to Mr. 
 Anderson, and turned my attention to my busi¬ 
 ness. I communicated fully with Egan in two 
 lengthy letters, but I did not write Mr. Parnell, 
 for Egan had purposely asked that I should not 
 communicate direct with his chief. As far as any 
 further public action on my part was concerned, 
 I dropped out of the affair at this point. I knew 
 that I should learn everything in time, and I was 
 quite content to wait. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 185 
 
 As I had anticipated, I did hear the result, and 
 on no less an authority than that of Sullivan him¬ 
 self. He informed me some time later that the 
 sanction of the executive body of the Clan-na- 
 Gael or V.C. had been given to the bringing 
 about of an “understanding.” Sullivan, however, 
 did not anticipate that it would be all plain sailing. 
 Even then he expected trouble from the members 
 of the home organisation, but he pointed out that 
 their opinion was not that of the organisation in 
 its collective capacity. On one point he was 
 very strong, and that was the getting rid of poor 
 old O’Leary. The old man’s independence of 
 mind and speech was not by any means relished, 
 and so it was determined that he should go. 
 There could be no radical change brought about, 
 Sullivan confessed, while O’Leary was there, and, 
 I might depend upon it, a change of the repre¬ 
 sentative was certain to come very soon. As 
 he talked, Sullivan grew quite enthusiastic over 
 the new move, and he showed me by his manner 
 that he had given the subject a great deal of 
 thought. 
 
 “ I feel morally certain,” he continued, “ that 
 the propositions I will make will be approved of. 
 I for one am opposed to bringing up this matter 
 openly at the coming Convention. I shall most 
 certainly object to Parnell or any of his friends 
 
iS6 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 compromising themselves by allowing such a 
 course. The whole matter must be left to the 
 Revolutionary Directory and the F.C.” (Executive 
 Body). [As it will be seen later, this is exactly 
 what happened. There was no public discussion 
 of the proposal in open convention, but matters 
 were satisfactorily arranged in the quiet caucuses 
 of the responsible committees.] Sullivan, continu¬ 
 ing, said, “ They (that is, the Parnellites) seem 
 to misunderstand our dissatisfaction here. Our 
 quarrel is not with their action in Ireland, but 
 with the action they allow their friends here to 
 take in their name. I know there is but little 
 difference about essential points, but we cannot 
 tolerate the kind of thing begun in Buffalo.” 
 
 This reference to Buffalo dealt with some 
 proceedings in connection with the first American 
 Land League Convention of a few weeks pre¬ 
 viously, which had attracted a good deal of 
 attention and comment at the time. I had no 
 personal knowledge of what took place, owing to 
 the Convention having been held while I was in 
 Europe, but I heard fully of the affair on my 
 return. The whole thing was nothing more or 
 less than an attempt on the part of the clerical 
 element to gain the controlling power in the 
 League Councils, to the exclusion of the Clan-na- 
 Gael influence, Certain speeches had been made 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 187 
 
 and action taken with this view, and although the 
 result had not weakened them, the Clan-na-Gael 
 leaders felt very bitter on the point. 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 The month of August at length arrived, and with 
 it the Great Dynamite Convention of 1881. It 
 was pretty well known that “ active ” work was 
 to be the order of the day, when the future plans 
 and schemes of the organisation came to be 
 discussed. Nothing was talked of throughout 
 the camps but the utter lack of practical effort 
 which had characterised the past few years ; and 
 now, when funds were pretty large, and the 
 organisation itself in a very flourishing condition 
 in every way, it was determined that some out¬ 
 ward and visible sign should be given England 
 of its power of doing mischief. The stories which 
 were daily reaching America of the alleged 
 brutalities being practised by the British Govern¬ 
 ment, only served to inflame the blood of the rank 
 and file of the conspirators, and to make them the 
 more eager to force on some exhibition of their 
 strength. The leaders, however, were in no sense 
 behindhand in the way of bloodthirsty sentiment; 
 indeed, as will be seen by what I have already 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 i S 3 
 
 stated about Devoy and others, arrangements had 
 ere this been completed for giving expression to 
 the popular desire. 
 
 The Convention, which assembled in the club 
 room of the Palmer House, Chicago, lasted from 
 the 3rd to the 10th of August 1881 ; and although 
 the word dynamite finds no single place in the 
 official records of the assembly, it was in the air 
 and in the speeches from start to finish. The 
 whole question of active operations came up and 
 was debated at great length in connection with 
 the statement of accounts furnished by the trus¬ 
 tees of the Skirmishing Fund. Many of the dele¬ 
 gates present attacked both the Revolutionary 
 Directory and the Executive Body for having 
 practically done nothing, while an enormous 
 amount of money had been spent from this fund ; 
 and wild demands were made for particulars. The 
 fight raged so fiercely that disclosures were made 
 compromising people on the Irish side of the 
 water ; and, in order to prevent a complete exposd , 
 a resolution was suddenly passed forbidding the 
 mention of names and other compromising parti¬ 
 culars. Explanations were, however, tendered as 
 to the schemes which had been discussed and in 
 part arranged. These included the treaty with 
 Russia, the supply of officers to the Boers, the 
 torpedo-boat, the hand-grenade, the purchase 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 189 
 
 and shipment of arms, the purchase of 200 six- 
 pound cannons at $25 each, and the attempt to 
 rescue Michael Davitt on two occasions. 
 
 In the end a resolution in the following - terms 
 was adopted which, read by the light of the many 
 and excited debates, was a clear instruction to the 
 Executive Body to be up and doing at once in 
 the way of “ active ” warfare :— 
 
 “That it is the sense of this Convention that, while we do 
 not dictate to the F.C., whatever action they may inaugurate, 
 however decisive, will meet the full approval of the delegates 
 present and the V.C. at large.” 
 
 This, however, was not the only important 
 resolution they recorded. While the fight over 
 an active policy was being engaged in, I secretly 
 attended by request before the Committee of 
 Foreign Relations, and explained to them the 
 views of Mr. Parnell and Patrick Egan. As the 
 result of what took place in connection with this 
 matter, the following resolution was proposed 
 and adopted in open convention :— 
 
 ’ ‘ That it is the sense of this Convention that both branches 
 of the S.E. ( i.e ., the Irish and the American members of the 
 Revolutionary Directory), in so far as they can give their time 
 and energies to it, should devote themselves to the work of 
 revolution ; and if such bodies cannot give their approval to 
 public movements that are intended to promote the political 
 
190 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 and social regeneration of Jsfmboe (Ireland) when they are 
 supported by a large proportion of the Jsjti (Irish) people, 
 they will at least refrain from antagonising them, and that the 
 members of the I.S.C. (the Irish Republican Brotherhood) 
 and the V.C. (Clan-na-Gael) should not arbitrarily be pre¬ 
 vented from exercising liberty of action in regard to such 
 movements.” 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 In this way did both of Mr. Parnell’s ideas receive 
 recognition and support. In the first place, the 
 Revolutionary Directory was instructed to prepare 
 for the rising of which he spoke, while, in the 
 second, a pretty strong hint was given to the 
 home organisation that members in their indi¬ 
 vidual capacity should join the League and 
 support its programme. It is only right that I 
 should state at this point that I was not the only 
 one charged with representing Mr. Parnell’s views. 
 My attendance before the Foreign Relations 
 Committee brought me into contact with John 
 O’Connor, alias Dr. Clarke, alias Dr. Ivenealy, 
 the travelling agent of the Clan-na-Gael in Europe, 
 who informed me that he specially attended in 
 his representative capacity to support the “under¬ 
 standing.” This was not my first meeting with 
 O’Connor by any means. When in Paris I had 
 been introduced to him by O’Leary, and had 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 191 
 
 frequently met him in the company of Egan, with 
 whom he was on the most confidential terms, and 
 working in perfect harmony. O’Connor’s state¬ 
 ment was followed by one on the part of Devoy, 
 who informed me that “the matter was now all 
 right.” 
 
 This Convention saw the initiation of the 
 Sullivan regime , Alexander Sullivan, ere its close, 
 being elected to the position of president of the 
 organisation, with head-quarters at Chicago. His 
 election was attended by many changes in the 
 constitution. Up to this the executive body, or 
 “ F.C.” as it was termed, had consisted of a 
 chairman, secretary, and treasurer, with eleven 
 district members or “E.N.’s,” elected to control 
 the society in their several districts. The Con¬ 
 vention now reconstituted the “ F.C.” by ex¬ 
 cluding these eleven “ E.N.’s,” and limiting the 
 number to six, including the secretary, who was 
 ex-officio , but without a vote. This was quite 
 a revolution in the management of affairs, and 
 Sullivan, in his new position, acquired a power 
 and prominence never enjoyed by any pre¬ 
 vious president. It was after gaining posses¬ 
 sion of this important and powerful post that he 
 visited Europe, in accordance with the arrange¬ 
 ment I had been the means of first proposing to 
 him. Of course it was not publicly announced 
 
19 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 that Sullivan was in Europe. By some he was 
 understood to be ill, by others in Florida. It 
 would never have done for him to have publicly 
 admitted or allowed the fact to be known that he 
 was so far east as Paris. 
 
 I had very many interesting conversations at 
 this Convention, but none more so than those 
 with Dr. Gallaher, now in Portland Prison for 
 complicity in the dynamite outrages, and Mackay 
 Lomasney, who had just returned from Ireland, 
 where, like Devoy in 1879, he had been acting 
 as the inspecting envoy of the Clan-na-Gael. 
 Gallaher, at the time I speak of, was making 
 experiments in the manufacture of explosives, and 
 advocating their use. He was quite enthusiastic 
 in their praise, and so carried away by his subject 
 that he expressed his willingness to personally 
 undertake the carriage of dynamite to England 
 and to superintend its use there. Lomasney was 
 an equally ardent dynamitard, not foreseeing then 
 the fate which awaited him under London Bridge. 
 
 I think I cannot better conclude this chapter 
 than by quoting the following statement of ac¬ 
 counts, furnished at this Convention, of the Skir¬ 
 mishing Lund, which, in all its details, even to the 
 amount stolen by the messenger of the Irish 
 World , should prove of interest. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 i 93 
 
 RECEIPTS, &c. 
 
 Total receipts by Irish World up to 
 
 May 31, 1881 .... 
 
 $88,306 
 
 3 2 
 
 Received by trustees from other 
 sources ..... 
 
 1,603 50 
 
 Interest ...... 
 
 1,072 
 
 5 ° 
 
 Profits on Exchange 
 
 47 i 
 
 2 5 
 
 EXPENSES, £ 
 
 c. 
 
 
 Purchase of bonds .... 
 
 $31,4 88 
 
 87 
 
 Lent per F.C. to S.C. for tools 
 
 10,000 
 
 O 
 
 Lent to F.C. ..... 
 
 5) 8 75 
 
 O 
 
 Irish volunteers .... 
 
 1,000 
 
 O 
 
 J. J. O’Mahony’s burial . 
 
 2,030 
 
 O 
 
 O’ 19 . Rossa’s defalcations 
 
 I> 3 21 
 
 90 
 
 Old submarine vessel 
 
 4,042 
 
 97 
 
 New submarine vessel 
 
 2 3)345 
 
 70 
 
 Miscellaneous expense 
 
 3 21 
 
 4 
 
 Lent Dr. Carroll .... 
 
 860 
 
 O 
 
 Luby and Burke .... 
 
 IOO 
 
 O 
 
 Cheques dishonoured 
 
 7 8 
 
 68 
 
 Reception, Condon and Meledy 
 
 249 
 
 79 
 
 Allowed A. Ford on old money, 
 Rossa’s not cashed 
 
 4 i 
 
 90 
 
 Irish World overcharged . 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 Subsidising foreign newspapers (J. J. 
 O’Kelly). 
 
 2,000 
 
 O 
 
 Land League trial (Davitt) 
 
 L 53 2 
 
 O 
 
 Special to O’Kelly .... 
 
 i 77 
 
 63 
 
 Author, New Departure . 
 
 ro 
 
 O 
 
 O 
 
 90 
 
 Stolen by messenger of Irish World. 
 
 27 
 
 5 ° 
 
 Reception of Parnell 
 
 165 
 
 O 
 
 ASSETS. 
 
 $9 M5 3 57 
 
 $85,666 92 
 
 Balance in bank 
 Balance on hands . 
 
 • $ 5)745 82 
 40 83 
 
 $5,786 65 
 
x 94 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 XL. 
 
 I have found this subject of Irish secret con¬ 
 ventions so interesting to the many people who 
 have talked with me about Clan-na-Gael affairs 
 since my appearance in the witness-box that I 
 almost think I might venture on some slight de- 
 scription of the modus operandi of these gatherings 
 without wearying the reader. Like all proceed¬ 
 ings from which the general public are shut out, 
 a Clan-na-Gael assembly becomes interesting in 
 proportion to the amount of secrecy by which it is 
 attended. Not indeed that a Clan-na-Gael Con¬ 
 vention is anything very exciting or terrible after 
 all. It possesses none of the weird features of 
 that scene in which our three old friends of Mac¬ 
 beth figure. It is on the contrary very Irish— 
 very Irish indeed. But what it is and what it is 
 not can best be demonstrated by some few details 
 by way of description ; and so, transforming my 
 gentle reader for the nonce into a V.C. delegate, 
 I will take him with me for a flying visit to the 
 Clan Convention of 1881 in the club-rcom of the 
 Palmer House, Chicago. 
 
 As we pass along down the corridor to the iron 
 doors of the club-room, we find our passage barred 
 by two stalwart Irishmen. They are members of 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 T 95 
 
 the local camp, stationed as sentinels to prevent 
 the entry of the unauthorised. We have already 
 presented our credentials and been intrusted with 
 the necessary passwords, and on giving the outside 
 password to these guardians of the door, we are 
 duly admitted. On the other side, however, we 
 are brought face to face with another couple of 
 trusted Gaels, and to them we have to give the 
 inside password. ’Tis done, and, freed now from 
 further question, we enter the charmed assembly. 
 What a sight! What a babel of voices and a 
 world of smoke! You can scarce see for the 
 clouds which curl and roll round you as the 
 breath of fresh air is admitted by the opening 
 door, while, as for hearing, your ears are deafened 
 by the din and clatter of many tongues and stamp¬ 
 ing feet. Yes, we are at last in the Irish Parlia¬ 
 ment, as it is grandly termed, in full session. 
 These are the hundred and sixty odd delegates of 
 the great V.C., sworn “to make Ireland a nation 
 once again,” who are now assembled in the year of 
 grace 1881 to clamour for dynamite as the only 
 means of achieving their patriotic ends. 
 
 Let us sit down in the corner and study the 
 scene with attention. It partakes, on the first 
 view, more of the character of a “ free and easy ” 
 entertainment than a grave portentous gathering 
 of conspirators ; but you must not judge by first 
 
196 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 appearances or outward characteristics. It is the 
 way these men have of doing their business, and 
 the dread character of their work is in no way 
 affected by the almost ludicrous phases of the pre¬ 
 liminary performance. Always you must remem¬ 
 ber that you are dealing with Irishmen, who in 
 their wildest and most ferocious of fights still retain 
 that substratum of childishness of character and 
 playfulness of mood, with its attendant elements 
 of exaggeration and romance, which make it as 
 difficult for an ordinary House of Commons 
 member to rightly understand his Irish colleague 
 when he launches forth in description or invective, 
 as it is for the civilised foreigner to know where 
 the actual grievance now comes in. 
 
 Well, we are seated, and we must proceed to 
 make the most of our time. And so I hurry 
 on with my description. That is the chairman 
 seated over there on the platform, with his two 
 secretaries in attendance. The permanent pre¬ 
 siding officer, as he is termed, is on this occa¬ 
 sion no other than our friend Wm. J. Hynes, the 
 gentleman who received his start in Chicago poli¬ 
 tics as a professional juryman through the instru¬ 
 mentality of Alexander Sullivan, and who since 
 that time has put together flesh as well as riches, 
 and is now one of the strongest-looking men 
 here, possessed of that which, if he had no other 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 i 97 
 
 qualification, would yet constitute a strong claim for 
 the office of chairman—a voice capable of rising 
 above the din caused by fifty excited patriots all 
 yelling with their gieatest might. Seated round 
 in semi-circular fashion are the different delegates 
 who, in the language they love so well, may be 
 described as the flower of Irish-American pat¬ 
 riotism. They are a funny crowd, as lolling with 
 arms akimbo, and thumbs resting in their waist¬ 
 coat arm-holes, they hang their feet on the chairs 
 in front, which for comfort’s sake are tilted to an 
 angle of some 40 or 45 degrees, and puff their 
 cigars—on such an occasion there is nothing so 
 vulgar as a pipe indulged in—high up into the 
 air, changing their position now and again in 
 order to have a pull at those interesting-looking 
 black bottles, or to disrobe themselves of coat or 
 waistcoat, the better to cool their heated frames. 
 
 But hark ! there is a row on now. Listen to 
 the oaths and foul epithets which fill the air. 
 These two patriots to our left have apparently 
 disagreed about something and want to fight it 
 
 o OO 
 
 out. See how they jump to their feet, kick the 
 chairs about, throw a curse across the floor at the 
 chairman as he seeks to stop their rowdy pro¬ 
 ceedings, and enter into grips with each other. 
 Watch how friends hurry up on either side, and 
 note the general confusion which now reigns. 
 
I9S 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 The business of the Convention of course is 
 brought to a standstill, but not for long. See, 
 all is quiet again now. These incidents are of 
 hourly occurrence, and the fun of it all is that 
 these two combatants will be drinking whisky 
 in the most amicable way out of the same black 
 bottle in less than a quarter of an hour’s time. 
 Do you notice these few men hurrying in with 
 handkerchiefs to their lips ? Thirsty souls ! They 
 have been taking advantage of the interval to 
 pay a visit to the bar. 
 
 XLI. 
 
 At last we turn to business again. Luckily the 
 topic is an exciting one — nothing less indeed 
 than the Skirmishing Fund discussion—and so 
 matters will be interesting. O’Measdier Condon 
 
 o o 
 
 is on his feet, and he is launching forth in vehe¬ 
 ment style against the whole of the governing 
 powers. Condon is one of those men who were 
 mixed up in the Manchester Martyr affair, and 
 since his arrival here a couple of years since, on 
 being amnestied, he has been quite a hero. He 
 has now a position in a Government department 
 at Washington, and is much esteemed in the 
 ranks of the Gaels. How his face works with 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 199 
 
 excitement and passion as he attacks Devoy and 
 his fellows on the Revolutionary Directory for 
 their want of practical work. He finishes at last, 
 and up jumps Devoy, more sour-looking than 
 ever, with the perpetual scowl growing heavier 
 and heavier. As he proceeds, the author of the 
 New Departure has recourse to the usual method 
 of controversy. He asserts that Condon is a 
 coward, and was guilty of the grossest neglect at 
 Manchester. If Condon had but distributed the 
 twenty odd pounds which were found on him on 
 his arrest, many of the men would have escaped, 
 instead of being captured with empty pockets. 
 Gruffer and gruffer becomes Devoy’s voice, as 
 losing partial control of himself he trembles with 
 excitement and llings charge after charge across 
 the floor. 
 
 We are in for another personal quarrel, and 
 so have to wait patiently while Condon, for the 
 hundredth time, recites the threadbare narrative 
 of his glorious deeds in Manchester. Matters 
 are very electrical when the Rev. George C. 
 Betts of St. Louis craves a hearing, and with 
 his well-known smile seeks the suffrages of his 
 fellow-patriots for the moment. Truly, a strange 
 figure in a strange place. Tall, erect, in the 
 black garb of the Church, with priest-like face 
 and priest-like form, he woos the assembly to a 
 
200 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 strange quietness as his clerical style of utterance 
 falls upon the audience. He is as hot a dyna- 
 mitard as any, but he wants no personalities. 
 If they are to accomplish anything, they really 
 must be more practical. And so he proceeds, 
 winning applause and spreading enthusiasm, till 
 Devoy and Condon, and their personalities, are 
 swept into forgetfulness, and all are engaged in 
 applauding revolutionary sentiment spiced with 
 religious quotation, and served up in the most 
 orthodox of fashions. 
 
 The reverend dynamitard concludes, and 
 resumes his seat amidst most enthusiastic evi¬ 
 dences of his popularity. He gives way to an 
 equally inharmonious figure in this motley 
 gathering. The man who now rises is one of 
 medium height, whose every movement bespeaks 
 the professional man, as awhile back the picture 
 presented by the Rev. Dr. Betts bespoke the 
 cleric. A young man too is this, with his neat 
 attire, trim beard, and gold-headed cane. No 
 less a person is he than Dr. Gallaher, who, in this 
 year of 1892, in the convict suit of grey with 
 its regulation arrows, works out his weary life 
 in Portland prison. As you watch, and as he 
 speaks in that quiet gentlemanly fashion of his, 
 you can well believe that he is a man of whom 
 it mRht be afterwards boasted that he was 
 
 O 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 201 
 
 introduced to Mr. Gladstone himself. Save in 
 his sentiments there is nothing of the dyna- 
 mitard about him, but in the matter of his speech 
 there is no room for doubt. Ouiet and self- 
 controlled though he be, his talk is the talk of 
 war, and the enthusiasm which lights up his 
 countenance is that strong steady flame which 
 will steadily burn till England’s dungeon doors 
 close upon him and cut short his career of 
 recklessness. 
 
 Following him on the floor is the familiar 
 form of Denis Feeley, the fellow “Triangler" 
 of Sullivan in later days, and with him the object 
 of attack on the part of Cronin’s friends. Cool, 
 calm, and deliberate, he carries his audience with 
 him as he advocates “ a secret blow at the 
 enemy ” ; while his big form shakes with indig¬ 
 nation as he works himself up to an excited 
 pitch over “the wrongs of their beloved country.” 
 At last Feeley concludes, and there rises an¬ 
 other well-known figure, that of T. V. Powderly, 
 for years the chief of the largest working-men’s 
 organisation in America, known as “The Knights 
 of Fabour.” Fittle doubt can there be as to his 
 views. Fisten to what he says :— 
 
 “The kiliing of English robbers and tyrants in Ireland, and 
 the destruction by any and all means of their capital and 
 resources, which enables them to carry on their robberies and 
 
202 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 tyrannies, is not a needless act. Hence I am in favour of the 
 torch for their cities and the knife for their tyrants till they 
 agree to let Ireland severely alone. London, Liverpool, Man¬ 
 chester, and Bristol in ashes may bring them to view it in 
 another light.” 
 
 And so the talk goes on, and seven hundred 
 years of grievances find expression from the lips 
 of excited patriots, while quarrelsome delegates 
 destroy all decorum. There is little purpose in our 
 waiting further. One hour will be but the repeti¬ 
 tion of the other. As we rise to leave, however, 
 one figure catches the eye and impresses itself 
 upon us. It is that of the arch-plotter Sullivan, 
 who, through all this din and turmoil, sits and 
 makes no sign. He knows that later on he will 
 be the candidate for the highest place amongst 
 them, and so he takes no side. There is no 
 possibility of your missing him as you pass him 
 by. There he sits, quiet, watchful, and alert. 
 You cannot mistake the man. There is a sense 
 of power and intelligence in that clean cut, 
 clean shaven face of his, lit up by its bright 
 daring eyes. Had you but heard him speak, 
 the lesson of his presence would have been 
 complete. His clear trumpet voice, rising and 
 falling with the play of a practised orator, his 
 choice finished diction, his well-reasoned, well- 
 arranged argument, and the graceful gesture and 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 203 
 
 movement of his whole body would prove to you 
 that there at least was a man gifted to command 
 and competent to control. 
 
 And so we terminate our flying visit to the 
 Eighty-one Convention of the Clan-na-Gael, 
 wherein there were assembled forty lawyers, 
 eight doctors, two judges, clergymen of both 
 leading religions, merchants, manufacturers, and 
 working men, all mixed up in glorious confusion, 
 almost all reduced to the level of the whisky 
 bottle, and none removed from the strimofles of 
 personal avarice and ambition. 
 
 XLII. 
 
 Nothing of a very stirring character happened 
 for the next couple of months, and so, much to 
 my satisfaction, I was permitted to attend for a 
 little without interruption to my private affairs. 
 They sadly lacked some notice on my part, 
 for business was growing, my drug-stores were 
 increasing in number, and so was my family. 
 Patients were very numerous too, but expenses 
 were not without their increase, for I had to 
 employ a regularly qualified M.D. to take my place 
 in my absence. If I could have settled down and 
 simply minded my own business from this hence¬ 
 forth, I would have been in a very satisfactory 
 
204 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 position to-day. But ’twas not to be. I was con¬ 
 stantly on the move, and living at high pressure 
 right through. To keep myself thoroughly posted 
 I had to be here, there, and everywhere, and, in 
 the end, my ordinary business had to take a very 
 secondary place. Even at this time my leisure 
 from political affairs was to be of very short 
 duration, for, in my capacity as Senior Guardian, 
 
 I received the following in the month of Nov¬ 
 ember 1881 :— 
 
 “ Private . 
 
 “ For S. G. alone. 
 
 “ Head-Quarters, K., 
 
 “ November 21, 1881. 
 
 “ S.G. of D. 
 
 “ Dear Sir and Brother, —It is the desire of the F.C. that 
 as many members of the V.C. as can possibly attend the Irish 
 National Convention at Chicago, November 30, 1881, will do 
 so without entailing expense on the organisation. 
 
 “ You will therefore make every effort to get the members 
 of the V.C. elected as delegates from any Irish society that 
 may have an existence in your neighbourhood, whether it be 
 as representative of the Land League Club, the A.O.H., or any 
 other organisation. 
 
 “The F.C. particularly desires your presence as a delegate, 
 if it is possible for you to attend as such. 
 
 “ Fraternally yours, 
 
 “ K.G.N. of the V.C.” 
 
 I thoroughly knew what this meant. Under 
 the new regime of Sullivan there was to be no 
 more of the “ Buffalo business,” and to prevent it 
 things were ta be. done, in, a. thoroughly practical. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 205 
 
 manner. The members of the secret revolu¬ 
 tionary organisation were to capture the repre¬ 
 sentation at the coming Land League Convention, 
 to act unitedly in the development of a policy 
 in harmony with the Clan-na-Gael, and to officer 
 the future executive in such a way as to prevent 
 further misunderstanding. In order to do all this, 
 the Clan-na-Gael men were to obtain election as 
 League, or Ancient Order of Hibernian, delegates, 
 the latter organisation being a purely benevolent 
 body, whose branches had largely affiliated with 
 the League or open movement from the start. 
 This was accordingly done; and thus it came 
 about that, when I met my fellow-delegates to 
 the open Land League Convention of 1881, I 
 found almost every second man a brother from 
 the camps of the Clan-na-Gael. 
 
 The whole scheme worked in the most perfect 
 manner. On arrival in Chicago each Clan-na- 
 Gael man reported himself to the chief officer of 
 the district, to whom credentials were presented. 
 Official intimation was then given as to what 
 would happen, and each conspirator learned that, 
 prior to the sessions of the convention, caucuses 
 of the Brotherhood would be held in the hall of 
 Camp 16, Twenty-second Street, Chicago. The 
 usual precautions were taken, and admission only 
 gained by passwords exchanged on each occasion. 
 
