Troublous Times in Canada, John A. MacDonald [surface ebook reader TXT] 📗

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Ludlow St. Jail, New York, June 11, 1866. To the Fenian Brotherhood and Irishmen of America:

Friends and Countrymen,-The Irish people of America are again united in the cause of Irish independence and universal freedom. The cheer which arose from the Irish soldiers at Limestone Ridge as the English foe went fleeing before their avenging steel, had found a responsive echo in every Irish heart and made us one in love, purpose and resolve. We see, after ages of your oppression, the unquenchable desire for Irish independence blaze forth anew, and as it sweeps along the cities and prairies of this vast continent it gathers within its magic influence five millions of Irish hearts and twice five millions of friends of freedom and foes of despotism! Arise, then, my countrymen! Nerve yourselves for the struggle so nobly commenced. Cast aside every consideration that would darken the bright hopes of your enslaved countrymen. Be true to liberty, your country, and your God; and your native land, instead of being a lazar-house of slavery, will soon be the garden of freedom. Stand by the cause! Be not dismayed by obstacles you meet; you must surmount them, and you will. Let cowardice and ignorance desert and denounce you-what of that? The true men are still with us, and the struggle must not be abandoned, even though our soldiers should be compelled through the over-zeal of United States officers to abandon the present campaign. There is no turning back for us, my countrymen. Our movement must and will advance. Retrogression would entail certain infamy and bring a deeper stain upon your country and race, and it is as legitimate for you to attack English power in Canada as it was for England to attack France there, or France and America England. Remember, in union there is strength, and that Union which has been cemented by the blood of our gallant brothers must be eternal, and let that man be anathemized and banned who with lying lip or evil heart would dare to weaken or dissolve it. Be true to Ireland-steadfast in the right and undismayed by obstacles, and remember that-

"Freedom's battle once begun-
Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son-
Though baffled oft, is ever won!"

I remain, with unchanged determination and regard, your countryman,

WM. R. ROBERTS, President Fenian Brotherhood.


While President Roberts was busy in penning his proclamations and exhorting his deluded followers to stand by the cause and "keep their powder dry" for a future attempt, the Revolutionary Committee of the Irish Republic were also sending out appeals to all lovers of Republican liberty, invoking further aid, from one of which circulars the following is an extract:

Let the Irish citizens in particular send in commissary stores, such as bread, meat, coffee, sugar, etc., just what each one would like at home. We want all the money you can raise for other purposes-what purposes the people can guess. Let no person imagine that the cause is defeated or that the men who have sworn to free their native land or die, will abandon their cause. A few over-zealous officials have placed some obstacles in our way. The voice of the great American people is at last heard in her halls of Congress, not from a single individual, but from the representatives of thirty, millions, and true to her natural instincts, they raise their voices for the oppressed. God bless them! They will raise many an anxious spirit through the world and make tyrants tremble on their thrones as the cry goes forth, "America is the defender of liberty." Let the people take heart throughout the land. Call meetings, pass resolutions, pledge support to the men who inscribe on their banner universal liberty. Be patient, but work! work! Collect money. Have your men ready, and when the cry of fight goes forth, let them come as individuals if they cannot come as companies or regiments.


As a large number of Fenians had gathered at Malone with very hostile intentions, Gen. Meade gave particular attention to the marauders who had mustered there. They had taken possession of the old military barracks at Malone, and were running the town to suit their own inclinations. As the days wore on and the prospects of their receiving arms and supplies to equip the invaders became more and more remote, the leaders chafed, fumed and fretted alternately, and finally became absolutely discouraged. Their fondest hopes were blasted, and they bitterly berated the United States Government in blasphemous language for stopping their expeditions. While the officers were in this frame of mind, their soldiers were worse. They were living on short rations, and their promise of a pleasant sojourn in "The Land of Plenty," where they hoped to revel in all the luxuries of life (when they captured it), was likely to prove but an empty dream. They were becoming turbulent and demonstrative, and it was finally found necessary to invoke the majesty of military power to keep them in subjection. Desertions were now frequent, and they had become a disorganized mob rather than a disciplined army. As this state of affairs was a menace to the public safety of the citizens of Malone. Gen. Meade took a firm grasp of the situation and issued the following order:


MALONE, N.Y., June 9th, 1866.

