>.^ / // V 
 
4G967 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 IN 
 
 THE SECRET SERVICE 
 
 €f e ^U0litti\QW.6 of A ^p^. 
 
 BY 
 
 MAJOR HENRI LE CARON. vN/ 
 
 Wo citizen has a right to consider himself as belonging to hitm^elf ; hut all ought 
 to regard themselves as belongi7ig 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. 
 
 BOSTON : 
 AMERICAN CITIZEN CO. 
 
 7 Brom FIELD Street. 
 BOSTON COLLEGE LJb^vV,^ 
 
Copyright, 1892, by 
 Wm. Heinemann. 
 
 I>. Barta & Co., Pkintebs, 
 
 148 High Street, 
 
 Boston. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 It has seemed good in the sight of many people that 
 I should place on record, in some permanent and accept- 
 able form, the story of my eventful life. And so I am 
 about to write a book. The task is a daring one — per- 
 haps the most daring of the many strange and unlooked-for 
 incidents which have marked my career of adventure. 
 I approach it with no light heart, but rather with a keen 
 appreciation of all its difficulties. 
 
 To cater, and cater successfully, for the reading public 
 of this fin de sihlc period is an undertaking which fairly 
 taxes all the powers of resource and experience of the 
 most brilliant writers of our time. And I am in no sense 
 a practised writer, much less a professional litterateur. 
 I have spent my life working at too high a pressure, and 
 in too excited an atmosphere, to allow of my qualifying in 
 any way for the role of author. 
 
 Nor am I handicapped in this way alone. I am, 
 unfortunately .for my purpose, deprived of the 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 indulged in here. The truth, the 
 whole truth, and nothing but the truth is what I have set 
 
 iii 
 
iv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 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 unalterable characteristic will 
 apply all through, and that will be the absolute truthful- 
 ness 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 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 sub- 
 sequent pages will show, I was first brought into contact 
 with Fenian affairs, no fell purpose, no material considera- 
 tion prompted me to work against the revolutionary plot- 
 ters. 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 
 
INTRODUCTION. V 
 
 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 
 souo-ht, 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, 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 Eng- 
 land there is ever present danger, and constantly recurring 
 difficulty, but of recompense, a particularly scant supply. 
 
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS IN THE 
 SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 Of my early youth little that is very interesting or 
 exciting can be told. A faded entry in the aged records 
 of the ancient borough of Colchester evidences the fact 
 that a certain Thomas Beach, to wit myself, came into 
 this world some fifty and one years ago, on the 26th 
 day of September 1841. My parents were English, as 
 the American would phrase it, ''from far away back," my 
 grandfather tracing his lineage through many generations 
 in the county of Berkshire. The second son of a family 
 of thirteen, I fear I proved a sore trial to a careful father 
 and affectionate mother, by my erratic methods and the 
 varied outbursts of my wild exuberant nature. My earliest 
 recollection is of the teetotal principle on which we were 
 all brought up, and the absence of strong drink from all 
 our household feasts. The point is a trivial one, but not 
 unworthy of note, as it supplies the key to some of my 
 successes in later life, in keeping clear of danger through 
 intoxication, when almost all of those with whom I dealt 
 were victims to it. When others lost their heads, and 
 their caution as well, I was enabled, through my distaste 
 for drink, to benefit in every way. 
 
 Living in a military town as I did, and coming into 
 daily contact with all the pomp and circumstance of sol- 
 
2 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 diering, it was but natural that the glory of the redcoat 
 life should affect me, and that, like so many other foolish 
 boys, I should feel drawn to the ranks. Of course I wanted 
 to enlist, and what wonder that for me life held no nobler 
 ambition and success, no grander figure than that clothed 
 with the uniform of the bold drummer-boy. All my 
 efforts, however, were naturally of no avail, and I found 
 the path to glory blocked at every point. The fever, 
 nevertheless, was upon me, and my want of success only 
 made me the more determined to achieve my object in the 
 long run. Home held no promise of success, and at home 
 I decided I would no longer remain. So it came about 
 that one fine morning, when little more than twelve years 
 of age, I packed my marbles, toys, and trophies, and in 
 the early light slipped quietly out on to the high-road en 
 route for that Mecca of all country boys — the great glori- 
 ous city of London ! 
 
 I had run away from home in grim earnest. Not for 
 very long, however. Fortunately for me — unfortunately 
 as I thought in these young days — I committed a grave 
 blunder in tactics. Meeting one of my school-fellows on 
 the journey, I was foolish enough to inform him of my 
 proceeding 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 con- 
 clusion. I had, however, tasted of the sweets of adven- 
 ture, and it was not very long before I made another 
 attempt to rid myself of the trammels of home life. Here 
 again I was fated to meet with defeat, but not before I 
 had made a distinct advance upon my first effort, for two 
 weeks were allowed to elapse before I was discovered on 
 this occasion. The natural consequences attended these 
 attempts of mine, and soon I was written down as the 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 3 
 
 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 arrangement 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, 
 where the efforts to curb my impulsive nature resulted in 
 increasing bitterness of spirit on my part every day. In 
 eleven m.onths it was conceded on both sides that the con- 
 tinuation 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 accidentally set fire to the premises, and was 
 politely told that after this my services could not be prop- 
 erly appreciated. I was not long out of employment, and 
 strangely enough, through the agency of one of the gen- 
 tlemen whose house had suffered through my careless- 
 ness, 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, how- 
 ever, I was struck down with fever, and reduced to a pen- 
 
4 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 niless condition. Then came the idea of returning to 
 London, which I duly carried out, walking all the way. 
 My foolhardiness proved almost fatal, for ere I got to the 
 metropolis, my illness came back upon me, and I was 
 scarce able to crawl to St. Bartholomew'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 posses- 
 sion of my clothes and to leave the institution. Thoughts 
 of home and mother decided my return to Colchester, and 
 thither I immediately proceeded to make my way on foot. 
 Again the fever attacked me, and once more I had to 
 seek the friendly shelter of an hospital, this time taking 
 refuge in the Colchester and East Essex Institution. Here 
 I remained till I was permanently recovered, after which 
 I entered the service of Mr. William Baber of the town. 
 However, my efforts to lead a sober conventional life were 
 all in vain. The wild longing for change came back in 
 renewed strength, and in a little while I had left London 
 altogether behind and journeyed to Paris via Havre. 
 
