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I.ONnON vViLLlA:»f riElXEl 1892 Ws '' ^TCHEV>(f'^^ NQV 9 1970 498300 i ■" (t.*- fh' > i^-: r 5: ■I * g^'. ,!■ '<*;■ ■«?■"»• t.. r-^ TWENTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE SECRET SERVICE The ^collections of a Spy 15 Y MAJOR HENRI LE CARON Mitb iportratts aiiD 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 1892 [All rights reserved] NQV 9 1970 498300 ^f M i 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. 1 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 thisyf?2 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 litteratettr. 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 JUm 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. 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. •Il mm LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PORTRAITS. Major Henri Le Caron . Alexander Sullivan . Patrick Eg an Charles Stewart Parnell "NuMiiER One"— P. J. Tynan Frontispiece To face p. 62 „ 160 178 228 FACSIMILES. The Oath of Allegiance A Fenian Twenty-dollar Bond .... My Commission as Major in the Army of the Irish Republic .... Patrick Egan's Letter of Introduction • • • Alexander Sullivan's Cheque for Thirty Thousand Dollars Alexander Sullivan's Letter 16 27 54 J34 . 264 . Appendix III. I ■•I 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 f^miily 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 rWKN rV-l'I VE YEA RS througli intoxication, wlicn almost all of those with whom I dealt wen; victims to it. When others lost their heads, and their caution as well, I was enabled, throui;h my distaste lor drink, to benefit in every way. Livini^ in a military town as I did, and cominjr 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 lono^er 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 eji route for that jMecca 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 younc^ clays— 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 acfain 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, TWENTY-FIVE YEARS where the efforts to curb my imptilsive 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 fc" and reduced to a penniless condition. IN THE SECRET SERVICE. Then came the idea of returning to London, which I duly carried out, walking all the way. My fool hardiness 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 Ikber of the town. However, my efforts to lead a sober conventional life were all ill 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. ■m 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, havine in the interval orained 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. Enirlish Church in the Rue d'Afjuesseau, of which, by the way, the Rev. Dr. Forbes was at tl at 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 of 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 mv room and share his lodfrlncr, 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 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS Installed in the house of Withers, a la Suis- sesse, 52 Faubourg St. Honore. Through his influence also I became a i)aid 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 brous^ht 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. •I*' IN THE SECRET SERVICE. i) 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 Httle 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 folio wincr with such enthusiasm and 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 TO TWENTY-FIVE YEARS i| there occurred a circumstance, trivial in itself at the moment, yet frauc^ht with the most im- portant consequences in regard to my after-life. This 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- j:j 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 1 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 :i IN THE SECRET SERVICE. II its many mishaps. I had no care for the morrow, and, liappily for me, I found my morrows to bring Httle 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 familiar 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, servinof throuo^h 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 13 TWEyTY-I'IVE YEARS fought under the command of General George B. MacCieHan. In October i(S62, 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 eni^aq:ements at TuUahoma 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 enouijh 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 IX THE SECRET SERVICE. »3 that year. For the next twelve months I was excUisively 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, 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 ^^uerilla warfare carried on by Irregular bands of Southerners, that I received the following order : — " IIkad-Quartkrs, Third Suii-Dis'iRicx, Middle Tennessee, " Acting Assistani -Adjutant-General's Oefice, "Kingston Springs, Tenn., Jl/ay 17, 1S65. "Sir, — The following despatch has been received : — "Nashville, A/ay 16, 1865. " nrig.-Gen. Thompson. " In accordance with orders heretofore published of the Major-Gen. Commanding Dent, 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. i *' By Command of Major-Gen. Rousseau, " (Signed) H. C. Whitlemore, "Capt. and A.A.A.G." 1 1 This, of course, meant sudden death to any of the band who miofht come within ranore of our rifles. The men, indeed were nothincr 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 'I t IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 15 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" ric:ht and left. Disreo^ardincr 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 discharo-inir 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 ( , nVUmY.l.-iyE YEARS book containing L" e t t"''''' '"'^ P-'«'- Government, wi,ici. he ,;TTr° '''^ "'S- 's a Msimiu of th^ ^ • • , "^ foJiowing '^-e kept throu.i airr """'"^"^' ^'''-h I b-.-'>oseorth:,nanUt:olr""~'''^^^^- Making our way back m ,1 i, covered two weeping w °"'"' "'^ '''«- small children. 117"'"' '''"' '^^'^-dozen fact that the elder o 1 '^"''"'°" ^"^"^^ 'h^' 7" was theLlSSrrc ' ■" ^'^'^ ^''^^^ of ex-U.S. Senator Guin ofT -r .''' " "'^P'^^* ■'"' °f Cahfornia, and one IN THE SECRET SERVICE. >7 of the leaders of as notorious a .!2^ang of cut-throats as ever operated in the South-West. Our custom was to burn the houses of any persons found harbourino- these cruerillas, but the heartrendincr 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, havino- 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 w^ere 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 : — u ^i n " 1 8 TWEXTY-FIVE YEARS • I i 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 recjuest from the ladies comply AVhich 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 gnin, 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 thev tell us a victorv is — Quite easy to " (irant," and we hope you'll grant tiiis. III. " We once (not long since) had a favourite ht^re, 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 so id to belong — J L.._ IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 19 Good principle, honour, with bravery too; Prove now to us, captain, that this is quite true. Let us have our old friend— you have better by scores I5ut 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 mus^ be enlightened, be generous too ; (live us back our poor Dixie, Do, captain, please do. Just say we may have him, that welcome word say And your petitioners will evermore j^ray. " Mary Barr. " Cynthia Barr. " Polly Hassell. "Vernon, Trnnessef., "////y 1865. " To Captain Le Caron." " Mary L. G., a synipaihheK 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 m central Kansas. III. In the m.dst of all my soldiering, J wooed and won my wife. She is the principal legacy left me of those old campaigning days of mine .. ine, as 20 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS ■w I I! ,1 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 j cavalry officer, scampered the plains together in j pleasant company. Little thought either of us I then what the future years held in store. Yet i 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 beseechinc: 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 • » **• V /■! IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 21 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. I^he house was suddenly surrounded by a band of . irregular troops, calling themselves Confederates, I but in reality nothing more or less than marauders' 1 n i I 2 2 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS and soon the fortunes of war were turned ai^ainst us. Half my little command, fortunately, escaped, owinor to their beinof 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 indiq^nation and huno^er, 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 breathinrj of the fjuard stationed at our door. In a little time, however, 1 IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 2'j 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 excitincr 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 tlie 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 great 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. 35 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 tlie phrase Fenianism as one that is famihar, 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 countr)', 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. F'^enianism 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 TWEXTV-flVli YEAkS soil. The att(jin[Ht:cl risiiv^^ however, proved, hke ahnost all T'enian efforts, a fiasco. It was fountl that Stephens had wofully niisrepreseiUed 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 s[)read, and the organisation in America broke up into hostile camps, the majority, under the leadership of Colonel \V. 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 IX THE SECRET SERVICE. they succeeded in I'aiiilii''; llu: alletnance of some thousands of the disaffected Irish, whose support was attracted by the familiar device of a dc fixcto civil and military Irish Government upon pa[)er, 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 alon'/>//// f/j^// H r/Zf/ jfi/i/-l/rl {^//^,rO jf//'ii/i/M''/i//n> //-if/ry Jj'^t- I , /? '/ .'^,„, ,,U, ^./i,yJy/J7/// 'yyr/r,yy/r,//r. ^/i'^f^L) y^/^-'y^- « />(i'y>,i,/,,ijyyyo'^s^vrox, "C.'/. d-^. •/../. 6'., /•:/;." I got thus safely out of my awkward position, and learnt one oood 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 qtialified delegates. The proceedings were of th(^ usual kind. Brag IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 71 and bluster were the order of tlie day. Tlie deter- mination to invade Canada once more was still upheld by the vole of the assembly, and the position of O'Neill and his colleagues was as fixed and satisfactory as ever — that of myself, of course, beini^ 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. Tliis 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 beincr " to brinii 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 72 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS Pilot, a poet and novelist, and author of a dclio^htfully written novel, " Moondyne," the material for which was obtained durincr l^is con- fmement in Australia as a T'enian 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 felluw-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 bv trusted men of the oro^anisation, thoucrh, 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 hi^^h 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, liad not been landed more than a day or two, when they fonnd that they were not the only persons arranglni^ the convicts' rescue. Two men — McCarthy and Gray — were already at work in this direction, havini^ 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. M'Carthy 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 da\', the plot was carried to a r,uccess- ful termination, and the rescued men were placed on board the whaler, which immediately set out for the States. Althouoh 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 hii>h seas in safetv. O XIV. The year 1869 saw O'Neill still at the helm of Fenian affairs, and lan'e sums of money rollin-'" in to the coffers of the orijanlsation ; althoucrh, 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 attackiny^ 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 Ogrdensburf^ and St. Albans. Some thousands of these sfuns 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 " Ouinn 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 net 7.V THE SECRET SERVICE. 