206 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 As the chairman at the first gathering—the Rev. 
 George C. Betts—humorously put it, “ our object 
 was to make things easy for the Land Leaguers, 
 and to save them as much trouble as possible.” 
 At each meeting the plan of procedure at the 
 coming session was decided upon, and the election 
 of temporary and permanent officers arranged. 
 Nominations for various committees were fixed, 
 and no opportunity neglected for adapting the 
 constitution and officials to our requirements. 
 The resolutions subsequently adopted in open 
 convention were drafted by our committees. 
 
 It therefore came about that John F. Finerty 
 of Chicago, the well-known dynamite advocate 
 and prominent member of the Clan, “ called the 
 convention to order,” and made the opening 
 speech. William j. Hynes of the Revolutionary 
 Directory, and the chairman of the late Clan-na- 
 Gael Convention, was appointed temporary chair¬ 
 man, and Joseph E. Ronayne, who had acted in 
 a similar capacity at the Dynamite Convention, 
 was appointed secretary, while T. V. Powderly 
 of the Clan Executive, whose fiery speech at the 
 same Convention was given a few pages back, 
 was nominated assistant-secretary. The nomi¬ 
 nation of these men led to a trial of strength 
 between the two forces of the Convention, but 
 the real tug of war was reserved for the second 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 207 
 
 day, when resolutions previously adopted at the 
 Gael’s caucus were proposed, nominating the Rev. 
 George C. Betts of St. Louis as permanent 
 chairman, and Patrick Ford, John Devoy, Mrs. 
 Parnell, and a number of priests as vice-presi¬ 
 dents. Of course the priests were put forward 
 for politic reasons. The vice-presidents were 
 not objected to, but the appointment of the Rev. 
 George C. Betts, a Protestant clergyman, was 
 strongly opposed by the priestly party. A very 
 excited debate took place, but in the end the 
 opposition to Betts was withdrawn at the insti¬ 
 gation of the Irish visitors—Messrs. T. P. 
 O’Connor, M.P., T. M. Healy, M.P., and Father 
 Sheehy—and so at the close this Vice-President 
 of the Clan-na-Gael was elected, and the secret 
 organisation triumphed all along the line. 
 
 The Irish political controversy was darkened 
 the following year by the sad event in the Phoenix 
 Park, Dublin, when Lord Frederick Cavendish 
 and Mr. Burke met their deaths at the hands of 
 the Irish Invincibles. As regards the Invincible 
 conspiracy, I have little or nothing to say. It 
 was in no sense an American affair, and no matter 
 how little or how much certain sympathisers in 
 the States may have known of the murderous 
 conspiracy, nothing was said on the subject in 
 public or in secret to connect the Clan-na-Gael in 
 
2oS 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 any way with the proceedings of Carey and his 
 friends. There was, of course, a certain amount 
 of sympathy with the affair, as was shown by the 
 attitude taken up by John Devoy in his paper 
 the Irish Nation , which was, by the way, the 
 official organ of the Clan-na-Gael at this time, 
 and subsidised from its fund. Devoy gave great 
 prominence to the refusal of Egan to offer a 
 reward for the discovery of the murderers, print¬ 
 ing the following telegram in his issue of 13th 
 May 1882 :— 
 
 “ PATRICK EGAN ON BLOOD-MONEY. 
 
 “ Paris, May 10, 18S2. 
 
 “ Mr. Egan, the Treasurer of the Land League, has tele¬ 
 graphed the following to the Ft'eeman's Journal of Dublin :— 
 
 “ ‘ Editor, Freeman , Dublin.—In the Freeman of yesterday 
 Mr. James F. O’Brien suggests a reward of J2000 out of the 
 Land League Fund for the discovery of the perpetrators of 
 the terrible tragedy of Saturday. Remembering, as I do, the 
 number of innocent victims who in the sad history of our 
 country have been handed over to the gallows by wretched 
 informers, in order to earn the coveted blood-money, and 
 foreseeing the awful danger that in the present excited state 
 of public feeling crime may be added to crime by the possible 
 sacrifice of guiltless men, I am determined that if one penny 
 of the Land League Fund were devoted for such a purpose I 
 would at once resign the treasurership. 
 
 “‘Patrick Egan.’” 
 
 And commenting upon it in the followingvein:— 
 
 “ Patrick Egan has spoken out like a man against the 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 209 
 
 adoption by Irishmen of the base English policy of suborning 
 informers. He declares that should a penny of the Land 
 League funds be devoted to such an object, he will resign 
 the treasurership. Mr. Parnell should at once repudiate the 
 attempt made from this side to connect him with action so 
 culpable and un-Irish. By consenting to become the trustee 
 of the Irish-American blood-money he would forfeit the sym¬ 
 pathies of his warmest admirers.” 
 
 It was in this year, too, that O’Donovan Rossa 
 was finally expelled from the Clan-na-Gael. He 
 had been in very bad odour for a long time pre¬ 
 viously, owing to his unsatisfactory connection 
 with the Skirmishing Fund ; and at last, after a 
 couple of attempts to get rid of him, he was 
 summarily kicked out, and from henceforth re¬ 
 pudiated by the recognised officials of the secret 
 organisation. 
 
 XLIII. 
 
 Eighteen hundred and eighty-three proved a 
 very busy time with me. There was another 
 Land League Convention : Egan, Sheridan, 
 Frank Byrne, and other Invincibles “on the 
 run ” arrived in the country, and altogether my 
 time was pretty well occupied in obtaining infor¬ 
 mation and passing it on to my chief. The year 
 opened amidst rumours in the public press of 
 
 the secret movement having captured the open 
 
 o 
 
210 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 organisation of the League. Mr. Parnell himself 
 had taken action previously in connection with 
 the Kilmainham Treaty, and in other ways which 
 were not understood or appreciated, and, as a 
 consequence, a partial breach had occurred. So 
 strained were matters becoming that in February 
 it was announced that both Mr. Parnell and 
 Egan would come to America in April for the 
 purpose of discussing the whole situation and 
 fixing upon some new mode of operations for the 
 future which, while equally effective as regards 
 joint working, would not impair Mr. Parnell’s 
 usefulness. Many weeks, however, had not passed 
 ere the fight between the clerical and revolu- 
 tionary elements in the States began to wax 
 exceedingly hot, and, changing his plans, Mr. 
 Parnell determined not to interfere, and so failed 
 to put in his promised appearance. 
 
 Egan, however, thanks to the revelations of 
 Carey, had to make a speedy and somewhat un¬ 
 dignified exit from Dublin, and not waiting till 
 the month of April, he put himself en evidence in 
 American life in the month of March. I met 
 him a week or two after his arrival, when he was 
 the guest of Alexander Sullivan, the President 
 of the Clan-na-Gael, at Chicago. We renewed 
 our cordial friendship, and the same close inti¬ 
 macy prevailed between us as had been the case 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 211 
 
 in Paris. Egan told me that the programme now 
 to be proposed would give full satisfaction in 
 America; while, as for Sullivan, he (Sullivan) 
 remarked to me significantly about this time that, 
 though he had never doubted Egan, he was now 
 more than satisfied. 
 
 The public Convention of the Land League, 
 henceforth to be known as the National League 
 of America, took place at Philadelphia on the 
 26th April and following days. The same plan 
 of campaign as had been developed in 1881 was 
 put in force by the Clan-na-Gael. A secret 
 circular was issued instructing the camps to send 
 delegates, and these delegates when assembled 
 in Philadelphia pursued the same line of policy 
 in their caucus sratherinsrs. The whole thinor 
 worked like an exquisite piece of mechanism, 
 and produced the most satisfactory results for 
 the Clan leaders. Of course I was a delegate, 
 and of course I attended all the secret caucuses. 
 Well for Egan that it was so. He considered 
 it impolitic to appear at any of the secret 
 gatherings, and so, much to my satisfaction, he 
 asked me to acquaint him daily with what tran¬ 
 spired, which I did, and received in return many 
 interesting pieces of private information. The 
 Convention was remarkable for the presence of 
 Egan and Brennan, the runaway treasurer and 
 
212 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 secretary of the Irish Land League, both of 
 whom took part in the proceedings, and of Frank 
 Byrne and his wife, who were accommodated 
 with seats on the platform. 
 
 In accordance with the arrangements made at 
 one of the caucus meetings, Alexander Sullivan 
 was appointed president of the new organisation. 
 He played his part well on the occasion, and 
 succeeded in entirely overcoming the scruples of 
 those opposed to him in consequence of his being 
 chief of the Clan-na-Gael. Not once but twice 
 did this prince of intriguers decline the honour 
 respectfully but firmly ; and not till after repeated 
 appeals from Mrs. Parnell, the mother of the 
 Irish Home Rule leader, did he consent to take 
 the office. Another leading Gael was appointed 
 secretary, and out of the Executive Committee of 
 seven, five were members of the Clan-na-Gael. 
 
 Although Mr. Parnell did not make his pro¬ 
 mised appearance, he sent a lengthy and signi¬ 
 ficant telegram, in which he asked that the 
 platform should be so framed as to enable 
 himself and his friends to continue to receive 
 help from America, and to work in such harmony 
 as would allow of their achieving those great 
 objects for which, through many centuries, the 
 Irish race had struggled. 
 
 This was a pretty plain hint from the leading 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 213 
 
 spirit on the Irish side to keep matters moderate 
 in appearance, and it was not lost on those 
 charged with the conduct of affairs, as the fol¬ 
 lowing extracts from my official report to my 
 camp on my return will show :— 
 
 “ The various reports were read and routine business trans¬ 
 acted. These developed that the Land League had not 
 increased in members, but, on the contrary, had decreased 
 during the past year ; that a majority of the patriots of America 
 had become tired of giving their earnings for ‘ Simon Pure 
 agitation;’ of the 900 branches existing a year ago, 105 had 
 disbanded, and 298 had failed to report. The total receipts 
 for the past year from all sources were 79,138 dollars, 40 cents, 
 and the disbursements 74,123 dollars, 40 cents, leaving on hand 
 a balance of 4915 dollars. 
 
 “There was an evident desire upon the part of clerical 
 delegates and lady Land Leaguers (who evinced a fear of amal¬ 
 gamating with dynamiters and secret society Revolutionists) to 
 retain the organisation intact, dropping the word land, adopting 
 the platform of the Dublin Convention of last October, electing 
 their officers for the ensuing year, calling themselves the 
 National League, and adjourning sine die. This policy received 
 an able but unscrupulous supporter in Miles O’Brien of New 
 York, a renegade member of the V.C., who exhibited the last 
 circular of instructions from the F.C. to a number of priests to 
 show them how they were to be manipulated by the terrible 
 Clan-na-Gaels. Had this source been successful it would have 
 prevented union, it would have continued the various factions, 
 and the formidable front presented to-day of all the societies 
 of the country pledged upon one platform to work united with 
 one object in view would never have been achieved. 
 
 “ Brother Brown of St. Louis moved a substitute for all 
 resolutions to declare the Land League dissolved after the 
 adjournments of this Convention, and the delegates to attend 
 
214 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 the National Convention the next day. This eventually was 
 practically carried by a large majority. 
 
 “ The Convention, to which I presented credentials from 
 this body on Thursday morning, presented the grand array of 
 nearly 1200 delegates upon the floor, the stage being decorated 
 with portraits, paintings, statues, flags, and flowers, and graced 
 by some fifty ladies—conspicuous amongst them being Mrs. 
 Parnell and Mrs. Frank Byrne—the galleries packed to over¬ 
 flowing, some five thousand interested spectators being present, 
 a sight not soon to be forgotten. 
 
 “Again the V.C. showed the work of its second conference 
 of Wednesday night, the proceedings being opened by Brother 
 Sullivan, and Brother Dorney being unanimously elected tem¬ 
 porary presiding officer, the temporary secretaries being Brothers 
 Roach of Troy, Brown of St. Louis, Hines of Buffalo, and 
 Gleason of Cleveland. The appointment of the Committee on 
 Credentials, after the opening speeches, constituted the first 
 work on hand, and here again the perfect organisation of the 
 V.C. developed itself; and the first breeze created by the 
 Rossa-Dunne faction, who moved an amendment that each 
 society have a member upon the Committee on Credentials, was 
 promptly voted down. Rossa presented his credentials as a 
 member of the National Party of New York, but was admitted 
 only upon a press ticket. 
 
 “ The knowledge of a blood and thunder set of resolutions 
 being in the pocket of Major Horgan of New York, ready to be 
 fired, regardless of consequences, into the Convention, required 
 the passage of a resolution that, until permanent organisation 
 was effected, all resolutions offered should be referred to the 
 Committee on Resolutions without being read. A permanent 
 organisation was effected in the afternoon by the unanimous 
 election of Brother Foran of Cleveland as presiding officer. 
 The various committees being appointed, the Convention 
 adjourned till Friday morning, the result of the day’s work 
 summarised showing that there was nothing to warrant the fear 
 that the Rossa faction would develop any strength or discord; 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 21$ 
 
 that the V.C. were in the majority everywhere; that by every 
 action it was desired to follow out the instructions of Mr. 
 Parnell as cabled to the Convention on that day; and at least, 
 so far as the public policy was concerned, to drop all nitro¬ 
 glycerine methods of procedure, and to perfect the union of 
 the united societies of the country and Canada upon one 
 platform, for the purpose of sustaining Parnell and his policy 
 by acting and existing permanently as an auxiliary body, or 
 rather further, to the Irish National League. 
 
 “ One straw to show which way the wind blew was the 
 nomination in committee of P. A. Collins of Boston for 
 permanent chairman. His candidature was unitedly set down 
 with a will for his action in offering a reward of 5000 dollars 
 for the discovery of the killers of Burke and Cavendish last 
 year. 
 
 “ Friday morning found the Convention in session with the 
 various committees on Plan or Organisation, Platform, Resolu¬ 
 tions, and Permanent Organisation ready to report. After 
 some spirited speech-making by Fathers Boylan and Agnew, 
 and others, Dr. O’Reilly of Michigan submitted the report of 
 the Committee on Resolutions, in which was included the plat¬ 
 form of the National League of America. After reading, an 
 attempt was made by Finerty to adopt them seriatim , for the 
 purpose of getting inserted some more favourable to the 
 turbulent Rossa-Dunne faction. They were, however, adopted 
 as a whole. . . . 
 
 “The Committee on Organisation presented their report, 
 which was unanimously adopted. 
 
 “ It was then in order to elect officers for the ensuing year. 
 Alexander Sullivan nominated Dr. O’Reilly of Michigan as 
 treasurer. He was elected without opposition, Father Walsh 
 having declined, stating privately that he had to choose between 
 his parish and the treasurership; and that being the case, he 
 would have to decline. 
 
 “ The nomination for president resulted in the almost unani¬ 
 mous choice of Brother Alexander Sullivan, who, after twice 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 216 
 
 diplomatically declining, finally was prevailed upon to accept. 
 The Executive Council of one from each State was elected, a 
 large majority of whom were members of the V.C. 
 
 “ Brother Hines of Buffalo was unanimously elected per¬ 
 manent secretary. Various sums of money were subscribed 
 for the new league, principally by the ladies. Resolutions 
 were passed turning over the books, balances on hand, and 
 property of the old Land League to the new League. 
 
 “ Speeches expressive of God-speed and goodwill followed 
 by everybody, and the Convention adjourned to meet again 
 next year at the call of the Executive. 
 
 “ The Executive Council subsequently met and elected the 
 Council of Seven, five of which are members of the V.C. 
 
 “To briefly summarise the results of the Convention, 
 we find the unification of all Irish societies pledged under 
 one leadership to follow the lines laid down by Parnell and 
 the party at home, not to lead but to follow them whence 
 they may go with all the energy, practical and financial support 
 possible—a proof to the world that the ten millions of Irish 
 nationality upon the continent can be represented in conven¬ 
 tion by their 1200 delegates, and work harmoniously and 
 unitedly, and giving to those, and their number is legion, who 
 believe in force alone, the supreme satisfaction of knowing 
 that the machinery of the cause is now under the control and 
 direction of their comrades, who believe, as they do, that 
 dynamite, or any other species of warfare that can be devised 
 is perfectly legitimate, so long as it can be made effective, and 
 accomplish results permanent and tangible. 
 
 “ Michael Boyton arrived upon the second day of the Con¬ 
 vention with two members of the Supreme Council, who, as it 
 will be readily understood, did not figure publicly upon this 
 
 occasion. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 2 1 7 
 
 XLIV. 
 
 It was shortly after this— I think somewhere about 
 the 29th of May—that I was fortunate enough 
 to learn from Sullivan some particulars as to what 
 was going on in connection with the Dynamite 
 Campaign. A demonstration had been arranged 
 at Milwaukie, Wisconsin, in honour of Patrick 
 Egan, and at Sullivan’s pressing invitation I 
 accompanied him in order to participate in it. 
 We travelled together and conversed almost all the 
 way, Sullivan, as was his wont, supplying me with 
 very interesting details. He told me that the man¬ 
 agement of the secret warfare was entirely in the 
 hands of the Revolutionary Directory in America. 
 Men, it appeared, could not be obtained at home 
 to do the work, for from some lack of courage or 
 discipline they could not be relied upon. 
 
 The rule adopted was that no volunteer should 
 be accepted. Special choice would be made of men 
 without families, and-a special course of instruc¬ 
 tion in the use of explosives would be necessary 
 after a man was chosen. So great was the care 
 taken in the selection of agents, that their whole 
 career and character would be inquired into 
 beforehand without their knowledge. No new 
 members would be chosen for the work, because 
 
2 I 8 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 forty of the Royal Irish Constabulary had been sent 
 on full pay to America to join the organisation with 
 a view to selling it. Sullivan imparted the further 
 interesting information that Dr. Gallaher, when on 
 his mission, purposely abstained from coming in 
 contact with Irish members, and obtained introduc¬ 
 tions to, and acquaintance with, English members. 
 He was often in the House, I was told, and had 
 been even introduced to Mr. Gladstone himself. 
 
 Contrary to expectation and the requirements 
 of the existing constitution, no Clan-na-Gael Con¬ 
 vention took place in this year—1883. In the 
 ordinary course of events such an assembly should 
 have met in August 1883. For reasons best 
 known to themselves, however, Sullivan and his 
 colleagues on the executive of the secret organi- 
 sation postponed the gathering, and in the end, 
 by a system of manipulation which Sullivan 
 developed to a perfect science, in connection with 
 his management of Irish affairs, the approval of 
 the organisation was gained to certain changes 
 which included the putting off of the Convention 
 to the following year, 1884. To allow of these 
 changes being approved of, it was necessary to 
 hold a series of district Conventions, and dele¬ 
 gates were there elected to represent the districts 
 at the general Convention which would follow. 
 Sullivan’s adherents were generally in the majo- 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 219 
 
 rity at such district assemblies, and so it was a 
 matter of ease for him to have supporters elected 
 at almost every gathering, which, in other words, 
 meant that the delegates then elected were 
 nothing more or less than ardent Sullivanites, who 
 in the future Convention would question nothing, 
 whereas ordinary delegates would undoubtedly 
 prove curious, if not embarrassing, in their search 
 for information as to the conduct of the affairs of 
 the Clan-na-Gael. 
 
 All was not clear sailing, however, and murmurs 
 were heard in several quarters regarding this 
 attempt to burk discussion and inquiry as to the 
 work of the past two years. Several of the camps 
 eventually ceased their allegiance and were 
 immediately expelled, and the organisation split 
 up into two sections, the one being Sullivanite 
 and the other anti-Sullivanite. Devoy and his 
 whole camp were amongst those expelled from 
 the Sullivan wing. The seceders formed a new 
 organisation under the old name, and the 
 Sullivanites became known as the U.S. Sullivan 
 was still the strong man, and had the greatest 
 number of supporters; and, following my usual 
 rule, I acted with the majority and became a 
 U.S. man. At the start a change was made as 
 regards the number and title of the governing 
 body. Three members formed the executive, 
 
220 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 and they were now known as the Triangle— 
 a name taken from the A sign which was used 
 by way of cypher signature on all documents 
 coming from head-quarters. The fight between 
 the two sections was now raging bitterly, and the 
 oath of the U.S. was so drawn as to exclude 
 members of any other Revolutionary body, thereby 
 denying the right of any person to be a member 
 of both organisations. 
 
 o 
 
 Meantime, under the plea of imminent danger 
 of discovery, the books of the organisation were 
 all burnt, and no record whatever was left in 
 existence which would allow of investigation. 
 This had driven very many men to desperation, 
 and loud and sweeping were the charges which 
 the seceders made against the Triangle for mis¬ 
 appropriation of funds and other like matters. 
 None were more prominent in leading the attack 
 on Sullivan and his colleagues than Dr. Cronin, 
 whose murder has recently been the subject of 
 such lengthy investigation. Indeed, from this 
 point onwards, almost down to the end of 1888, 
 the history of the Clan-na-Gael is the history of 
 the dispute between Cronin and Sullivan. And 
 now, having purposely excluded all special mention 
 of Dr. Cronin from my story heretofore, in order 
 that I might the more fully and clearly deal with 
 the matter in a compact form, I shall proceed to 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 221 
 
 sketch the life and career in Irish-American 
 politics of this last victim of political assassination. 
 In explaining- the situations in Irish affairs as 
 they affected or were affected by Dr. Cronin, I 
 shall have to travel rapidly over points already 
 dealt with; but I think it better to do this 
 than to improperly represent the ill-fated Cronin 
 by omitting from my reference to his career the 
 points which told in favour of himself or his 
 adversaries. 
 
 XLV. 
 
 Philip H. Cronin was born in Ireland, but when 
 very young emigrated to Canada. From thence 
 when a young man he went to St. Louis, Mis¬ 
 souri, where he studied medicine at the St. Louis 
 College of Physicians and Surgeons. Before 
 this he had been clerk in a chemist’s store, and 
 had thus acquired a very considerable practical 
 knowledge of medicine. He graduated with hmh 
 honours, and became eventually Professor of 
 Materia Medica and Therapeutics in the college. 
 He also attended a medical college from which 
 he secured the degree of M.A. Cronin was a 
 man of fine presence, good looking, almost six 
 feet in height, and very well formed. He was a 
 clever man in every way, and a good forcible 
 
22 2 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 speaker, though in style aggressive and combative 
 to a degree. Very ambitious, like his future 
 enemy Alexander Sullivan, he was never happy 
 in a back seat, always thrusting himself forward 
 and fighting for the place of leader. In fact, 
 so pronounced were his ideas in favour of his 
 supremacy, that where he could not rule he was 
 quite prepared to ruin. 
 
 He moved to Chicago in the latter part of 
 1881, and immediately entered upon the practice 
 of medicine, taking up his residence at 351 Clark 
 Street, at the corner of Oak Street. At this time 
 he was about thirty-two years of age, so that he 
 was only some forty years old at the time of his 
 murder. From the moment of his arrival in 
 Chicago, he went in enthusiastically for Irish 
 politics, and took a leading part in both Revolu¬ 
 tionary and Land League matters. He identified 
 himself with the Clan-na-Gael, and was prominent 
 at all gatherings of the Irish of every kind. He 
 was strong in social instincts, and was quite a 
 figure at social gatherings, where he used to great 
 advantage the fine tenor voice of which he was 
 possessed, singing national songs especially with 
 great spirit and enthusiasm. As a consequence 
 he rapidly came to the front in Chicago, and in six 
 months was better known than an ordinary resi¬ 
 dent would have been in ten years. Towards the 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 223 
 
 Land League movement he was especially sym¬ 
 pathetic, and he took a very large part indeed 
 in building it up. He was in a short time 
 elected President of the 1 Sth Ward League, 
 then known as the “ Banner League” of Chicago. 
 Equally active in the secret movement, he was a 
 guiding spirit of Camp No. 96 of the Clan in 
 Chicago, publicly known as the “ Columbia 
 Literary Association,” and so great was his in- 
 fluence that, on the appointment of the notorious 
 Frank Agneau to the position of district member, 
 Cronin succeeded him as Senior Guardian of the 
 camp. This was the camp which held its weekly 
 meetings in the well-known Turner Hall on the 
 north side of the city. 
 
 It was at this time that the policy of dynamite 
 had been decided upon, and that the campaign 
 against English Government buildings and per¬ 
 sons was being inaugurated. Cronin (who was 
 anything but a saint in character) was an ardent 
 advocate of the policy ; and, owing to his scientific 
 attainments, he was appointed as chief instructor 
 in the use and handling of explosives, acting 
 all this time, be it marked, as the President of 
 the Banner League (or Chicago branch of the 
 Land League) as well. In fact, he held the 
 position of President of the Land League branch 
 down to the year 1888. Cronin, unfortunately 
 
224 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 for himself, succeeded at a very early stage in 
 falling foul of Alexander Sullivan. Living as 
 he did till 1887 at the corner of Clark and 
 Oak Streets, within a few doors of Sullivan 
 himself, he gained such an amount of promi¬ 
 nence that he was rapidly throwing Sullivan 
 into the shade. He threatened to become more 
 powerful than Sullivan, and this Sullivan, 
 equally ambitious and more unscrupulous, could 
 not brook. In a short time Sullivan and his 
 adherents came to detest the Doctor, and as 
 I found—for I lived within a stone’s throw of 
 each, knew them both intimately, and saw them 
 continuously—the relations between them were 
 becoming more strained and bitter every day. 
 
 In June 1881, as I have related, Sullivan 
 obtained a victory over all his rivals by being 
 chosen President of the Clan-na-Gael, or Revolu¬ 
 tionary organisation, at the Dynamite Convention 
 held that year at the Palmer House, Chicago. 
 It was after this that Cronin gave the first 
 pronounced sign of his enmity in public. The 
 opportunity for its display was brought about 
 by the attack made by O’Meagher Condon upon 
 John Devoy, the principal of the three members 
 of the Revolutionary Directory, Devoy with his 
 colleagues being charged with responsibility for 
 the failure of the many schemes of active war- 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 225 
 
 fare proposed by Condon. Devoy, evidently 
 jealous of Sullivan’s election, indulged in a good 
 deal of incrimination, not confining his attacks 
 to Condon alone, and he was afterwards sup¬ 
 ported by Cronin, who was possessed of the same 
 grievance. The two joined forces, but without 
 any effect, for Sullivan’s position was assured. 
 From the dispute, however, which occurred at 
 this Convention, dates the commencement of un¬ 
 disguised hostility between Sullivan and Cronin. 
 
 Early in 1883, when the call was issued for 
 the Philadelphia Convention (at which was formed 
 the first branch of the American National League 
 as distinct from the Land League), a meeting of 
 Cronin’s branch of the League took place in 
 Chicago for the election of delegates to the Con- 
 vention. Sullivan and his friends, determining to 
 crush Cronin if they could, packed this meeting, 
 and had elected as delegates Alexander Sullivan 
 himself, his brother, and other personal adherents, 
 much to the disgust of Cronin and his supporters. 
 