 IL 
 
 I AM amused as I look back now upon the utter reck- 
 lessness and daring of this proceeding of mine. I knew 
 not a soul in France ; of the language, not a word was 
 familiar ; and yet somehow 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 ac- 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 5 
 
 tivity 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 myself reduced once more to 
 a condition of penurv, having in the interval gained little 
 but an acquaintance with the principal thoroughfares and 
 their shops, and a slight knowledge of the language, to 
 which latter I was helped in no inconsiderable degree by 
 a wonderfully retentive memory. 
 
 Things were at a very low ebb for me indeed, when 
 help came from an entirely unexpected quarter. Happen- 
 ing one Sunday to pass by the English Church in the Rue 
 d'Aguesseau, of which, by the way, the Rev. Dr. Forbes 
 was at that time chaplain, I was attracted by the music of 
 the service 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 per- 
 fectly familiar, having already sung in the choir of my 
 native town. My singing and generally strange appear- 
 ance attracted the attention of a member of the church, 
 with whom I formed an acquaintance. We left the church 
 together — not however before I had promised my assist- 
 ance in the choir — and at his request I breakfasted with 
 my English friend at one of the creinei^ies in the Faubourg. 
 Now, as then, a respected citizen of Paris, I am happy to 
 number this countryman among the truest and most stead- 
 fast 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 
 
6 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 that I should vacate my room and share his lodging, even 
 going the length of advancing me money to enable me to 
 do so. Before a week had passed, he had capped his good- 
 ness by securing a situation for me ; and I found myself 
 at length comfortably installed in the house of Withers, 
 a la Siiissere, 52 Faubourg St. Honore. Through his in- 
 fluence also I became a paid member of the church choir, 
 and in a very short time I was the recipient of the friend- 
 ship 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 contented in 
 my daily task. 
 
 So the weeks and months came and went without dis- 
 covering any change in my position, till an unlooked-for 
 incident once more brought the wild mad thirst for change 
 and excitement back to me, and sounded the death-knell 
 of my quiet life. On the 9th April 1861, the shot was 
 fired at Fort Sumter which inaugurated the war of the 
 Rebellion 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. 
 
 Arthur's, the place of business of which I speak, was 
 one of the most favored of the American resorts, and 
 here the excitement raged at fever heat, as little by little 
 the news came over the sea. These were not the days of 
 the cable, flashino: the news of success or defeat simultane- 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE, J 
 
 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 tid- 
 ings came in snatches, and the absence of completeness 
 and detail only served to give the greater impetus to dis- 
 cussion and imagination. 
 
 There was no more excited student of the situation 
 than myself ; and very soon, of course, I was fired with 
 the idea of playing a part in the scenes which I was fol- 
 lowing 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 discretion 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 en- 
 listed in the Northern Army, in company with several of 
 my American associates from Paris. In connection with 
 my enlistment there occurred a circumstance, trivial in 
 itself at the moment, yet fraught with the most important 
 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 disclos- 
 ing my position, and decided to sustain the joke by play- 
 ing the part of a Frenchman and calling myself Henri le 
 Caron. So came into existence that name and character 
 which, in after years, proved to be such a marvellous 
 
8 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 source of protection and success to me personally, and of 
 such continued service to my native country whose citi- 
 zenship I had, by my proceeding, to resign. 
 
 As subsequent events proved, however, I was not to 
 carry out my original idea of returning. The three 
 months came and went, and many more followed in their 
 wake, till five years had passed and left me still in the 
 United States service. The life suited me. I made 
 many friends ; soldiering was a pleasant experience ; and 
 I was particularly fortunate in escaping its many mishaps. 
 I had no care for the morrow, and, happily for me, I 
 found my morrows to bring little if any care to me. Only 
 on one occasion was I seriously wounded. This was when, 
 during an engagement near Woodbury, Tennessee, I had 
 my horse killed under me by a shell, my companion killed 
 at my side, and myself wounded by a splinter from the 
 explosive, which laid me up for about a month. 
 
 Interesting and animated as was my career as a soldier, 
 I must not delay to deal with it too fully in detail, but 
 must hurry on to that subsequent 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 William J. Palmer. Here 
 I remained for a year and ten months, serving through 
 the Peninsula campaign of the army of the Potomac, in- 
 cluding the battles of Four Oaks, South Mountain, Antie- 
 tam, and Williamsport, all of which were fought under 
 the command of General Georo-e B. McClellan. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 9 
 