75 only to become possessed of the originals of every document, plan of proposed campaign, Sic, 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 evadingr 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 alonof 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- ledoe and the fact of his being fuimd alwax's in 76 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-oftice, was wayhiid, robbed, and brutally beaten, and subsequently brouglit back to the hotel in as sorry a plight as I ever saw. I was immediately advised by my r'enian friends as to the dancferous 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. I'or 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 ptjrform a little act which ficrved 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 makin.cr free with the funds of the organisation. In a word, he had been spendinor for personal purposes monies received from the circles or camps. Professor Broi)hy, 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 fri-htful 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 savingr his reputation before the Convention. Need I say that money was never repu'd 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 interestingr document, so I give it here. • .^364, 41/100. " ^'''' ^'°'^'^' ^^'-^'^ ^9, 1870. "Received from Colonel H. le Caron, three hundred and sixty-four dollars and 41/100, borrowed money, to be returned whenever demanded. "John O'Nlill. "Pn-s. F.Br 78 TWENTY FIVE YEARS A council of war follovved, and all was now aciivit)'. 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 : — " IlKAD-QrARlKRS I'KNIAN HkotIIKRIIOOD, •' No. lo Wkst Fourth Strkkt, ••NiiW York, February lo, 1S70. "P.O. 15o.\ 5 141. " To the Military Officers of the Fenian Brotherhood. " Brothkrs, — You have, no doubt, ere this received general orders No. i from General Michael Kerwin, Secretary of War, F.B. (head-quarters, No. 50 North 12th Street, Philadelphia, Penna). A strict compliance loith 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 sen'ice^ 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 SERl'ICE. 79 kno\vled!j;c which ran be forwanJcd to certain points, to be n;inKtl hereafter, so infonr. the Secretary of ^\■ar, whom vou will address m reply to this circular, and he will, on receipt of your communications, forward private iiislntciions witii regard to your respective commands. "Pay no attention to what may appear upon the surface or in newspapers. Wq mean fight — s])eedy fight — and not/ting else, //i/'xtfi 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 furnisii their own transi)ortation, and in tlie meantime try and persuade all of them to save cnougli for that purpose. Military men should not forget that the civic circles have supplied tiie means wherewith to provide breech-loaders, ammunition, iK:c. &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.LJ. 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'Nkill, *' President I'cnian Brotherhood. " IlKAO-Qr.VRTi.Rs, War Dkpartmf.nt, F.l}., *' Dr.CKlKlOWN, SfSSKX COUNTV, N.J., ''April 28, 1S70. " General Orders. " No " Commanding ofificers 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 ? " IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) h A :/. C/j & ^ i.O I.I ■-IM ■ 5 ""'^^= ^ m 11^ IM 2.0 IL25 ■ 1.4 1.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 873-4503 \ .^v ^> 37 :\ \ SI ^^. '•J'L ^^ ^\ 8o TWENTY-FIVE YEARS "Officcrsof circles having no military organisations attaciied 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- lour 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 rijust not be recognised by military tiiles, and officers or men must not speak of I-'enian matters while en rjute. "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 he ininiediatdy 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, *^ President Fenian Brotherhood. " H. le Caron, " Col. and Adj. -General:' I 3> IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 8i 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 j^ower 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- 82 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS General with the rank of Brio^adler-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 undo''bted ability had been IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 83 '!^' t secured, and war material for at least twelve thousand men was actually on the ground. CNeill'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 Frankh'n were the three points from which attacks were to be made. However, " the best laid schemes of mice and 84 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS men gang aft aglee." O'Neill expected looo men to meet him at Franklin on the night 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 give him a chance to fight. 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 FVanklin, and here all the available "invaders" were mus- tered. Arranging them in line, O'Neill addressed them as follows : — ■^^■•^i^iw^ mmmmm IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 85 "Soldiers, this is the advance-guard of the Irish- American army for the Hberation 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 eji 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 irujeed 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 Avhere 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 i 86 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 ^j^, 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. ■p ,:^ IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 87 A (gw paces, and on their startled ears came the ringing- ping, ping, of the ambushed rifles, as the Canadians poured a deadly volley straight into their ranks. Utterly taken aback, they stopped, broke rank, and fled as in 1866, an ungovernable mob, to return for a moment in order to pour a I volley on their almost invisible enemy, and to finally 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, anr' ■' He engaged in superintending it, I was afforded prac- tical evidence of the termination of O'NeiU'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 starded 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 <■. -mmwm PP'- 88 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS covered carriage. As the conveyance flashed by me, I caught through the carriage window a luirried 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 Oi. 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- ;;ingents were hourly arriving, and a strong attempt I IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 89 was made to get Hoyle 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 I'enian Brotherhood, arrived at St. Albans, and sought to do something practical in the way of continuing the invasion. Through his aide-de-caiup, 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- t 90 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS vaders with dismay, and utter demoralisation was the result. XVII. On Friday, April 27th, under the excuse that I was goinor 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 Coursel, 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, 51 for his tall military appearance, and the other for his clerical attire. All eyes \/erc turned upon them, and as I ceased eatingr 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 leadins: Fenian anient. His I 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 die 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 for a 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 ing 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 travellino- (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. - Crow^ding 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 clay, 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 nio^ht. 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 folio winfT dav came arrano^ements for my departure for home, and it was decided that, in order to avoid travelLng over the same line airain, I should be driven durino^ the nio^ht 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 bad to supply me with the needful funds. This, however, did not prove by any means an easy 96 rWENTY-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 inelorious 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 ficrht 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 distincdy 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 j the details of a contemplated uprising of the half- I 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 i^arments and take a 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 siir 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, I 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 niy 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, once a 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. 100 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 Bridsfe 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. loi Bridge, in which he lost his own life, fully justified their estimate. He had been enofacred 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 cit 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 ; when 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 chano^e 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 Httle ground for apprehension, and, as far as the Confederation was concerned, its development proved of very litde 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 bearinof names destined to be familiar in latter- day politics. These were O' Donovan Rossa and John Devoy. As both will be found constantly struttinor across the stao^e 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 amonofst 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 indifjnities in the British dunoreons. 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 orrow 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 TIVENTY-FIVE YEARS adventurers together, he could never have reached the prominent phice which he subsequently attained in the Fenian organisation. With their fellow - prisoners who had been amnestied, General Thomas F. Bourkc, 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 brouirht the Irish Confederation into existence, and formed its first *' directory " or executive. They indulged in the wild hope of being able to orather 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. 105 XX. While my Fenian friends strufrcrlcd 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 fledged 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. Here, 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 'w 106 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 bringinq^ 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 f no pains, even going to the extent of "lobby- I 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 I I in America. This was the bringing together of '.\ all Irishmen at home and abroad into one vast I 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 7.V 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 Y.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 English 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 great 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 v/ith 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 ^rw^^"^^^ 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 teachings 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 Iris/i 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 no 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 amonorst 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. in Irish soil, cliosen 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- 112 TIVENTY-FIVE YEARS 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 affihation 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 7.V THE SECRET SERVICE. ii 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- j_ vation ? " At the conclusion of the address, the questions having been put, and correcdy replied to, the candidate took the oath as follows : — " Ij , do solemnly and sincerely swear, in the presence of Almighty God, that I will labour, while life is left me, to H 114 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 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 beloncr to anv other Jsjti sfwpmvujpobsz (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 are styled D.'s, and are known by members. This is D. No. — . The leading object of the V.C. is to cooperate 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. 115 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 V.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 ii6 TWENrV-FIVE YEARS Executive, three by the Irish RepubHcaii 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 ofificers 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, amonorst other thini^s, the arranq;ements re^jard- 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 af^ents of the British Government from becomine 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 7.V THE SECRET SERVICE. 