 Sullivan was equally successful later on when, 
 under the new constitution, the Executive 
 called district Conventions in lieu of the general 
 convention they had managed to postpone. 
 The Convention in Cronin’s district was held 
 in Millionaire Smythe’s Hall in Chicago — 
 Smythe being Senior Guardian of Camp 458 ; 
 
226 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 Cronin, as Senior Guardian of his own camp, 
 attended in the capacity of delegate therefrom. 
 Mackay Lomasney, my old friend from Detroit, 
 also attended from his district in a like capacity. 
 Although an attempt was made to impeach Sul¬ 
 livan’s action, it was not successful. His friends 
 were in the majority, and his conduct was upheld. 
 All attempts on the part of Cronin to bring 
 about a different state of things—and they were 
 not a few—were voted down, and Alexander 
 Sullivan, in company with Mackay Lomasney, 
 the London Bridge dynamitard, was elected 
 delegate to the Triangle Convention of 1884. 
 
 Cronin, filled with fury, returned to his camp 
 and made a series of most sweeping charges 
 against the Triangle. In return charges were 
 preferred against him of being a traitor, liar, &c. 
 &c., Sullivan of course being the instigator. A 
 Trial Committee, of which I was one, was ap¬ 
 pointed, and by it Cronin was promptly found 
 guilty and formally expelled. I voted, as I 
 always did, on the side of the winning party. 
 Cronin on his expulsion immediately joined the 
 ranks of the seceders, which by this time included 
 such well-known men as Devoy, Dillon, M‘Cahey, 
 and others, and he immediately obtained a seat 
 on the executive of the new body. And here, 
 for the moment, I must leave him. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 227 
 
 XL VI. 
 
 The next matter of public importance in which I 
 was interested was the Boston Convention of the 
 Irish National League of America, which took 
 place in the Fanieul Hall, Boston, on the 13th 
 and following days of August. Of course I went 
 in my dual capacity as League delegate and 
 Revolutionary official. The same plan of cam¬ 
 paign was practised with the same successful 
 results. The Rev. Dr. Betts was again to the 
 front as president of the secret caucuses, while 
 Egan, grown more bold by this, was a regular 
 attendant. When the nomination of officials of 
 the League came up, Sullivan was named for 
 re-election as president. He, however, declined, 
 and made way for Patrick Egan. Egan, after 
 some refusal on the ground that the British 
 Government probably knew of his connection 
 with the secret movement, and that his taking 
 office might compromise Mr. Parnell, eventually 
 agreed, and so he took the chair vacated by 
 Sullivan. This Convention was attended by 
 Mr. Thomas Sexton, M.P., and Mr. William 
 Redmond, M.P., on the part of the Parnellite 
 party, and by P. J. Tynan, the famous “No. 1 ” 
 of the Phoenix Park murders—shall I say on 
 behalf of the Invincibles ? Sullivan undoubtedly 
 
2 2 S 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 was the pet boy of the period, for he was the 
 object of the most adulatory references on the 
 part of Mr. Sexton. He was, we were told, a 
 man who did honour to the race from which he 
 had sprung ; a man of whom any race might well 
 be proud — and so on. Egan, however, came 
 in for his fair share of attention too. He was, 
 according to another speaker, “ that clean handed, 
 that patriotic, that heroic exile,” although, of 
 course, no reference was made to the reasons for 
 his exile as supplied by the Phoenix Park crimes. 
 
 If, however, no reason was given in public for 
 his exile, Egan was not slow to refer to the 
 matter in private. I had journeyed in his com¬ 
 pany to Boston, and had had a very exciting 
 chat with him, in which the question of his flight 
 had largely figured. His description of how 
 he was enabled to get away from Dublin was 
 most graphic. He started off by boasting how 
 he had got information from the Castle; and 
 to show how readily it could be obtained he 
 said that, within twenty minutes of the order 
 being issued for the warrant for his arrest, 
 he knew of the fact. He was at his office 
 at the time, and at once proceeded to his house 
 and packed his satchel. He had two children 
 sick then, and Dr. Kenny was attending them. 
 He destroyed a number of documents which he 
 
NUMBER ONE 
 P. J. TYNAN 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 229 
 
 had in the house, some of them pertaining to his 
 connection with the Irish Republican Brother¬ 
 hood, and also some letters of James Carey. In 
 fact he destroyed all papers tending to incrimi¬ 
 nate him in case he was arrested. Fortunately 
 for him there happened to be in Dublin at 
 the time a Scotch friend in the Belfast flour 
 trade, who assisted him in getting away. He 
 gave this friend his rug and valise, and in¬ 
 structed him to purchase a ticket for Belfast 
 at the Northern Terminus. He himself arrived 
 at the railway station one moment before the 
 train started, took his valise and rug from his 
 Scotch friend, slipped into the train, and that 
 night was in Belfast. On his arrival at Belfast 
 he found that he could not get out by boat, and 
 he went to an hotel, where he slept. In the 
 morning he purchased a return ticket to Leeds, 
 travelled with that as far as Manchester, and 
 then got off the train. There he purchased 
 another ticket from Manchester to Hull, took 
 the steamer from Hull to Rotterdam, and thus 
 got out of the country. 
 
 From the account of his own escape, he passed 
 on to tell me how his fellow-official Brennan, the 
 Secretary of the Irish Land League, had got 
 away. Brennan, it appeared, gained the first 
 hint of his being implicated by reading the an- 
 
23 ° 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 nouncement of Carey’s evidence on a news sheet 
 displayed on the pavement in the Strand. He 
 was accompanied by Mr. Thomas Sexton, M.P., 
 at the time, and on reading the announcement 
 they at once turned down a side street where 
 arrangements were made for Brennan’s flight. 
 Brennan started off for his lodgings in order to 
 pack a valise, while Mr. Sexton, going to Char¬ 
 ing Cross, purchased a ticket for Paris. On this 
 ticket he travelled to London Bridge, and there 
 by arrangement he met Brennan, who imme¬ 
 diately proceeded on the train to the French 
 capital. Egan was very generous in his con¬ 
 fidences on this occasion, and amongst other 
 things he told me that he was satisfied the new 
 Executive Body would continue the “active 
 work,” and it would be done by men who would 
 not go further than their orders, as Dr. Gallaher 
 had done. This was news to me, and I inquired 
 how. “Why,” replied Egan, “he (Dr. G.) got 
 in with some of Rossa’s men, and MacDermott 
 (a reputed informer) got it from them, and gave 
 him away.” Previously to this I had met Egan in 
 camp gatherings, and knew that he was now an 
 actual member of the American Revolutionary 
 organisation. It was, by-the-bye, at a camp 
 meeting in Philadelphia in this year that Egan, 
 addressing some sixty members, said, “ I have 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 2 3 l 
 
 been reading up the records of the Italian ban¬ 
 ditti, and from them I have come to believe in 
 this rule : Let us meet our enemies with smiling 
 faces, and with a warm grasp of the hand, having 
 daggers up our sleeves ready to stab them to the 
 heart.” Strange words these, and yet I thought 
 when I heard of their being uttered of the smiling 
 face and warm hand clasp which had puzzled me 
 not a little on that first night when I met the 
 speaker on the staircase of a Parisian hotel. 
 
 The Convention of the secret organisation 
 followed immediately after that of the National 
 League, but as I was not a delegate I had no 
 intimate connection with it. It was at this Con¬ 
 vention, as I learnt subsequently from Sullivan, 
 that arrangements were made—few, if any, Anti- 
 Sullivanites were present—for the destruction of 
 the records of which I have already spoken, and 
 which gave rise to so much bitterness on the 
 part of the Cronin faction. 
 
 The principal fact worthy of notice in con¬ 
 nection with the secret Convention of 1884 
 was the acknowledgment by the “ Triangle ” of 
 118,000 dollars as the sum received and expended 
 for dynamite purposes from the date of the hold¬ 
 ing of the Convention of 1881. No vouchers or 
 detailed statements were forthcoming, and their 
 absence was sought to be explained on the ground 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 that it was inexpedient to supply information in 
 view of the risk and exposure of brave men 
 engaged in the enterprises. No detailed state¬ 
 ment of the expenditure of this vast sum has ever 
 been made to this day. 
 
 As one result of this unsatisfactory condition of 
 things, a circular was drawn up by Cronin and 
 his friends, making definite and formal charges 
 against the “ Triangle ” of stealing the funds of the 
 organisation. Cronin was very aggressive in giving 
 currency to these charges in the most offensive 
 language, and the feeling against him on the part of 
 Sullivan’s adherents became extremely embittered. 
 As it grew in intensity it spread to more than 
 Cronin, and soon the followers of both men were 
 ranged in hostile camps, fighting a wordy war of 
 the deadliest type. All attempts to heal the 
 breach proved fruitless, although much outside 
 influence of an important character was brought 
 to bear upon the different parties concerned. 
 
 XLVII. 
 
 While the contest raged between the opposing 
 factions, I was up and doing, travelling about, and 
 gaining as much information as I possibly could. 
 I made many trips to various points of the country, 
 and so was enabled to gauge pretty accurately 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 233 
 
 the condition of public feeling and the probabilities 
 of the future. My pretexts for all this travelling 
 were admirably adapted to divert suspicion from my 
 real object. When ajourney for my health’s sake 
 was not possible, I got appointed (through Irish 
 political influence) to a seat on the Mississippi 
 Valley Sanitary Commission ; and when no more 
 work was to be done under this cover, I connected 
 myself with one of the largest pharmaceutical 
 houses in the States, and travelled as their 
 representative in whatever direction suited me. 
 So successful was I in combining business de¬ 
 velopment with my secret work, that I had great 
 difficulty in resigningthis latter connection, the pro¬ 
 prietors strongly urging my continuance in it, and 
 only parting with me after many fruitless attempts 
 to change my decision. When at home I was of 
 course an ardent politician, and a volunteer on 
 every committee in the Democratic interest. So 
 prominent was I in local politics, that on one 
 occasion I ran for election for the House of 
 Representatives, only being defeated by a majority 
 of 128 votes on a poll of several thousands. It 
 was the cry of “ The Fenian General ” that lost me 
 the seat with the English voters. 
 
 I was frequently in communication with Egan 
 through all this period, for he made many trips 
 to Chicago, both for business purposes—he had 
 
234 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 now embarked in the grain trade—and with the 
 object of consulting with Alexander Sullivan, 
 whose worthy fidus Achates he proved. It was 
 as the result of one of my interviews with him 
 that I received the following passport to the 
 faithful, which proved of such service in the way 
 of corroboration when I appeared before the 
 Special Commission :— 
 
 Irisf[ Rational lieagut; 
 
 AMERICA. 
 
 Ornccs or PBcaiotNT »no sccrbtarv. 
 
 \aa& 
 
 
 
 i' . fg# 
 
 &CSISX^-O 
 
 V J 
 
 &<r™. 
 
 - lAXs 2-0^— &~*sls(/h 
 
 '^ ayVcr> ^ 
 
 (dcAWZ/ArAujf* SvVtA -flsvrwlT'-' ^ / -^ / ^ 
 
 Y/'Y:a,C /~. .’'/ s ' ' Z 'As<aa> — (SKA, 
 
 7 
 
 tf _/Ajs ^ * 
 
 —- Oc<7^-() 
 
 ^ x / as ^ 
 
 > CXS^s CSkW) — . 
 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 2 35 
 
 Alexander Sullivan meantime occupied himself 
 very busily in purely American politics, and for 
 the purpose of making his position in this regard 
 the more favourable, he caused it to be under¬ 
 stood that he had withdrawn from the Clan-na- 
 Gael. This, of course, was only a blind, for as 
 a matter of fact, for twelve months at least after 
 he had so announced his withdrawal, his name 
 continued to appear on circulars and documents. 
 This, however, is immaterial. What is im¬ 
 portant to note is that Sullivan warmly advocated 
 the election of J. F. Blaine to the Presidency, and 
 that he in secret circles made much of the fact 
 that Blaine’s foreign policy would do all that the 
 Clan-na-Gael desired. Mr. Blaine paid a high 
 tribute in the public prints to the services 
 rendered him by Sullivan. 
 
 The year 1886 saw the introduction of the 
 Home Rule Bill by Mr. Gladstone, and conse¬ 
 quent inactivity on the part of the American 
 conspirators. I therefore had rather an easy 
 time of it. Enthusiasm ran pretty high, because 
 it was thought that with Home Rule granted the 
 way to complete separation would be cleared in a 
 wondrous degree, and that at last we were in sight 
 of the point for which all had struggled and many 
 had bled, “ the making of Ireland a nation once 
 again.” Mr. Parnell now appeared to have a 
 
2.^6 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 distinct claim upon Irish American indulgence, 
 and particular pains were taken to prevent any¬ 
 thing happening which might unfairly affect his 
 position in any way. So complaisant were “ the 
 men beyond the sea ” in America, that the open 
 Convention called for January 1886 was post¬ 
 poned in order that Mr. Parnell might be 
 present. The gathering eventually took place 
 in the month of August 1886, but there was 
 no Mr. Parnell, his place being taken by 
 no less than four of the leading Parnellites 
 from the English side—Messrs. Michael Davitt, 
 John E. Redmond, M.P., John Deasy, M.P., 
 and William O’Brien, M.P. As usual, the whole 
 proceedings were governed by the Sullivanite 
 wing of the secret organisation. I was myself 
 a delegate, attended the secret caucuses pre¬ 
 sided over by Patrick Egan, and assisted in 
 developing affairs in the interests of the con¬ 
 spirators. 
 
 The fact that Devoy, Cronin, and others were 
 now in opposition was an element of danger in 
 connection with the satisfactory working of the 
 intrigue to “nobble” the open movement; but 
 by a system of proxy voting success was achieved, 
 and the adherents of the Croninites driven from 
 the field. The way in which this was accom¬ 
 plished was remarkable, and very suggestive of 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 237 
 
 the position which Egan, the ex-Land League 
 official, and friend and adviser of Mr. Parnell, 
 held in the Revolutionary organisation. By a 
 circular issued by the “ Triangle ” on the eve of 
 the Convention, it was ordered that each Senior 
 Guardian should secure proxies for all branches 
 of the National League in his vicinity unable to 
 send delegates to the open Convention, and im¬ 
 mediately forward such proxies to Patrick Egan. 
 Here was a clear confession of the close con¬ 
 nection between the two movements—open and 
 secret—existing in the person of the present 
 United States minister to Chili, the then Pre¬ 
 sident of the Irish National League of America. 
 
 XLVIII. 
 
 I have already touched at several points on the 
 Dynamite Campaign, and I will now pause in my 
 narrative for the purpose of dealing in some detail 
 with the incidents attending the development of 
 the plot to “ blow up England.” Although there 
 had been several attempts made by O’Donovan 
 Rossa’s adherents to damage public buildings, 
 notably the Mansion House, London, the barracks 
 at Chester, the police-station and the Town Hall 
 at Liverpool in 1881 and 1882, the Dynamite 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 23 S 
 
 Campaign as organised by the Clan-na-Gael did 
 not really commence till the latter end of 1882, 
 or rather the beginning of 1883. Indeed the 
 attempts on the part of Rossa’s people were 
 simply gunpowder explosions, and had no con¬ 
 nection with dynamite at all. They were of a 
 very miserable character, and quite in keeping 
 with O’Donovan Rossa’s reputation in the States. 
 With him experience proved that it was always, as 
 the homely phrase has it, a case of “ great cry 
 and little wool.” 
 
 To Dr. Gallaher, our friend of the professional 
 appearance and gold-headed cane, was intrusted 
 the task of inaugurating the work undertaken by 
 the Revolutionary Directory of the Clan-na-Gael. 
 At the time he set out all was enthusiasm in the 
 ranks of the Clan, and great things were pro¬ 
 mised. In one secret circular the F.C. (or 
 governing body) had informed the members 
 “ that it had no delicacy or sentimentality about 
 how it would strike the enemy, or when or 
 where. . . . They meant war, they meant that 
 war to be unsparing and unceasing. They 
 meant it to be effective. Their policy would 
 be to make assaults in all directions, so that 
 the suffering, bitterness, and desolation which 
 followed active measures should be felt in every 
 place.” 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 239 
 
 Under the pretence of taking a voyage to 
 Europe for his health’s sake, Gallaher set out in 
 the steamship Alaska on the 15th October 1882, 
 reaching Liverpool in good time, and from thence 
 travelling to Glasgow, in order, as he explained, 
 to see some relatives. Glasgow, by the way, has 
 always had a prominent representative of the 
 British branch of the Fenians in residence there. 
 From Glasgow he came on to the London Wall 
 
 o 
 
 Hotel, and here he remained for a month spying 
 out the land and making the preliminary arrange¬ 
 ments for the work which was to follow. His 
 work finished, he took a trip to Dublin, where 
 at the Gresham Hotel he lived as befitted a 
 man of his position. From thence he proceeded 
 to Donegal to visit more “relatives.” From 
 Donegal he eventually made his way to Queens¬ 
 town, where in the Bosnia he took passage 
 for home on the 10th December, having, as 
 he subsequently reported, made all necessary 
 arrangements for commencing his branch of 
 the “active work.” 
 
 He was with Sullivan in Chicago in the follow- 
 ing month, and here he and I met and had many 
 chats together. We were fellow-doctors, and we 
 “chummed” together in a fashion very agreeable 
 to me. He soon wearied me, however, for I 
 found he could talk of nothing but dynamite, its 
 
240 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 production, its effectiveness, and the great weapon 
 it was soon to prove against the British Govern¬ 
 ment. He spent the next couple of months in 
 communication with the powers that were, and 
 placed them in full possession of all he had done 
 and all he hoped to do. They took an equally 
 sanguine view of the possibilities of success, and no 
 time was lost in enlisting the first dynamite band 
 which visited Europe. By the middle of March 
 there were eight men embarked on the dangerous 
 enterprise, Gallaher being the leader and pay¬ 
 master ; and at this date the first of them set out 
 for England in the Cunarder Parthia. Every 
 precaution was taken to avert suspicion, and so 
 much care was exercised that some travelled as 
 steerage passengers, while the rest, like Gallaher, 
 journeyed in gentlemanly fashion. The band 
 was made up of Gallaher and his brother Bernard, 
 Dowd, Wilson, O’Connor, Curtin, Whitehead, 
 and Norman, all being Clan-na-Gael men, though 
 none save the doctor held any important position 
 in the organisation. 
 
 The first arrivals of this precious assembly of 
 dynamitards reached Liverpool on the 27th of 
 March, and, of course, separated at once. Gallaher 
 went to the Charing Cross Hotel, which he made 
 his head-quarters. His men were quickly put to 
 work, and in a very short time a nitro-glycerine 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 241 
 
 factory was established in Birmingham, under the 
 superintendence of Whitehead. From here large 
 quantities of liquid were conveyed to some few 
 points in London in rubber bags and rubber 
 shooting-stockings. All the elaborate arrange¬ 
 ments, however, were destined to come to naught, 
 for before any “ active ” work could be done, 
 thanks to the vigilance of the police in London 
 and Birmingham, Gallaher and his associates 
 were arrested, and the whole of the nitro-glycerine 
 seized. The month of May 1883 saw the trial 
 and conviction of the leader and three of his 
 associates, Whitehead, Curtin, and Wilson, the 
 case for the Crown being completed by the testi¬ 
 mony of Norman, alias Lynch, who played the 
 role which never lacks an exponent in the case 
 of an Irish conspiracy—that of informer. All 
 of the unfortunate prisoners were sentenced to 
 penal servitude for life. An interesting feature 
 in connection with Gallaher’s arrest was the 
 discovery on his person of no less a sum than 
 ^1400. 
 
 What the actual designs of this dynamite band 
 were, are not, and probably never will be known. 
 Quite sufficient for the public must be the fact 
 that so enormous was the quantity of nitro¬ 
 glycerine discovered that according to experts, 
 it was quite equal to the blowing up of every 
 
2 4 2 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 house and street in London, from one end to the 
 other. Pleasant discovery this for the ordinary 
 British citizen who laughs at dynamite and pooh- 
 poohs the existence of any condition of things 
 calling for a more elaborate Secret Service. The 
 arrest and discomfiture of the Gallaher band had 
 one very useful result. It effectively put an end 
 to all idea of manufacturing dynamite on English 
 soil. Unfortunately, however, it did not put an 
 end to the Dynamite Campaign. It simply affected 
 the weapon, not those who were prepared to 
 employ it. 
 
 The next group of dynamitards who visited 
 England included Cunningham, Burton, Mackay 
 Lomasney, Luke Dillon, and a man known as 
 Ryan of Philadelphia. These men did not all 
 come at the same time, but they worked together 
 in harmony so far as it was possible. During 
 their visit to London explosions occurred in 
 October 1883 on the Underground Railway; in 
 February 1884, at Victoria Station ; in May 1884, 
 at Scotland Yard; in December 1884, at London 
 Bridge; and in January 1885, at the House 
 of Commons and the Tower. The dynamite 
 employed in these cases was all brought from 
 America, secreted about the persons of the con¬ 
 spirators, and of women who were sent over 
 with it, as well as by an employe of one of the 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 2 43 
 
 steamers of the National Steamship Line, who 
 belonged to the organisation. The explosive was 
 generally made up in slabs of Atlas powder, 
 obtained from, amongst other sources, the Atlas 
 Company and the Repauno Chemical Company 
 of Philadelphia. 
 
 Of the second group, only two men were 
 brought to trial, Cunningham and Burton ; and 
 these men, for the attempts on the House of 
 Commons and the Tower, were sentenced to 
 penal servitude for life. The remainder, with 
 the exception of Lomasney, escaped to America. 
 Lomasney, in company with a man supposed to 
 be named Fleming, met his fate under London 
 Bridge in his attempt to blow up that structure. 
 Luckily for the Londoners, the bridge escaped 
 without any injury, but Mackay and his com¬ 
 panion apparently came to their end by the dis¬ 
 charge of the explosive, for they were never seen 
 more. 
 
 1'here were two other men whose part in the 
 Dynamite Campaign of this period deserves men¬ 
 tion. These were “Jack” Daly, as he was 
 called, and his confederate, J. F. Egan, who were 
 tried and sentenced at Warwick in 1884, the 
 former to imprisonment for life, and the latter 
 to penal servitude for twenty years. Daly was 
 perhaps the most daring and desperate criminal 
 
244 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 of all, and his intended crime merits special 
 reference. This was the blowing up of the 
 House of Commons while in session, by the 
 throwing- of bombs on to the table in front of 
 the Speaker. So ardent was Daly in planning 
 this foul enterprise that he twice gained admis¬ 
 sion to the Strangers’ Gallery of the House. 
 When arrested, some of these bombs were found 
 upon him, and examination showed that one of 
 them, if used, would have been quite sufficient 
 to send every stick and stone, to say nothing of 
 the members of the House of Commons them¬ 
 selves, heavenwards or thereabouts. Luckily, 
 this desperate man was arrested in time, for 
 assuredly his character was quite sufficient to 
 warrant the belief that he would have carried 
 out his intention.* 
 
 Of all the schemes indulged in by the dynamite 
 men, none seems to have been more far-fetched 
 than that of the theft of a certain stone from 
 within the walls of Westminster Abbey. This 
 
 * As this same Daly has more than once been the subject of lengthy 
 debates in Parliament, and his release demanded by the Irish members 
 on the ground of his being the victim of a wrong conviction, I think it 
 well to state that his sentence and the subsequent refusal of the Home 
 Secretary to accede to these demands, were based on letters written 
 by him to the notorious J. J. Breslin of the Revolutionary Committee of 
 the Clan-na-Gael, and now in existence among the records of the Home 
 Office. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 2 45 
 
 was the famous “ Stone of Scone,” which serves 
 as the seat of the Coronation-chair in the Abbey. 
 To an outsider the possession of such a stone 
 as this seems of no importance whatever. Yet, 
 ludicrous as it may appear, the idea of securing 
 it gave rise to great enthusiasm and led to a 
 very generous subscription with this object. 
 According to the originators of the scheme, this 
 “ Stone of Destiny ” was really the property of 
 Ireland for a thousand years before Christ, and 
 upon it were crowned the Irish kings, for hundreds 
 of years, on the sacred Hill of Tara. Its resto¬ 
 ration to the land of its original and only lawful 
 owners, it was contended, would inspire confidence 
 in the course then being pursued, and the people 
 would be strengthened by the well-known tradi¬ 
 tion “ that so long as this stone remained in 
 Ireland, so long would she remain a united 
 nation,” while its loss to the English would work 
 wonders. Elaborate preparations were made for 
 carrying out the scheme. Men were sent from 
 America to work in conjunction with certain 
 Fenians in London, and it was decided that some 
 of the conspirators should secrete themselves in 
 the Abbey, and at night seize the police, remove 
 the stone, and pass it out through a window to 
 others who would be in waiting outside to take it 
 to a place of safety. For months these men waited 
 
246 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 and waited, but the opportunity never came, for 
 one of the group gave the whole thing away to 
 the police, and the detectives who surrounded the 
 sacred edifice made the seizure impossible. In 
 the end the three principals had to leave the 
 country for fear of arrest, and the whole affair 
 ended in smoke—as usual! 
 
 The close of the year 1885 brought the an¬ 
 nouncement of Mr. Gladstone’s conversion to 
 Home Rule, and the termination of the Dyna¬ 
 mite Campaign for the time being. How the 
 political situation was viewed at this period, can 
 best be represented by the following extracts 
 from a secret circular of the Clan-na-Gael, or 
 United Brotherhood, issued two days before 
 Christmas :— 
 
 “ The operations so far conducted have compelled the 
 enemy to recognise the Constitutional party, and we are now 
 in a fair way to reap the benefits and results of the heroic 
 work of the members of the U.S. (United Brotherhood). . . . 
 We expect to resume active operations after the present 
 exigencies of the Constitutional party are passed. We have 
 purposely and advisedly abstained from doing anything likely 
 to embarrass them during the crisis of the elections. It is to 
 be hoped that during these operations, members will abstain 
 from making inquiries or discussing the subject in any manner, 
 for we cannot say when we undertake to answer members, but 
 that at the same time we are answering the inquiries of our 
 enemy, furnishing important information, and giving important 
 clues to detect and suppress our work. The mystery of an 
 unknown power striking in the dark, always able to avoid 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 247 
 
 detection, is far more terrible than the damage inflicted. We 
 caution you, therefore, above all things, to be silent; but if 
 compelled to speak, disavow all knowledge, or better still, 
 mislead all inquirers. In the meantime, we wish to impress 
 on you the necessity of mutual forbearance and faith.” 
 
 So, for the time, in deference to “ the exigen¬ 
 cies of the Constitutional party,” the Dynamite 
 Campaign was brought to a close, leaving as its 
 record little or no damage to the enemy, but no 
 less than twenty-five of the unfortunate instru¬ 
 ments in prison, sixteen undergoing life sentences, 
 two, sentences of twenty years’ penal servitude, 
 and seven, sentences of seven years each. Of 
 course, some of these prisoners are not men from 
 the American side. In many cases those coming 
 from America picked up colleagues in England, 
 and, unfortunately for these latter, the knowledge 
 which the local police possessed proved disas¬ 
 trous to them. 
 
 XLIX. 
 