 In October 1862, I joined, with my regiment, the 
 Western Army, under the command of General William S. 
 Rosecrans, and participated in the advance from Louis- 
 ville, Nashville, and Murfreesboro', including the engage- 
 ments at Tullahoma and Winchester, and ending with the 
 capture of Chattanooga and Chicamauga in September of 
 the same year. The failure of Rosecrans at Chicamauga 
 ended his career. He was succeeded by General George 
 H. Thomas, under whom I served the remainder of my 
 career in the army. By this time I had obtained a war- 
 rant as a non-commissioned officer, and was principally 
 engaged in scouting duty. On the command in which I 
 served, being ordered to the relief of General Burnside 
 at Knoxville, I left Chattanooga, then in a state of siege 
 and semi-famine, and reaching Knoxville, I was engaged 
 during the whole of the winter of 1863 in the East Ten- 
 nessee campaign against the rebel General Longstreet, 
 my engagements including Strawberry Plain, Mossy 
 Creek, and Dandridge. I was fortunate enough to be 
 recommended for a commission in 1864, and, after my 
 examination before a military board, was gazetted Second 
 Lieutenant in the United States Army in the month of 
 July of that year. For the next twelve months I was 
 exclusively employed in scouting duty, in charge of a 
 mounted company, serving in this capacity under General 
 Lovell H. Rousseau in West Tennessee. In December 
 1864, being attached to General Stedman's division of 
 the army of the Cumberland, I was present at the battle 
 of Nashville, 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 
 
lO TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 of Acting Assistant-Adjutant-General and Regimental 
 Adjutant. At the close of the war I joined the veteran 
 organizations 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 communicated my where- 
 abouts and position to my parents, much to their anxiety 
 and dismay. 
 
 Tragedy and comedy blended together in strange fel- 
 lowship in our experiences of these days ; and, as I write, 
 a couple of amusing examples of this occur to me. It was 
 in 1865, when engaged in scouting duty in connection with 
 the guerilla warfare carried on by irregular bands of South- 
 erners, that I received the following order : — 
 
 "Headquarters, Third Sub-District, Middle Tennessee, 
 "Acting Assistant-Adjutant-General's Office, 
 "Kingston Springs, Tenn., May 17, 1865. 
 "Sir, — The follo^ying despatch has been received: — 
 
 "Nashville, May 16, 1865. 
 " Brig. -Gen. Thompson. 
 
 " In accordance with orders heretofore published of the Major-Gen. Com- 
 manding Dept. of Cumberland, Champ Fergusson and his gang of cut- 
 throats having refused to surrender, are denounced as outlaws, and the 
 military forces of this district will deal with and treat him accordingly. 
 " By Command of Major-Gen. Rousseau, 
 
 " (Signed) H. C. Whitlemore, 
 "Capt. and A.A.A.G." 
 
 This, of course, meant sudden death to any of the band 
 who might come within range of our rifles. The men, 
 indeed, were nothing less than murderers and robbers, 
 carrying on their devilish work under the plea of fighting 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. II 
 
 for Southern independence. It was not long before an 
 opportunity 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 accommoda- 
 tion for our wants, I came to a well-built farmhouse a few 
 miles from the Duck River. As we approached the front, 
 my attention was attracted by an armed man, in the well- 
 known butternut gray uniform of the enemy, escaping from 
 the back in a very hasty and suspicious manner. Reading 
 his true character in a moment, I shouted to him to halt, 
 at the same time directing my troopers to ''head him off " 
 right and left. Disregarding our cries, he started off in 
 hot haste, v/hile we pursued him in equally hurried fashion. 
 The chase was a hard and a stern one, his flight being 
 only broken for a moment to allow of his discharging his 
 carbine at me. Not desiring to kill him, I saved my pow- 
 der, 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 exam- 
 ine our prisoner, and found, on stripping him of his gray 
 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 con- 
 cluded that this was one of his assassins, and my troop, 
 coming up at this point, dealt him scant mercy, and filled 
 his body with their bullets ere consciousness returned. 
 A search of his pockets revealed his identity, his pocket- 
 
12 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 book containing some two hundred dollars in bills, and an 
 oath of allegiance to the United States Government, 
 which he had doubtless used many times to save his 
 wretched life. 
 
 Making our way back to the house, we discovered two 
 weeping women, and half-a-dozen small children. A single 
 question elicited the fact that the elder of the two was 
 the mother, while subsequent inquiries proved that the 
 dead man was the notorious William M. Guin, a nephew 
 of ex-United States Senator Guin, of California, and one 
 of the leaders of as notorious a gang of cut-throats as ever 
 operated in the South-West. Our custom was to burn the 
 houses of any persons found harboring these guerillas, but 
 the heartrending entreaties of the wretched women and 
 children caused me to leave them unmolested. Some 
 time afterwards, when peace was finally declared, I was 
 quartered at Waverley, in the same vicinity, and often met 
 the unfortunate mother, v/ho knew me as "the man who 
 killed her boy," though, as she told me, she never blamed 
 me, havins: 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 ani- 
 mal when found, the methods adopted to hide them in 
 caves, ravines, and swamps were sometimes very remarka- 
 ble. 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 presented me 
 with the following amusing appeal : — ■ 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 "We write in good spirits to you, 
 For our glad expectations we hope to find true, 
 That you'll act as a gentleman always should do, 
 And with a request from the ladies comply 
 Which a fame would attain you that never should die; 
 While we'll think of you ever with kindness sincere, 
 And say of you what it would please you to hear, 
 And wish for you always a life long and free 
 From grief and visitation that sometimes will be. 
 
 " Now, what must you do these good wishes to gain, 
 And make us rejoice that we asked not in vain? 
 Well, a something 'twill be a great boon to obtain 
 To us who now ask — and a kindness most true 
 And most earnestly wished for — but to you 
 It will be what they tell us a victory is — 
 Quite easy to 'Grant,' and we hope you'll grant this. 
 
 III. 
 