117 the very hour of his sUirting w here he was l^oiind 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 " Elmmet 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 altotrether 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 jiersons 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 ii8 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS that I should hve down any ill-feelinf^ 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 rdgiuie, 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 AV THE SECRET SERVICE. i ry 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'WilUams 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 feelingr between us to allow of my ever after expecting anything but the bitterest opposition from IM'Williams. To my relief, however, IM'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 thinf^s" meantime. Not at all. Possessed, as I l2b TWENrY-FlVE YEARii 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 amonorst its leadinof 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 say. With Sullivan I have already dealt, and here I need only state that, having established himself IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 121 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 JVeza Vor/c 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 122 TWENrY-FIVE-4YEARS 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 Haven, 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. He 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 MiHtary Board during O'Neill's rdgivie. 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. Owin^f to a o 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, a^^'ainst 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 hved 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 oii\\& Irish A7Jierica7t. He 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. P^eeley, 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 P^enian Secretary of War during the Canadian raid of 1 870, and had preserved his Revolutionary record unbroken ; 7.V THE SECRET SERVICE. 125 wliile 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- tionary Directory of the Clan-na-Gael. One name I have left to the last, and that is General Milieu's. The discredited hero of the Jubilee Explosion Scheme of 1887 was at this time enoraoed on the editorial staff of the Ncic; Yor/; 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 Neiv York Herald, he had thrown in his lot with Juarez prior to the over- throw of the erovernment of Maximilian and the 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 Militarv Board. 126 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS XXIV. My advent in the organisation, thouoh gratifying to a certain extent, did not satisfy me as fully as I wished. I wanted to know everything that took place on the innerside 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 orofaniser 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 7v/e 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 d'iservinfr 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 deleirate 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 128 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS bills for expenses, instead of beingr 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- ments — 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, aiul 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 bein^i- 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 130 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 stranofe and unlooked-for meetinof. 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 /rz's/i 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 workmg 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. 131 " What will this irregular warfare of our Irish Skirmishers effect ? It will do this much. It will iiarass 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 i)revent 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 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 /ris/i. World has had no place. The secret of his position and influence lies in his paper. This, T33 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS from the very moment of its start, has been a pronounced success, reachincj 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, ma'^iers 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 cr' i this dynamite advocate's character in nthusiastic vein. Speaking of the man i. .y "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 bliish^ In appearance and IN THE SECRET SERVICE. ixl o.> manner, the editor of the /r/s/i JVor/d is quite tile opposite of the man you would figure to yourself after reading his dynamite appeals and exordiums in his own journal. Quiet 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 /rt's/i JVorld; 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 134 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS the conduct of the vast secret conspiracy known to the initiated as the V.C. For what the In's/i 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 SU'/mishing Fund, it became desirable that the Clan-na-Gael should take charge of ic, there was no more ardent advocate of the chano^e 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 loud-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. 135 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 litde 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 |j 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 /risk World of the 21st April 1877, which, j I think, I cannot do better than quote here. y i! "When I started this Skirmishing Fund, the council-men of |i the two Irish revolutionary societies in America— the Fenian ^| il6 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 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 Iri's/i JVorld. 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 Newhavcn, Connecticut. He is the man in whose name the Catixlpa 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. 137 and Mr. Ford have resigned, I have in connection with these three men I have mentioned taken into tiie trusteeship John li Devoy, Thomas Clarke Luby, and Thomas Francis Bourke.' I • •••••• '\ i " Last night Thomas Clarke Luby went to Washington, carry- ing with him 117,500 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, I John Breslin, and James Reynolds. . . . John O'Mahony : died. It was deemed well to send his remains to Ireland. ii There was no money to bear the expenses. I thought I might J 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 tiiey I' ])aid me $2030 to defray the expenses. The Clan-na-Gael i and the Fenian Broiherhood have promised to refund the f money." > 1: No secret was made of the connection which ] now existed between the "trustees" and the "fund," for a pubhc address was issued "to the [ Irish people in the United States," and pubUshed { in the /ris/i World of the 21st April, containing | the following passages : — ■ " But since the ' skii mishing ' project was first announced, i 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 fiGiht. . . . The rest of the Great Powers of Europe will be li drawn by an irresistible force into the arena. England, above all, whether she likes it or not, must draw her sword once more ; 138 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 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 tiie 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, tve are determined to lose as litde 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, V New York. " Thomas Francis Bourke, "Jer. O'Donovan Rossa, "Wm. Carroll, M.D., Philadelphia, Pa. "James Reynolds, New Haven, Conn." IN THE SECRET SERVICE, 139 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 for their past Fenian records and present prominence in the Clan-na- Gael ranks. XXVII. While the Skirmishinsf 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- MO . TWENTY-FIVE YEARS tions between Engrland 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, and 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 TIVENTY-FIVE YEARS where, for aught I know, it may be rotting at the present clay. 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. XXVIII. The month of September 'yS 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 lecturinof. This first visit of his differed from the second one paid in 1880 by reason of the change which his opinions underwent in the interval. IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 143 When in September i8;8 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 allyino- 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 Skirmishinof 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 iiere 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. " Fourth, Irish members to vote together on all imperial and home questions, adoi)t 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 advocatinof the new move in arcruments which I IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 145 think I can best summarise by using the follow- ing extracts from one of his epistles : — "The fjucstion whether the advanced Irish National party — the party of separation — should continue the policy of isola- tion from the i)ublic life of the country, wiiich 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 Jrishinan — 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." 146 TWENTY' 'i I /' » EARS 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, Pennrylvania. in July 1879. Associated with Devoy in this work of inspection was General JMillen, acting in the capacity of military envoy. Devoy, while in Ireland, made good use of his time. While he organised the Irish Republican Brotherhoo'l 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 /iV THE SECRET SERVICE. 147 visit thus made gave an interesting account ui how matters stood in Fenian circles there at this period, I give a few extracts. They are important as showing the condition of the Revokitionary forces, which gave 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 : — *' Tliree of the best organised counties — Dublin, Louth, and Wexford — seceded from tiie S.C. (Supreme Council or Execu- tive of the Irish Republican Jirotherhood), and believing the statements, so often repeated, that the Anieiican organisation su[)ported Mr. Stei)hens, transferred tiieir allegiance to that gentleman. There still remained with the S.C. (Supreme Council), Ubter, Connaught, Munster, a portion of Leinster, Scotland, and South of England ; but the work in these districts was almost i)aralysed, and the ;utention of the men distracted by repeated visits and commun'cations 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 3C00 acteJ 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 rWENTY-FIVE YEARS who has since then rendered invaUiable 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 diftkulties. 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 l)urpose 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 1 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,- Fnnis, Glasgow, Dundalk, and other towns. " When Leinster and Munster shall have been thoroughly reorgani'^^id, 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 few 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 deleofates reported. There was no incident connected therewith which calls for any special mention, as particularly affecting events at this period. XXX. 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 I50 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS the month of January 1880 gave a fresh Impetus to the whole thinof. And whatever doubt had heretofore existed as to the possibility of working^ the new move, and makinrr 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 Hashing 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 llsteninof to his accents thouMit 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. 151 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 iScSo, 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 eive way to Michael Davitt, and enter Mr. Davitt once more on the American stage in quite a new ro/c\ 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. Me 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 Braidwood-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, 152 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 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 ro/e, 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 o^lowinqf 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 aic conrant 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 Leaq-ue 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- 154 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS stone to more decisive things. This is how he put the matter : — P.O. Box 4, 479. Nrw York, November r, iSSo. " Dear Sir and Brother, — I propose to give a course of lectures this winter on the subject of "The Irish National C'ause and the Present Crisis," with a view to stirring up our jieople here and increasing the resources of the National movement. I will stijiulate beforehand that the i)roceeds 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 iMigland. While 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 time 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 i)resent 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 ii 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 ivould not be detrimental to the interests of the V. C. IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 155 " I intend to begin in the New England States, then to go througii a jiortion of New York State and Pemea, and thence west. Communicate to the P.O. Pox mentioned.