 The secret convention of the Revolutionary 
 organisation—or rather, of the principal section 
 which had remained faithful to Sullivan—met in 
 due course, in August 1886, but as I was not a 
 delegate, I had no personal knowledge of what 
 took place. The spirit of the time, however, was 
 
2 4 S 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 very fairly reflected in some circulars, issued prior 
 to its assembly, from which I take the following 
 extracts:— 
 
 “ The indications all point to the conclusion that the mea¬ 
 sure of Horne Rule offered will be emasculated and pared 
 down in such a way as to make it unacceptable to those for 
 whom it is intended. We are now preparing for those contin¬ 
 gencies, and the estimates for the cost of making a rigorous 
 campaign with ‘delusion’ (dynamite) will absorb more funds 
 than are at present available from the prescribed percentage. 
 The Executive, therefore, in order to meet the great outlay 
 necessary at this crisis, take this occasion to request that, in 
 addition to the usual percentage, each camp at once, by a vote 
 of the camp, send on such additional funds as they may deem 
 proper. ... It is suggested that in voting this fund it be 
 credited in forwarding it entirely to ‘ delusion ’ (dynamite). 
 In the meantime, in the next few months, important opera¬ 
 tions are likely to take place; you are cautioned to use every 
 device to mislead those engaged in tracing our operations.” 
 
 And again :— 
 
 “ We have some members who are opposed to the active 
 operations of the last few years, and who, therefore, favour a 
 more enlarged representation. It would seem to us that the 
 operations objected to are fully vindicated by the concessions 
 wrung thereby from England. However, we offer no sugges¬ 
 tions as to what line of policy you may see fit to pursue. It 
 will be the business of your Convention to frame that policy, 
 and the business of the Executive Body to execute them with¬ 
 out regard to individual opinions. . . . 
 
 “ The silent secret warfare has been productive of results. 
 It would be well, therefore, to instruct your delegates as 
 to your wishes on those points fully and clearly. Having 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 249 
 
 instructed your delegates which of these policies you wish to 
 pursue, the details will not be difficult. It would be well, 
 therefore, to put your instructions to your delegates in one of 
 the following general terms, with such alterations as you deem 
 proper:— 
 
 “Viz., ‘ Our delegate is instructed to favour an active secret 
 policy, similar to recent operations;’ or, in the alternative of 
 favouring a return to open insurrectionary operations, as fol¬ 
 lows :— 
 
 “Viz., ‘Our delegate is instructed to favour the planting of 
 ploughs (distribution of arms) and an open insurrectionary 
 movement.’ 
 
 “ There can then be no insinuations of misrepresentation, 
 and whatever policy is adopted will have the overwhelming 
 support of the organisation at its back. It will be well, also, 
 to embody such changes as are desirable in the constitution in 
 your instructions. It is to be hoped that, in the short time 
 intervening between this and the Convention, you will fully, 
 wisely, and carefully consider the policy of the future, and the 
 character, intelligence, and experience of your delegates. . . . 
 
 “The active operations of the U.S. (United Brotherhood) 
 have brought about the probable granting of Home Rule. It 
 is desirable that delegates to the National Convention shall be 
 fully informed of your desire to follow up these operations on 
 the same lines, or whether you desire to fall back on the old 
 work of putting ploughs in. The latter course does not seem 
 to us fruitful of results or practical. The former policy has 
 been vindicated by great destruction with little loss to us. It 
 is for the Convention to decide, however, what the future 
 policy shall be.” 
 
 From the official report of the secret Conven¬ 
 tion which reached me subsequently, I learnt that 
 the votes in favour of dynamite had been in the 
 majority, for the policy of the late Executive had 
 
2 5 0 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 been endorsed, and the new Executive given a 
 free hand for the future. What, however, was 
 perhaps the most important proceeding of all at 
 this Convention of the Revolutionists, was the 
 passing of the following resolution :— 
 
 “ Resolved :—That we maintain the same relations in the 
 future to open societies, working for the same purpose as our¬ 
 selves, that we have in the past.” 
 
 If further proof were wanted beyond that already 
 given of the “ understands cr” which existed be- 
 
 o o 
 
 tween the open and secret organisations, it could 
 not be supplied in a more emphatic manner than 
 this. 
 
 Although the Executive were given full power 
 to act as they thought best, it was apparently 
 considered undesirable to do anything during the 
 latter part of 1886, and so nothing of importance 
 came to pass up to the month of April 1887, when 
 I made another trip to Europe, without, however, 
 any letters or credentials on this occasion. My 
 visit was, nevertheless, not of an uneventful 
 character. I visited the House of Commons 
 more than once, and in the social intercourse 
 which took place between myself and some of the 
 Irish M.P.’s, learnt many facts of an interesting 
 character. It was during this visit that I set 
 myself to find out some particulars regarding 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 2 5 1 
 
 Dr. James G. Fox, M.P. I was rather curious 
 about this gentleman, who now failed to recognise 
 me in the House of Commons lobby, although 
 we had met on more than one occasion at Land 
 League Conventions in the States, where we had 
 been brother delegates. His associations, his 
 position as State Executive for the League in 
 New York, and his well-known National procli¬ 
 vities as evinced during his fifteen years’ residence 
 at Troy and elsewhere in the States, all made 
 me anxious to know something of the man in his 
 new position of M.P., and of how his thoughts 
 now inclined. 
 
 I learnt casually that he was in the habit of 
 frequenting Gatti’s Restaurant in the Adelaide 
 Gallery, Strand, and there I determined to renew 
 my acquaintance with him. The opportunity for 
 doing so was not long wanting, for on an early 
 day I found myself seated at the same table with 
 him, where he was deeply engaged in perusing 
 the Irish World. Making this fact an excuse for 
 opening a conversation with him, I asked, in an 
 interested way, if I could obtain copies of the 
 paper he was reading at any place in London. 
 I spoke with a marked American accent, and my 
 appearance did not belie the suggestion I wished 
 to convey as regards my nationality. He replied 
 that he thought not, explaining that he received 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 
 252 
 
 it regularly from the other side, asking me in 
 conclusion if I was interested in the publication. 
 I replied in the affirmative, and then followed his 
 query as to whether I was not from the United 
 States. To this I made answer by producing 
 my card, whereupon he looked intently at me as 
 he remarked, “ Why, I ought to know you; I 
 have met you in conventions. My name is Fox.” 
 The information was rather unnecessary as far as 
 I was concerned, but, maintaining a quiet face, I 
 thought for a moment, and in the end confessed 
 to a recollection of him. We were soon on 
 familiar terms, and discussed American matters 
 with great freedom. 
 
 There was one fact that I wanted particularly 
 to discover, and that was whether or not Fox 
 was a member of the Clan-na-Gael. I had had 
 no opportunity of learning this at the open 
 conventions at which we had previously met, 
 but yet my view very strongly inclined to the 
 belief that he was. In the course of our con¬ 
 versation, therefore, I took occasion to give him 
 the “ hailing sign,” but he did not return it, 
 merely remarking significantly that he was not 
 a member of any secret society, a remark which, 
 taken in connection with my sign, tickled me 
 not a little. I never ascertained the truth of 
 the matter, but I remembered the circumstance 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 2 5J 
 
 when, in June 1888, at the Clan Convention in 
 Chicago, a burly delegate near me mounted his 
 chair, announced himself from Troy—where Fox 
 had lived—and in a loud voice demanded recog¬ 
 nition by the chair. On this being accorded him, 
 he said, holding up the Times pamphlet, “Behind 
 the Scenes in America,” that he held in his 
 hand a little book which had been sent to him 
 by a Member of Parliament who was a member 
 of his camp. This book was being sold by the 
 thousand at the price of one penny, and the in¬ 
 formation it contained could only have been 
 supplied by a traitor high up in the ranks of 
 the organisation. He moved for a committee 
 to inquire into the matter. This committee 
 was appointed, but their inquiry ended in smoke, 
 the “ traitor,” as I was termed, having another 
 narrow escape. 
 
 While in England on this trip, the authorities 
 learned of the presence of General Millen in 
 Paris, and to Paris I was despatched, in order 
 to find out if possible what Millen was doing. 
 I found “ le brave General” of the Clan-na-Gael 
 very comfortably settled in the Hotel des Anglais 
 in the Cour de la Reine, accompanied by his wife 
 and two interesting daughters. I called upon 
 him, representing that I had heard of his being 
 in Paris through the Herald office, and was 
 
2 54 
 
 T WEN TV-FI VE YEA R S 
 
 
 anxious as an old friend to say “ how do you 
 do." I did not, however, gain very much by 
 my visit, for the simple reason that at this time 
 Millen had not, as far as I believe, any close 
 connection with the dynamite business known as 
 the Jubilee Plot, with which his name was subse¬ 
 quently associated. At this point his business in 
 Europe had to do with the bringing about of a re¬ 
 conciliation between the British and the American 
 branches of the Revolutionary organisation. 
 
 The fact was, that for two or three years 
 previously the relations between the two sections 
 of the conspirators had been of a very strained 
 character. Sullivan, finding that the home orga¬ 
 nisation was not in favour of dynamite, when 
 the campaign was started, had argued that they 
 should not have any more money to spend on 
 organisation and arms, which, for all that was 
 known to the contrary, were simply rusting 
 away in Ireland ; and, accordingly, supplies were 
 stopped, and the home Fenians were not notified 
 of the last couple of conventions, with the result 
 that no envoys from Great Britain and Ireland 
 attended. This led to a very bitter feeling in 
 Ireland, and the contention was strongly urged 
 that the conduct of the American Executive was 
 distinctly ultra vires. Now, when dissensions 
 raged in America, Sullivan, long-headed as usual, 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 2 55 
 
 sought to strengthen his section by the allegi¬ 
 ance of the home organisation ; and accordingly, 
 Millen was despatched to Europe to bring about 
 a more satisfactory condition of affairs. His 
 mission, in this regard at least, was unsuccessful. 
 
 As for Millen’s connection with the Jubilee 
 explosion, I know very little. The whole un¬ 
 dertaking was shrouded in mystery, but it is 
 pretty certain that it was not a Clan-na-Gael 
 affair alone. The best description that could be 
 given of it would be that it was in its inception 
 a Rossa undertaking financed by the Clan-na- 
 Gael. For political reasons the secret organi¬ 
 sation could not openly ally themselves with 
 dynamite for the moment, because tactical con¬ 
 siderations dictated the giving of a free and 
 untrammelled hand to Mr. Parnell to hoodwink 
 Mr. Gladstone and his supporters. As, however, 
 the circulars I quoted a few pages back showed, 
 dynamite was not by any means thrust aside; 
 so, in order to keep a fair front to the open 
 movement, and yet a satisfactory stand in the 
 eyes of the fiery rank and file, Rossa was tem¬ 
 porarily taken into the good graces of the Execu¬ 
 tive, and some of his adherents despatched with 
 funds from the secret organisation to kick up 
 a row in England. Millen, at the time I saw 
 him, was not in the plot, which at that moment 
 
2 5 6 
 
 r WEN TY-FIVE YEA R S 
 
 indeed had not been hatched; but on his return 
 to America he fell in with the scheme and returned 
 to Europe to work it out. His bungling, how¬ 
 ever, led to his being superseded by John J. 
 Moroney, a tried and trusted friend of Alexander 
 Sullivan, who was despatched to London with 
 a large amount of money and distinct orders 
 to show some value for it. What happened is 
 a matter of too recent history to need recapitula¬ 
 tion here. The introduction of Moroney and 
 his colleagues to the House of Commons by 
 Mr. Joseph Nolan, M.P., and the facts asso¬ 
 ciated with the working of the conspiracy, are 
 of too late a date to be forgotten so soon.* 
 
 I returned to the States in October, only to 
 remain a couple of months there, and to come 
 back again to Europe at the end of the year. 
 This time my visit was of a purely private char¬ 
 acter, and the sluggishness of affairs allowed of 
 my having a complete rest from all sorts of in¬ 
 vestigations and interviews. I came to Europe 
 in connection with a business speculation which 
 promised highly satisfactory returns, and I was 
 successful in laying the foundation for a very 
 encouraging enterprise. Unfortunately for me, 
 however, I was not to reap the fruits of my 
 work. As a consequence of my appearance 
 
 * See Appendix (i.). 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 257 
 
 in the witness-box, I was prevented from return¬ 
 ing to the States at the time when the profits 
 were accruing, and so had to undergo the loss of 
 this as well as many other sources of income. 
 
 L. 
 
 Tiie following year—1888—was my last in Ame¬ 
 rica, and ere its close I left for the purpose of 
 attending the dying bedside of my father. I left 
 for England in December with the full purpose of 
 returning in a month, but as matters turned out I 
 really left my home for the last time. I had 
 written twice to Mr. Anderson, offering my ser¬ 
 vices in connection with the Special Commission, 
 but nothing had come of my proposal, and I had 
 no idea that anything would happen in connec¬ 
 tion with the matter. My idea was, as I have 
 explained, that the Government were really pro¬ 
 secuting the Parnellite party, and I could not 
 understand how all the information which I knew 
 them to be possessed of was not appearing. The 
 charges and allegations had made a great stir in 
 America, and the disclosure of the whole working 
 of the Clan-na-Gael in the “Behind the Scenes” 
 articles had created such a sensation as seemed to 
 me to make a full disclosure imperative, so that the 
 American public might have accurate and com- 
 
25 8 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 plete data for arriving at a proper conclusion re¬ 
 garding the foul conspiracy existing in their midst. 
 
 I must not, however, travel too fast; and so 
 shall have to go back a little, in order to complete 
 the story of the Cronin-Sullivan dispute, which, in 
 a way, came to a conclusion in the year of which 
 I write. As I have already stated, the history of 
 the Cronin affair while it lasted was the history 
 of the Clan-na-Gael for the time being, and thus 
 in completing my statement of it I shall be bring¬ 
 ing the record of revolutionary matters down to the 
 date at which they and I parted. To return, there¬ 
 fore, to the Cronin matter, which I left at the point 
 in 1886 where appeals from outside quarters failed 
 to heal the breach. As a last resort, a confer¬ 
 ence was arranged in September 1887 between 
 committees from each organisation, the Sullivan 
 section and the Cronin section; and a final effort 
 was made to settle the differences. Cronin was 
 one of the committee from his section, but he did 
 not help the settlement. The conference con¬ 
 tinued up to April 1888, when a basis of union 
 was arrived at. The rock upon which the dispu¬ 
 tants invariably split was the demand made by 
 the Cronin section for the appointment of a com¬ 
 mittee to try their charges of misappropriation 
 against the Executive, and the expulsion of the 
 Executive from the organisation if found guilty. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 2 59 
 
 In the end, this was conceded; and a united 
 Convention was called in June 1888, which, meet¬ 
 ing - first in Maddison Street Theatre, was even¬ 
 tually moved to Green Baum, in consequence of 
 the allegation that British detectives had gained 
 admission to the former place of meeting. 
 
 Here was pandemonium let loose for eight days, 
 during which the Convention sat morning, noon, 
 and night. I was a member of this assembly, 
 and I never heard such a row in my life. The 
 Sullivanites had it all their own way at first; but 
 the seceders, with Cronin at their head, threatened 
 to “bolt” if they did not get fair play ; and they 
 appealed to the patriotism of their countrymen 
 to give them a chance. They were, accordingly, 
 given a representation on all committees, but 
 were always in a minority. Cronin perhaps 
 took as prominent a part in the Convention as 
 any man, and his conduct naturally incurred the 
 enmity, and eventually the vengeance, of his 
 opponents. He and Devoy submitted formal 
 charges of fraud, &c., against Sullivan’s execu¬ 
 tive.* Strong language was used, but Sullivan’s 
 friends defended him warmly. Finally a Trial 
 
 * John Devoy, in the course of a speech delivered at Cheltenham Beach 
 prior to the death of Mr. Parnell, made the following statement as regards 
 the Cronin affair 
 
 “The men to whom I refer and whom I charge to he in alliance with 
 the men who instigated the murder of Dr. Cronin, are Michael Davitt and 
 John O’Connor, one of the members from Tipperary. (Cheers and cries of 
 
260 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 Committee was appointed to try the parties 
 charged. Cronin, strange to say, was a member 
 of this Trial Committee, though he was one of the 
 persons making the charges. There was a terrible 
 scene when his appointment was made known, but 
 the Convention had to put up with him in the end. 
 
 All the Trial Committee were sworn by the 
 oath in the ritual to truly and justly try the charges 
 submitted to them. The committee consisted 
 of seven members, and as subsequent events 
 showed, four of them were Sullivan’s friends. 
 They met in November 1888. Previous to this, 
 however, Cronin had been playing a very objec¬ 
 tionable part. He spoke against the accused 
 whenever occasion offered, wrote to the papers 
 
 Hear, hear). I say here that there is a combination between the coterie 
 which brought about the murder of Dr. Cronin and the Davitt clique in 
 Ireland, to oust Mr. Parnell from the leadership and place Michael Davitt 
 in his place. In Michael Davitt’s sworn testimony before the Parnell 
 Commission, he said, ‘ I sought out John Devoy, because I heard he was 
 going to make trouble in the Convention, so that I might learn his plans 
 and frustrate them.’ I am glad of that admission from Michael Davitt 
 himself, and for the payment of a thousand dollars given to him for one 
 speech in Ogden’s Grove, and the full proceeds of a lecture tour given 
 throughout the United States under the auspices of the Triangle. The 
 Cronin murder was as much a part of the infamous work of this alliance to 
 down Parnell, and to down every man in this country who believes in 
 giving his movements a fair, full, and reasonable trial, as the puffs of 
 Michael Davitt at a thousand a puff.” 
 
 In corroboration of Devoy’s statement, I find in the financial report of 
 the Clan-na-Gael the sum of one thousand dollars charged ; and while Mr. 
 Davitt had for some years disassociated himself from the party of violence, 
 he does not appear to have been averse to receiving a portion of their 
 spoils. Mr. Davitt may plead, as other well-known Irish patriots have done, 
 that he did not know the source from whence this money was derived ; but no 
 man was in a better position to have found out than he, had he so desired. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 261 
 
 in accusation of them, and in no way showed 
 himself the unbiassed person he had sworn 
 himself to be. Sullivan naturally felt very bitter 
 over all this, and he fell out with a number of 
 friends who sided with Cronin in the claim for 
 full investigation. When the trial came on, it 
 was found that all the vouchers, papers, and 
 indeed every evidence of expenditure, had been 
 destroyed, in accordance with the resolution 
 which had been adopted at the Boston Conven¬ 
 tion. This increased the uproar, and after two 
 weeks of inquiry the majority, consisting of 
 Sullivan’s friends, expressed themselves satisfied 
 with the statements made by the accused ; while 
 the minority could only admit the proper expendi¬ 
 ture of 33,000 dollars, which left a deficiency of 
 85,000 dollars, or £ 1 7,000. The result of the 
 trial was that Michael Boland was convicted of 
 misappropriation ; Sullivan was acquitted, but 
 censured for the loose way in which the Executive 
 had done its business, and D. C. Feeley was like¬ 
 wise acquitted but censured. The details of this 
 finding were given me, by the way, by Sullivan. 
 
 At the time I left for Europe, the Trial Com¬ 
 mittee had adjourned, and Cronin was back in 
 Chicago. The Executive had refused to sustain 
 the action of the Trial Committee by a majority 
 of one, and there the affair stood. But Cronin 
 
262 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 would not let well enough alone. He had been 
 talking very plainly, and denouncing Sullivan right 
 and left. I figured in this trial by furnishing Sul¬ 
 livan with affidavits for his defence. Cronin after¬ 
 wards charged Sullivan with getting me admitted 
 into the organisation, and with putting me into a 
 position of trust. This did not help matters, and 
 altogether Cronin proved himself to be a very 
 dangerous man in the eyes of Sullivan. Doubt¬ 
 less he possessed much information, the publication 
 of which would damn Sullivan for ever. What 
 followed is a matter of recent inquiry. Cronin 
 was foully murdered, and Sullivan, with others, 
 was charged with participation in the crime. 
 Sullivan was released, but three men, well-known 
 members of the Clan, were convicted, and sen¬ 
 tenced to penal servitude for life.^ The inquiry 
 was fruitful in many ways, and brought to light a 
 vast amount of corroboration of the most impor¬ 
 tant portions of my testimony. There were, 
 however, no two more sensational incidents 
 than those produced by the report issued by 
 Cronin after the Trial Committee had dissolved, 
 and the positive proof now supplied for the first 
 time of the statement frequently made, that Sul¬ 
 livan had in May 1882 received in his position as 
 chief of the Clan-na-Gael a sum of ,£20,000 from 
 
 See Appendix (ii.). 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 263 
 
 Patrick Egan, then Treasurer of the Land League 
 in Paris. 
 
 The report issued by Cronin stated amongst 
 other things— 
 
 “ That the Trial Committee appointed at Chicago was unable 
 to elicit all the facts connected with the charges placed before 
 it, because of the refusal of several of the witnesses to answer 
 many of the questions asked, and because of the inability of 
 others to remember events and figures that might be supposed 
 to be indelibly impressed on their memories. From the 
 evidence presented, I am obliged to report— 
 
 “ That the family of one who lost his life in the service of 
 this order was scandalously and shamefully neglected, and 
 continued to be neglected for two years after their destitute 
 condition was known, and that Alexander Sullivan, Michael 
 Boland, and D. C. Feeley are responsible and censurable for 
 that neglect. 
 
 “That the defendants, Sullivan, Boland, and Feeley, issued 
 a deceptive report to the Boston Convention, leading the order 
 to believe that its affairs had been examined by independent 
 committees, and that the order was $13,000 in debt; that, in 
 fact, Alexander Sullivan and Michael Boland were on the 
 Committee of Foreign Affairs, and the Treasurer states that 
 there was a balance in the treasury, and not a debt. 
 
 “That, prior to the Boston Convention, one hundred 
 and eleven thousand ($111,000) dollars was expended without 
 any direct or indirect benefit to the order, and most of it 
 in a manner that could not in any way have benefited the order, 
 and that the same three defendants are censurable and respon¬ 
 sible for this enormous and wasteful expenditure. 
 
 That the $80,491 reported to the district Convention as 
 having been spent in active work was not spent for any such 
 work, no such work having been done or contemplated during 
 the eleven months within which this large amount was drawn 
 
264 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 from the treasury. The active work done between the Boston 
 and district Conventions was paid for out of the surplus held 
 bv the agent of the “Triangle” at the time of the Boston 
 Convention, and not out of the $87,491 drawn from the 
 treasury months after such active work had ceased.” 
 
 I give these extracts in order to show the 
 reader how matters stood between Sullivan and 
 Cronin on the eve of the latter’s murder. Into 
 the details of the £20 ,000 transaction I need not 
 
 enter, beyond stating the fact that banking officials 
 were called to prove by their books that on May 
 15, 1882, Sullivan cashed, through Monroe and 
 Co. of Paris, two cheques amounting to the sum 
 I name. This, I may state, was about the date 
 when Sullivan, in response to Mr. Parnell’s re¬ 
 quest, crossed to Paris in order to settle the diffi¬ 
 culty with the Revolutionary body on the British 
 side. As the following extracts will show, the 
 matter had been one around which a great deal 
 of controversy had raged for many years :— 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 265 
 
 “ The O’Donovan Rossa resents Mr. Patrick Egan’s impu¬ 
 tation against his character for truth and veracity. The 
 O’Donovan, when in this city a few days ago, intimated to a 
 Chicago Tribune reporter that Mr. Patrick Egan, while Parnell, 
 Dillon, Davitt, and other members of the Executive of the 
 Land League were in jail in Ireland, was visited in Paris by 
 Revolutionary Irish patriots from this country, who induced him 
 to give 100,000 dollars of the money contributed to Land 
 League purposes to them for revolutionary purposes, i.e., 
 making war on the British Empire with dynamite and such 
 things. Mr. Egan having seen or heard of O’Donovan’s state¬ 
 ment, denied that there was a particle of truth in it, and sent 
 the Tributie a telegram to that effect from Denver. Now 
 comes O’Donovan with a rejoinder. We have received from 
 him the following telegram :— 
 
 “ 1 Editor of the “ Tribune .” 
 
 “‘Mr. Patrick Egan denies my statement. I say my state¬ 
 ments are more worthy of belief than Patrick Egan’s. I stated 
 in Chicago that money sent from America to support the 
 no-rent movement in Ireland was followed over by some 
 parties who got 100,000 dollars of it; that it was not used for 
 any such work in Ireland, and that Patrick Egan knows all 
 about it. I repeat my assertion. Will Patrick Egan meet me 
 in the presence of John Finerty and Denis O’Connor of 
 Chicago, or in the presence of Patrick Ford and Major 
 Horgan of New York, both answering all questions under 
 oath ? 
 
 “ ‘O’Donovan Rossa, 
 
 “ ‘ Editor “ United Irishman .” 
 
 “‘New York, July 15, 1S83.’” 
 
 LI I. 
 
 Long before these final developments, however, 
 I had sailed for England, and severed for all time 
 
266 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 my connection with Irish politics in the United 
 States. I had come, as explained, to my father’s 
 dying bedside. Unfortunately for me, I was not 
 in time to find him conscious, and did not reach 
 the house where he lay till the day on which he 
 died. When the sad offices connected with his 
 death had been fulfilled, I turned my thoughts 
 again to home, and set about preparing for another 
 voyage to the States. Everything had been 
 completed for my departure, when I suddenly 
 learned from Mr. Anderson that the Times had 
 approached him with a view of obtaining a witness 
 regarding the American side of the conspiracy. 
 Before this point was reached, I had chatted 
 over my proposal of going into the witness-box 
 with Mr. Anderson, but he had very frankly told 
 me that he had no intention of giving up such a 
 useful informant of his own initiative; and as he 
 had no connection with the Times case, he did 
 not think it likely that any approach would be 
 made to him on the subject. 
 
 Matters, however, turned out differently to 
 what he expected, and on the eve of my departure 
 for America I learned that my services might, 
 after all, be utilised, and my desire to drive the 
 truth home given full play. To be effective, 
 however, my coming appearance should be kept 
 a profound secret, and so I appealed to Mr. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 267 
 
 Anderson to make such arrangements as would 
 allow of this being the case. As a result, I was 
 informed a little later that the Times people had 
 arranged that Mr. Houston should be the person 
 with whom I should deal, and that to him alone 
 should I be known pending my appearance in the 
 witness-box. This was the first mention I had 
 ever heard of Mr. Houston, and it was with no little 
 curiosity I made my way to No. 3 Cork Street in 
 search of the gentleman to whom I bore a single 
 line of introduction. I remember well how, when 
 I was first ushered into his now familiar room by 
 his faithful “ Rogers,” I gazed suspiciously at the 
 tall youthful figure which met my view. As Mr. 
 Houston took my letter of introduction from me 
 and carelessly opened it, answering my suspicious 
 glance with a slight smile hovering about his face, 
 I could not help the remark, “ Sir, you are a 
 much younger man than I was led to believe I 
 would meet.” The smile broadened into a laugh 
 as the reply came back, “ I am sorry, but I can¬ 
 not help being young, you know. However, I 
 am Mr. Houston.” And so we two people met 
 for the first time. 
 