All persons assembled at this place in connection with, and in aid of the Fenian organization for the purpose of invading Canada, are hereby ordered, in compliance with the President's proclamation, to desist from their enterprise and disband. The men of the expeditionary force will, on application to the officer in command of the United States forces, on giving their names and residences, and satisfying him that they are unable to provide their own transportation, be provided with transportation to their homes; and all officers below the rank of field officers who are unable to provide their own transportation, on giving their parole to abandon the enterprise, will be allowed to return to their homes; officers above the rank of field officers will be required to give such bonds as may be satisfactory to the civil authorities; it being the determination of the United States Government to preserve neutrality, and the most stringent measures having been taken to prevent all accessions of men and material, the Commanding General trusts that these liberal offers will have the effect of causing the expedition, now hopeless, to be quietly and peaceably abandoned; and he confidently expects that all those who have any respect for the authority of the United States will conform to the requirements of the President's proclamation; and of this, which if not promptly obeyed, a sufficient force will be brought to bear to compel obedience.

(Signed) GEORGE G. MEADE, Major-General, U.S.A.


In compliance with this order, the majority of the men immediately gave their paroles, and for the next day or two trains were filled with the discomfitted warriors returning to their homes. All thoughts of the capture of Canada had vanished, and peace reigned once more on the border line.

The day previous, while Gen. Sweeny and Col. Meehan were actively engaged in mobilizing troops and directing operations on the Vermont frontier, warrants were served upon them by the United States authorities for violation of the Neutrality Act. They were arraigned before the United States Commissioner at Burlington, Vt., when they waived examination, and bail was fixed for Sweeny at $20,000 and Meehan at $5,000, to appear for trial at the July term of the United States District Court. Meanwhile other prominent leaders were being arrested at other points. With the President, the Secretary of War, and other members of the Irish Republican Cabinet under arrest, and many others of lesser note being "wanted" by American officers for infractions of the law, the hopes of the invaders sank below zero, and their warlike zeal vanished away.


FENIANISM IN CONGRESS.

As nearly all of the prominent Fenian leaders had been placed under arrest for transgression of United States laws, and quite a number of their deluded followers who were captured in Canada were confined in Canadian prisons awaiting trial, the seriousness of their offences began to dawn upon the minds of those implicated in the movement. The good offices of the United States Government were then eagerly sought by their friends and supporters to get them out of the meshes of the net, and earnest appeals were made to the State Department for some action along these lines. Every possible pressure was brought to bear on Congress and the United States Senate to secure the influence of those two important legislative bodies in taking up the Fenian cause. But it was a delicate question to handle, and although there were some Congressmen who introduced the matter into the House of Representatives, and made fiery speeches in support of their resolutions, the majority failed to concur, as they rightly conjectured that if the United States gave the Fenians the recognition and liberty of action they desired, it might end in embroiling them in war with Great Britain, for which they were not prepared.

On June 11th, 1866, Congressman Ancona, of Pennsylvania, offered the following preamble and resolution in the United States Congress:

Whereas, the Irish people and their brothers and friends in this country are moved by a patriotic purpose to assist the independence and re-establish the nationality of Ireland, and whereas the active sympathies of the people of the United States are naturally with all men who struggle to achieve such ends, more especially, when those engaged therein are the known friends of our Government, as are the people of the Irish race, they having shed their blood in defence of our flag in every battle of every war in which the Republic has been engaged; and whereas the British Government against which they are struggling is entitled to no other or greater consideration from us, a nation, than that demanded by the strict letter of international law, for the reason that during our late Civil War that Government did in effect, by its conduct repeal its neutrality laws; and whereas when reparation is demanded for damages to our commerce, resulting from the wilful neglect of Great Britain to enforce the same, she arrogantly denies all responsibility, and claims to be the judge in her own cause; and whereas the existence of the neutrality law of 1818 compels the executive department of this Government to discriminate most harshly against those who have ever been, and are now, our friends, in favor of those who have been faithless, not only to the general principles of comity which should exist between friendly States, but also to the written law of their own nation on this subject; therefore, be it resolved, that the Committee on Foreign Affairs be instructed to report a bill repealing an Act approved April 20th, 1818, it being the neutrality law, under the terms of which the President's proclamation against the Fenians was issued.

It is needless to say that the good sense of Congress prevailed, and the resolution was consigned to the morgue which is the receptacle for all undesirable resolutions.


CHAPTER XV.

THE FENIAN PRISONERS-CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN SECRETARY SEWARD AND THE BRITISH MINISTER.

The question of the ultimate fate of the Fenian prisoners who had fallen into our hands was one which received considerable thought and discussion. While the temper of the Canadian people was not favorable to any leniency being shown to them in those sad days in June when they viewed the death and desolation that had been caused by the raiders, yet all felt constrained to give them the full benefit of British justice-fair trials and an opportunity to separate the guilty from the