 "We once (not long since) had a favorite here. 
 Obedient and gentle, deservedly dear; 
 He was patient, obeying our will without force, 
 And he seemed like a friend, though he was but a horse. 
 How much we esteemed him we never can say. 
 And Dixie we named him. You took him away ! 
 And sadly and truly we've missed him since then — 
 Oh, captain, do give us poor Dixie again. 
 If you have conquered oiie Dixie, be generous here; 
 Return us the other we all count so dear. 
 And we'll say Captain Le Caron (and hold it so too) 
 Is the very best soldier that ever wore blue. 
 Your country is famed both in prose and in song; 
 To its sons truth and justice are said to belong — 
 Good principle, honor, with bravery too; 
 Prove now to us, captain, that this is quite true. 
 Let us have our old friend — you have better by scores, 
 But to us none so dear can e'er stand at our doors; 
 
 13 
 
14 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 None other can seem half so good or so wise, 
 
 So worthy our care as he was in our eyes. 
 
 You Diiisi be enlightened, be generous too; 
 
 Give us back our poor Dixie, 
 
 Do, captain, please do. 
 
 Just say we may have him, that welcome word say, 
 
 And your petitioners will evermore pray. 
 
 " Mary Barr. 
 
 "Vernon, Tennessee, July 1865. 
 " To Captain Le Caron." 
 
 "Cynthia Barr. 
 " Polly H ass ell, 
 " Mary L. G,, a sympathizer. 
 
 I naturally pursued the only course which a soldier 
 could, and surrendered the horse. Strange to say, one of 
 my lieutenants afterwards surrendered his affections and 
 future happiness to one of these fair damsels, and still lives 
 with her as his wife, surrounded by a charming family, away 
 out in central Kansas. 
 
 III. 
 
 In the midst of all my soldiering, I wooed and won 
 my wife. She is the principal legacy left me of those 
 old campaigning days of mine, as bonny a wife and as 
 sympathetic and valuable a helpmate as ever husband 
 was blessed with in this world. Many years have gone 
 by since we first met away in Tennessee, where she, a 
 bright-eyed daring horsewoman, and I, a happy-go-lucky 
 cavalry officer, scampered the plains together in pleas- 
 ant company. Little thought either of us then what 
 the future years held in store. Yet when these years 
 came, and with them the anxious moments, the uncer- 
 tain intervals, and the perilous hours, none was more 
 brave, more sympathetic than she. Carrying the secret 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. tj 
 
 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 un- 
 certain 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, affec- 
 tionate, and fearless, frequently beseeching me to end this 
 terrible career in which each moment of the coming hours 
 was charged with danger if not death, she tended her fam- 
 ily lovingly, and faced the world with a countenance which 
 gave no sign, but a caution v/hich 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 Nashville, Tennessee, in order to rest 
 our horses and prepare our supper. We selected the 
 house, and stopped there without any pre-arrangement. 
 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 secur- 
 
1 6 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 ity, and gave no thought to immediate danger. In a 
 moment, however, all was confusion. The house was 
 suddenly surrounded by a band of irregular troops, calling 
 themselves Confederates, but in reality nothing more or 
 less than marauders, and soon the fortunes of war were 
 turned against us. 
 
 Half my little command, fortunately, escaped, owing to 
 their being with the horses at the time of the enemy's 
 approach, and so enabled to take to flight. The other 
 half, however, with myself, were not so fortunate. We 
 were in the house, surprised, and immediately taken pris- 
 oners. A large log smoke-house was improvised for a 
 prison, and in this my comrades and myself were placed, 
 tortured with indignation and hunger, as the riotous 
 sounds which followed proclaimed to us that our captors 
 were partaking of the supper which had been originally 
 intended for ourselves. Our position altogether was any- 
 thing 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 con- 
 demned 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, grad- 
 ually dropped to sleep, and soon nothing was heard but 
 the measured movement and breathing of the guard 
 stationed at our door. In a little time, however, 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 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 17 
 
 found the pathway clear. My brave Tennessee girl, find- 
 ing the gang of irregidars all steeped in heavy slumber, 
 had decoyed our guard away on pretence of his obtaining 
 supper, and returning, had unbolted our prison-house, pre- 
 pared to face the consequences when the sleeping ruffians 
 awoke. Through her action our safety was assured, and 
 after v/alking fifteen miles, we reached camp in the morn- 
 ing to join our comrades, who had given us up for lost. 
 
 This happened on Christmas Eve 1862 ; and it was not 
 until April 1864 — sixteen months afterwards — that I 
 again met the girl who had done so much for me, and who 
 was subsequently to become my wife. 
 
 The house in which these exciting events had taken 
 place had meantime been totally destroyed by the ravages 
 of war, and she was now living with her aunt in Nashville 
 itself. I was stationed in camp, there awaiting my exam- 
 ination 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 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 reminiscences of the past. Henri le 
 Caron, the agent of the British Government in the camps 
 of American Fenianism, did not exist, and I had not the 
 shadow of a conception as to what the future held in store 
 
1 8 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 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 Com- 
 mission. 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 
 manner did I become connected with Fenianism and the 
 Irish Party in America. For I never sought Fenianism ; 
 Fenianism rather came to me. 
 
 I use the phrase Fenianism as one that is familiar, and 
 requires no explanation from me. All the world must 
 surely know by this that almost from time out of mind 
 there has existed in Am.erica a body of discontented and 
 rebellious Irish known as Fenians, who, working in har- 
 mony with so-called Nationalists in this country, seek the 
 repeal of the Union between Great Britain and Ireland. 
 It will, however, be necessary for me to say something 
 about the position of Fenianism at this time — I speak, 
 of course, of the year 1865 — in order that what follows 
 may be quite clearly understood. 
 
 Fenianism at this period was in a rather bad way. Its 
 adherents in America and Ireland were divided into two 
 hostile camps, and its most recent effort had been of a 
 very poor and depressing character. In fact, the division 
 of forces had been brought about by the failure of this 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE, I9 
 
 selfsame effort, an attempt at the emancipation of Ireland, 
 which is known as " the '65 movement." It was organ- 
 ized 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 Ire- 
 land from American soil. The attempted rising, however, 
 proved, like almost all Fenian efforts, a fiasco. It was 
 found that Stephens had wofully misrepresented the state 
 of affairs at home, both as regards preparation and enthu- 
 siasm ; and those who had come from America returned 
 to their homes, disgusted and indignant at the way in 
 which they had been sold. 
 