 I informed Mr. Houston that it was always an 
 understood thing on my part that my letters to 
 Mr. Anderson were private property, and that 
 whenever I liked to ask for them they would be at 
 
68 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 my disposal. Accordingly I had, on learning that 
 my evidence would be accepted, requested that 
 Mr. Anderson should allow me to go over all my 
 documents and select such as appeared necessary 
 for the corroboration of my statements, as well as 
 for the assisting of my memory. To this he had 
 assented, excluding any of the papers which he 
 had made official by passing them on at the time of 
 their receipt. It was then arranged between Mr. 
 Houston and myself that I should get the docu¬ 
 ments from Mr. Anderson, and go to work at 
 once in the preparation of my evidence. Much 
 to my disappointment, I learnt there was not time 
 for me to make a last hurried trip home, and that 
 if I was to carry out my intention of testifying I 
 should have to be content with the many losses 
 which would result from my stopping in England. 
 One thing, however, I stipulated for, and that was 
 the bringing over of all my family to England 
 before I appeared in the box. I was willing to 
 let all my private affairs go to ruin by my non¬ 
 return ; but I was not prepared to leave my wife 
 and family to bear the brunt of the popular ill-will 
 which would result from what was to follow. 
 
 One of the first things I did, therefore, was to 
 cable for my wife and children ; and having eased 
 my mind on this score, I went to work with a will 
 in the preparation of my evidence. For ten long 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 269 
 
 working days, Mr. Houston and I waded through 
 the hundreds of letters and Clan-na-Gael docu¬ 
 ments I had now at my disposal, he taking notes 
 as he went along, and I dictating many items 
 brought to my recollection by the letters I was 
 perusing. We worked in this way from ten to six 
 o’clock each day, undisturbed by visitors of any 
 kind; and when I left him, Mr. Houston, with 
 the assistance of his clerks, worked far into the 
 night, copying the circulars, and transcribing the 
 notes which remained at the end of our day’s work. 
 
 On Tuesday morning, the 5th of February 1889, 
 the curtain was rung up, and throwing aside the 
 mask for ever, I stepped into the witness-box and 
 came out in my true colours, as an Englishman, 
 proud of his country, and in no sense ashamed of 
 his record in her service. On what followed I need 
 not dwell. While I was under examination, my 
 old employer, Mr. William Baber of Colchester, 
 was brought into court by the well-known detec¬ 
 tive Meiklejohn, in order that he might identify 
 me. Nothing, of course, came of the incident; 
 but as I once more saw Mr. Baber, I thought to 
 myself how little he knew of the part I had 
 played at his father’s death-bed. It was in 1884 
 that I was hurriedly called one day to see a 
 patient who was said to be dying. I found him 
 an old man of eighty, surrounded by his family 
 
270 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 and friends. In a few minutes he was dead ; and 
 finding- that all round about me were strangers 
 to the grim monster, I performed the last offices 
 for the body. As I was so employed, the poor 
 people related to me their history, and then I 
 learned to my surprise that the man whose eyes 
 I was now closing in death was none other than 
 the father of my former employer at Colchester, 
 who had emigrated to America some few years 
 previously. 
 
 Great as was the sensation produced by my 
 strange and weird but true story, it was as 
 nothing compared to that brought about by the 
 perfect corroboration afforded by the assassination 
 of poor Cronin, of whom I have said so much. 
 Little did I think, when day after day I stood 
 in the witness-box to tell my tale, and morning 
 after morning read the scoffing references of 
 those who believed it not, that in a little while 
 the blood of a murdered Gael would cry out in 
 judgment against those of whom I spoke, and 
 that in the outcome truth would prevail, and 
 the black foul conspiracy be dragged into the 
 open light. Yet so it was; and to-day there 
 are none who question the existence of the 
 murderous alliance to which I testified, and of 
 men within its ranks prepared to obey its leaders, 
 even unto the shedding of blood. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 271 
 
 LI 11 . 
 
 I have told my story, and little more remains to 
 be done. Yet I cannot lay down my pen without 
 rendering some little tribute to one whose care 
 and caution on my behalf I can never repay. 
 I refer to Mr. Anderson. For twenty-one years 
 I served under this gentleman in the Secret 
 Service, and no greater honour can I pay him 
 than to say that during all this time I was never 
 discovered. Only those who have played my 
 part can fully appreciate what this means. Not 
 always careful, not always guarded enough in 
 the rattle and bustle of my life, there were times 
 when, had it not been for my chief’s watchfulness, 
 discovery might have overtaken me. But he 
 never wavered or grew lax in his care. He 
 proved indeed to me, not the ordinary official 
 superior, but a kind trusty friend and adviser, 
 ever watchful in my interests, ever sympathising 
 with my dangers and difficulties. To him, and 
 to him alone, was I known as a Secret Service 
 agent during the whole of the twenty-one years 
 of which I speak. Therein lay the secret of 
 my safety. If others less worthy of the trust 
 than he had been charged with the knowledge 
 of my identity, then I fear I should not be here 
 
272 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 to-day on English soil quietly penning these 
 lines. 
 
 If my identity remained undiscovered, it was 
 not for want of attempts on the part of col¬ 
 leagues of Mr. Anderson to find it out. It 
 was but natural, of course, that those associated 
 with my chief should seek to penetrate his re¬ 
 serve regarding such a voluminous correspondent 
 as myself, and to gain, at first hand, possession 
 of the many important pieces of information 
 which he alone appeared to be able to supply. 
 All attempts, however, in this direction, and 
 they were many, proved fruitless. So deter¬ 
 mined was a certain public official at one time 
 to discover my identity, that having in some 
 way got hold of my Christian name, Thomas 
 — I always wrote in the name of Beach to 
 Mr. Anderson—and assuming it to be my sur¬ 
 name, he despatched a detective to Chicago to 
 discover the man called Thomas in the organi¬ 
 sation there. Of course there was no chance 
 of getting at me in this way, but, neverthe¬ 
 less, I was warned in time, and left no possible 
 loophole for discovery. Imagine, dear reader, 
 the weakness of such a policy as this, which 
 would commit the safety of an important in¬ 
 formant to the irresponsible knowledge of an 
 ordinary detective! 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 273 
 
 When this attempt failed, communications 
 were sought to be opened up with me by the 
 same official through Sir John Rose and Judge 
 M'Micken, with whom I had acted at the time 
 of the Fenian raid of 1870. So strong, indeed, 
 was the pressure brought upon Judge M'Micken, 
 that the old gentleman travelled specially to 
 Chicago to see me on the point. However, 
 I would have none of it. I was quite con¬ 
 tented, and too well assured of my safety as 
 I was; and so, much to my own satisfaction, I 
 was left undisturbed in Mr. Anderson’s charge. 
 
 There was only one thing about which he 
 had frequently to remonstrate with me, and 
 that was my expenditure. Many a lecture did 
 I receive from him on the subject of money 
 spending. It was not, of course, his fault, but 
 rather that of the system. Indeed, so kind 
 and friendly was he that he at times advanced 
 me money for which he himself had to wait 
 for repayment for some time, if indeed he ever 
 got all of it back, which I very much doubt. 
 Of course I could not help spending the money. 
 
 I tried to be as sparing as possible, and, when¬ 
 ever I could, debited my expenses to those 
 other undertakings which I allied with my 
 Secret Service work. But it was not always 
 possible to pursue such an economic course, 
 
274 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 and in very many instances where Mr. Ander¬ 
 son could not pay, I had to pay myself. I 
 occupied a certain position; I had to live up 
 to that position. The expenditure of money 
 amongst the Irish patriotic class was an abso¬ 
 lute necessity for my purpose, and consequently 
 I could never put any money by, but rather 
 lived up to, if not, indeed, at times beyond 
 every penny of my income. 
 
 On this question of Secret Service money I 
 could say much. The miserable pittance doled 
 out for the purpose of fighting such an enemy 
 as the Clan-na-Gael becomes perfectly ludicrous 
 in the light of such facts as I have quoted in 
 connection with the monetary side of the Dyna¬ 
 mite Campaign. Gallaher, as I have said, had 
 no less than ^1400 on his person when arrested 
 in 1883 ; while, coming down to a later date, 
 Moroney, when despatched from New York in 
 1887, in connection with the second stage of the 
 Jubilee explosion plot, carried with him some 
 ^1200. How on earth can the English police 
 and their assistants in the Secret Service hope to 
 grapple with such heavily financed plots as this, 
 on the miserable sums granted by Parliament for 
 the purpose ? There are, I believe, some thirty 
 men charged with the special duty of circum¬ 
 venting political crime in London. All praise 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 2 75 
 
 and honour to them for the work they have done, 
 and the sincerest of congratulations to Chief- 
 Inspector Littlechild, who so ably conducted the 
 arrests of all the principals of the latter-day dyna¬ 
 mite plots. But these policemen have succeeded 
 more by chance than anything else ; events have 
 played into their hands, and, clever men that they 
 are, they have been sufficiently capable to take ad¬ 
 vantage of the little that came to their knowledge, 
 and from small clues to work out great things. 
 
 Some day, however, a big thing will happen, 
 about which there will be no leakage beforehand, 
 and then the affrighted and indignant British 
 citizen will turn on his faithful band of thirty and 
 rant and rave at them for their want of capacity 
 and performance. The fault will be the want 
 of a perfect system of Secret Service, properly 
 financed. If plots are to be discovered in time 
 —and already there are some whisperings of 
 coming danger—they can only be discovered 
 through information coming from those associated 
 with them. As I have shown, the men engaged 
 in them are very highly paid. If it is to be 
 made worth their while to speak, then the price 
 offered by the British Government must be higher 
 than that of the other paymasters. There is no 
 use in thinking that mere tools like Callan and 
 Harkins—the men now in prison in connection 
 
276 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 with the Jubilee Explosion Plot—would be of any 
 service. These men know nothing. It is the 
 Millens and the Moroneys of the conspiracy who 
 should be in Government pay, and they have no 
 mean price. Imagine offering either of these 
 men a retainer of gjco a month with a very odd 
 cheque for expenses thrown in ! The idea is 
 ridiculous. I have heard it ur^ed that the 
 
 O 
 
 thought of Secret Service is repugnant to the 
 British heart, wherein are instilled the purest 
 principles of freedom. The argument has 
 sounded strange in my ears when I remembered 
 that London, as somebody has said, is the cess¬ 
 pool of Europe, the shelter of the worst ruffians 
 of every country and clime. America is called 
 the Land of the Free, but she could give England 
 points in the working of the Secret Service, for 
 there there is no stinting of men or money. 
 
 LIV. 
 
 This, then, is my story ; and in it must be found 
 the justification, if such be needed, for the part 
 I have played. I have no apology to make for 
 my twenty and odd years’ work in the Secret 
 Service. I took up that work from a con¬ 
 scientious motive, and in a conscientious spirit I 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 277 
 
 pursued it to the end. I have in no sense been 
 an informer, as the phrase is understood. I allied 
 myself with Fenianism in order to defeat it; I 
 never turned from feelings of greed or gain on 
 the men with whom I at first worked in sym¬ 
 pathy. I never had any sympathy with Irish 
 Revolutionists. Quite the opposite. Nor have 
 I been an agent provocateur. Although I always 
 voted for politic reasons on the side of the major¬ 
 ity, even to the joining in the vote which meant 
 dynamite, on no single occasion was I instru¬ 
 mental in bringing an individual to the commis- 
 sion of crime. True, I had to take many oaths. 
 But what of that? By the taking of them I have 
 saved many lives. Which counts the weightiest 
 in the balance of life ? And who is it that sneers 
 at me for my conduct in this regard ? An honest 
 man’s criticism I can accept ; but for the judg¬ 
 ment of these double-oathed gentlemen who, 
 having first taken the Fenian oath, then rushed 
 to Westminster to swear allegiance to the Crown 
 and Constitution they had aforetime sworn to 
 destroy, I have nothing but contempt and deri¬ 
 sion. Away with such rubbish and cant as they 
 indulge in to the regions where common-sense 
 finds no place. 
 
 I said I have saved lives by my action as a 
 Government agent. I hope I shall have done 
 
27S 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 more by my appearance in the witness-box. To 
 me no more satisfactory result could attend my 
 disclosures than the realisation by the poor deluded 
 Irish in the States of the way in which they have 
 been tricked and humbugged in the past years. 
 For these poor weak people, animated by the 
 purest, if the most mistaken of patriotic motives, 
 who give their little all in the hope and trust that 
 the day will come in their lives when Ireland will 
 be a land flowing with milk and honey, I have 
 the deepest and the most sincere sympathy. To 
 know these people, to come into contact with 
 them, and to discuss with them the eternal sub¬ 
 ject of Irish nationality, is to respect their honesty 
 of purpose, no matter how much we feel called 
 upon to condemn their methods of procedure. 
 But, for the blatant loud-voiced agitator, always 
 bellowing forth his patriotic principles, while 
 secretly filling his pockets with the bribe or the 
 consequences of his theft, there can be no other 
 feeling but that of undisguised loathing. 
 
 I speak of what I know from personal experi¬ 
 ence, when I say there is no greater fraud in this 
 nineteenth century of ours than the modern Irish 
 patriotic agitator in America. Gold is his god, 
 his patriotic principles—save the mark !—his bre¬ 
 viary and his beads, holding aloft which he stands 
 at the corner of the market-place so that he may 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 279 
 
 be seen of all men, and paid tribute to by some. 
 By jobbery, trickery, treachery, and delusion of 
 the meanest and most despicable type he works 
 his way along, rising higher and higher in the 
 ranks of his fellow-conspirators, till at last, in the 
 position of responsibility and power, he sells the 
 votes he can command, and pockets the funds 
 over which he has control. Brave and blustering 
 in speech, he advocates, in the safety of his 
 American city, three thousand miles from the 
 seat of danger, the most desperate of enterprises; 
 and without the slightest pang of compunction 
 or twinge of conscience he rushes his poor dupes 
 across the water to their fate on the scaffold or 
 the living death of penal servitude ; while his lips 
 unctuously mumble of the righteousness of their 
 beloved cause, and his whisky-laden breath blas¬ 
 phemously calls for the blessings of Heaven upon 
 the foul enterprise. 
 
 It has been in fighting such scoundrels as these 
 that I have spent the last quarter of a century. 
 From them I would fain deliver their poor dupes 
 ere I completely efface myself from Irish affairs. 
 I have no stronger, no sincerer wish than to see 
 an end put once for all to the delusion which is 
 practised upon thousands of poor Irishmen through¬ 
 out the States by the men of whom I have written. 
 With the rank and file it has assuredly been a case 
 
28 o 
 
 THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 of “ theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do 
 and die.” I hope it may not be so in the future. 
 I trust that what I have penned, and what the sad 
 murder of Cronin has writ large upon the page 
 of history, may not be without its effect; and that 
 to-day men may pause ere they continue in such 
 a way as I have pictured, the mere tools of an 
 unscrupulous faction, the miserable dupes of a 
 reckless and improvident executive. Gallahers, 
 Dalys, and Mackay Lomasneys there always 
 will be—men inspired with fanatical hatred of 
 all things English, and ready at all times to risk 
 freedom and life in working out their designs ; 
 but, apart from them, there are thousands whose 
 criminality reaches no further point than the 
 paying of those subscriptions so frequently and 
 so persistently demanded. 
 
 With such men I hope these words of mine 
 will have weight; and if, awakening to a true 
 sense of their situation, and realising that their 
 combination and support help not Ireland but 
 Ireland’s professional mendicants, they turn to a 
 better path, and a clearer and more honest view 
 of Irish matters as they really are, then shall I 
 feel that I have not struggled or written in vain. 
 
APPENDIX 
 
 i. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE JUBILEE PLOT. 
 
 Fully two months before the celebration of the Queen’s 
 Jubilee in London, reliable intelligence reached the Scotland 
 Yard authorities that a gang of skilful and unscrupulous con¬ 
 spirators in America were devising a plan for carrying out acts 
 of murder and destruction in London. The names of the 
 principal persons engaged for this purpose were known to the 
 police, and the individuals were closely watched even during 
 their voyage across the Atlantic. The headquarters of the 
 organisation were established in Paris, and both there and in 
 Boulogne their movements were under strict observation. 
 The direction of the conspiracy rested with General Millen, a 
 well-known Fenian agent, who, finding the police espionage 
 unbearable, had latterly kept out of England. Had he 
 returned, he would have been immediately arrested. Last 
 Saturday he left Amsterdam for New York, being watched by 
 English detectives down to the time of the vessel sailing. 
 After the Jubilee celebration, some of the gang crossed the 
 Channel and came to London, their plans previous to the 
 Jubilee celebration having been disconcerted. The most 
 prominent of the arrivals in London was the man Melville, 
 said to be the shrewdest of the whole gang. The police do 
 not believe that those conspirators were in communication 
 with O’Donovan Rossa, or acting with his cognisance. Cohen’s 
 presence in London was known to the police some time prior to 
 
282 
 
 ATTENDIX I. 
 
 his death. There was only one of the gang of whose presence 
 they were not aware. Strangely enough, the police were on 
 their way to arrest the deceased [Cohen] at the moment of his 
 death, and had they been twenty minutes earlier they would 
 have captured the unknown individual who left the death 
 chamber just previously. 
 
 The man Melville came to London as an agent of Millen, and 
 took modest lodgings in Gladstone Street, but at the time was 
 deficient in funds. The police, however, watched him closely, 
 and found that on two occasions he called on Mr. Joseph Nolan, 
 M.P., at the House of Commons. He had for his companion 
 the man Harkins, and both of them were seen in company 
 with the dead man Cohen, upon whom an inquest was held 
 yesterday [26th October 1887]. The police suspicions of 
 Melville’s business were confirmed. His assertion, that he 
 represented Mr. Philips, of Philadelphia, proved entirely false. 
 Afterwards Melville went to Paris, and there met a man named 
 Dennehy, who, with a man named Maloney, sailed for America 
 on August 17. Dennehy is a member of the Clan-na-Gael, 
 and his address is known to the police. Melville then 
 returned to London and stayed at the Hotel Metropole with a 
 Miss Kennedy, of 53 Charles Street, Boston, with whom he 
 travelled through Ireland, and aftenvards to Paris, where he 
 called upon General Millen at the Hotel du Palais, and was 
 also seen in a cab with a man remarkably like the deceased 
 man Cohen, who was absent from his lodgings about five 
 weeks ago. He sailed for America from Havre on September 
 17, and on reaching New York, his companion, Miss 
 Kennedy, was arrested for smuggling a large quantity of 
 valuable goods. Melville’s hurried departure upset the plans 
 of the Clan-na-Gael, and closely following this Cohen died. 
 Harkins admitted yesterday that he called at the House of 
 Commons with Melville, and that he had written for money to 
 Burchall. Melville’s address in America is known to the 
 police—viz., Mr. J. J. Moroney, 925 Tenth Avenue, New 
 York .—Daily Tress , 28th October 1887. 
 
THE JUBILEE PLOT. 
 
 Thomas Callan, 46, labourer, and Michael Harkins, 30, 
 grocer, were placed upon their trial at the Central Criminal 
 Court, London, on February 1, 1888, upon an indictment of 
 various counts, charging them with maliciously conspiring with 
 Joseph Melville and Joseph Cohen, and other persons, to 
 cause, by an explosive substance, an explosion in the United 
 Kingdom of a nature likely to endanger life, and to cause 
 serious injury to property, and with having in their possession 
 and under their control an explosive substance with intent by 
 means thereof to endanger life and cause serious injury to pro¬ 
 perty within the United Kingdom, and with having in their 
 possession and under their control an explosive substance in 
 such circumstances as to give rise to a reasonable suspicion 
 that they did not have it in their possession and under their 
 control for a lawful object. 
 
 The prisoners were found guilty, and each sentenced to 
 fifteen years’ penal servitude. 
 
 The Select Committee appointed to consider the regula¬ 
 tions applicable to the admission of strangers to the House 
 of Commons met again on Thursday, the 19th inst., Viscount 
 Ebrington presiding. 
 
 Mr. James Monro, Assistant Commissioner of the Metro¬ 
 politan Police, examined by the Chairman, said :—Melville’s 
 real name is Moroney, of Philadelphia, New York, and a 
 member of the Clan-na-Gael. He was sent over here in pur¬ 
 suance of instructions, and for the purpose of committing an 
 outrage in the Jubilee week. He came over with Callan and 
 Harkins in the steamer City of Chester. They did not arrive 
 in England until June 21. They had missed the previous 
 steamer, all the berths being engaged, and they did not arrive 
 until the Monday. They came at once here, only to find that 
 General F. F. Millen had been rendered powerless by the 
 operations of the police. Melville was the man who was chief 
 in giving them dynamite, in enabling them to get it in here. 
 
APPENDIX I. 
 
 284 
 
 and in giving them instructions how to dispose of it. The 
 dynamite was brought over by other persons to Melville—two 
 men, and also a person of the name of Callan, and another 
 man, I believe. The other man we have not been able to get 
 hold of. But Melville and this fifth man arrived on May 15 ; 
 so that when Melville and his associates came on June 5, Callan 
 was here to meet them. 
 
 The House of Commons was one point in these dynamite 
 operations. One of these men was sent down on two occa¬ 
 sions to Windsor Castle to “ prospect ” the State apartments, 
 taking with him a watch for the purpose of finding out how 
 long it would take him to tffect his purpose and get away. 
 On both occasions the State apartments were closed. He did 
 not go back again, because I suppose he thought he would be 
 identified. General Millen was a man known twenty years ago in 
 Fenian matters. He was connected with the Fenians in 1867. 
 He was what was called a military member of the Clan-na-Gael, 
 and he was sent over to this country on a secret mission in 
 1879. He reported his progress to his associates under the 
 name of Robinson. 
 
 He was in communication with Melville. That is to say, he 
 met Melville on one occasion in Paris, not in this country. 
 He met Melville in Paris in September 1887. Melville was 
 sent over. He left in April and arrived in France about the 
 end of April. He was in England before that. He left this 
 country in January 1887, and went to America. He left 
 America and arrived in this country in April. I forget the 
 exact date. 
 
 General Millen had no home in England, but he had rela¬ 
 tives—his daughters, living in London for a certain time. On 
 August 4, Melville and Harkins came to the House of 
 Commons, and sent up their cards, or rather, Mr. Melville 
 sent up his card to Mr. Joseph Nolan. Mr. Nolan came out to 
 them and saw them in the central lobby. Altera little conversa¬ 
 tion they went away. On the 5th of August the visit was re¬ 
 peated by the same two men. They sent up their card to Mr. 
 
THE JUBILEE PLOT. 
 
 2S5 
 
 Joseph Nolan. Mr. Nolan came out and disappeared with them ; 
 by that I mean the police did not follow them. He took them, 
 it is believed, to the gallery. Now it is known that he did so, as 
 the entry in the Strangers’ Gallery book shows. They were 
 not seen to leave that night by the ordinary entrance. They 
 were for some time on the terrace. 
 
 They must have gone down with a member ?—They were 
 accompanied by Mr. Joseph Nolan. 
 
 About how long did they remain ?—About twenty minutes or 
 half an hour, as far as I can remember. They were under 
 observation by my men; they were seen by the House of 
 Commons police. They were under observation outside. 
 
 At that time were you aware of any business in which they 
 were engaged in this country?—We had not identified Harkins 
 at that time, but I knew Melville was a dangerous character. 
 On his visit here my information was that he might be looked 
 for in the House of Commons. That information was received 
 in connection with his relation with Millen. He was met in 
 Paris afterwards, and Melville was actually in Paris in the 
 month of July, but I am not prepared to say he met Millen 
 then, but they were connected. There was another man in 
 Paris in regard to whose movements I was apprised in con¬ 
 nection with Millen’s relations in Ireland; and it is also a fact 
 that General Millen was in communication with Mr. Joseph 
 Nolan by means of letters conveyed by Millen’s daughters, who 
 were then in London and under observation. One of these 
 letters so conveyed was a letter of introduction to Melville. 
 
 Was that prior to the visit to the House of Commons?— 
 That was prior to the visit; that was on the 14th of July, on 
 which date Millen’s daughters visited the House of Commons. 
 They saw Mr. Joseph Nolan and repeated the visit on the 15th. 
 Millen is their real name. They had been living here for some 
 time before that. 
 
 The Home Secretary.— Did they visit the House on that 
 occasion, or did they remain in the central hall ?—Witness: 
 On the first occasion they were taken by Mr. J. Nolan to the 
 
APPENDIX I. 
 
 2S6 
 
 Ladies’ Gallery, and on the second occasion they were taken by 
 Mr. Nolan to the bar of the House of Lords, and after they 
 left they were accompanied by Mr. Nolan some little up the 
 street on both days. 
 
 They did not go over the House of Commons?—I cannot 
 say they did. They then left for Paris, where Millen then was, 
 and, as I said before, on the 4th of August Melville then 
 appeared. 
 
 Did you follow up this matter by any inquiries of Melville 
 himself?—Melville was traced to his lodgings, and on the 8th 
 of August he was interviewed. After Melville’s interview we 
 interviewed Mr. Joseph Nolan on the 16th of August. He 
 was asked whether Melville had visited him and whether he 
 knew him. Mr. Nolan said Melville was a stranger to him, 
 that he had brought no letter of introduction, that he had 
 mentioned the names of several gentlemen known to him (Mr. 
 Nolan) in America, among them a gentleman named Stack, 
 who had been successful in life and was over in England on a 
 trip ; that he (Stack) seemed to be well acquainted with the oil 
 wells and silver mines in the Rocky mountains, that he seemed 
 to be a man well read in history, and altogether was a rather 
 well-informed man; that he had come with this letter of intro¬ 
 duction, and that he (Nolan) treated him with the same civility 
 that he would expect in America. We made inquiries, and we 
 came in the Strangers’ Gallery book, upon an entry which we 
 believed to be in Mr. Nolan’s handwriting. We had the hand¬ 
 writing submitted to an expert, and he said it was the same as 
 that on a remittance sent by Mr. Nolan. We had no doubt on 
 the subject, because when Mr. Nolan was examined he said it 
 was in his handwriting. We made inquiry of Mr. Stack, and 
 had him interviewed on the 26th of January this year. He 
 said he did not remember anything in connection with the 
 registry in the book at the gallery in the House of Commons, 
 and did not remember anything about the man Melville. The 
 writing in the book appeared, he said, to be his own, but he 
 was certain he never gave an order to Mr. Joseph Nolan, M.P. 
 
THE JUBILEE PLOT. 
 
 2S7 
 
 and Mr. Nolan knew nothing about his signature. It was an 
 understood thing among the Irish party that everything pos¬ 
 sible was to be done for Americans who might wish to see the 
 House of Commons, and the consequence was that there was 
 scarcely a day passed without application being made for 
 admission to the House by Americans. This matter would 
 stop that kind of thing. If the Irish members were aware of 
 it they would shun an American as they would poison, and it 
 would be detrimental to the party generally. 
 
 By Mr. Forrest Fulton. —One of the letters conveyed by the 
 daughter of General Millen to Mr. Joseph Nolan, who was 
 in communication with General Millen, was a letter of intro¬ 
 duction of Melville to Mr. Nolan. Millen introduced Melville 
 as a friend. 
 