— Frater- nally yours, "John Devoy." I was only too willing to arrange for such a lecture as Devoy wanted, Cor 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 '81, 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 156 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS America, " have agreed to furnish the means, and the orofanisation in Ireland have sicfnified 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 frasfments 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. 157 polic3\ By this I mean active warfare aifx Clan- iia-Gael as distinct from the constitutional work openly advocated by the Land League. Devoy remarked regardingr 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 LR.B. (the sister society) men in some parts of Ireland, notably in Mayo, where they had the best organisation and most artns, from making what Devoy described as ''fools of themselves." He, it appeared, feared attacks on the military when the latter were attendinof evictions. This strikinnf 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 beinof a National Movement Convention : and, in conclusion, Devoy said Mr. Parnell's personal attitude towards the National (I'.c.j Re- iS8 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS volutionary) party uas 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 INIeledy a leading member of the Clan~na-Gael — I learnt, though at different times, that a new plan of campaign w^as 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 Encrland. 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 Phoenix 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. ,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 takin<^ a holi- day in the early part of the year i8Si, 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 th;^ Clan-na-Gael guards in Chicago, and a very prominent member of the or(ranisation, he f'-ave 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 1S81. 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 Irlsli Rc[)ublican Brotherhood in Ireland ; V^^-AW was the treasurer and accredited repre- sentative of the Irisii Land League. Journeying by way of Liverpool, I reached England on the 12th of April iSSr, 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 I'aris. 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. ]\L Sullivan (wife of the late I\LP.), 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, \\\i\\ bright laughing eyes and warm handshake and » r^'^ JL. ^U*^- I'ATKKK MC.AX IN THE SECRET SERVICE. ,6r 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 givinor 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 ai 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 liis 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 \:\ 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 tinabled to discover that I had been the bearer L 1 62 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS of a very low^ document, with an enclosure, to V''^'':h he paid great heed. r>om the very start I found O'Leary opposed to the "active" pohcy. He was as strong and bitter an opponent of the murderous idea as one could wish to meet; and, unHke Irish patriots in general, he was not without the courage of his convictions. He showed me a copy of the Dublin IrisJiDian (the unfortunate Pigott's paper), of some date in the month previous, containing a letter over Ids 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, how^ever, 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 nothiuiif 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 tine, 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 Governnient 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 Ste[)hens, 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 1S65, whose word was law to its sworn thousands, and who, after making his escape from Rich- mond Bridewell in Dublin, ended his inf^lorious i64 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS public career by an iiiiromantic 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 > ichmond 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 releasinor me were J. J. Brcslin 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 w^as 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- innr 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 Uvo 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 again. Breslin was fairly wild. Another table \vas 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 attaclu^d 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 INIarch, 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 Efjan and I had been constantly toirether. JMy desire was, of course, to make a study of tlie man, and to pret to know as much about him as I possibly could. Kverythini^r played into my hands. Ki^an was ignorant both of the geonrraphy and the lanc;uaoe of the French capital, and he very largely availed himsc^lf 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. Fgan 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 torn i68 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 Leaijuer, and somethinof else when the opportunity presents itself." He boasted to me of his havin^- 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 soufjht admission into the ranks of the Irish IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 169 Revolutionary Brotherhood, but was refused. " Parnell," remarked Egan with a wire 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 r^ither 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 Leao-ue. 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 strono- 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 lau'died 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 matters. He stated explicitly, in a very signifi- cant way, that the money had been used for other 170 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 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 aij^ainst British control in Soutli Africa; and coming nearer home, the varied expenditure in connection with parties attached to the Irish Rei)ublican 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 behalfof 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 representiition of his sustained by fact, save the single exct^p- 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. 171 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 tliat amongst those I first met in this way was Mr. PariK'll himself, from whom I received a V(;ry warm greeting. On this occasion I was accom- modated with a seat under the gallery of the I louse. This was but one of several visits I paid to th(; House at this time, in the course of which I constantly came in contact with Kgan. When alone I generally sent in my card to Mr. Parnel), 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 cf 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 ^'iu *>. .«< -'V^ ^^^^ -^^^'nO. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) /^^ 1.0 IKiUe 112.5 |50 "^ lii^ ^ 1^ III 2.2 1 -^ m U 1.6 I.I 1.25 ^ ^ M.II o >■ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 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 oi 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, cojercion on. the part of the directors of IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 173 the American branch of the conspiracy in order to bring the Irish malcontents into line. Hi" 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, followlno- 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 Uevoy, 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 brino:in2f about a thorough understandincr and complete harmony of working. Special reference was also made to Dr. William Cairoll 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 >'iii IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 175 on this point were a veritable bombshell to me. He started off by stating that he had lonfj 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 Leao^ue 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 176 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 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 lyS TWEXTY-FirE YEARS recall many of lils happy efforts wliich would well bear reproduction. I shall not, however, yield to the temptation of brin^^inc^^ them In here, but will content myself with recallini;- one ])leasant story told about the irrepressible Mr. Bi^gar. Mr. l^inrgar, as I was informed by way of preface, was known as the great objector and "counter-out," sometimes, sad to relate, movint^^ 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 sittinc^s and consequent fatigue. One morning Mr. l^iggar, 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 proceedied, 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 stronof within him, loudly exclaimed, " Mr. Speaker, I move 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, 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. ]. 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 on^aniser 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. i8i 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-Giiel, 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 1 88 1. 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 i82 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS correspondence took place between us. Thoug^h at first reluctant to go to Europe, he eventually undertook to do so. His consent, however, was conditional on his colleao^ues ao^reeinof to the uhdertakingr, 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. Reynomxs, "/une 24, 1 88 1. " 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. IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 18? without its consent, and which must take time to get; and none of us, even if we 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 tha*: 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. Tiiere 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. — 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 i84 TIVEXTY-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 y 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 210 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS ? organisation of the League. Mr. Parnell himself had taken action previously in connection with the Kilmainhani Treaty, and in other ways which were not understood or appreciated, and, as a consequence, a partial breach had occurred. So II strained were matters becoming that in February I 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 fii^ht 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 somewnat un- diofnified exit from Dublin, and not waitinsf 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 satisfact'or. 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 LeaQ^ue 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 sfatherinors. The whole thine 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 I 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 arransfements made at one of the caucus meetino^s, 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 SFXRET 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 tiie Land League had not increased in members, but, on the contrary, had decreased during tiie past year ; tiiat a majority of the jjatriots of America had become tired of giving their earniny^tjy J^!^t_ -/CvT-rr-itiv f^^ <^-^^yfuj j^t^^^ ^>^-— ^"-'^^ ^yy^ /xy^fv^ — . ^^y^C^t'^i^^i^^ ^ IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 235 Alexander Sullivan meantime occupied himself very busily in purely American politics, and for the purpose of making his position in this reg^ard 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. V. 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. I)laine 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 236 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 leadincf 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 Dev^y, 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. XLVIIL 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 238 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 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 plirase 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." V IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 239 Under the pretence of takinq^ a voyage to Europe for his health's sake, Gallahcr 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 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 loth 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 nothinj^ but dvnamite, 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 enl .sting 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 orc^anisation. The first arrivals of this precious assembly of dynamitards reached Liverpool on the 27th of March, and, of course, separated at '^^ce. 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 Birmini;ham, under the superintendence of Whitehead. From here large quantities of liquid were conveyed to some few points in London in rubber bags and rubber shootiniT--stockinq^s. All the elaborate arrano^e- 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 ^lay 1883 saw the trial and conviction of the leader and three of his associates, Whitehead, Curtin, and Wilson, the case for the Crown beinn;- completed by the testi- mony of Norman, a/ias Lynch, who played the ro/e which never lacks an expone'nt 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 ;i"i4oo. 