 In the result disaffection quickly spread, and the organ- 
 ization in America broke up into hostile camps, the ma- 
 jority, under the leadership of Colonel W. R. Roberts, 
 revolting from the leadership of Stephens and Mahoney, 
 and declaring their belief that '' no direct invasion or 
 armed insurrection in Ireland would ever be successful 
 in establishing an Irish Republic upon Irish soil, and 
 placing her once more in her proper place as a nation 
 amongst the nations of the earth." Not content, how- 
 ever, 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 Brother- 
 hood. They scoffed at the idea of invading Ireland suc- 
 cessfully, 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 they succeeded in gaining the 
 allegiance of some thousands of the disaffected Irish, 
 whose support was attracted by the familiar device of a 
 de facto civil and military Irish Government upon paper, 
 
20 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 framed upon the model of the United States. A good 
 deal of money was subscribed, and with funds so obtained 
 ammunition was purchased and shipped along the Cana- 
 dian border. 
 
 The methods of obtaining money were many and varied, 
 but none was more successful than the issue of JF^iiian 
 bonds . These bonds were given in exchange for ready 
 money to the many simple souls who believed in the pos- 
 sibility of an Irish Republic, and who were quite ready to 
 / part with their little all, in the belief that later on, when 
 '^ their country was "a nation once again," they would be 
 repaid with interest. Very many of the persons display- 
 ing this credulity were Irish girls in service in the States, 
 and thus came into vogue the sneering reference to the 
 agitation being financed by the servant girls of New York. 
 V The bond read as follows : — 
 
 *'No. . ' No. . 
 
 "It is hereby certified that 
 "The Irish Republic 
 is indebted to or bearer in the sum of Ten Dollars, 
 
 redeemable six months after the acknowledgment of the independence of the 
 Irish Nation, with interest from the date hereof inclusive at six per cent per 
 annum, payable on presentation of this bond at the Treasury of the Irish 
 Republic. 
 
 Date 
 
 Stamp Office 
 
 of the 
 
 Treasury. 
 
 John O'Neill, 
 Agent for the Irish Republic.'''' 
 
 A curious feature of the intended invasion was the 
 publicity given to the design, and, more remarkable still, 
 the action, or rather want of action, of the United States 
 Government in regard to it. This latter, indeed, was the 
 subject of very angry comment at the time on the part of 
 Englishmen resident in the States. It certainly seemed 
 
IN THE SFXRET SERVICE. 21 
 
 strange, and passing all comprehension, that the United 
 States Government, although in full possession of the 
 facts, and quite peaceful in its relations with England, 
 could have permitted the organization of a raid upon 
 a portion of English possessions without movement or 
 demur on their part of any kind whatever. Yet such is 
 the deplorable fact. From the commencement of the 
 preparations till five days after the Fenians had crossed 
 at Black Rock, the government of President Andrew 
 Johnson did nothing whatever to prevent this band of 
 marauders from carrying out their much-talked-of invasion. 
 
 Let it not.be thought that I exaggerate or draw on my 
 imagination. I do not. If evidence in support of my 
 statement be needed, it is to be found in the speeches 
 made from public platforms, in open meetings, fully re- 
 ported throughout the country at the time. 
 
 It was during this period that I was brought into close 
 acquaintance with Fenianism and its workings. Strangely 
 enough, it was my army associations which formed the 
 medium. Through an old companion-in-arms, the man 
 O'Neill mentioned above, by whose side I had served and 
 fought, I learnt, at first casually, and in broken conversa- 
 tion, what was transpiring in the circles of the conspiracy. 
 Indignant as I was at learning what was being done 
 against the interest of my native country, I knew not 
 how to circumvent the operations of the conspirators, 
 and did nothing publicly in the matter. Without my own 
 knowledge, however, I was to become one of the instru- 
 ments for upsetting all these schemes. Writing as I 
 regularly did to my father, I mentioned simply by way of 
 startling news the facts I learned from O'Neill. My 
 letters, written in the careless spirit of a wanderer's 
 notes, were destined to become political despatches of an 
 
'22 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 important character. Without reference to me, my father 
 made immediate and effective use of them. Startled and 
 dismayed at the tidings I conveyed, he, true Briton that 
 he was, could not keep the information to himself, but 
 handed over my letters immediately to John Gordon 
 Rebow, the sitting member for Colchester. 
 
 Mr. Rebow, fully concurring with my father as to the 
 importance of my news, proposed that he should, without 
 delay, communicate with the Government of the day, 
 to which my father agreed. In this way my first con- 
 nection with the Government was brought about. So 
 keenly alive to the position of affairs did the Home 
 Secretary (Hon. Geo. Gray) show himself, that he, as I 
 learnt subsequently, in the most earnest way requested 
 my father to correspond with me on the subject, and to 
 arrange for my transmitting through him to the Govern- 
 ment every detail with which I could become acquainted. 
 This I did, and continued so doing until the raid into 
 Canada had been attempted, and attended with failure. 
 
 Before proceeding further, I had perhaps better give 
 some idea of what the raid was like. The details should 
 prove of interest, if for no other purpose than that of 
 contrast with those of the second attempted invasion, of 
 which I shall have to speak more fully later on. This, 
 which was the first invasion of Canada by the Fenian 
 organization, took place upon the morning of the first of 
 June 1866. As I have already stated, the design had 
 been flourished in the face of government and people for 
 six months previously. All this time, active preparations 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 23 
 
 were proceeding, and thousands of stands-of-arms, to- 
 gether with millions of rounds of ammunition, had been 
 purchased from the United States Government and located 
 at different points along the Canadian border ; while during 
 the spring of the year, military companies, armed and 
 uniformed as Irish Fenian soldiers, were drilled week by 
 week in many of the large cities of the United States. 
 