 Is there any statement at all as to what Melville was doing 
 in this country?—No, not so far as I am aware. 
 
 The Chairman. —I think you spoke of letters passing?— 
 Yes, more than one. This was one of the letters conveyed to 
 Mr. Nolan from General Millen by his daughters. 
 
 And these letters passed on various occasions?—Yes, they 
 passed on more than one occasion. 
 
 By Mr. Fulton.— Mr. Nolan said he knew nothing at all 
 about Melville, and had not received any letter from him?— 
 Yes. 
 
 Mr. Fulton. —You say you know where the daughters of 
 General Millen reside. Do you know that they were visited 
 by Mr. Nolan at any time?—Not at the period referred to, so 
 far as I know. 
 
 On other occasions?—On a previous occasion they were. 
 
 When was that?—In January of the previous year; but I 
 had not commenced observations then. 
 
 The Committee adjourned till three o’clock in order to give 
 Mr. Joseph Nolan, M.P., an opportunity of replying to the 
 evidence of Mr. Monro. 
 
 The Chairman communicated to Mr. Nolan the statements 
 made by Mr. Monro. Mr. Nolan said he had no wish to go 
 
288 
 
 APPENDIX I. 
 
 
 back upon the evidence he had given in Court in connection 
 with the dynamite trial. He had received no introduction of 
 any one from General Millen. 
 
 You visited the House with two daughters of General Millen 
 on the 14th or 15th of July, and showed them over the House, 
 and that one of them gave you a letter from her father intro¬ 
 ducing a man who would come subsequently—a man named 
 Melville. Is it true that the two daughters of General Millen 
 were there on the 14th or 15th of July, and were shown over 
 the House by'you ?—It is true that I showed two ladies named 
 Millen over the House. 
 
 The daughters of General Millen ?—I do not know about 
 that. 
 
 Were they strangers to you at that time?—One of them 
 
 was. 
 
 One of them you did know?—Yes. 
 
 She was the daughter of General Millen ?—That I do not 
 know. 
 
 Did you meet her in London ?—I met her in London, I 
 think, in 1886. She has been living in London. 
 
 Did you know General Millen ?—I know him by repute. 
 
 As what?—As an officer in the Mexican Army, and as 
 correspondent of the New York Herald. 
 
 Have you ever met him ?—Yes. 
 
 When?—In 1886. 
 
 In England or abroad ?—In England. 
 
 Was he a stranger to you then?—He was. 
 
 Where did you meet him ; at a private house ?—He called 
 upon me at my own house. 
 
 Was that the only occasion on which you ever saw him ?— 
 Yes. 
 
 Mr. Lawson.— Called upon you doubtless as many Ameri¬ 
 cans do?—Yes. 
 
 The Chairman.— Is it true that the ladies brought a letter 
 of introduction about Melville?—It is not true. 
 
 Or a letter of any kind?—No. 
 
THE JUBILEE PLOT. 
 
 289 
 
 The statement was a letter written by the General?—No; 
 not that I remember; in fact there was no necessity for it, 
 because one of the ladies knew me. 
 
 It is said they brought a letter to you at the House intro¬ 
 ducing Melville to you on a future occasion ?—That is not so. 
 One of the ladies said she had not seen her father for years, 
 and she believed he was ill at the time in Europe, and that she 
 intended to call upon him. 
 
 Have you had any communication with him?—No. 
 
 The Home Secretary. —Are you aware that Melville and 
 Millen had met each other ?—No, and I may say that I had 
 never heard that General Millen had any connection whatever 
 with what is known as the dynamite party. It has been 
 stated, I believe, that he has, but I never heard it previous to 
 the recent case. On the contrary, I heard that General Millen 
 as an Irish officer was clearly opposed to the policy of that 
 party. 
 
 The Home Secretary. —That has nothing to do with it. 
 Did Melville come from America; he had been in London for 
 some months ?—I did not know that. 
 
 Did Melville speak about Millen?—No. 
 
 Were you aware that they were acquainted ?—No. I knew 
 a number of Irish Americans who have visited me at the 
 House. They asked for admission, and I have been told that 
 he was among the number. I remember that a policeman or 
 gentleman who said that he belonged to the detective force 
 called upon me in the House, and made inquiry about some 
 one or two men who had visited the House. I told them all 
 I knew at the time. 
 
 Mr. Lawson. — It is said you did not acknowledge the 
 handwriting on the Speaker’s Gallery ticket as yours, and you 
 said it was not your handwriting?—I simply said I could not 
 swear to the writing as being mine. 
 
 The Home Secretary. —Have you any doubt about it?— 
 
 I rather think it was I who wrote it, but I could not positively 
 swear.— The Ti?nes, 20 April 1888. 
 
 T 
 
290 
 
 APPENDIX II. 
 
 II. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE CRONIN MURDER. 
 
 The Cronin murder trial ended yesterday, after prolonged de¬ 
 liberation on the part of the jury, in the conviction of four of 
 the five prisoners arraigned. By the laws of the State of 
 Illinois the jury not only decide the issues of guilty or not 
 guilty, but also award the punishment of the convicts. To 
 this fact is probably due the long delay in the present case in 
 the announcement of the verdict. The jury have acquitted 
 John F. Beggs. They have awarded imprisonment for life to 
 Daniel Coughlin, Martin Burke, and Patrick O’Sullivan, whom 
 they convict of murder ; and imprisonment for three years to 
 John Kunze, whose offence is reduced to manslaughter, and 
 whose part in the crime was shown to be of a very minor kind.* 
 Now that the case is over, it seems desirable to state in a con¬ 
 nected form the theory upon which this remarkable trial was 
 instituted by the State of Illinois. 
 
 The prisoners, Daniel Coughlin, Martin Burke, John F. 
 Beggs, Patrick O’Sullivan, and John Kunze, were indicted tor 
 the murder of Dr. Patrick Henry Cronin, on May 4, 1889. 
 The case naturally created intense excitement throughout the 
 State, affecting as it did many and complex interests of party, 
 race, and creed. Committees were formed and funds were 
 raised for the prosecution and for the defence, and the prisoners 
 were convicted and acquitted on the platform and in the Press, 
 with that reckless disregard of common decency which dis- 
 
 * The Coroner’s jury brought in a verdict of “ wilful murder ” against 
 Alex. Sullivan, and he was formally arrested, but subsequently released, 
 for want of sufficient evidence against him 
 
THE CRONIN MURDER. 
 
 291 
 
 graces the partisan warfare of America. American judicial 
 proceedings are, however, framed to work in a society which 
 habitually indulges itself in debauches of partisan fury, even 
 while prisoners stand at trial for their lives, and accordingly 
 the most elaborate safeguards are employed to secure the im¬ 
 partiality of the jury. The State and the prisoners exercise 
 the right of challenge both peremptorily and for cause, in a 
 degree undreamt of in this country. Each juror, before he is 
 sworn to try the issues, is subjected to the most merciless exa¬ 
 mination and cross-examination by counsel for the State and 
 for the prisoners, and challenges “for cause ” are allowed on 
 grounds which in English eyes appear ludicrously trivial. The 
 prisoners in the Cronin case were, by law, entitled to twenty 
 peremptory challenges apiece, or, as they combined their chal¬ 
 lenges, to one hundred peremptory challenges in all, and the 
 State was also entitled to one hundred peremptory challenges. 
 The work of impanelling the jury began on August 30, and 
 ended on October 22. Seven full working weeks were spent 
 in this preliminary labour. No fewer than 1115 unfortunate 
 citizens of Cook County were exposed to the rigid scrutiny of 
 counsel for the State and counsel for the defence. Of these, 
 927 were “excused,” to use the American euphemism, for 
 cause, while 78 were peremptorily challenged by the State, and 
 97 were similarly challenged by the defence. Thus the State 
 had 22 challenges unexhausted, and the defence only three 
 when the tale was completed. At last, on October 24, the 
 State’s Attorney “ got down to trial ” and made his opening 
 speech. The case relied upon and proved by the State de¬ 
 pended on the following assertions and inferences. 
 
 Dr. Cronin was summoned from his home at half-past seven 
 on the evening of May 4, and never returned. On May 22 
 his naked body, bearing marks of violence, was found in the 
 catch-basin of a sewer. The theory of the prosecution was 
 that he was murdered in pursuance of a conspiracy, and that 
 the accused, together with other persons not in custody, were 
 ■members of that conspiracy. The jury by their verdict have 
 
292 
 
 APPENDIX II. 
 
 declared that Dr. Cronin was so murdered, and that all the 
 prisoners save Beggs did conspire to murder him. This con¬ 
 spiracy arose from a bitter quarrel within the ranks of the 
 United Brotherhood, or Clan-na-Gael. The history of that 
 organisation was sketched by State’s Attorney Longenecker in 
 his opening speech. It was founded in 1869, to “ free ” Ireland 
 by open warfare. Irishmen joined it from “ patriotism,” Irish¬ 
 men joined it for the purposes of American political warfare, 
 and others “ for the sake of the money that was in it.” The 
 organisation grew “ until now it stretches from ocean to ocean 
 in our land.” It was organised by districts, each with its Dis¬ 
 trict Member and District “ Camps.” Each “ Camp ” had a 
 public name, by which alone it was known to the general 
 public. Thus, “ Camp 20,” to which several of the prisoners 
 belonged, was called the “ Columbia Club,” and other 
 “Camps’’were known as “ Literary Clubs,” and so on. Prior 
 to 1881 the organisation was governed by an Executive Body, 
 which was composed of the District Members. In 1879 this 
 Board consisted of fifteen members. 
 
 In 1881 a National Convention of the United Brotherhood 
 was held in Chicago. At that Convention the Executive Body 
 was reduced to five members, and Alexander Sullivan, Feeley, 
 and Boland were appointed thereon. These three men con¬ 
 stituted a majority of the new Board, and, in the State’s Attor¬ 
 ney’s phrase, “took charge ” of it. “ They then adopted,” he 
 says, “ what is called the dynamite policy. They called it 
 ‘ active work.’ They adopted a policy to blow up property 
 and individuals, and that policy was adopted immediately after 
 they got possession of the Executive Board of the organisation.” 
 Moreover, this new Executive Body inserted a provision in the 
 oath of the organisation binding all members to obey the Exe¬ 
 cutive Body without question. “ If they directed a man to 
 go and kill another man in England it had to be done, and 
 they had no right to question the order.” In 1884 this con¬ 
 trolling Board adopted the symbol of the Triangle, and issued 
 orders under that designation. The whole object of this Junta. 
 
THE CRONIN MURDER. 
 
 293 
 
 was to steal the funds of the organisation, and the State’s 
 Attorney roundly accuses them of endeavouring to effect this 
 object by acts of well-nigh incredible infamy. They pretended 
 to their organisation that great sums were being expended 
 upon “active work.” To lend colour to this fiction they pro¬ 
 cured a certain amount of such work to be done. They sent 
 emissaries to this country. But they failed to provide them 
 with the funds indispensable for their personal safety. The 
 men were referred to an agent of the organisation in England, 
 and when they had reached this side of the Atlantic precau¬ 
 tions were taken that they should not too speedily return. 
 When the dynamite emissary landed in the United Kingdom, 
 “I say to you,” says the State’s Attorney, “that somebody 
 there made known who the man was, and what he was detailed 
 to do, and he was immediately arrested and thrown into prison. 
 To-day the prison doors in England are locked against twenty 
 or more men who were sent there by that Board.” 
 
 The next trick of the Triangle, to hide their embezzlement 
 of the funds, was to circulate a rumour that English detectives 
 were watching the Order, and to get the biennial Convention 
 postponed upon that plea. A meeting was held of the friends 
 of the Triangle, “and they destroyed every vestige of work they 
 had done. They destroyed their books, and then sent out a 
 circular showing that the Order was indebted to them $13,000, 
 notwithstanding when they took hold of it they had a fund of 
 $250,000 in the treasury.” Naturally these proceedings led to 
 great dissension in the Order, and finally to a split in its ranks. 
 To the quarrel that thus arose, Dr. Cronin, on the theory ad¬ 
 vanced by the prosecution, and accepted by the jury, owed 
 his death. Cronin from the first protested against the action 
 of the Triangle. In 1885 he was tried for treason to the Order. 
 Alexander Sullivan prosecuted, and the convict Daniel Coughlin 
 sat on the Trial Committee. Cronin was convicted and ex¬ 
 pelled. Thereupon Cronin joined a new organisation formed 
 by the seceding members of the Order, and no further steps 
 were taken until June 1SS8. In that month a joint conven- 
 
294 
 
 APPENDIX II. 
 
 tion of the two factions was held in Chicago with a view to 
 reunion. At that convention Cronin charged the old Triangle, 
 which had then ceased to exist, with misappropriation of the 
 funds of the Order, and with misconduct towards their emis 
 saries to Europe. It was resolved that the charges should be 
 investigated, and a Trial Committee of six, three from each 
 faction, was appointed to try Sullivan, Feeley, and Boland. 
 Of that Trial Committee, Cronin was a member. A memoran¬ 
 dum in Cronin’s handwriting, containing the joint findings of 
 Cronin himself, and one P. M‘Cahey, as members of the Trial 
 Committee, and also minutes of the evidence adduced at such 
 trial, were found amongst Cronin’s papers, and proved at the 
 coroner’s inquest. These documents were, of course, inadmis¬ 
 sible at the actual trial, according to a well-known technical 
 rule of evidence, but, as they undoubtedly guided the State’s 
 Attorney and his associates in framing the case against the 
 prisoners, and as, moreover, they possess a very special and 
 personal interest for Englishmen, we do not feel constrained 
 to ignore their contents here. 
 
 The Trial Committee, it appears, met at Genesee House, 
 Buffalo, on August 20, 1888. Alexander Sullivan objected 
 that “ one of the committee was a malignant enemy of his,” 
 and he named Cronin as that enemy. Feeley and Boland 
 joined in Sullivan’s objection, but Cronin denied that he had 
 any personal enmity to Sullivan and the objection was over¬ 
 ruled. Boland then charged the notorious John Devoy, who 
 was a friend of Cronin’s, and attended the Trial Committee, 
 presumably in his interest, with being a British spy. Cronin 
 defended Devoy, the committee settled down to work, and 
 the trial proceeded. The minutes of the evidence taken by 
 this committee, and found in Cronin’s own handwriting, form 
 one of the most startling documents ever produced in any 
 Court. Four principal witnesses were examined in support of 
 the charges made against the Triangle of neglecting to supply 
 the emissaries actually engaged in dynamiting with funds, and 
 of neglecting the families of those emissaries who had perished 
 
THE CRONIN MURDER. 
 
 2 95 
 
 by explosions, or had been sent to penal servitude in this 
 country. The first witness was himself one of the London 
 dynamiters. The last was the widow of Mackey Lomasney, 
 who was blown up while attempting to destroy London Bridge. 
 The names of the male witnesses are not given. The first wit¬ 
 ness swore that after the Boston Convention of 1884, one 
 Donovan, “who acted as agent for the body,” and “ was then 
 in the employ of General Kerwin,” asked him if “ he could 
 furnish enough men to accomplish a certain amount of active 
 work.” The witness procured one recruit. Donovan and 
 John J. Moroney paid their steerage passage, and gave them 
 $100 each “to carry on work.” For further funds they were 
 referred to “ the agent on the other side.” The two dyna¬ 
 miters crossed to this country, but the funds were not forth¬ 
 coming. The agent, it is satisfactory to learn, “ was sure he 
 had been betrayed by some one,” and it is yet more gratifying 
 to know that he “ is now in prison.” The witness then gives 
 the following account of his exploits in this country, and of the 
 base ingratitude of his employers :— 
 
 “ At the agent’s request, work was delayed six weeks. I at 
 last told him I would do the work. There were four of us. 
 .... I finally induced him to give orders to do the work. 
 This was on Thursday. On Saturday we did it. After the 
 work was done I met him the same evening. He remained in 
 capital city seven days afterward. I was so reduced for funds 
 that I prevailed upon him to give me four pounds of the sixteen 
 he had left. On landing in this country had three-and-one- 
 
 half pounds.I at once complained to Donovan and 
 
 Moroney, and through them to the executive, or General 
 Kerwin, of the treatment I had received, and the culpable 
 neglect of the F. C. About the last of February 18S5, Donovan 
 furnished me with $10 with which to reach my home. 
 
 “Q. How many operations did you perform?— A. Three. 
 We always bade each other good-bye after each meeting, 
 thinking it might be our last meeting on earth. I have learned 
 that, in order to get back, the other man who went over with 
 
296 
 
 APPENDIX II. 
 
 me had to sell his clothes to get passage-money. He came 
 with a sprained ankle. In July or August 1885, he received 
 $7 from Moroney.” 
 
 Subsequently the witness found that the mother of Cunning¬ 
 ham, the dynamiter, was in want. He complained to Moroney 
 and General Kerwin, whereupon Kerwin told him he ought to 
 be expelled. The munificent sum of $100 was finally sent by 
 the “ F. C.” (Executive Body) to the mother of their dupe 
 Cunningham, now undergoing in this country the just but 
 awful punishment of penal servitude for life. The witness 
 further ascertained that Mrs. Mackey Lomasney, the widow of 
 Captain Mackey Lomasney, who “was killed in London, and 
 was assured, witness was told, that his family would never 
 want,” was in great distress. The relatives of Dr. Gallagher, 
 another dynamite convict under a lifelong sentence, were also 
 in want. A hundred dollars was raised for Mrs. Gallagher. 
 Then comes this terrible statement, a statement which should 
 warn the miserable tools of the Clan-na-Gael what kind of 
 succour they may look for from their chiefs when their 
 “ heroism ” lands them in the dock. “ I requested,” says this 
 same witness, “that the men on trial on the other side should 
 be defended. General Kerwin said that friendless men were 
 better off in such cases.” To the men who have risked their 
 lives at its bidding, the Order, with its ample revenues, grudges 
 the few pounds needed for their legal defence, and coldly 
 abandons them “friendless” to their fate. 
 
 The next witness confirms the above statements as to the 
 conduct of the organisation towards Mrs. Cunningham. In 
 July 1885, he succeeded John Moroney as D. M. (District 
 Member), and in October of that year he “went out as an 
 organiser of the National League in the West.” “ I saw 
 General Kerwin and told him that he should send money to 
 Mrs. Cunningham, that the lady was hurt on the subject of 
 being neglected by us. He said he would send it.” 
 
 The cross-examination of this witness was directed to show 
 that he entertained animus against Kerwin and Boland for 
 
THE CRONIN MURDER. 
 
 297 
 
 endeavouring to defeat his candidature for the presidency of 
 the National League, which candidature, he alleges, had been 
 officially adopted by the Clan-na-Gael. “ The slate,” he says, 
 “ was Baldwin, Minton, and Carroll for F. C. (Executive Body), 
 and myself as President of the League.” Boland asked him 
 why he would not take the secretaryship. 
 
 The third witness, “a member since the beginning of the 
 old organisation,” knew Mackey Lomasney, and remembers 
 his departure for Europe in August 1884, with his brother Jim, 
 and a third conspirator. The witness describes his efforts to 
 obtain relief from the organisation for Mackey Lomasney’s 
 widow. In 1885 he went to Newhaven and saw Dr. Wallace 
 (who was then “D.”), Condon, and Boland. Boland ‘‘'denied 
 all responsibility,” and alleged that Mrs. Mackey Lomasney 
 had been supplied with plenty of money. The witness called 
 on Carroll. “ He professed utter ignorance of the whole 
 affair. I said, ‘ By God, you must see her.’ Carroll offered the 
 witness $100, which he refused. I said, ‘ You know how to 
 send this, as you have the others ; if you respect the memory 
 of the dead, and the widow and the orphan made so by your 
 act, do your duty by all.” The witness further states that Mrs. 
 Mackey Lomasney continued to be in a poverty-stricken state, 
 without coal or clothing, until August 1886. 
 
 The last witness was Mrs. Susan Mackey Lomasney herself. 
 Upon Alexander Sullivan’s request, made presumably to show 
 his reliance on the bare word of a dynamiter’s wife, she was 
 not sworn. Mrs. Mackey Lomasney stated that her husband 
 went away in August 1SS4, and that since that date she had 
 received $1000 from the organisation. She called on 
 Alexander Sullivan in 1885, but did not ask for help. In 
 August 1886. she again visited Sullivan, explained to him the 
 state of her affairs, and asked for help. “ He asked me for a 
 schedule of my liabilities—$200. He would attend to the 
 matter. He gave me no money, nor offered me any.” Sullivan 
 told the witness not to mention his name to any one. She then 
 called on “James Q.,” who “ talked to her about Father Dorney,” 
 
29S 
 
 APPENDIX II 
 
 but gave her no help. The witness was so poor at this time that 
 she borrowed a dress to visit Sullivan. Several weeks after the 
 witness again called on Sullivan and applied for a loan of $100, 
 which she obtained. That was all she ever got from Sullivan. In 
 cross-examination Mrs. Mackey Lomasney admitted that her 
 husband wrote to her from Europe, saying he had received 
 money from Mr. Sullivan. The witness did not know the 
 amount. 
 
 “Here,” say the minutes, “Mr. S. admitted that (Mackey) 
 Lomasney was sent by the organisation.” 
 
 The Trial Committee was divided in opinion as to the guilt 
 or innocence of the accused. Four members were for an 
 acquittal. Two, Cronin and M'Cahey, were for a conviction 
 on the principal charges, and, in particular, on the charges of 
 “ scandalous and shameful neglect ” of “ the family of one who 
 lost his life in the service of this Order,” and on that of issuing 
 a fraudulent financial report and squandering the funds. 
 
 Dr. Cronin’s documents illustrate many interesting points. 
 Amongst other things they prove that he, his friends Devoy 
 and M'Cahey and their faction, are to the full as wicked 
 scoundrels as Sullivan, Feeley, Boland, and the party of the 
 Triangle. The minority report does not condemn the Triangle 
 for dynamiting, but for dishonest dynamiting. It does not 
 reprobate the despatch of miscreants like Mackey Lomasney 
 to work slaughter and destruction in the heart of a great city, 
 but the subsequent neglect of the Order to keep faith with 
 their emissary, by providing for his widow. It acquits the 
 Triangle of wilfully omitting to supply the actual authors of 
 the dynamite explosion with funds to fly from the law, but it 
 severely censures their “ agent ” for the omission. Both wings 
 of the Clan-na-Gael were engaged in the same devilish plots, 
 and while every one must rejoice that the assassins even of a 
 dynamiter should meet their lawful doom, Cronin merits no 
 more sympathy as an individual than “Captain Mackey” 
 himself. He was brutally murdered, while himself engaged in 
 plotting the wholesale murder of others. 
 
THE CRONIN MURDER. 
 
 299 
 
 On the theory of the State’s Attorney, now endorsed by the 
 verdict of the American jury, it was Cronin’s persistent efforts 
 to have the evidence taken by the Trial Committee published 
 with the report, that sealed his doom. That committee, as 
 has been seen, sat in August 1888. The report did not 
 appear while Cronin lived. But on the day of his murder the 
 Executive Body of the Clan-na-Gael met, and on the next day, 
 or the next day but one, the report was published to the Order. 
 The evidence was not then issued with the report, but a pro¬ 
 test from Alexander Sullivan was annexed thereto, in which he 
 charged Cronin as a perjurer, and a traitor to the Irish cause. 
 All the prisoners except Kunze were members of the Clan-na- 
 Gael. All those members belonged to the same “ Camp ” of 
 the Order, known in the ranks of the Order as “ Camp 20,” 
 and in public as the “Columbia Club.” The prisoner, John 
 F. Beggs, was “ Senior Guardian ” of the “ Camp,” and an 
 intimate friend of Alexander Sullivan’s. On February 8, 1889, 
 the “ Camp ” met, with Beggs in the chair, and from that 
 meeting the prosecution dates the conspiracy to murder 
 Cronin. A member got up and said that they should investi¬ 
 gate the affairs of the Triangle, these men who had robbed 
 them of their funds. The prisoner Coughlin and others 
 demanded the speaker’s authority for this statement. He 
 replied that he had heard part of the report of the Trial 
 Committee appointed to try the Triangle read in another 
 “Camp.” That other “Camp ” was Dr. Cronin’s. The State 
 alleged that Beggs made a violent speech and declared that he 
 would not have these attacks made upon the Triangle, and 
 that it had to be stopped if it took blood. Coughlin at once 
 moved that a secret committee of three be appointed to in¬ 
 vestigate. The motion was carried, and the prisoner Beggs, as 
 Senior Guardian, was directed to nominate the committee. 
 All the accused except O’Sullivan and Kunze attended this 
 meeting ol “Camp 20.” Two days later Beggs wrote to his 
 superior officer, a man named Spellman, and informed him 
 that “ it was charged that the S. G. of the Columbia Club at a 
 
APPENDIX II. 
 
 recent meeting read to the assembled members the pro¬ 
 ceedings of the Trial Committee.” On February 17, Spellman 
 disclaimed any jurisdiction “to inflict the penalty” in the 
 case. On February iS, Beggs replied that the matter had to 
 be investigated or there would be trouble. The State’s 
 Attorney argued that this secret committee of three was in fact 
 appointed to try, and did try, the murdered man, and that 
 Spellman’s disclaimer of jurisdiction to inflict “the penalty” 
 proves that Cronin had been convicted and already stood for 
 sentence at the bar of the Order. 
 
 On February 19, a man giving the name of Simonds, who is 
 not in custody, took rooms at ri7 Clark Street, Chicago, 
 immediately opposite to Dr. Cronin’s office. On the same 
 day he bought some furniture and a carpet. He asked for 
 goods of the cheapest quality, and stated that he required 
 them only for temporary use. He also bought from the same 
 dealers the largest packing trunk they had, a valise, and a 
 trunk strap. He told the shopman that the first strap supplied 
 to him was not large enough, and a larger one was procured. 
 All these articles were put into the rooms at 117 Clark Street. 
 
 On March 20, a man, proved to be the convict Martin 
 Burke, hired Carlson cottage, under the name of “ Frank 
 Williams,” for one month from Mr. Carlson, who himself lives 
 next door. Burke then went to the prisoner P. O’Sullivan, 
 whose premises immediately adjoin the Carlson cottage, and 
 told O’Sullivan that he had taken it. Burke and another man 
 not in custody next removed all the furniture, the trunk, the 
 valise, and the carpet from 117 Clark Street into the Carlson 
 cottage. This removal took place on the evening of March 20, 
 the day Burke took the cottage. 
 
 O’Sullivan is an ice man by trade. On March 29, nine days 
 after the taking of the cottage, O’Sullivan tried to find one 
 Justice Mahoney, to come and make a contract between him 
 and Dr. Cronin. O’Sullivan did not find the justice on March 
 29, but some time in April they went together to Cronin’s 
 •office, and a contract was made between O’Sullivan and 
 
THE CRONIN MURDER. 
 