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 242 7 1 VEN T y FI VE YEA RS 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. -4j steamers of the National Steamship Line, who belonged to the organisation. The explosive was generally made up in slabs of Adas 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 Mouse 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. There 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 tlian 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 antl the subsequent refusal of the Home Secretary to accede to these demands, were based on letters written by him to the notorious]. J. lireslin of the Revolutionary Committee of the Clan-na-dael, and now in existence among the records of the Home Oflice. IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 245 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 grou[) L,^ave the whole thing away to the poHce, 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. Mow 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 iloing anything likely to embarrass them during the crisis of tiie elections. It is to be hoiied 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 deiectiun, is far more terrible than the damage inflicted. We caution you, therefore, above ail things, to be silent; but if comi)clletl to spt-ak, 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 exl<'en- 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. TiiK 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 248 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS very fairly rellccted in some circulars, issued prior to its assembly, from which I take the followino^ extracts : — " The indications all point to the conclusion that the nica- surc of Home 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 arc 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 ofifer 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 ]5o(ly to execute them with- out regard to individual opinions. . . . " The silent secret varfare 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 SECRKT SERVICE. 249 instructed your delegates which of these policies you wish to pursue, the details will not be difticult. It would he 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 jiolicy, 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 01 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 exj^erience of your delegates. . . . " The active operations of the U.S. (Unjted lirotherliood) 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 250 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS been endorsed, and the new ILxeciitive cnven a free hand for the future. What, however, was l)erhaps the most important proceedini^ of all at this Convention of tlie Revokitionists, was the passing of the following resolution : — " Resolved : — That wc Maintain the same relations in the future to open societic-'.. working for liic same purpose as our- selves, that we have in the past." I f furtlier proof were wanted beyond that already "•iven of the "understanding*-" which existed be- tvveen the open and secret organisations, it could not be supplied in a more emphatic manner than this. Althougli the iixecutive 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 uneventftil character. I visited the 1 louse of C(Miimons more than once, and in the social intercourse which took place between myself and some of the Irish ]\I.P.'s, learnt many facts of an interesting character. It was during this visit that I set myself to fmd out some particulars regarding L\ THE SECRET SERVICE. 251 Dr. James G. Fox, M.P. I was rather curious about this gentleman, who now failed to recognise me in the House of Commons lobbv, although we had met on more than one occasion at Land League Conventions in the Slates, where we had been brother delegates. Mis 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 IVLP., 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 /n's/i JVor/i/. INIakino^ 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 An\erican 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 252 TWENTY-FI'/E YEARS it regularly from tl" _ other side, asking me in conclusion if I was nterested 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 raiher 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 whetb.er 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/' bur 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 IX THE SECRET SERVICE. 253 when, in June 1888, at the Clan Convention In Chicago, a burly delegate near me mounted his chair, announced himself Irom Troy — where Fox had liv^ed — and in a loud voice demanded reco^- 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. 1 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 254 TlVENTY-l'IVE YEARS anxious as an old friend to say *' how do you do." I did not, however, <;ain very much by ni)' visit, for the simple reason that at this time Millen liad not, as far as I believe, any close connection with the dynamite business known as the Jubilee Plot, with which his name wi : subse- quently associated. At this point his business in Europe had to do with the bringini; about of are- conciliation between the British and the American branches of the I'ievohitionarv oroanisation. The fact was, that for two or three years previously the relations between the two sectioiis 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 Fc;nians 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 n/lj'a vires. Now, when dissensions raged in America, Sullivan, long-headed as usual, IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 255 sought to strengthen his section by the allegi- ance of the lionie organisation ; and accordingly, Millen was despatched to luirope 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 vcM'y little. The whole un- dertaking was shrouded in mystery, but it is pretty certain that it was not a Clan-na-Gacl affair alone. The best description that could be given of it would be that it was in its inception a Rossa undertaking hnanced 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 f^ivinix 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 Eni^land. Millen, at the time I saw him, was not in the plot, which at that moment f 256 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 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 Jolin 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. The 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 charijes and allefjations had made a fjreat 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- K 258 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 SECRirr SERVICE. 259 In the end, this was conceded; and a united Convention was called in June 1888, which, meet- in"- 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 wns 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, ' iven 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, See, 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 Heach prior to the death (jf Mr. I'arnell, 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 Micliael Davitt and John O'Connor, one of the members from Tipperary. (Cheers and ciics of 26o TWEXTY rrVE YEARS Committee was appointed to try the parties charfjcd. Cronin, strann|^e to say, was a member of this Trial Committee, though lie 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 b(;en playing a very objec- tionable part. He spoke against the accused whenever occasion offered, wrote to the papers I ffav, lu-nr). I say here tliat tliere is a coinliiiiatiKn lietwocn llu- cokTie wliicli l)r()ii{,'ht al)iiiit the mmdcr of Dr. Cronin and the Daviti cliiiiu' in Ireland, to oust Mr. I'arnell from the leadership and plaee Michael Davilt in his place. In Michael David's sworn testimony before the I'arnell Commission, he said, ' I souj^ht out John Devoy, because I heard he \sas <^oing to make trouble in the Convention, so that I luii^ht learn his plans and frustrate them.' I am i;lad of that admission from Michael Davitt himself, and for the payment of a thousand dollars j,'iven to him for one speech in ( );jden's (irove, and the full i)roceeds of a lecture tour j,Mven throughout the United States under the auspices of the Trianjjle. The Oonin murder was as much a part of the infamous work of this alliance to down I'arnell, and to down every man in this country who believes in giving his movements a fair, full, and reasonal)le trial, as the puffs of Michael Davitt at a thousand a puff." In corroboration of Devoy "s statenieni, I fmd in the financial report of the Clan-na-iiael 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 i)lead, 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 desircil. IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 261 in accusation of them, and in no way showed himself tiie 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 investii^ation. 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. 'I'his 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 ^17,000. The result of the trial was that IMichael 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 Chicanfo. The Executive had refused to sustain the action of the Trial Committee by a majority of one, and there the affair stood. But Cronin IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 m US u 140 1.4 2.0 1.6 V Vi Photographic Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 V ^^ V :\ \ %'^:^ ^^ 1 ;\ 262 rWENrV-FIVE YEARS would not let well enouo;h 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- 1 tenced to penal servitude for life.* The inquiry i was fruitful in many ways, and brought to light a I vast amount of corroboration of the most impor- I tant portions of my testimony. There were, j however, no two more sensational incidents I than those produced by the report issued by I Cronin after the Trial Committee had dissolved, ' and the positive proof now supplied for the first ' time of the statei lent frequently made, that Sul- I livan had in May 1882 received in his position as i chief of the Clan-na-Gael a sum of ^20,000 from - Appendix (ii.). IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 263 Patrick Kgan, then Treasurer of the Land League in Paris. The report issued by Cronin stated amongst other thino^s — "That the Trial Committee appointed at Ciiicago was unable to elicit all the facts connected with the charges placed before it, because of the refusal of several of tlie 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 880,491 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 lield by 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 :^ I! I'; J\^-2- i"^ Crw V .m^ Uaaip ^^-^' ■ q><^..A^.. . ..^i7Z> ^W 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 j ..ars : — 1 1 7.V 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 tliem 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 Tribune a telegram to that effect from Denver. Now comes O'Donovan with a rejoinder. We have received from him the follov>ing telegram : — " ' Editor of the " Tribtine:' " ' 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 Morgan of New York, both answering all questions under oath? " ' O'Donovan Rossa, '''Editor " United Irisiiiiian." " ' New YoKK,/ii/f 15, 1S83.' " LII. Long before these final developments, liowever, I had sailed for England, and severed for all time 266 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS ii my connection with Irish poHtics 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 j; again to home, and set about preparing for another voyage to the States. Everything had been !}; completed for my departure, when I suddenly 'I 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 I' me that he had no intention of giving up such a 'ii useful informant of his own initiative : and as he '"' . . . . had no connection with the Times case, he did iV 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. f: IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 267 Anderson to make such arrancrements as would allow of this being the case. As a result, I was informed a little later that the Ti;//es 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 orentleman to whom I bore a sino-le 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 laueh 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 J " 268 TlVENrV-FIVE YEARS my disposal. Accordingly 1 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 disappointmer., I learnt there was not time for me to make a last hurried trip heme, 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 I which would result from what was to follow. ! One of the first things I did, therefore, was to I cable for my wife and children ; and having eased I 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 mcident ; 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 findinir that all round about me were strancrers 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 closiniy 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 y the black foul conspiracy be dragged into the J! open light. Yet so it was ; and to-day there ij are none who question the existence of the || murderous alliance to which I testified, and of jj men within its ranks prepared to obey its leaders, /I, even unto the sheddinor of blood. i! IN TlIK SECRET SERVICE. 