 No opposition was offered to the proceedings ; indeed, 
 John F. Finerty, the editor of the Chicago Citizen, in a 
 public speech made by him at Chicago so late as Febru- 
 ary 5, 1886, declared with great glee that Andrew John- 
 son, the then President of the United States, openly 
 encouraged the movement for the purpose of turning it 
 to political account in the settlement of the Alabama 
 claims. Be the blame whose it may, however, the result 
 was not unsatisfactory. The attempt proved a complete 
 failure. The Fenians were driven out of Canada, sixty of 
 them killed and two hundred taken prisoners, with the 
 loss of but six lives in the Canadian ranks. All the same, 
 however, the unsatisfactory condition of things I speak 
 of existed, while, to make matters worse, not a single one 
 of the defeated invaders was called to account by the 
 United States for the violation of the Neutrality Laws. 
 
 The whole affair, viewed from any but an imaginative 
 Fenian standpoint, was of a ludicrous character. The 
 time for the operation was chosen by the Fenian Secre- 
 tary for War, General T. W. Sweeny, then commanding 
 the 1 6th United States Infantry stationed at Nashville, 
 Tennessee. A particular route had been selected, but 
 when the amount of funds came to be questioned, the 
 original idea of carrying the men by steamer to Goodrich, 
 Canada, had to be abandoned for the less romantic but 
 more economical process of crossing the Niagara River in 
 
24 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 flat boats with a steam-tug called into requisition. Under 
 the command of General John O'Neill, and a number of 
 other gentlemen of high-sounding ranks, and distinctly 
 Irish patronymics, the raid actually came off on the 
 morning of the ist of June, when about 3 a.m., some 600 
 or 800 Irish patriots, full of whiskey, and thirsting for 
 glory, were quietly towed across the Niagara River to a 
 point on the Canadian side called Waterloo ! 
 
 At 4 A.M. the Irish flag was planted on British soil by 
 Colonel Owen Starr, commanding the contingent from 
 Kentucky, one of the first to land. Unfortunately no 
 Canadian troops were in the vicinity, and O'Neill's com- 
 mand, which had by the next day decreased to some 500, 
 marched upon and captured Fort Erie, containing a small 
 detachment of the Welland battery. Matters, however, 
 were not long allowed to go in favor of the invaders. 
 In a very little time the 22d Battalion of Volunteers of 
 Toronto — a splendid band of citizen-soldiers — appeared 
 upon the scene, and at Ridgeway, a few miles inland, 
 there occurred a fair stand-up fight, in which the Fenians 
 in the end got the worst of the day's vv^ork. Ridgeway 
 has frequently since been claimed by the Fenian orators 
 as a glorious victory, but without justification. It is true 
 that at first, flushed with their almost bloodless victory at 
 Fort Erie, the Fenians advanced fiercely upon their oppo- 
 nents, and for the moment repulsed them ; but in the end 
 the Canadians triumphed, and succeeded in putting the 
 invaders to flight, driving them back to Fort Erie a fren- 
 zied ungovernable mob, only too thankful to be taken as 
 prisoners by the United States war steamer MichigaUy 
 and protected from total annihilation at the hands of the, 
 by this time, thoroughly aroused and wrathful Canadian 
 citizens. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 2$ 
 
 The following extracts from the official report made by 
 General O'Neill to Colonel William R. Roberts, President 
 of the Fenian Brotherhood, though very highly colored, 
 admits the defeat : — 
 
 "Here truth compels me to make an admission I would fain have kept 
 from the public. Some of the men who crossed over with us the night before 
 (i.e., the morning of the ist of June), managed to leave the command during 
 the day, and re-crossed to Buffalo, while others remained in houses around 
 the fort marauding. (Real Irish patriots these!) This I record to their 
 lasting disgrace. 
 
 "On account of this shameful desertion, and the fact that arms had been 
 sent out for 800 men, I had to destroy 300 stand to prevent them from falling 
 into the hands of the enemy. . . . 
 
 " At this time I could not depend upon more than 500 men, one-tenth of 
 the reputed number of the enemy, which I knew was surrounding me — rather 
 a critical position. 
 
 "Thus situated, and not knowing what was going on elsewhere, I decided 
 that the best course was to return to Fort Erie and ascertain if crossings had 
 been made at other points; and, if so, I was content to sacrifice myself and 
 my noble little command for the sake of leaving the way open. 
 
 " I returned to the old fort (Erie), and about six o'clock sent word to 
 Captain W. J. Hynes, and his friends at Buffalo, that the enemy would sur- 
 round me with 5,000 men before morning, fully provided with artillery; that 
 my little command, which had by this time considerably decreased, could not 
 hold out long; but that, if a movement was going on elsewhere, I was per- 
 fectly willing to make the old fort a slaughter-pen, which I knew would be the 
 case the next day if I remained. 
 
 " Previous to this time, some of the officers and men, realizing the danger 
 of their position, availed themselves of the small boats and re-crossed the 
 river; but the greater portion of them — 317, including officers — remained 
 until 2 A.M., June 3, when all, except a few wounded men, went safely on 
 board a large scow attached to a tug-boat, and were hauled into American 
 waters. 
 
 " Here they were hailed by the United States steamer, which fired across 
 their bows and demanded their surrender. With this request we complied, 
 not because we feared the twelve-pounders or the still more powerful guns of 
 the Michigan., but because we respected the authority of the United States." ! ! ! 
 