 Cronin, whereby Cronin agreed to attend to O’Sullivan’s 
 workmen. O’Sullivan then gave Cronin some cards and said, 
 “ I may be out of town and my card be presented.” 
 O’Sullivan’s business was not dangerous. No accident had 
 ever occurred amongst his men. Numbers of doctors lived 
 between O’Sullivan’s place of business and Dr. Cronin’s office, 
 which is nearly an hour’s drive from O’Sullivan’s yard. 
 “What,” the State asked, “was the object of this contract, 
 made after the discussion in 1 Camp 20,’ and after Beggs had 
 been directed to appoint the secret committee ? ” 
 
 On April 20, Martin Burke, under the alias of “ Frank 
 Williams,” returned to the Carlson cottage and paid a second 
 month’s rent in advance. He had never occupied the cottage. 
 He said his sister was in hospital and could not come to 
 housekeeping. The Carlsons grew uneasy about their tenants. 
 They inquired of their neighbour O’Sullivan about these men, 
 who had taken their house but never moved into it. O’Sullivan 
 said, “ You will get your rent; it is all right,” and told them he 
 knew one of their tenants. Shortly before May 4 the convict 
 Coughlin was heard to declare in a “ saloon ” or public bar 
 that a certain north-side man, a leading Catholic, or a leading 
 Irishman, would soon bite the ground, or to use words of the 
 like effect. 
 
 On the evening of May 3 there was a meeting of “ Camp 
 20.” A member asked if the secret committee appointed in 
 February to inquire into the alleged publication of the report 
 of the Triangle Trial Committee in Cronin’s “ Camp ” had 
 itself reported. The State alleged that Beggs, the Senior 
 Guardian, answered, “That committee is to report to me. 
 The ‘ Camp ’ has nothing to do with that.” 
 
 Between eleven and one o’clock on May 4, the convict 
 Coughlin went to Dinan’s livery stable and ordered a horse 
 and buggy to be ready about seven that evening “for a friend.” 
 Later he telephoned to the convict O’Sullivan to go out. 
 About 7.15 in the evening Coughlin’s friend came and asked 
 for the buggy. The ostler harnessed a white horse. The 
 
APPENDIX II. 
 
 stranger objected to the colour, but the ostler said it was the 
 only horse he could have. The stranger then drove to Dr. 
 Cronin’s. He reached Cronin’s home about 7.20, gave 
 him one of O'Sullivan’s cards, saying, “ O’Sullivan is out of 
 town, and here is his card”—the very words used by O’Sullivan 
 himself when he made his contract with Cronin—and told 
 Cronin that one of O’Sullivan’s men had his leg crushed, and 
 that the doctor was wanted immediately. Tne doctor took 
 his instruments and some cotton with him and drove hastily off 
 in the buggy. He was never seen alive again. 
 
 The State allege that the convict, Burke was at the Carlson 
 cottage on the night of May 3, together with another man, 
 after the meeting of “Camp 20.” On the night of May 4 
 Burke was also there, and he bade good-night to his landlord 
 and neighbour, old Mr. Carlson, at a late hour that evening. 
 A casual passer-by saw a man whose description answers to 
 that of Cronin get out of a buggy and hastily enter Carlson 
 cottage, and she afterwards heard blows and cries. Between 
 eight and nine that night, two men, whose descriptions answer 
 to those of Coughlin and Kunze, were also seen to drive up to 
 Carlson cottage, and Coughlin was seen to enter it. 
 
 On the night of May 4-5 a waggon was seen at three 
 different points by policemen and night-watchmen in the 
 neighbourhood of Lake Michigan. There were three men in 
 the waggon, a driver and two others, who, when the waggon 
 was first observed, sat on a large chtst which the policemen 
 took to be a tool-chest. At one in the morning of May 5, the 
 watchman at Edgewater challenged these men in the waggon, 
 and asked them what they were doing. They said they were 
 trying to find the lake shore drive. The drive is not continued 
 up to this point, and the watchman gave them some directions, 
 after which they drove away. They were seen later on in the 
 same waggon, but without the chest. The catch-basin in which 
 Dr. Cronin’s body was subsequently found is half a mile from 
 Edgewater. On the morning of May 5, a trunk identical in all 
 respects with that purchased by the tenant of 117 Clark Street, 
 
THE CRONIN MURDER. 
 
 3°3 
 
 in February, and afterwards removed by Burke to the Carlson 
 cottage, was found between this catch-basin and the city, 
 about three-quarters of a mile from the catch-basin. During 
 the trial Dr. Cronin’s clothes were found in a valise in the se. 2r 
 about a quarter of a mile further on from the point where the 
 trunk was found. This valise corresponded in all respects 
 with that bought by Simonds and delivered to him at 117 Clark 
 Street, and afterwards removed by Burke from Clark Street to 
 Carlson cottage. It will be remembered that Cronin took 
 cotton with him to dress the wounds of his expected patient 
 on the evening of May 4. Cotton was found in the trunk on 
 May 5. It was smeared with blood, as also were the sides of 
 trunk. 
 
 On May 6 the convict Martin Burke called at a tinsmith’s 
 -shop, and asked the smith to solder up a box for him. The 
 smith wanted to raise the lid to do his work. Martin Burke 
 told him not to do so, and made him secure the box by 
 passing a metal band round it and soldering the band. The 
 smith had read some report as to the disappearance of Dr. 
 Cronin two days before. While he was soldering the box he 
 asked Buike what he thought of the matter. Burke replied 
 with coarse abuse of Cronin, denounced him as a spy, and 
 declared he would turn up all right. 
 
 On May 13, two men called on old Mrs. Carlson, the wife of 
 the owner of Carlson cottage, and tendered her another 
 month’s rent. She refused the offer, as she said she wished 
 the cottage to be occupied, and she added that no rent was 
 due until May 20. Shortly afterwards the Carlsons received a 
 letter from their tenants saying that they were sorry to give up 
 the building, and sorry that they had had to paint the floor, 
 but that that was done for their sister. 
 
 On May 20, the date of the expiry of“ Williams’” lease of the 
 cottage, the Carlsons entered the building by the window. 
 They found the whole of the house in confusion and signs 
 that a severe struggle had taken place therein. All the Clark 
 -Street furniture was there, but the trunk was gone, the valise 
 
APPENDIX II. 
 
 3°4 
 
 was gone, and the carpet was gone. The walls and the floor 
 were stained with blood. Paint had been hastily daubed over 
 the floor. The arm of the rocking-chair was wrenched off and 
 a key, which afterwards proved to fit the lock of the blood¬ 
 stained trunk discovered on May 5 near Edgevvater, was found 
 under a bureau, stained with some of the paint which had been 
 applied to the floor. 
 
 On May 21, the Carlsons reported the state of their cottage 
 to the police, and on May 22 some men engaged in cleaning 
 the sewers found the naked body of Cronin in the catch-basin. 
 Some cotton similar to that taken away by the doctor on the 
 evening of May 4, and similar to that found in the bloody 
 trunk on May 5, was also found with the body in the catch- 
 basin. The head of the corpse was cut in a dozen different 
 places on the back and temples. 
 
 As soon as the body was identified, Martin Burke fled fiom 
 Chicago. He crossed the Canadian frontier, and was finally 
 traced to Winnipeg, where he was arrested under an assumed 
 name. He had taken a ticket from Winnipeg to Liverpool. 
 
 Kunze has rightly escaped with a much less severe sentence 
 than his co-conspirators. The more material of the allegations 
 against him, in addition to the fact mentioned above of his 
 having driven Coughlin to the cottage on the night of the 
 murder, are that he was seen in the rooms hired by Simonds at 
 117 Clark Street, and that he told a fellow-workman after the 
 murder, but before the discovery of the body, that he knew 
 Cronin was murdered, and that the body would never be found. 
 
 The substantive defence appears to have consisted chiefly of 
 a series of alibis. They were of the familiar Irish type—a type 
 which in the graphic American tongue is described as “ lop¬ 
 sided.” 
 
 Full reports of the speeches for the defence and of the 
 concluding arguments for the State have not yet reached this 
 country, and can hardly be expected for some days. But 
 whatever the line taken by counsel for the prisoners may have 
 been, it has failed to prevent a purely American jury of 
 
THE CRONIN MURDER. 
 
 3°5 
 
 citizens of Cook County from convicting and sentencing to 
 severe punishment four members of as foul and wicked a 
 conspiracy as ever was hatched by Irish brains. That con¬ 
 spiracy, as the evidence shows, was itself the outcome of those 
 intestine quarrels that by a just retribution ever corrode the 
 heart of the Irish-American plots against this country. It was 
 the State’s Attorney’s cue to paint Dr. Cronin as an innocent 
 and patriotic Irishman, murdered by the hands of villanous 
 rivals. But the true nature of the patriotic society to which 
 Dr. Cronin belonged, and to the hands of whose members he 
 owes his dreadful end, can hardly escape the American public 
 when they come to study the records of the Cronin trial and 
 the verdict of the Chicago jury. Whether that study will nerve 
 the honest citizens of the Republic to rise against the tyranny 
 of Irish machine-men, and purge their name and nation of the 
 stain of harbouring and tolerating such associations, remains to 
 be seen. At any rate, the people of Illinois are to be con¬ 
 gratulated on their victory—a victory which, in spite of endless 
 “ exceptions ” taken on behalf of the prisoners throughout the 
 case, and the endless series of appeals allowed by American 
 law, will hardly be affected in the long run by any fresh 
 proceedings. On the other hand, the convictions may not 
 improbably result in some of the convicts turning informers 
 more patrio , and thus bringing the real prime movers in the 
 murder, whose existence is widely believed in in America, in 
 turn to their doom .—The Times , 17th December 1889. 
 
 u 
 
APPENDIX III. 
 
winoes it Sullivan. 
 LAWYERS. 
 
 702 ANO 704 OPERA HOUSE BUILDING 
 CHICAGO 
 
 Telephone 'ro. 970. 
 
 NOTE .— The above letter was written to we by Sullivan before the 
 trial of the charges brought a gait st him by Cronin, and refers to 
 evidence being collected by Sullivan to refute those charges. “ D." 
 means division, lt J. G." and “ S. G." mean Junior Guardian and Senior 
 Guardian; and the use of these initials peculiar to the Organization 
 prove Sullivan*s continued participation in the Clan-na-gael. 
 
 H. le C. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Agnew, Frank, details of, and his 
 connection with Clan-na-Gael in 
 1876, 172. 
 
 American Army, enlisted in, 9 ; differ¬ 
 ent engagements with, 11, 12. 
 
 American War, episodes in connection 
 with, 13-19. 
 
 Anderson, Mr., communications with, 
 60, 100 ; my reports to him regarding 
 conversation with Mr. Parnell, 176; 
 and regarding my visit to Ireland, 
 181 ; informs me of desire of Times 
 for my services, 266; introduces me 
 to Mr. Houston, 267 ; returns me my 
 letters, 268 ; my tribute to, 271. 
 
 Betts, Rev. Dr., at Dynamite Conven¬ 
 tion, 199 ; presides over Clan-na-Gael 
 caucus prior to League conventions, 
 206, 227. 
 
 Boland, Michael, details regarding, and 
 his connection with Clan-na-Gael, 
 125; convicted of misappropriation 
 of Clan-na-Gael funds, 261. 
 
 Bourke, General Thomas, on Executive 
 of Irish Confederation, 104 ; further 
 details of, and his connection with 
 Clan-na-Gael, 121 ; trustee of Skir¬ 
 mishing Fund, 137. 
 
 Boyton, Michael, Devoy’s references to, 
 as League organiser and Clan-na- 
 Gael emissary, 157; interview with, 
 at Kilmainham Prison, 179; his views 
 on situation in Ireland, 180. 
 
 Brennan, Thomas, Secretary of Land 
 League in Ireland, at Philadelphia 
 Convention, 209 ; story of his escape 
 from Dublin, 230. 
 
 Breslin, John J., details regarding, and 
 his connection with Clan-na-Gael, 
 124; trustee of Skirmishing Fund, 
 136 ; assists Stephens to escape from 
 Richmond Bridewell, Dublin, 164. 
 
 Buffalo, the row at, 186. 
 
 Canadian Invasion, story of the first, 
 31 ; story of the second, 82-85. 
 
 Carey, James, evidence of, regarding 
 hand-grenade, 158. 
 
 Carroll, Dr. William, details regarding, 
 and his connection with Clan-na- 
 Gael, 122; trustee of Skirmishing 
 Fund, 136 ; action in connection with 
 proposed alliance with Russia, 140; 
 visit to, on behalf of Mr. Parnell, and 
 his views regarding position, 182. 
 
 Clan-na-Gael, the beginning of the, 
 106; object of, 107 ; views which led 
 to formation of, 108 ; general prin¬ 
 ciples and methods of the, no; form 
 of admission to, 112 ; governing body 
 of, 115 ; appointed on Military Board 
 of, 119; leading men of the, 120; and 
 the Skirmishing Fund, 136; work of 
 the, 139 ; proposed alliance of, with 
 Russia, 139; controls the Land 
 League, 152 ; letter from Devoy re¬ 
 garding same, 154; Mr. Parnell on 
 difficulties with Irish members of, 
 175 ; Michael Boyton on same, 180 ; 
 Alex. Sullivan elected president of, 
 191; change of constitution of, 191 ; 
 manipulating League organisation, 
 204; details of scheme for same, 205; 
 and Phoenix Park murders, 208 ; and 
 Philadelphia Convention of Land 
 League, 211 ; Sullivan’s working of, 
 218; books and documents burnt, 
 220; and League Convention of 1886, 
 236; Egan and National League, 
 237 ; and Home Rule Bill, 246-248 ; 
 and League movement, 250; finding of 
 committee of, on Cronin charges, 261. 
 
 Clerkenwell Explosion, references to, 71. 
 
 Clingen, Colonel, details regarding, and 
 his connection with Clan-na-Gael, 
 122 ; arranges for my bringing letters 
 from Devoy to Europe, 159. 
 
 Collins, P. A., candidature for presi¬ 
 dency of National League in America 
 
 3°7 
 
INDEX. 
 
 3°S 
 
 unsuccessful, because of his offer of 
 reward for discovery of Phoenix Park 
 murderers, 215. 
 
 Condon, O'Meagher, at Dynamite Con¬ 
 vention, 198. 
 
 Conventions, Fenian, at Philadelphia, 
 60 ; at New York, 76 ; Clan-na-Gael, 
 at Pennsylvania, 146; at Wilkes- 
 barre, 149 ; Land League, at Buffalo, 
 186 ; “ Dynamite," at Chicago, 187- 
 194 ; Land League, at Chicago, 204 ; 
 National League, at Philadelphia, 
 211 ; at Boston, 227 ; Clan-na-Gael, 
 at Chicago, 231; National League, at 
 Chicago, 236 ; Clan-na-Gael, at Chi¬ 
 cago, 247, 259. 
 
 Cronin, Dr. P. H., reference to, 123; 
 attacks Sullivan for misappropriation 
 of funds, 220 ; sketch of his life, 221 ; 
 expelled from Clan-na-Gael, 226; 
 development of dispute between, and 
 Sullivan, 258; murder of, 262; cor¬ 
 roboration of my evidence through 
 murder of, 270 ; the story of the mur¬ 
 der of, Appendix. 
 
 Cross, Colonel, life and methods of, 
 44-48. - 
 
 Daly, “Jack," story of, and Dyna¬ 
 mite Campaign, 243 ; letters to Bres- 
 lin on Home Office, 244. 
 
 Davitt, Michael, release and arrival of 
 in America, 142 ; opinions of, at this 
 time, 143 ; visits camps of Clan-na- 
 Gael, 143 ; meets with Devoy, 143 ; 
 takes up “ New Departure,” 143 ; 
 returns to Ireland, 146 ; second visit 
 to America, 151; advocates the Land 
 League movement, 152 ; takes ill at 
 Braidwood, 152; gives information 
 unawares, 152; paid back moneys 
 advanced from Skirmishing Fund, 
 153 ; Dr. Carroll’s views regarding, 
 183 ; speech against, by Devoy, 259. 
 
 Devine, Joseph, story of escape of, from 
 Illinois, 50. 
 
 Devoy, John, arrival and sketch of, 103 ; 
 further details regarding, and his 
 connection with Clan-na-Gael, 76, 
 121 ; trustee of Skirmishing Fund, 
 137; and “New Departure,” 143; 
 letters regarding same, 145 ; goes to 
 Ireland as secret agent of Clan-na- 
 Gael, 146 ; report regarding position 
 of revolutionary forces in Ireland, 
 147 ; issues circular to Clan-na-Gael 
 camps regarding Land League, 154; 
 supplies details of plots and plans of 
 Clan-na-Gael, 155 ; intrusts me with 
 
 letters to Egan and O'Leary, 159 ; 
 communication with regard to Mr. 
 Parnell’s views, 181; letter from him 
 regarding same, 182; at Dynamite- 
 Convention, 199 ; on Phoenix Park 
 murders, 208 ; in opposition to Sul¬ 
 livan, 219; joins forces with Dr. Cro¬ 
 nin, 225 ; secedes from Clan-na-Gael, 
 226 ; speech against Davitt, 239. 
 
 Documents, in connection with second 
 Canadian raid, 78; in connection 
 with Clan-na-Gael, 112; my proce¬ 
 dure with regard to, 128 ; telegram 
 regarding “New Departure," 144; 
 Devoy's letter, 145 ; Devoy’s letter re 
 League and Clan-na-Gael, 154 ; my 
 report to my “camp" of League 
 Convention, 213; Egan’s letter of 
 introduction to League in America, 
 234 ; Clan-na-Gael circulars re Home 
 Rule Bill, 246, 247; Clan-na-Gael 
 resolution re National League, 250 ; 
 extract from Cronin report on mis¬ 
 appropriation of funds, 263. 
 
 Dunne, P. W., details regarding, and 
 his connection with Clan-na-Gael, 
 123. 
 
 Dynamite, invention of hand-grenade, 
 158; Convention of 1881, 187; pro¬ 
 ceedings at, 188 ; description of, 194; 
 Sullivan supplies particulars of cam¬ 
 paign of 1883, 217 ; sketch of same 
 in England, 237 ; methods of convey¬ 
 ing, 240-242. 
 
 Egan, Patrick, and rescue of Austra¬ 
 lian prisoners, 73; Devoy intrusts 
 me with letter to, 159 I first meeting 
 with, in Paris, 160 ; description of, 
 161; life with, in Paris, 167; as “a 
 Land Leaguer, and something else 
 besides,” 168 ; on Mr. Parnell as a 
 Revolutionist, 169; on the Land 
 League accounts and audit, 169 ; in¬ 
 troduces me to M.P.’s, 171 ; Devoy 
 on, and Phcenix Park murders, 208 ; 
 arrival of, in America, ’209 ; position 
 as regards matters in America, 211 ; 
 and Clan-na-Gael caucus in connec¬ 
 tion with Philadelphia Convention, 
 211; appointed president of Ameri¬ 
 can National League, 227; a tribute 
 to, 228 ; tells the story of his escape 
 from Dublin, 229; on Dr. Gallaher 
 andDynamiteCampaign, 230; speech 
 at camp meeting at Philadelphia, 231; 
 supplies me with general introduction 
 to League in America, 234; circulars 
 of, as president of League, to camps 
 
INDEX. 
 
 3°9 
 
 of Clan-na-Gael, 237; charges by 
 Rossa against, in connection with 
 ^20,000 paid to Sullivan, 264. 
 
 England, my first visit to, 36; my 
 second, 139; my third, 257; my 
 fourth and last, 257. 
 
 Facsimile of Fenian bond, 27. 
 
 Fatalism, thoughts on, 24. 
 
 Feeley, Denis, details regarding, and his 
 connection with Clan-na-Gael, 124 ; 
 at the Dynamite Convention, 201 ; 
 acquitted but censured in connection 
 with Cronin charges, 261. 
 
 Fenianism, state of affairs in connec¬ 
 tion with, 25 ; methods of obtaining 
 money for, 27; Andrew Johnson’s 
 government and, 28 ; my first con¬ 
 nection with, 29. 
 
 Fenian Brotherhood, I join the, 38 ; I 
 organise a “camp" or “circle" of, 
 40; appointed major and military 
 organiser of, 54 ; my first speech to, 
 56; appointed inspector-general of, 
 60; appointed assistant - adjutant- 
 general of, 74 ; appointed adjutant- 
 general and brigadier-general of, 82. 
 
 Fenian prisoners, rescue of, from Aus¬ 
 tralia, 72. 
 
 Finerty, John F., andfirst Canadian in¬ 
 vasion, 31 ; at League Convention, 
 206. 
 
 Ford, Austin, medium of communica¬ 
 tion between Clan-na-Gael and Irish 
 World , 133. 
 
 Ford, Patrick, as editor ot Irish World, 
 advocates Skirmishing Fund, 131; 
 sketch of, 131; Irish World and 
 Clan-na-Gael, 133. 
 
 Forrester, Bill, escape of, from Illinois, 
 51 - 
 
 Fox, Dr. J. G., meeting with, 251. 
 
 Gallahek, Dr., views on dynamite, 
 192 ; at Dynamite Convention, 200 ; 
 introduced to Mr. Gladstone, 218; 
 organising Dynamite Campaign in 
 England, 238; with Sullivan in Chi¬ 
 cago, 230; sentence on, 241; £ 1400 
 found on, 241. 
 
 Grant, General, and the second inva¬ 
 sion of Canada, 88. 
 
 Hand-grf.nade adopted by Clan-na- 
 Gael, 158. 
 
 Home Rule, effects of Mr. Gladstone’s 
 Bill, 235. 
 
 Houston, Mr., first meeting with, 267 ; 
 preparation of evidence by, 269. 
 
 Hynes, Wm. J., details regarding, and 
 His connection with Clan-na-Gael, 76, 
 123; in communication with, regard¬ 
 ing Mr. Parnell's proposals, 184 ; at 
 Dynamite Convention, 196; at Land 
 League Convention, 206. 
 
 Inner Circle, Knights of the, 107, 
 117. 
 
 Ireland, visit to, 177. 
 
 Irish Confederation, formation of, 101; 
 executive of, 104. 
 
 Irish Republican Brotherhood, esta¬ 
 blishment of, 109; John Devoy’s re¬ 
 port on, 147 ; troubles of Mr. Parnell 
 with, 173; Boyton’s references to 
 position of, 180; efforts of Sullivan to 
 capture, 254. 
 
 Irish World, Patrick Ford in columns 
 of, advocates Skirmishing Fund, 130; 
 reference to position of, 132; and 
 Clan-na-Gael, 133 ; and Skirmishing 
 Fund, 137; statement of accounts, 
 193 - 
 
 Johnson, Andrew, and first Canadian 
 raid, 28, 35 ; interview with, 57. 
 Jubilee Explosion Plot, reference to, 
 254; Millen's connection with, 255; 
 story of the, Appendix. 
 
 Kenny, Dr., M.P., introduced to, by 
 Patrick Egan, 179 ; assisted by him 
 to interviews with Boyton and others, 
 179. 
 
 Kerwin, Michael, details regarding, and 
 his connection with Clan-na-Gael, 
 78, 124. 
 
 Land League and Clan-na-Gael. See 
 latter. 
 
 Lomasney, Thos., first dealings with, 
 100; description of, 101 ; views on 
 dynamite, 192; dynamite work in 
 England, 222. 
 
 Luby, Thos. Clarke, on executive of 
 Irish Confederation, 104 ; further de¬ 
 tails regarding, and his connection 
 with Clan-na-Gael, 121; trustee of 
 Skirmishing Fund, 137. 
 
 M‘Micken, Judge, first communica¬ 
 tions with, 60; his kindly treatment of 
 
INDEX. 
 
 310 
 
 me, 61; and my troubles in connec¬ 
 tion with journey to Ottawa, 94; my 
 last meeting with, 273. 
 
 Medicine, I commence study of, 36 ; 
 resume study of, 97 ; I enter Detroit 
 College of, too; I become a fully 
 qualified doctor of, 105 ; I utilise my 
 connection with, 126. 
 
 Meledy, Joseph, supplies details of 
 “ active” work of Clan-na-Gael, 158. 
 
 Millen, General, details regarding, and 
 his connection with Clan-na-Gael, 
 125 ; goes to Ireland as military in¬ 
 spector for Clan-na-Gael, 146; my 
 meeting with, in Paris, 253 ; his con¬ 
 nection with Jubilee Explosion Plot, 
 254 and Appendix. 
 
 Moroney, Joseph, and Jubilee Plot, 256 ; 
 introduced by J. S. Nolan, M.P., to 
 House of Commons, 256 ; in posses¬ 
 sion of ^1200 for dynamite work, 274 ; 
 his movements in connection with 
 same, Appendix. 
 
 New Departure, Devoy and Davitt 
 and, 143; sketch of, 144; advocated 
 by Devoy in Ireland, 146 ; received 
 with enthusiasm by the Gaels, 149. 
 [See also “ Davitt " and “ Devoy.”] 
 
 O’Connor, John, alias Dr. Clarke, 
 travelling agent for Clan-na-Gael in 
 Europe and ally of Egan, 190. 
 
 O'Donovan Rossa, arrival of, and 
 sketch of, 102 ; further details regard¬ 
 ing, and his connection with Clan- 
 na-Gael, 121 ; advocates “Skirmish¬ 
 ing Fund,” 130, 133; Devoy on 
 difficulties regarding, 156; expelled 
 from Clan-na-Gael, 209 ; work of his 
 agents in England, 237; controversy 
 with Egan regarding the ^20,000, 
 264. 
 
 O'Kelly, J. J., member of executive of 
 Irish Confederation, 104; obtains 
 seat in Parliament by misappropria¬ 
 tion of Clan-na-Gael funds, 153 ; in¬ 
 terview with, in House of Commons, 
 172. 
 
 O'Leary, John, letter for, given me by 
 Devoy, 159; my first meeting with, 
 161 ; Sullivan informs me, must be 
 got rid of, 185. 
 
 O’Neill, General John, and Fenianism, 
 29 ; commands first invasion of Ca¬ 
 nada, 32 ; extract of report regarding 
 same, 34 ; sketch of his life, 38-40 ; 
 my loan to, 77; general orders of, 
 
 in connection with second invasion of 
 Canada, 83 ; speech to the invaders, 
 85 ; arrest of, 88 ; sentence on, 97 ; 
 and the Riel Rebellion, 98 ; last days 
 of, 99. 
 
 O'Reilly, John Boyle, arrival in Ame¬ 
 rica of, 72 ; at invasion of Canada, 
 88. 
 
 Parnell, Mr., and the New Departure, 
 144; arrival in America, 130 ; sup¬ 
 ported everywhere by Clan-na-Gael 
 representatives, 130 ; returns to Ire¬ 
 land for General Election, 131; De¬ 
 voy on position of, with regard to 
 Clan-na-Gael, 157 ; my first meeting 
 with, 171; House of Commons in¬ 
 terview with, 173 ; gives me his por¬ 
 trait, 177; his request to me carried 
 out, 190 ; and Kilmainham Treaty, 
 2io ; cables to American supporters, 
 212 ; subsequent references to, 213, 
 
 235. 23 6 . 255. 
 
 Powderly, J. V., speech at Dynamite 
 Convention, 201 ; at Land League 
 Convention, 206. 
 
 Phoenix Park murders, Clan-na-Gael 
 and Devoy and, 207. 
 