271 LIII. 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 alwaj-s 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 charc^ed with the knowledee of my identity, then I fear I should not be here 272 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS to-day on Knj^Ush 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 SRCRK'l SERVICE. 'U When this attempt failed, communications were sought to be opened up with me by the same official through Sir John Rose and Judge M'lMicken, 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 charee. There was only one thing about which he had frequently to remonstrate with me, and that was u\y 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. 275 and honour to them for the work they have done, and the sincerest of congratulations to Chief- Inspector Littlechild, who ro 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 ; evenf^ 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 ereat thinors. Some day, however, a big thing will happen, about which there will be no leakage beforehand, and then the affricjhted 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 Milieus 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 ;f 20 a month with a very odd cheque for expenses thrown in 1 The idea is ridiculous. I have heard it urged that the 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 v/hen 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 rilE SECRET SERVICE. 277 pursued It to the end. I have in no sense been an informer, as the phrase is understood. I alhed myself with Fenianism in order to defeat it ; I never turned from feeHngs of greed or gain on the men with whom I at first worked in sym- pathy. I never had any sympathy witli Irish Revolutionists. Quite the opposite. Nor have I been an a^o-en^ 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 brino^inor 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, havinof 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 278 rWENTY-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 feelinsf but that of undiso^uised loathinsf. 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 fiofhtinof 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 28o 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 TEOT. Fully two months before the celebration of the Oueen's vfr^Zl ^v '°^' '"'""' »'^'"S^"« reached the Scotland Yard authormes that a gang of skilful and unscrupulous con- spirators in Amenca were devising a plan for carry ng out acts of murder and destruction in London. The names ocZ pnncpal persons engaged for this purpose were known to the pohce, and the individuals were closely watched even durino their voyage across the Atlantic. The headquarters of the organisation were established in Paris, and both there and in Boulogne their movements were tmder strict observation The direction of the conspiracy rested with General MiUen a wen-known Fenian agent, who, finding the police espion '4 unbearable had latterly kept out of Eniland. Had he reurned, he would have been immediately arrested. Last Saturday he left Amsterdam for New York, being watched by Enghsh detectives down to the time of the Vessel s „g' Channel aid " "f "."' '°"" "' *'' 8^"^ — ^ "- Channel and came to London, their plans prevfous to the Jubilee celebration having been disconcerted. The most prominent of the arrivals in London was the man MelviHe not b°, ^t.^^^T'^"' "f '"^ ^hole gang. The poht do not believe that those conspirators were in communication with O Donovan Rossa, or acting with his cognisance. Cohen's presence m London was known to the police some time prior to 282 APPENDIX 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 m 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 I yesterday [26th October 1887]. The police suspicions of I Melville's business were confirmed. His assertion, that he I 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 afteiwards 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 Press^ 28Lh October 1S87. THE JUBILEE PLOT. 283 Thomas Callan, 46, labourer, and Michael Harkins, 30, grocer, were placed upon their trial at the Central Criminal Court, London, on February i, 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 natui? 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 Commitfee appointed to consider the regula- ■! tions applicable to the admission of strangers to the House |jj OF Commons met again on Thursday, the 19th inst., Viscount i^ 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 j. 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, =84 APPENDIX L 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 effect 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. Ke 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 Mdville. That is to say, he met jNIulville on one occasion in Paris, not in this country. He met Melville in Paris in September 18S7. 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. After a 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. 285 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 1 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 Milieu'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 Milieu'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 Milieu'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 2 8r) APPEND IX I. Ladies' (lallcry, 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 Millcn then was, and, as I said before, on the 4th of August Melville then appeared. Did you follow up this matter by any intjuiries 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 i6th 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 i;: 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 conscciuence was that there was scarcely a day passed without appHcation 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 Liters 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, thev 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 1 288 APPENDIX I. '.II (1: It 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 ? - 1 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 theni* — 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 FLOT. 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 handwri'.ing 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/neSy 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 thi 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 lor the murder of Dr. Patrick Henry Cronin, on May 4, i8Sg. 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 sufificient evidence against him. THE CRONIN MURDER. 291 graces the partisan warfare of America. American judicial proceedings are, iiowever, 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 11. 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 I 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 1 88 1 the organisation was governed by an Executive Body, which was composed of the District Members. In 1879 this Board consisted of fifteen members. In 1 88 1 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 objectof 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 813,000, notwithstanding when they took hold of it they had a fund of 8250,000 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 1888. In that month a joint conven- 294 APPENDIX II. if) 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 ai)pointed 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 Sulhvan'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. 295 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. Moloney paid their steerage passage, and gave them 8100 each "to carry on work." For further funds they were referred to " the agent on the other side." The two dyna- jj miters crossed to this country, but the funds were not forth- j 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 i; the following account of his exploits in this country, and of the j' base ingratitude of his employers : — ^{ " At the agent's request, work was delayed six weeks. I at 'i last told him I would do the work. There were four of us. \ .... I finally induced him to give orders to do the work. V 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 1885, Donovan | furnished me with $10 with which to reach my home. "(?• How many operations did you perform? — A. Three. i We always bade each other good-bye after each meeting, i 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 s n)6 APPENDIX II. me had to sell his clothes to get passage- money. He came with a sprained ankle. In July or August 18S5, he received i$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 8100 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 18S4, 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 nuist see her.' Carroll offered the witness 8100, which he refused. I said, * Vou 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 farther 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 ]\ Lackey 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 1884, and that since that date she had received 81000 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." 29^ APPENDIX II. but gave her no help. The witness was so poor at this time that she borrowed a dress to visit SulUvan. Several weeks after the witness again called on Sullivan and applied for a loan of 8100, 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 Uevoy and INI'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. TIfE 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. Jkggs, 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 of " Camp 20." Two days later Beggs wrote to his superior officer, a man named Spellman, and mformed him that " it was charged that the S. G. of the Columbia Club at a 300 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 rei)lied 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 ig not in custody, took rooms at 117 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'SuUivan, 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 C RON IN MURDER. 301 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 i)resented." O'SulUvan's business was not dangerous. No accident had ever occurred amongst his men. Numbers of doctors Hved between O'Sullivan's place of business and Dr. Cronin's office, which is nearly an hour's drive from O'Sullivan's yard. "Wliat," the State asked, "was the object of this contract, made after the discussion in * 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'SuUivan 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 302 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 V.20> gave him one of O'SuUivan's cards, saying, " O'SuUivan is out of town, and here is his cnrd" — the very words used by O'Sullivan himself when he made his contract with Cronin — and told Cronin that one of O'SuUivan's men had his leg crushed, and that the doctor was wanted immediately. The doctor took his instruments and some cotton with him and drove hastily off in the buggy. He was never seen alive again. The Slate 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 Eurke 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. Tiiere 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. 303 in February, and afterwards removed by Burke to the Carlson cottage, was found between this catch-basin r.nd 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 sewer 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 3o.| APPENDIX II. 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 auerwards proved to fit the lock of the blood- stained trunk discovered on May 5 near Edgewater, was found under a bureau, stained with some of the paint which had been applied to the floor. On ]\Iay 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 from 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. o"3 I 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 Slate'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. ,i i I APPENDIX 111. /VINDES << SULLIVAN, LAWYERS. 702 Al-0 7fti OPERA MOUSE BUILDING CHICAGO TNOMAS a MrtNOtft AUCKANOCR SULDVAN Teletbomx No. 97a /^^Z^:^^,^ ^Z-a 188 ^ A^C, ce^---^- J-^r^'^ yL^^-^ ^ Z2y. j^y-^ '/ / t^^ /^- ^-' ^: -^ //' /x./n. 7'-^* =i^^-.-.^ /^=^ V-i^ >?.'"1. WINOES 4 SOLLIVAN L«WVERS 702 AND 704 OPERA MOUSE BijilOiNQ CHICAGO TMOM«a a MflNOCS MSwnv aMowNC TtXETIIUNI "O. 970. IS3 ^^ /"^i^ /i^^L^ ^i. L \ XOTK.— Thc above letter -.vas 7vrittcit to vie !>v Sullivan before tic trial of the charges brought agaihst him by Cronin, and refers to e'i'idence being collected by Sullivan to refute those charges. " D." means division, "J. G." and " S. C." 