26 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 Thus fought the Irish patriots of 1866. Thus ended 
 the first Fenian raid upon Canada. Not a glorious 
 achievement by any means. Quite the reverse in fact. 
 Even the leader of the expedition himself has to sub- 
 scribe to failure and defeat. And yet there have been, 
 and are to-day, men who boast of all this as a glorious 
 victory, and proudly vaunt the statement that they were 
 present at and participated in it. 
 
 Lucky it was that the movement was thus defeated at its 
 very start. If it had not, the consequences might have 
 been very different indeed. The news of the temporary 
 victory at Fort Erie had a wonderful effect, and by the 
 7th of June not less than 30,000 men had assembled in 
 and around Buffalo. The defeat of their comrades, how- 
 ever, and the tardy issue of Andrew Johnson's procla- 
 mation enforcing the Neutrality Laws, left them no 
 opening, and so the whole affair fizzled out in the most 
 undignified manner. Undignified indeed it was for all 
 parties concerned. The prisoners were without a single 
 exception released on their own recognizances, and sent 
 home by the United States authorities ; while the arms 
 seized by the United States Government, through General 
 Meade, commanding in Buffalo, were returned to the 
 Fenian organization, only to be used for the same pur- 
 pose some four years later. 
 
 VI. 
 
 Meantime the conditions of peace, in purely American 
 matters, had set in, and the army was reduced to a nominal 
 footing. I took advantage of the state of affairs to settle 
 down to a civilian style of life. The first question that 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 2/ 
 
 called for thought and care was my future vocation in 
 life. The father of a family, it became necessary for me 
 to look out for some means of obtaining a settled income. 
 Acting under the advice of an old comrade, now a Senator 
 of Illinois, I finally determined to study medicine, and set 
 to work in this direction without delay. 
 
 While so engaged, I paid my first visit to Europe in the 
 autumn or "fall " of 1867, and once more met my father 
 and mother in the flesh. My letters regarding Fenian 
 matters were naturally a topic of interesting conversation 
 between us, and my father with much pride showed me 
 the written acknowledgments he had received for his 
 action in the matter. Poor old father ! Never was 
 Briton prouder than he of the service he had been enabled 
 to do his country — services unpaid and as purely patriotic 
 as ever Englishman rendered. No payment vv^as ever 
 made — none was asked or expected — for whatever little 
 good I had been enabled to accomplish up to this time. 
 Matters, however, were now to develop in a new and 
 unexpected way. Mr. Rebow expressed a desire to see 
 me, and, accompanied by my father, I visited him at his 
 seat, Wyvenhoe Park. He subsequently visited me on 
 several occasions at my father's house, and had many 
 chats on the all-absorbing topic of Fenianism. Learning 
 from me that the organization was still prosperous and 
 meant mischief — my friend O'Neill having succeeded 
 Colonel Roberts as president — he gained my consent to 
 enter into personal communication with the English Gov- 
 ernment. In a few days I received through him an 
 official communication requesting me to attend at 50 
 Harley Street. To Harley Street I went, and there met 
 two officials, by whom a proposition was made that I 
 should become a paid agent of the Government, and that 
 
28 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 on my return to the United States I should ally myself to 
 the Fenian organization, in order to play the role of spy 
 in the rebel ranks. I knew that this proposal was coming. 
 I had thought over the whole matter carefully, and I had 
 come to the conclusion that I would consent, which I 
 did. My adventurous nature prompted me to sympathy 
 with the idea ; my British instincts made me a willing 
 worker from a sense of right, and my past success 
 promised good things for the future, 
 
 I returned, therefore, to the States in the Government 
 service ; and, taking advantage of an early meeting with 
 O'Neill in New York, I proffered him my services as a 
 military man in case of active warfare. O'Neill, delighted 
 at the idea, promised me a position in the near future, and 
 I returned to my home in the West, pledged to help the 
 cause there meantime. ^ 
 
 And now a few words as to O'Neill. Taking the prom- 
 inent part he did in Fenian affairs at this time, he cer- 
 tainly proved a very interesting personality. General 
 O'Neill, Irish by birth, was born on the 8th of March 1834, 
 in the town of Drumgallon, parish of Clontifret, Co. Mon- 
 aghan. He emigrated when young w^ith his family to the 
 United States, and settled at Elizabeth, New Jersey. 
 Enlisting in the 2d United States Cavalry as a private 
 soldier in 1857, he was engaged in fighting Indians in the 
 Far West for some three years. Upon the breaking out 
 of the war of the Rebellion, he was commissioned as 
 lieutenant in the 5th Indiana Cavalry. From this he re- 
 ceived promotion in the 15th United States Colored 
 Infantry, with which regim.ent he continued to the end of 
 
 1 I was not the only member of the family fighting for Queen and country then. 
 Two others of my brothers entered the army at home. One is to-day a commis- 
 sioned officer in South Africa ; the other, poor fellow, left his bones to whiten on 
 the battlefield of Tel-el-Kebir. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE, 
 
 29 
 
 the war. Resigning his command at the conclusion of 
 hostilities, he commenced business as a United States 
 Claim Agent in Nashville, Tennessee, where, it will be 
 remembered, I was stationed with my regiment for a long 
 time after the cessation of active operations. 
 
 When freed from the discipline of his military service, 
 O'Neill — ardent Fenian that he was — threw himself 
 heart and soul into the Irish rebel movement in the States. 
 He raised and commanded the Tennessee contingent in 
 the movement upon Canada in 1866, taking command of 
 the entire expedition by reason of his seniority of rank 
 and his proved knowledge of military tactics. I have 
 already quoted his report of the termination of this " in- 
 vasion." 
 