 Rebow, Mr. John, communicates my 
 letters regarding Canadian invasion 
 to Government, 30 ; arranges for my 
 joining Secret Service, 37. 
 
 Revolutionary Directory of Clan-na- 
 Gael, details regarding, 116; Devoy 
 supplies particulars regarding plans 
 of, 135 ; referred to with respect to 
 Mr. Parnell’s complaint regarding 
 Irish Republican Brotherhood, 186; 
 complaints regarding, 188. 
 
 Reynolds, James, details regarding, 
 and his connection with Clan-na- 
 Gael, 122; trustee of Skirmishing 
 Fund, 136. 
 
 Russia, Clan-na-Gael alliance with, 
 140. 
 
 Secret Service, I join the, 37 ; general 
 references to, 273-276. 
 
 Sheridan, P. J., in Kilmainham Prison, 
 179 ; arrival of, in America, 209. 
 
 Skirmishing Fund and O'Donovan 
 Rossa, 121 ; advocated in Irish 
 World , 131 ; and Clan-na-Gael, 136 ; 
 pays for expenses of Devoy and Mil- 
 len in Ireland, 149 ; statement of 
 accounts of, from Irish World , 193. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 3 1 1 
 
 Special Commission, my offer of evi¬ 
 dence for, 259 ; I appear as a witness 
 at, 269. 
 
 Speech, my first Irish, 55. 
 
 Stephens, James, brought from France 
 for Irish Confederation, 104 ; my first 
 meeting with, 163 ; story ol his escape 
 from Richmond Bridewell, 164. 
 
 Stone of Destiny, plot to obtain, 224. 
 
 Sullivan, Alexander, my first meeting 
 with, 61 ; the early career of, 62; 
 manipulation of the Irish vote in 
 America by, 63 ; appointed collector 
 of internal revenue at Santa Fd, 65 ; 
 reporter in Chicago, 65 ; further de¬ 
 tails regarding, and his connection 
 with Clan-na-Gael in 1876, 120; 
 supplies details of “active" work of 
 Clan-na-Gael, 158 ; my report to, re¬ 
 garding Mr. Parnell’s views, 184; 
 informs me result of same, 185; 
 elected president of Clan-na-Gael, 
 191 ; trip to Europe, 191; at Dyna¬ 
 mite Convention, 203; elected pre¬ 
 sident of Land League, 212 ; supplies 
 particulars of Dynamite Campaign of 
 1883, 217; charged with misappro¬ 
 priation, 219 ; at war with Cronin and 
 Devoy, 225 ; Mr. Sexton's tribute to, 
 228 ; and J. G. Blaine's candidature, 
 235 ; tried and acquitted but censured 
 in connection with Cronin’s charges, 
 
 261 ; proved to have received ^20,000 
 from Egan in Paris in 1882, 263; 
 alleged connection with Cronin mur¬ 
 der, Appendix. 
 
 Sullivan, A. M., the late, reference to, 
 170 ; cautioned regarding, 177 ; story 
 about Mr. Biggar, 178. 
 
 “ Times," the, my first dealings with, 
 266. 
 
 Triangle, the, formed in connection 
 with split in Clan-na-Gael, 220 ; ac¬ 
 knowledgments of money received by, 
 231 ; charges against, 232. 
 
 Tynan, P. J., No. One of the Phcenix 
 Park murders, present at Boston 
 Convention, 228. 
 
 ' United Irishmen," the, of New 
 York, 107. 
 
 ‘ United Brotherhood,” reference to, 
 no. 
 
 ‘ U. S.," formation of, 2x9. 
 
 “ V. C.” See “ Clan-na-Gael." 
 
 Walsh, R. P., the father of the Clan- 
 na-Gael, 108. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 I'RINTEO liY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. 
 EDINBURGH AND LONDON 
 
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4 
 
 MR. WILLIAM HE/MEMANN’S LIST. 
 
 ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON: 
 
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 THE RABBI OF BACHARACH, and SHAKE¬ 
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MR. WILLIAM HEINEMANN'S LIST. 
 
 5 
 
 £be Great Educators. 
 
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 Thomas Davidson, M.A., LL.D. 
 
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 LOYOLA, and the Educational System of the Jesuits. By 
 
 Rev. Thomas Hughes, S.J. 
 
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 ABELARD, and the Origin and Early History of Uni¬ 
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 ROUSSEAU ; or, Education according to Nature. 
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 FROEBEL. By H. Courthope Bowen, M.A. 
 
 HORACE MANN, and Public Education in the United 
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 BELL, LANCASTER, and ARNOLD; or, the English 
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 Others to follow. 
 
6 
 
 ME. WILLIAM HEINE MANN'S LIST. 
 
 THE GREAT WAR OF 189-. A Forecast. By Rear- 
 
 Admiral Colomb, Col. Maurice, R.A., Major Henderson, Staff 
 College, Caftain Maude, Archibald Forbes, Charles Lowe, 
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 The writers, who are well-known authorities on international politics and 
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 known war artist. 
 
 THE GENTLE ART OF MAKING ENEMIES. As 
 
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 STRAY MEMORIES. By Ellen Terry. 4to. With 
 
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 LITTLE JOHANNES. By Frederick van Eeden. Trans¬ 
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 LIFE OF HEINRICH HEINE. By Richard Garnett, 
 
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MR. WILLIAM HEINE MANN ’ S LIST. 
 
 7 
 
 WOMAN—THROUGH A MANS EYEGLASS. By 
 
 Malcolm C. Salaman. With Illustrations by Dudley Hardy. Crown 
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 DE QUINCEY MEMORIALS. Being Letters and other 
 
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 THE WORD OF THE LORD UPON THE WATERS. 
 
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 IDLE MUSINGS: Essays in Social Mosaic. By E. Conder 
 
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8 
 
 MR. WILLIAM HEINEMANITS LIST. 
 
 THE COMING TERROR. And other Essays and Letters. 
 
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 ARABIC AUTHORS: A Manual of Arabian History and 
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 THE GENESIS OF THE UNITED STATES. A 
 
 Narrative of the Movement in England, 1605-1616, which resulted in the 
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MR. WILLIAM HEINEMANN'S LIST. 
 
 9 
 
 ^fiction. 
 
 In Three Volumes. 
 
 THE HEAD OF THE FIRM. By Mrs. Riddell, Author 
 
 of “ George Geith,” “ Maxwell Drewett,” &c. [Just ready. 
 
 CHILDREN OF THE GHETTO. By I. Zangwill, 
 
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 THE TOWER OF TADDEO. A Novel. By Ouida, 
 
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 KITTY’S FATHER. By Ff -\nk Barrett. Author of 
 
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 THE COUNTESS RADNA. By W. E. Norris, Author of 
 
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 ORIOLE’S DAUGHTER. A Novel. By Jessie Fothergill, 
 
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 THE LAST SENTENCE. By Maxwell Gray, Author of 
 
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 WOMAN AND THE MAN. A Love Story. By Robert 
 
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 A KNIGHT OF THE WHITE FEATHER. By “ Tasma,” 
 
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 THE AVERAGE WOMAN. By Wolcott Balestier. 
 
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 THE ATTACK ON THE MILL and Other Sketches 
 
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 DUST. By Bjornstjerne Bjornson. Translated from the 
 
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 MADEMOISELLE MISS and Other Stories. By Henry 
 
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 AVENGED ON SOCIETY. By H. F. Wood. Small 
 
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 THE DOMINANT SEVENTH. A Musical Story. By 
 
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 PASSION THE PLAYTHING. A Novel. By R. Murray 
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10 
 
 MR. WILLIAM HEINEMANN'S LIST. 
 
 Ube drown Copyright Series. 
 
 Mr. Heinemann has made arrangements with a number of the First and 
 Most Popular English, American, and Colonial Authors which will 
 enable him to issue a series of New and Original Works, to be known as 
 The Crown Copyright Series, complete in Ooe Volume, at a uniform 
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 ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. By Am£lie Rives, Author 
 
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 THE PENANCE OF PORTIA JAMES. By Tasma, 
 
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 INCONSEQUENT LIVES. A Village Chronicle, shewing 
 
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 A QUESTION OF TASTE. By Maarten Maartens, 
 
 Author of “An Old Maid’s Love,” &c. 
 
 National Observer. —“There is more than cleverness; there is origina 
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 COME LIVE WITH ME AND BE MY LOVE. By 
 
 Robert Buchanan, Author of “ The Moment After,” “The Coming 
 Terror,” &c. 
 
 Globe. —“ Will be found eminently readable.” 
 
 Daily Telegraph. —“We will conclude this brief notice by expressing our 
 cordial admiration of the skill displayed in its construction, and the genial 
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 viduals created by his fertile imagination.” 
 
 THE O’CONNORS OF BALLINAHINCH. By Mrs. 
 
 Hungerford, Author of “ Molly Bawn,” &c. [In the P?'ess. 
 
 A BATTLE AND A BOY. By Blanche Willis Howard, 
 
 Author of “Guenn,” &c. [In preparation. 
 
 VAN IT AS. By Vernon Lee, Author of “ Hauntings,” &c. 
 
 [In preparation. 
 
MR. WILLIAM HE 1NEMANN'S LIST. 
 
 11 
 
 Ibelriemann’s international Xlbrarp. 
 
 Edited by EDMUND GOSSE. 
 
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 Price, in paper covers, 2 s. 6 d. each, or cloth, 3s. 6 d. 
 
 IN GOD’S WAY. From the Norwegian of Bjornstjerne 
 
 Bjornson. 
 
 Athencpum. —“Without doubt the most important and the most interesting 
 
 work published during the twelve months.There are descriptions which 
 
 certainly belong to the best and cleverest things our literature has ever produced. 
 Amongst the many characters, the doctor's wife is unquestionably the first. It 
 would be difficult to find anything more tender, soft, and refined than this 
 charming personage.” 
 
 PIERRE AND JEAN. From the French of Guy DE Mau¬ 
 
 passant. 
 
 Pall Mall Gazette .— “So fine and faultless, so perfectly balanced, so 
 steadily progressive, so clear and simple and satisfying. It is admirable from 
 beginning to end.” 
 
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 THE CHIEF JUSTICE. From the German of Karl Emil 
 
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 New Review .—“ Few novels of recent times have a more sustained and 
 vivid human interest.” 
 
 Christian World .—“ A story of wonderful power .... as free from any¬ 
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 WORK WHILE YE HAVE THE LIGHT. From the 
 
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 Liverpool Mercury .—“Marked by all the old power of the great Russian 
 novelist.” 
 
 Manchester Guardian .—“Readable and well translated; full of high and 
 noble feeling.” 
 
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 has been published for many a day.” 
 
 Scottish Leader .—“ The book is full of a glowing and living realism. 
 
 There is nothing like ‘ Fantasy ’ in modern literature.It is a work of elfish 
 
 art, a mosaic of light and love, of right and wrong, of human weakness and 
 strength, and purity and wantonness, pieced together in deft and witching 
 precision.” 
 
 FROTH. From the Spanish of Don Armando Palacio- 
 
 Valdes. 
 
 Daily Telegraph .—“Vigorous and powerful in the highest degree. It 
 abounds in forcible delineation of character, and describes scenes with rare and 
 graphic strength.” 
 
 FOOTSTEPS OF FATE. From the Dutch of Louis 
 
 COUPERUS. 
 
 Daily Chronicle .—“A powerfully realistic story which has been excellently 
 translated.” 
 
 Gentlewoman .—“The consummate art of the writer prevents this tragedy 
 from sinking to melodrama. Not a single situation is forced or a circumstance 
 exaggerated.” 
 
ME. WILLIAM HEINE MANN'S LIST. 
 
 Ibeinemann’s international Xtbrarp. 
 
 PEPITA JIMENEZ. From the Spanish of Juan Valera. 
 
 New Review (Mr. George Baintsbury)“There is no doubt at all that 
 it is one of the best stories that have appeared in any country in Europe for the 
 last twenty years.” 
 
 THE COMMODORE’S DAUGHTERS. From the Nor¬ 
 
 wegian of Jonas Lie. 
 
 Athetueum. —“ Everything that Jonas Lie writes is attractive and pleasant ; 
 the plot of deeply human interest, and the art noble.” 
 
 THE HERITAGE OF THE KURTS. From the Norwegian 
 
 of Bjornstjerne Bjornson. 
 
 Pall Mall Gazette. —“ A most fascinating as well as a powerful book.” 
 National Observer. —“ It is a book to read and a book to think about, for, 
 incontestably, it is the work of a man of genius.” 
 
 In the Press. 
 
 LOU. From the German of Baron v. Roberts. 
 
 DONA LUZ. From the Spanish of Juan Valera. 
 WITHOUT DOGMA. From the Polish of H. SlENKIEWICZ. 
 
 popular 3s. 6b. IRovels. 
 
 CAPT’N DAVY’S HONEYMOON, The Blind Mother, 
 
 and The Last Confession. By Hall Caine, Author of “ The Bondman,” 
 “The Scapegoat,” &c. 
 
 THE SCAPEGOAT. By Hall Caine, Author of “The 
 
 Bondman,” &c. 
 
 Mr. Gladstone writes: —“I congratulate you upon ‘The Scapegoat’ as a 
 work of art, and especially upon the noble and skilfully drawn character of 
 Israel.” 
 
 Tunes. — “ In our judgment it excels in dramatic force all his previous efforts. 
 For grace and touching pathos Naomi is a character which any romancist in the 
 world might be proud to have created.” 
 
 THE BONDMAN. A New Saga. By Hall Caine. 
 
 Twentieth Thousand. 
 
 Mr. Gladstone. —“‘The Bondman’ is a work of which I recognise the 
 freshness, vigour, and sustained interest no less than its integrity of aim.” 
 
 Standard. —“ Its argument is grand, and it is sustained with a power that is 
 almost marvellous.” 
 
 DESPERATE REMEDIES. By Thomas Hardy, Author 
 
 of “Tess of the D’Urbervilles,” &c. 
 
 Saturday Review. —“ A remarkable story worked out with abundant skill.” 
 
 A MARKED MAN : Some Episodes in his Life. By Ada 
 Cambridge, Author of “Two Years’ Time,” “A Mere Chance,” &c. 
 Morning Post. —“A depth of feeling, a knowledge of the human heart, and 
 an amount of tact that one rarely finds. Should take a prominent place among 
 the novels of the season.” 
 
 THE THREE MISS KINGS. By Ada Cambridge, Author 
 
 of “A Marked Man.” 
 
 A theneeum .—‘ ‘ A charming study of character. The love stories are ex- 
 ■cellent, and the author is happy in tender situations.” 
 
 NOT ALL IN VAIN. By Ada Cambridge, Author of “A 
 
 Marked Man,” “ The Three Miss Kings,” &c. 
 
 Gitardian. —“ A clever and absorbing story.” 
 
 Queen. —“ All that remains to be said is ‘ read the book.’ ” 
 
MR. WILLIAM LIE/ME MANN’S LLST. 
 
 13 
 
 popular 3s. 6&. IRovels. 
 
 UNCLE PIPER OF PIPER’S HILL. By Tasma. New 
 
 Popular Edition. 
 
 Guardian. —“ Every page of it contains good wholesome food, which demands 
 and repays digestion. The tale itself is thoroughly charming, and all the 
 characters are delightfully drawn. We strongly recommend all lovers of whole¬ 
 some novels to make acquaintance with it themselves, and are much mistaken if 
 they do not heartily thank us for the introduction." 
 
 IN THE VALLEY. By Harold Frederic. Author of 
 
 “The Lawton Girl," “ Seth’s Brother’s Wife/' &c. With Illustrations. 
 Times. —“The literary value of the book is high ; the author’s studies of 
 bygone life presenting a life-like picture." 
 
 PRETTY MISS SMITH. By Florence Warden, Author 
 
 of “The House on the Marsh,” “A Witch of the Hills,” & c. 
 
 Punch. —“ Since Miss Florence Warden’s * House on the Marsh,’ I have 
 not read a more exciting tale.” 
 
 NOR WIFE, NOR MAID. By Mrs. Hungerford, Author 
 
 of “ Molly Bawn,” &c. 
 
 Queen. —“ It has all the characteristics of the writer's work, and greater 
 emotional depth than most of its predecessors.” 
 
 Scotsman .— “ Delightful reading, supremely interesting." 
 
 MAMMON. A Novel. By Mrs. Alexander, Author of “The 
 
 Wooing O’t,” &c. 
 
 Scotsman.— t( The present work is not behind any of its predecessors. 
 ‘ Mammon ’ is a healthy story, and as it has been thoughtfully written it has the 
 merit of creating thought in its readers.” 
 
 DAUGHTERS OF MEN. By Hannah Lynch, Author of 
 
 “ The Prince of the Glades,” &c. 
 
 Daily Telegraph . —“Singularly clever and fascinating." 
 
 Academy. —“ One of the cleverest, if not also the pleasantest, stories that 
 have appeared for a long time." 
 
 A ROMANCE OF THE CAPE FRONTIER. By Bertram 
 
 Mitford, Author of “Through the Zulu Country,” &c. 
 
 Observer. — “ This is a rattling tale, genial, healthy, and spirited.” 
 
 ’TWEEN SNOW AND FIRE. A Tale of the Kafir War of 
 
 1877. By Bertram Mitford. 
 
 THE MASTER OF THE MAGICIANS. By Elizabeth 
 Stuart Phelps and Herbert D. Ward. 
 
 Athcna’um .— “A thrilling story.” 
 
 LOS CERRITOS. A Romance of the Modern Time. By 
 
 Gertrude Franklin Atherton, Author of “ Hermia Suydam,” and 
 “ What Dreams may Come.” 
 
 Athenaeum. —“Full of fresh fancies and suggestions. Told with strength 
 and delicacy. A decidedly charming romance.” 
 
 A MODERN MARRIAGE. By the Marquise Clara Lanza. 
 
 Queen. —“A powerful story, dramatically and consistently carried out.” 
 Black and White. —“ A decidedly clever book.” 
 
14 
 
 MR. JVILLIAM HEINEMANN'S LIST. 
 
 popular Shilling JBoofts. 
 
 MADAME VALERIE. By F. C. Philips, Author of “As 
 
 in a Looking-Glass/* &c. 
 
 THE MOMENT AFTER: A Tale of the Unseen. By 
 
 Robert Buchanan. 
 
 Athenceum. —“Should be read—in daylight.” 
 
 Observer. — “ A clever tour de force." 
 
 Guardian. —“ Particularly impressive, graphic, and powerful.” 
 
 CLUES ; or, Leaves from a Chief Constable’s Note-Book. 
 
 By William Henderson, Chief Constable of Edinburgh. 
 
 Mr. Gladstone. — “ I found the book full of interest.” 
 
 A VERY STRANGE FAMILY. By F. W. Robinson, 
 
 Author of “ Grandmother’s Money,” “ Lazarus in London,” &c. 
 
 Glasgow Herald. —“ An ingeniously devised plot, of which the interest is 
 kept up to the very last page. A judicious blending of humour and pathos 
 further helps to make the book delightful reading from start to finish.” 
 
 XDramatic ^Literature. 
 
 THE PLAYS OF ARTHUR W. PINERO. 
 
 With Introductory Notes by Malcolm C. Salaman. i6mo, Paper Covers, 
 is. 6 d. ; or Cloth, is. 6d. each. 
 
 THE TIMES: A Comedy in Four Acts. With a Preface by 
 
 the Author. (Vol. I.) 
 
 Daily Telegraph.— “ ‘ The Times ’ is the best example yet given of Mr. 
 Pinero’s power as a satirist. So clever is his work that it beats down opposition. 
 So fascinating is his style that we cannot help listening to him.” 
 
 Morning Post. —“Mr. Pinero’s latest belongs to a high order of dramatic 
 literature, and the piece will be witnessed again with all the greater zest after the 
 perusal of such admirable dialogue.” 
 
 THE PROFLIGATE: A Play in Four Acts. With Portrait 
 
 of the Author, after J. Mordecai. (Vol. II.) 
 
 Pall Mall Gazette. —“ Will be welcomed by all who have the true interests 
 of the stage at heart.” 
 
 THE CABINET MINISTER: A Farce in Four Acts. 
 
 (Vol. III.) 
 
 Observer. —“ It is as amusing to read as it was when played.” 
 
 THE HOBBY HORSE: A Comedy in Three Acts. 
 
 (Vol. IV.) 
 
 Si. James's Gazette. —“Mr. Pinero has seldom produced better or more 
 interesting work than in ‘ The Hobby Horse.* ” 
 
 LADY BOUNTIFUL. A Play in Four Acts. (Vol. V.) 
 THE MAGISTRATE. A Farce in Three Acts. (Vol. VI.) 
 
 To be followed by Dandy Dick, The Schoolmistress, The Weaker Sex, Lords and 
 Commons, The Squire, and Sweet Lavender. 
 
MR. WILLIAM HELNEMANN’S LIST. 
 
 15 
 
 dramatic ^Literature. 
 
 A NEW PLAY. By Henrik Ibsen. Translated from the 
 Norwegian. Small 4to. [Inpreparation. 
 
 A NEW PLAY. By Bjornstjerne BjGrnson. Translated 
 
 from the Norwegian. [In preparation. 
 
 THE PRINCESSE MALEINE: A Drama in Five Acts 
 
 (Translated by Gerard Harry), and THE INTRUDER : A Drama in 
 One Act. By Maurice Maeterlinck. With an Introduction by Hall 
 Caine, and a Portrait of the Author. Small 4to, cloth, 5s. 
 
 Athenaeum. —“In the creation of the ‘atmosphere’ of the play M. Maeter¬ 
 linck shows his skill. It is here that he communicates to us the nouveau frisson , 
 here that he does what no one else has done. In ‘The Intruder’ the art 
 consists of the subtle gradations of terror, the slow, creeping progress of the 
 nightmare of apprehension. Nothing quite like it has been done before —not 
 even by Poe—not even by Villiers.” 
 
 THE FRUITS OF ENLIGHTENMENT: A Comedy in 
 
 Four Acts. By Count Lyof Tolstoy. Translated from the Russian by 
 E. J. Dillon. With Introduction by A. W. Pinero. Small 4to, with 
 Portrait, 5s. 
 
 Pall Mall Gazette.— “The whole effect of the play is distinctly Molieresque; 
 it has something of the large humanity of the master. Its satire is genial, almost 
 
 gay.” 
 
 HEDDA GABLER: A Drama in Four Acts. By Henrik 
 
 Ibsen. Translated from the Norwegian by Edmund Gosse. Small 4to, 
 cloth, with Portrait, 5^-. Vaudeville Edition, paper, is. Also a Limited 
 Large Paper Edition, 21 s. net. 
 
 Times. — “The language in which this play is couched is a model of brevity, 
 
 decision, and pointedness.Every line tells, and there is not an incident 
 
 that does not bear on the action immediate or remote. As a corrective to the 
 vapid and foolish writing with which the stage is deluged ‘ Hedda Gabler ’ is 
 perhaps entitled to the place of honour.” 
 
 STRAY MEMORIES. By Ellen Terry. In one volume. 
 
 Illustrated. [In preparation. 
 
 SOME INTERESTING FALLACIES OF THE 
 
 Modern Stage. An Address delivered to the Playgoers’ Club at St. 
 James’s Hall, on Sunday, 6th December, 1891. By Herbert Beerbohm 
 Tree. Crown 8vo, sewed, 6 d. 
 
 THE LIFE OF HENRIK IBSEN. By Henrik Jaeger. 
 
 Translated by Clara Bell. With the Verse done into English from the 
 Norwegian Original by Edmund Gosse. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6^. 
 
 St. James's Gazette. —“ Admirably translated. Deserves a cordial and 
 emphatic welcome.” 
 
 Guardian. —“ Ibsen’s dramas at present enjoy a considerable vogue, and 
 their admirers will rejoice to find full descriptions and criticisms in Mr. Jaeger’s 
 book.” 
 
16 
 
 MR. WILLIAM HEINEMANN'S LIST. 
 
 IPoeti-g. 
 
 LOVE SONGS OF ENGLISH POETS, 1500—1800. 
 
 With Notes by Ralph H. Caine. Fcap. 8vo, rough edges, 3.y. 6 d . 
 
 *** Large Paper Edition , limited to 100 Copies , ias\ 6d. Net. 
 
 IVY AND PASSION FLOWER: Poems. By Gerard 
 
 Bendall, Author of “ Estelle,” &c. &c. iamo, cloth, 3s. 6d. 
 
 Scotsnian. —“ Will be read with pleasure.” 
 
 Musical World.— ' The poems are delicate specimens of art, graceful and 
 polished.” 
 
 VERSES. By Gertrude Hall. i2mo, cloth, 35-. 6 rf. 
 
 Manchester Guardian. —“Will be welcome to every lover of poetry who 
 takes it up.” 
 
 MAGONIA: A Poem. By Charles Godfrey Leland (Hans 
 
 Breitmann). Fcap. 8vo. \hi the 'Press. 
 
 IDYLLS OF WOMANHOOD. By C. Amy Dawson. 
 
 Fcap. 8vo, gilt top, 5s. 
 
 Ibetnemann’s Scientific IbanDboofcs. 
 
 MANUAL OF BACTERIOLOGY. By A. B. Griffiths, 
 
 Ph.D., F.R.S. (Edin.), F.C.S. Crown 8vo, cloth, Illustrated. 7s. 6d. 
 
 MANUAL OF ASSAYING GOLD, SILVER, COPPER, 
 
 and Lead Ores. By Walter Lee Brown, B.Sc. Revised, Corrected, 
 and considerably Enlarged, with a chapter on the Assaying of Fuel, &c. 
 By A. B. Griffiths, Ph.L)., F.R.S. (Edin.), F.C.S. Crown 8vo, cloth, 
 Illustrated, 7s. 6d. 
 
 Colliery Guardian. —“A delightful and fascinating book.” 
 
 Financial World. —“ The most complete and practical manual on everything 
 which concerns assaying of all which have come before us.” 
 
 GEODESY. ' By J. Howard Gore. Crown 8vo,. cloth, Illus¬ 
 
 trated, 5s. 
 
 St. James's Gazette. — “The book may be safely recommended to those who 
 desire to acquire an accurate knowledge of Geodesy.” 
 
 Science Gossip. —“ It is the best we could recommend to all geodetic students. 
 It is full and clear, thoroughly accurate, and up to date in all matters of earth- 
 measurements.” 
 
 THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF GASES. By 
 
 Arthur L. Kimball, of the Johns Hopkins University. Crown 8vo, 
 cloth, Illustrated. 5s. 
 
 Chemical Nezus. —“ The man of culture who wishes for a general and accurate 
 acquaintance with the physical properties of gases, will find in Mr. Kimball’s 
 work just what he requires.” 
 
 HEAT AS A FORM OF ENERGY. By Professor R. Ii. 
 
 Thurston, of Cornell University. Crown 8vo, cloth, Illustrated, 55. 
 Manchester Examiner. —“Bears out the character of its predecessors for 
 careful and correct statement and deduction under the light of the most recen 
 discoveries.” 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 WILLIAM HEINEMANN 
 
 21 BEDFORD STREET, W.C. 
 

 
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