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. I.E C. !?i ir INDEX. Agnf.w, Frank, details of, and liis connection with Cl;in-na-G>iel in 1876, 172. . American Army, enlisted m, 9; (lifer- ent eni^asjcnients with, 11, 12. American War, episodes in connection witli, 13-10- Anderson, Mr., communications witli, 60, 100 ; niv reports to him regarding conversation with Mr. I'arnell, 176; and regarding my visit to Ireland, 181 ; informs me of desire of Times for mv services, 266 ; introduces me to Mr^ Houston, 267 ; returns me my letters, 268 ; my tribute to, 271. RF.TTS, Rev. Dr. ,at Dynamite Conven- tion, 199 ; presides over Clan-na-Gael caucus prior to League conventions, 206, 227. P.oland, Michael, details regarding, and his connection with Clan-na-Ciael, 125; convicted of misappropriation of Clan-na-Gael funds, 261. Bourke, GeneralThomas, on Executive of Irish Confederation, 104; further details of, and his connection with Clan-na-Gacl, 121 ; trustee of Skir- mishing Fund, 137. Boyton, iviichael, Devoy's references to, as League organiser and Clan-na- Gael emissarv, 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 liis escape from Dublin, 230. Breslin, John ]., details regarding, and his connection with Clan-na-Gael, 124; trustee of Skirmishing F\md, 136 ; assists Stephens to escape from Richmond Bridewell, Dublin, 164. Buffalo, the row at, 186. Can.\i>i.\n Invasion, story of the first, 31 ; story of the second, 82-85. Carey, James, evidence of, regarding haiid-gn^nade, 158. Carroll, 'Dr. William, details regardmg, and his connection with Clan-na- (iael, 122 ; trustee of Skirmishing I'und, 136 ; action in connection with !)ioposed alliance wid> Russia, 140; visit to, on behalf of Mr. Parnell, and his views regarding position, 182. Clanna-Gael,'" the beginning of the, 106 ; object of, 107 ; views which led to formation of, io8 ; general prin- ciples and methods of the, no ; form of admission to, 1 12 ; governing body of, 115 ; appointed on Military P^oard of, 119; leading men of the, 120; and the Skirmishing F'und, 136; work i)f the, 139 ; proposed alliance of, with Russia, 139 ; controls the Land Li-ague, 152; letter from Devoy re- garding same, 154; Mr. Parnell on d;f1icuUies with Irish members of, 175 ; Michael P.oyton on same, 180 ; Ale.x. Sullivan elected president of, 191 ; change of constitution of, 191 ; manipulating League organisation, 204; details of scheme for same, 205 ; and'Phtrnix Park murders, 208 ; and j'hiladelphia Convention of Land League, 211; Sullivan's working of, 2i8ri'ooks and documents burnt, 220; and League Convention of 1886, 236- Kgan and National League, 237 ; and Home Rule Bill, 246-248; and League movement, 250; finding ot 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 Devov to Europe, 159. Collins, P. A., candrdature for presi- dency of National League in America 307 3o8 INDEX. unsuccessful, because of his offi.T of reward for discovery of Piicenix Park murderers, 215. Condon, CMcigiicr, at Dynamite Con- vention, 198. Conventions, I'onian, at Piiiladelphia, 60 ; at New York, 76 ; Clan-na-(]ael, at Pennsylvania, 146 ; at Wilkes- barre, 149 ; Land T^eafjiie, at Buffalo, 186; "Dynamite," at (^iiicajjo, 187- 194 ; I- not in stock, or null dc sent bytk,- ruiHshcr /,flsl />yc on receipt of price J/A'. WILIJAM HETNEMANN'S LIST. ^w'^zi Of Butbors. Alexander Arbiuhnot Atherton Halesticr liarrett I'.chrs . Ikndall l!j('irnsoii Howcn lirowji Brown and lluclianan liutler Caine . Caine . Cambridge Chester Clarke Colonib Compayre Coiipenis Davidson Dawson De (Juincey Dilke . Eeden Ellwanger Ely . Farrar . Fitch . Forbes Fothergill Franzos Frederic Garner Garnett Gilchrist Gore . (iosse . Gray . Gray (Maxwell) Griffiths Hall . Harland Hardy Heine . Henderson Henderson Howard Hughes Hungerford Ibsen . Irving . Inger.soll iriffith 8, ( i'A(;k . A(;k 13 . '"^ger 7, ,s 8 Jeaftreson . ■i 13 Kimball 16 9 Kipling and lialt stier . <-_) 9 Lanza . '3 J Le Caron . A 16 Lee 10 I, 12, 15 Leland 16 5 Lie . 12 3 Lowe . 6 16 Lynch . 13 Q, 10, 14 Maartens . 10 5 Maeterlinck IS . 8,12 Maude 6 16 Maupassant II • 9. 12 Maurice r') 7 Mitford '3 9 Murray 6 6 Norris 9 * Ouida . 9 11 Palacio-Vakh's II 5 Pearce 10 16 Pennell 6 7 Philips '4 6 Phelps 13 6 Pinero '4 7 Rawnsley . 3 8 Kichter 7 7 Riddell 9 Rives . 10 6 Roberts 8 9 Roberts (V.) 12 II Rol)inson . 14 • ^. 13 Salaman 7 6 Scudaniore . 6 Serat) . 1 1 9 Sienkiewicz 12 16 Tasma . "*' 10, 13 • 7. 9 Terry 6 7 Thurston . 16 9 Tolstoy II. 15 16 Tree . 15 16 Valera I 2 9 Warden 13 12 Waugh 4 4 Weitemeyer 8 6 West . 5 14 Whistler . 6 10 Whitman . 3, 8 5 Williams , 7 • '0, r? Wood 9 1 i Zangwill f.. 9 f. . Zola 9 3 1 J/A'. WILLIAM HEINEMANN'S LIST. VICTORIA: QUEEN AND EMPRESS. UY JOHN CORDY TEAFFRESON, Aiithoi- of "The Real Lord liyroii,- etc. In Two Volumes. Svo. With Portraits. In O.tobcr. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE SECRET SERVICE. THE RECOLLECTIOXS OF A SPY. BY -MAJOR LE CARON. In One Volume. Svo. With Portraits ,ind Facsimiles. I'rice, i^s. REMINISCENCES OF COUNT LEO NICHOLAEVITCH TOLSTOI. BY C. A. BEHRS, transl.\ti;d i-KOAr the Russian hy PROFESSOR C. E. TURNER. In One Volume, Crown Svo. [/„ October. THE REALM OF THE HABSBURGS BY SIDNEY W H I T M A N, Author of" Imperial (lermany." In One Voluine. Crown Svo. f /// November. »►■ 4 MR. [VIIJ.IAM HEINEMANN'S LIST. ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON: A STUDY OF HIS LIFE AND WORK. BY ARTHUR WAUCIH, li.A. Oxon. \N ITH T\\ IA"TV-0.\l. ILIA-.STKATIONS. From PliotognipJis Specially Taken for this Work, and Tioo Portraits. In One \'olume, Demy 8vo, lo.v. dd. C'oNTKNTS : — Lincolnshire — Cambridge — Literary troubles and Artiiur Hallani's Death — Early Years in London— The Beginnings of Fame— From The Princess to In Mcmoriam — Mand— Idylls of the King— Vxom the Idylls to the Dramas — Queen Mary and Harold — The Faleon and The Cup — The Promise of May and Beeket — From Tiresias to Deiiietcr — The Closing Years — The X'oice of the Age. THE WORKS OF HEINRICH HEINE. Translated by CHAKi.iis Cloui-KEv Lki.and, M.A., F.K.L.S. (Hans lireitmaiin.) Crown 8vo, cloth, 5^. per \'olume. I. FLORENTINE NKIIITS, SCHNAr.ELE\YOPSKI, THE RAHl]] OF BACHAKACII, and SHAKE- SPEARE'S MAIDENS AND WOMEN. [A'eady. limes. — " Wc can recommend no better medium for making actiuaintance at first hand with 'the Cierman Aristophanes' than the works of Heinrich Heine, translated by Cliarles (iodfrey l.eland. Mr. Leland manages pretty ^uccessf^dly to jireyerve the easy grace of the original.' II., III. PICTURES OF TRAVEL 1823-1828. In Two Volumes. {Ready. Daily Chronicle. — "Mr. Leland's translation of 'The Pictures of Travel ' is one of the acknowledged literary feats of the age. As a traveller Heine i> delicious beynnd description, and a volume which includes the magnificent Lucca series, tlie North Sea, the memorable Hartz wanderings, must needs possess an everlasting charm." IV. THE BOOK OF SONGS. {In the Press. v., VI. GERMANY. In Two Volumes. {Reaay. Daily Teleg7-aph. — "Mr. Leland has done his translation in able and scholarly fashion." VIL, VIII. FRENCH AFFAIRS. In Two Volumes. [/// the Press. IX. THE SALON. {In preparation. *^' Large Paper Edition, limited to loo Numbered Copies. I\irtieulars on application. •V/v'. WILLIAM HE INEM ANN'S LIST. ^bc (Brcat C^ucatOl\^ A Series of Volumes by Eminent J ! 'ri/ers, presenting- in their entirety "^ Biographical History of Education.'^ r/.cTn,,-s.-^'A Scries of Monographs on ' The (Ircat E.luauor. ' should prove of serycc to all who concern themselves with the history, theory . I>ractice of education." uie.rj, aim /•/;<,• JTA-^Xr,-.-" There is a promising sound about the title of Mr. Heine- MMnn s new ser.es 'The ( ireat Educator.' It should help ,o allay the h.u„er d h,rst for knowledge and c.dture of the vast nndtuude of y„uu. n,en a ^d aKh.,swhu:h our educational sy.ten. turns out yearly, provided at lea.t with an appetite for instruction. Each subject will form a complete volume, crown S Ivo, .\'o7ii rea:ai. Ciii.iiMi;, Cm. Malkici;, R.A., Majok Hknuki-'sun. S'iai-i Ci)i,i.i;(a;, L'ai'IAIn .Maidi,;, ANCHiiiAi.u Kokhics, Ciiaki.i> l.nui;, I). CiiKisi I1-; MunuA^•, F. Scvda.mukic, and Sir Cmaki.f.s Dii.ki.. In Onu \'()lunic, 4t(i, Illnstratcd. {Nearly 7xndy. In this narrative, wliicli is reprinted from the pages of Black ami While , an attempt is made to forecast tlic course of events preliminary and incidental 10 the Cireat War which, in the opinion of military and political experts, will l)robably occur in the immediate future. The writers, who are well-known authorities on international 7)olilics and strategy, have striven to derive the conllict from its most likely source, to conceixe the most probable campaigns and acts of policy, and generally to give to their work the verisimililude and actuality of real warfare. 'J'ln; work has been profusely illustrated from sketches by Mr. Frederic Villiers, the well- known war artist. THE GENTLE ART OF MAKING ENEMIES. As pleasingly- exemplified in many instances, wherein the serious ones of this earth, carefully exasperated, have been prettily spurred on to indiscretions and iniseeniliness, while overcome by an inidue sense of right. I!y J. .M'Nkii. \\'histi.p;k. A Xew Kdilion. Pott 4to, half cloth, io,v. (id. \ J list ready. Puncli. — "The book in itself, in its binding, print and arrangement, is a work of art A work of rare humour, a thing of beauty and a joy for now and ever.' THE JEW AT HOME. Impressions of a Summer and Autunm Spent with Him in Austria and Russia. ByJoSEi'ii Pennei.i.. With Illustrations by the Author. 4to, cloth, 5.?. {.J"st ready. THE NEW EXODUS. A Study of Israel in Russia. Ijy Hakold I'KiiDKKic. Demy 8vo, Illustrated. i6i'. \Jnst ready. PRINCE BISMARCK. An Historical Biography. By Ch.\ri.es LowK, M.A. With Portraits. Crown 8vo, 6j. [Jii.^tready. The Tillies. — " Is unqi'.estionably the first important work which deal.>, fully and with some approach to e.xhaustiveness, with the career of Bismarck from both the personal and the historical points of view." ADDRESSES. By Ht:NRY Irving. Small crown 8vo. With Portrait by J. M'N. Whistler. [/« the Press. STRAY MEMORIES. By Ellen Terry, 410. With Portraits. \in prej'aiation. LITTLE JOHANNES. By Frederick van Eeden. Trans- lated from the Dutch by Clara Ueli.,. With an Introduction by Andrew Lang. Illustrated. \In preparatioii. *** .\lso a Large Paper Kdilion. LIFE OF HEINRICH HEINE. By Richard Garnett, LL. I). With Portrait. Crown 8vo (uniform with the translation of Heine's Works). {In /)reparati(>n. THE SPEECH OF MONKEYS. By Professor R. L. G.\KNKK. Crown Svo, 7.S'. (id. \.J"sl ready. Daily Chroniele. — " A real, a remarkable, contribution to our conuuiin knowledge. Daily Telegraph. — "An entertaining book." THE OLD MAIDS' CLUB. By I. Zangwill, Author of "The liachelors' Club." Illustrated by F. H. Townsend. Crown Svo, cloth, ^.y. dd. Xntional Revieii'. — " Mr. Zangwill has a very bright and a \ery original htmiour, and every page of this closely printed book is full of ])oint and go, and full, too, of a healthy satire th.tt is really humorously applied common-sense." • . \ then' """■''' '"°'- =^ P""' '^"'^''i^'" ^' - K'>rdcn GIRLS AND WOMEN. By E. Chester. Putt Svo, cloth 2^. 6,/., or gilt extra, 3J. 6(/. ' ^"^'■"• Z//.v-rtrj World.~^^\\^ gladly commend this delightful little work " GOSSIP IN A LIBRARY. By Edmund Gosse, Ami,,., ol -When. Stud.es,- &c. Secoud Edition. Crown 8vo, buckr.w gilt top, I,>v,>,^''''''""T-T"T^"^ '? •'',^°"'^'' °f Leigh Hunt in this picture of tlx- book iMlillued ";;.■■" ^°°'^^' ^"^^ '^"^ "°'"'"'= '^ -- 'hat LeigK Hunt woldd i;Se - *' Large Paper Edition, limited to 100 Numbered Copies, 25^ «t7 THE LIFE OF HENRIK IBSEN. By Hemuk Tker Transkaed b>- Claka 1|k,.,.. With the Verse do.Jl h!to E ^^shn^m' t ^.tZ,? ' ?v'^'"'* '^y ^""'l:''^'" ^"^'^•- Crown 8vo, cloth.i. Eng{,sh"u2n7s onUm' ■""'= " ''''''''''■ ^'" ""^^""^^ '^-" '" ''- "'-V DE QUINCEY MEMORIALS. Being Letters n„a other Records here hrs^Pubhshed, with Communicatim.s from Co,eku.(;f The W0K1.SWOUTHS, Han.na., Mon,:, Pkok,.:ss<,k Wilson andoihcrs Edited w. hin roduct.on. Notes, and Narrative, by .Alkxande.c H Ja ■ V, L D ' /)^,7^7■^ '"/"'°.X'^1""'^N ,^l'^'>'y 8vo, cloth, with portraits, L. net Daily y .■A.^njM.-" K-w works of greater literary interest have of htc ve-irs .ssued from the press than the two volumes of ' De (juincey Memorials '•• ^ '^"^JufN??v''f^H^?"? WORKS OF THOMAS DE OriiinnVM^v, Y l^ '"■'"' '"trodiiction and Notes from the Author's ?vofcro!h''l.'eal^'-'^"^^"'^'^^ "• J^'' ^L.D, F.R..S.E., &c. Crow,: L SUSI'IRIA DE PROKUNDIS. With other Essays. Times. — ' Here we have De Ouincev at his best Win ,„ 1 lovers of De Quincey and good literature'" ' ^^ "*^''°""-" '" II. CONVERSATION AND COLERIDGE. With other L/w pret^--" -^' c---^ ^vesimuS; THE GARDEN'S STORY; or, Pleasures and Trials of an Amateur (.ardener IJy G. H. Ei.lwange,.'. With a>. Introduction bv th^ Kev. C. W o,.,.i.:v Dod. i2mo, cloth, with Illustrations 5,™^'"'-"°" '^^ '^c IDLE MUSINGS: Essays in Social Mosaic. Bv E Conder c'lX'e:'"""^ °' ''■'^'^ '''°"'' ''"' ^'°^''"S ^-^^'" ^^- ^^c 'crown a"!; .J//.'. WILLIAM HEINEMANN'S LIST. 11 THE COMING TERROR. And other Essays and Letters. I'.y kniicKT r.uciiANAN. Second Kdition. Demy Svo, cloth, i2.t. td. ARABIC AUTHORS: A Manual of Arabian History and I.itcrntiiri;. l!y F. V. Auhutiino r, M.k.A.S., Author r]f " I^nrly Ideas," " Persian I'lirtraits," &c. Svo, cloth, los. THE LABOUR MOVEMENT IN AMERICA. By RiCHAKi) T. ICly, Ph.D., .Associate in I'ohtical J'Iconoiny, Johns Hopkins University. Crown Svo, clotii, SJ. THE LITTLE MANX NATION. (Lectures delivered at the Royal Institution, 1891.) Hy Hai.i. Caink, Author of "The Bond- man, rhe Scapegoat," &c. Crown Svo, cloth, 3^. 6^/.; paper, is. 6d. IVcfliL — "Mr. Hall Caine takes us hack to the days of old romance, and, treating tradition and history in the jjictorial style of whicii he is .1 master, he gives us a monograph of Man especially acceptable." NOTES FOR THE NILE. Together with a Metrical Rendering of the Hynms of .Ancient P^gypt anil of the Precepts of Ptah- hotep theoldcst book in the world). I'y Hakdwickk I). Kawnsi.ev, .M.A. i6mo, cloth, 5^. DENMARK: Its History, Topography, Language, Literature, Fine Arts, Social Life, and Finance. Edited by H. WErrE.MKVKK. Demy Svo, cloth, with Map, 12^. ()d. *«' Dedicated, by permission, to H.R.II. the Princess of Wales. IMPERIAL GERMANY. A Critical Study of Fact and Character. By Sidnky WiuTiMAN. New Edition, Revised and Enlarged. Crown Svo, cloth 2^. dd.; paper, q.s. THE CANADIAN GUIDE-BOOK. Part I. The Tourist's ;ind Sportsman's Guide to Eastern Canada and Newfoundland, including full descriptions of Routes, Cities, Points of Interest, Summer Resorts, Fishing Places, &c., in Eastern Ontario, The Mnskoka District, The m. Lawrence Region, The Lake St. John Country, The Maritime Provinces, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland. VVith an Ajjpendix giving Fish and tiame Laws, and Official Lists of Trout and Salmon Ri\ers .,nd their Lessees. By Ciiaklks G. D. Roiiehts, Professor of linglish Literature in King's College, Windsor, N.S. With Maps and many Illustrations. Crown Svo, limp cloth, 6j. Part II. WESTERN CANADA. Including the Peninsula and Northern Regions of Ontario, the Canadian Shores of the Great Lakes, the Lake of the Woods Region, Manitoba and " The Great North-West," The Canadian Rocky .Mountains and National Park, British Columbia, and V.ancouver Island. P.yEiy. Author of 1 h, 1. ,rst V.olin," .^^c. ' "/« Fehrnarv. '^"^..frAST SENTENCE. By Maxwei... Gray, Author of I ho Silence of De.in Maitlaud," .'s;,.-. |/„ March. WOMAN AND THE MAN. A Love Story. By Rohert hucuANAN-, Aiithor of " Come Live with Me and Ije Mv I.ove, Fhe A KNIGHT OF THE WHITE FEATHER. By " Tasma ' iV'n •■'V''" '"''■''' P^'nance of Portia James," "Uncle Piper of I'iper's I nil, iVc. - / , ' , //isr ready. ^ ^u'^T^^ ^?.?,^- ^^y ''^"-^ CAMnRi.,r.E, Author of "A Marked Man, ihe Three .Miss Kin->," .'vc. 'ru'o T '" On^^ Volume. THE NAULAHKA. A Tale of West and East. Bv Rudyvrd Kii'i.iNc and WoixoTT Balestiek. Crown Svo, cloth.' 6j. Second Just ready, THE SECRET OF NARCISSE. By Edmund (iossE. *-''"^^" Svo. llnOctol^er. "T"^ AVERAGE WOMAN. By Wolcott Bai.estier. W itli an Introduction by Henkv James. Small crown Svo, 3.?. rd. __, „ I / n.^t ready. THE ATTACK ON THE MILL and Other Sketches y ^ u\-r ''•■V''r^ ^''t-^- ^^'"h an essay on the short stories of M. Zola by Ldmund Oosse. Small crown Svo, 3^. 6d. \J„st ready. DUST. By ]!j6RN.sT|ERNE BjoRNsoN. Translated from the Norwegian. Small crown Svo. MADEMOISELLE MISS and Other Stones. By Henry Haui.and, Author of " Mea Culpa," &c. Small crov.n Svo. [/« t/tc Press. AVENGED ON SOCIETY. By H. F. Wood. Small crown Svo. r, f! ■ P ■• THE DOMINANT SEVENTH. A Musical Story, "bv K.vrE Elizameth Ci.akke. Crown Svo, cloth, -^s. 'Speaker.— A very romantic story." PASSION THE PLAYTHING. A Novel. By R. Murray GiLtnKisT. Crown Svo, cloth, 6.f. Athc>l winch will cnaljlc him tu issue a scries of Nkw and Okk.inal Wokks, to be Iciiown a> The Ck'own Coi'Ykkjht Seriks, complete in Ooc Volume, at a uniform price of Five Siiii.lincjs each. 'I'hese Novels will not pass thnju,i;ii an K.v- pensive Two or Three Volume Editicjii, but they will be obtainable at the ClKcLl.ATiMi I,iiJkAi■ ^ hauvi,u>,n Heine,,,.,,,, il^ r/v \ , 1 |n,,,n r ''' '^^'l'--'^" ':l-'-'=- "f "I,,,:!, M,-. W,||,a,„ Tunes.— "\ vciil,irv wliid, iloscrvcs i:iicourag<;,.,<;iit." l-.nch Volume Ims an lutroduction sMially written by tin- Editor Price, in ])ai,er covers, 2j-. M. each, nr cloth, 3.V. e,?" "^ °°^;i'^''''- '■''■•"" "'= ^"'"-S;-" of „J„KNSTJ,.:„NH s;:;;;S';t''s.;;:;'3;;^;;,::;';l "f^'-v-'^'"'-i- W//..«<,v,/;..--' Ka„ks a,„on.,.st the be>t Ken,s of „,oden, F,-e„ch Hction.' I ,w\.N/(j.-,, .\i,tl,()r (,f Inr the K,,i;l,t, ,S;c. WORK WHILE YE HAVE THE LIGHT. From the KusMan of Count Lvo,.- Ti,i.st,,v. ^ ^ novchst.'-'''"^^'''''"'''^'--''^'"'-'^'-''' '^>- ^'" "'^ '^''' I— of the great Russ.a,, noble tlht"''''"""'^"'""''""^"^ ""^' "'^" '--'-"^'' : f^H "n,ish and FANTASY. From tl„; Italian of Matii.de Serao. has bi^fpubhS^;?':;;-;?:^.;'':""^'^^' ^^"■■'^ '^-^ "- »--• -^- -on^a,, that The;^isS-;nii^e^'3'^''-"'^'^';'''f "«'°^^'"^ ^^^Txn/rs ^'"°'" '^'^ ^'^1'''"'''' ""^ ^°" Armando Palacio- ''°°a,?.ll''^ °^ ^^'^^- ^^-- ^'-^ ^"tch of Lour. tranSeJ' ■^''"""■'''■-"^^ powerfully realistic story which has been excellently exaggerated." s-ingie situation is forced or a circumstance 13 MA\ WILLIAM HEINEMANN'S LIST. 1I)cincinaim'3 international Xibrai\?. PEPITA JIMENEZ. From the Spanish of Ji;a.\ Vai.rra. .\V;i' Review Mr. (Icorj^c S.iinlsbury) : -"'rhori; is im iloiilit .it all lh.it it is niie nf the licst Nlurii;'. that have .ippcariicl in .my iMiiiitry in l'',iiro]»d for tlie I.isl '.unity years. ' THE COMMODORE'S DAUGHTERS. From the Nor- woj;iaii of Junas I,ii:. .Ithiiiiriim.—" KverythiriK that Jonas I,ii; writes is attractive anil pleasant ; the jiiot of deeply liuinaii interest, antl the art nohle." THE HERITAGE OF THE KURTS. From the Norwegian of lljiiNNs rjKlv'NK HliiKNSON. J'ltil Mull (iiizcttc- " .\ most fascinating; as well as a powerful book." Xntioiinl (ihscri'er. — " It is a book to read and a ixjok to think aljoiit, for, incontestalily, it is the work of a man of genius." 1)1 the I'nss. LOU. From the German of IIako.n v. R011KRT.S. DONA LUZ. \•x^^\^\ ilic .'^|);ii.i.sli of ji;a.n Vai.kka. WITHOUT DOGMA. From the I'olish of II. Sik.nkii:\vi< z. Ipopulai* 3s. 6^. iWovels. CAPT'N DAVY'S HONEYMOON, Tlie lilind Mother, and I'lie Last Confession. I'.y IIai.i, C.mnk, .Author of " 'I'lie liondman, ' " The Scapegoat," iS:c. THE SCAPEGOAT, lly IIai.i. Cai.nk, Author of "The Iloiulnian," i*v;c. Mr. Ciladstouc writes: — " I congratulate you upon ' The Scapegoat' as a work of art, and csi>ecially upon the noble and skilfully drawn character of Israel." Tunes. — " In our judgment it excels in dramatic force all his previous efforts. For grace .uid touching pathos Naomi is a character which any rom.uicist in the world might be proud to have created." THE BONDMAN. A New S.!!;.-!. liy IIai.i. Cai.ne. 1' wen tie th Thousand. Mr. Cliuistonc. — '"The I'.ondman' is a work of which I recognise the freshness, vigour, and sustained interest no less than its integrity (jf aim." .StiiHtiani. — " Its argument is grand, anti it is sustained with a jjower that is almost marvellous." DESPERATE REMEDIES. 15y Thom.as Hardy, Author of "less of the D'Urbervilles," &c. Saturday Rc7'iew. — " A remarkable story worked out with abundant skill." A MARKED MAN: Some Episodes in liis Life. By Ada Cami KiDiiE, Author of "Two Years' Time," " .\ .Mere Chance," &c. Mi'ruiiic Post. — ".\ 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." Athenauiit. — " .\ 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. Ciiardiau. — " .\ clever and absorbing story.'' (^.Wf*.— " All that remains to be said is ' read the book.' " MR. WILLIAM II i: I ly EM A NX'S LIST. i.j popular 3s. 6^ 1Ko\^cls. UNCLE PIPER OF PIPER'S HILL. liy Tasma. New J'opiilar l'.diti')ii. (7Mrtn('//i.—" Singularly clever and fascinating." ./a«(/t7//_y.—" One of the cleverest, if not also the pleasantest, stories that have appeared for a long time." A ROMANCE OF THE CAPE FRONTIER. Hy I.ertram MiTFOKU, Author of "Through the Zulu Country," &c. C>/w>-:r/-.— "This is a nittling tale, genial, healthy, and spirited." 'TWEEN SNOW AND FIRE. A Tale of tlie Kafir War of 1877. Uy BliKTRAM MiTKOMJ. THE :\rASTER OF THE MAGICIANS. By Ei.i/.abeth Stlart Phki.i's and Heuhekt D. Ward. Atltctueiiiii. — " .V thrilling story." LOS CERRITOS. A Romance of the Modern Time. By Gk.ktklue Fkanki.in- Athekto.v, Author of " Hermia Suydam,' and " What Dreams may Come." Athcniiuiii.—"Y\\\\ 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 lU/iiU:—" A decidedly clever book." 14 .1/A'. WILLIAM HEINEMANN'S LIST. Ipopulai* SbiUino Boof^s. MADAME VALERIE. By Y. C. I'lilMi-s, Aulhur of "As in ;i l,i)okiiit;-( Ilass," I'vic. THE MOMENT AFTER: A Talc of tlic- Unseen. I'.y Kdl.Kiri- IIUCMANAN'. Atlii-iidiiiii. — "Should be road— in d.iylinlit." lUi.scn'i)'.^" A clever tour lic force." diKirdiaii. — " I'articiil.irly imiin-siivc, v^raphic, ami powerful." CLUES ; or, Leaves from a Chief Constable's Note-Book. By William IIkndknsdn, Chief Coustalilo of Ivliiibur^h. ,M>: CLulstonc. — " I found ihc honk full of interest." A VERY STRANGE FAMILY. By I. W. UoiiiNsoN, •Vulhor of " ( Irandniolher's .Money," " Lazarus in London," .'■';c. C,lnsgo7v lliratd. — " .\n in^jenionsly devised jilot, of whii.h the interest is kept up to the very ki,->l l>a^e. A judicious lihjnihng of humour .iiul pathos further helps to make the hook ('eli.nhtful re:i,initu'ii. A NEW PLAY. l!y I'.jornstjkr.nk 1!joRNSO.\. TranshUccl thu Norwegian. lit pi;p,i,;iti«i/. h'oiii THE PRINCESSE MALEINE: A Drama in live .Acts Iraiislatcil l.y (;urar(l Harrys, ami 1 1 1 I', IXTKI |)|:K ; A Drama in One Act. I!y M.mkk |.; .M Aki kki.ixck. With an Intmilucticm l.y ll.\i i. Caim:, and a Portrait dl the .Author. .Small .(to, clotli, i.v. Ai/unuvi-:u(tu/ri.s.ioii, here that he does what no one else has done. In 'The Iiitriirler' the art consists of the subtle gradations of terror, the slow, creeping progress of the nightmare of api)rehcnsion. Nothing ([iiite like it has been done before - not even by I'oe— not even Ijy Villiers." THE FRUITS OF ENLIGHTENMENT: .\ Comedy in Four .\ct-~. I!y Coiiiii l.vdl- Imi.skjv. Translated from the Russian by K. J. Dii.i.ox. With Introduction by .\. W. Pinkno. Small (to, with Portrait, ^s. Pall Mall (,'azclh'.— "The whole effect of the play is distiuclly .Moli(''rest|iie; it has something of the l.irge lii;m.inity of the m.-ister. Its satire is genial, almost gay." HEDDA GABLER: .\ Drama in Four .Acts. By Hk.nrik IlisKN. 'I'nmslated from the Norwegian by Edmund CossK. Small 410 cloth, with Portrait, 5.?. Vaudeville Edition, paper, ly. Also a 1, muted Large Paper Edition, 21s, net. 7'/;in's. — " The langn.ige in which tliis play is couched is a model of brevity, decision, and pointeduess Every line tells, and there is not an incident th,it does not bear on the action immediate or remote. As .•» corrective to the vapid and foolish writing with which the stage is deluged ' Hcdda ( labkr ' is perhaps entitled to the place of honour." STRAY MEMORIES. I5y Ki.i.en Tkrrv. In one volume. I Ihistrated. ( /„ preparation. SOME INTERESTING FALLACIES OF THE .Modern Stage. .An .Address ilelivered to the Playgoers' Club at .St. James's Hall, on Sunday, f-th December, loyi. Hy HiiKiiEK 1 Ukkkiioiim 1 NKK. Crown 8vo, sewed, dd. THE LIFE OF HENRIK IBSEN. By IIexrik Tk':f.r. Iranslated by Ci.aka I!i-.i.i.. With the Verse done into Engli-h'from the Norwegian Original by Ed.mu.nd Gosst:. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6j. .St. James's OV«£f/<'<'. — " .Admirably translated. Deserves a cordial and emphatic welcome." (iunrdiait.—'' \\ne\\\ . 6/. .'\f:iiti'icsti:r Guardian. — ''Will be welcome to every lover (jf pcjctry wiia takei it uji. ' MAGONIA: A Poem. By Charles CIodkrey Leland (Hans liKiin MANX;. Fcap. 8vo. [lit the Presi. IDYLLS OF WOMANHOOD. By C. Amy Dawson. Fcap. Svo, gilt top, 5i-. Ibeinemanns Scientific 1DanM)oofts. MANUAL OF BACTERIOLOGY. By A. B. Gkimitiis. Ph.D., F.K.S. 'Kdiii. , F.C.S. Crown Svo, cloth. Illustrated. js. 6d. MANUAL OF ASSAYING GOLD, SILVER, COPPER, and Lead Ores. I!y Waltkk I.ek 1Ii^)WN, r...Sc. Revised, Corrected, and considerably Knlarijed, with a cliapter on the Assaying of Fuel. &'.-. By A. P.. (".Kii-i-iTiis, Ph.D., F.K.S. Ediu. , F.C.S. Crown Svo, cloth, IlUustr.ited, ys. 6d. Colliery Ciuardian. — ^* .\ 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 Svo, cloth. Illus- trated, 5i. Si. James's Gazette. — "The book m.iy be safely recommended to tlio^e who desire to acquire an accurate knowledge of (leodesy." 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 oi' earth- measurements. ' THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF GASES. By Akthlk L. KlMisAi.i., of the Johns Hopkins University. Crown Svo, cloth, Illustrated. 5,v. Chemical Xe'vs. — "The man of culture who wishes for a general and accurate acquaintance with the i)hysical properties of gases, will rind in Mr. Kimball's work just what he rcipures.'' HEAT AS A FORM OF ENERGY. By Professor R. H. TnLKSTON, of Cornell University. Crown Svo, cloth, Illustrated, 5i. MancliCster Examiner. — "Hears out the character of its predecessors for careful and coriect statement and deducticjti under the light of the most recen discoveries." LONDON: j\ A\^ I L L I A M H E I N E M A N N 21 BEDFORD STREET, W.C.