 At the Cleveland Convention of September 1867, he 
 was elected a senator of the Fenian Brotherhood ; and on 
 the 31st of December 1867, owing to the resignation of 
 Colonel W. R. Roberts, he was elected president of the 
 brotherhood. 
 
 In personal appearance O'Neill was a very fine-looking 
 man. Nature had dealt kindly with him. Within a couple 
 of inches of six feet in height, possessing a'fine physique 
 and a distinctive Celtic face, he combined an undoubted 
 military bearing with a rich sonorous voice, which lent to 
 his presence a certain persuasive charm. He had one 
 fault, however — a fault which developed to the extremest 
 point when he attained the presidency of the Fenian 
 Brotherhood. This was his egotism. He was the most 
 egotistical soul I ever met in the whole course of my life. 
 In his belief, the Irish cause lived, moved, and had its 
 being in John O'Neill ; and this absurd self-love contrib- 
 uted to many disasters, which a more even-headed leader 
 would never have brought about. 
 
30 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 VII. 
 
 On my return to my Western home, I lost no time in 
 commencing my double life. I organized a Fenian ''cir- 
 cle " or camp in Lockport, Illinois, and took the position 
 of " centre " or commander of it, thus becoming the me- 
 dium for receiving all official reports and documents issued 
 by O'Neill, the contents of which documents were, of 
 course, communicated by me to the Home Government. 
 I went to work with a will, and was soon in the very thick 
 of the conspiracy, organized a military company for the 
 Irish Republican Army, and eventually attended the 
 Springfield Convention in the position of a delegate. 
 
 While so engaged, I entered the Chicago Medical Col- 
 lege, and commenced my medical studies in earnest. I 
 was much assisted in this direction by the kindly help 
 of an old friend. Dr. Bacon, who had been attached to my 
 regiment in war times as surgeon. He was then surgeon 
 to the Illinois State Penitentiary, and through him I 
 obtained the position created at this time of Hospital 
 Steward, or, in other words, Resident Medical Officer in 
 that institution. There was a comfortable salary attached 
 to the office, which I found to be in every sense a useful 
 post. Although, as matters turned out, I was only to 
 spend some few months there, I gained even in this short 
 time a vast amount of experience in almost every branch 
 of medical study. 
 
 Life, indeed, in the Illinois Penitentiary gave me expe- 
 rience in many ways. It brought me for the first time 
 into direct contact with many of the evils which then 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 3 I 
 
 affected official administration. Things, of course, are 
 different now, though it must be confessed still anything 
 but perfect ; but when compared with the usages of 
 olden times, the shortcomings of the present system are 
 of no account whatever. At the time of which I speak, 
 money could accomplish everything, from the obtaining 
 of luxuries in prison to the purchase of pardon and free- 
 dom itself. Everything connected with the prison admin- 
 istration was rotten to the core. Corruption was in every 
 place. The penitentiary contained some fifteen hundred 
 prisoners, and the whole management of affairs affecting 
 these men was vested in three commissioners, as they 
 were styled, whose proceedings were of the most flagrant 
 and jobbing character. So great did the scandals of their 
 doings become at one period, that one of the three had to 
 abscond ; but so demoralized was the condition of affairs 
 that no attempt was made to arrest and bring him back. 
 These three men had no object save that of gaining 
 money. They were the proprietors of a general shop 
 inside the prison, from which the prisoners purchased 
 luxuries at usurious rates ; and the work of the prisoners 
 themselves was let out to contractors, who paid heavily 
 for the privilege of remaining undisturbed in their mo- 
 nopoly. Everything was turned to money. In one case 
 I knew of a prisoner, failing to win his cause on appeal, 
 and having thereby to undergo a period of seven-years' 
 imprisonment, being offered his release for a sum of 10,000 
 dollars, which offer he refused, stating in the most busi- 
 ness-like way that he would only give 7,000. This was 
 not considered satisfactory, and so the negotiations fell 
 through. 
 
 No popular idea of prison life now indulged in at all fits 
 in with the actual condition of affairs five and twenty years 
 
32 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 ago. Money was useful for the purpose of commerce in 
 the Commissioners' interest, and therefore was allowed 
 free circulation amongst those confined. Those who could 
 afford it, and whose cases were not finally decided — ap- 
 peals were constantly being heard — were allowed to board 
 at the Governor's table, to wear their own clothes, and in 
 every way conduct themselves as if in a private house. 
 In those days the prisoners were not shaved — they wore 
 their hair and whiskers as they pleased. Those who could 
 not afford to live the lives of gentlemen had the store to 
 go to for petty luxuries ; and so, no matter how matters 
 turned, the Commissioners were the gainers. The Gov- 
 ernor, or Warden, as he was called, was their nominee, 
 dependent upon them for oflBce ; and everything was gov- 
 erned by their wishes and desires. 
 
 In such a vast assembly of criminals there were many 
 whose characters and careers formed subjects for very in- 
 teresting study to me. I was fortunate in being connected 
 with the prison at a time when some more than usually 
 clever and facile scoundrels were temporarily resident 
 there. Towering head and shoulders over the whole crowd 
 was that king of forgers, Colonel Cross, perhaps the most 
 daring, successful, and expert penman of our time. About 
 forty years of age at this period, a man of fine command- 
 ing presence, splendid diction, and gentlemanly demeanor, 
 Cross attracted me from the first day I was brought 
 into contact with him. The son of one of the most 
 prominent Episcopalian clergymen in the United States, 
 he was possessed of a wide classical education, and dis- 
 coursed with intelligence and wondrous fluency on theol- 
 ogy, medicine, and every kind of science. 
 
 He was no ordinary criminal. Even in prison he com- 
 manded admiration from his fellows, and I was often 
 
W THE SECRET SERVICE. 33 
 
 amazed to see how respectful were the salutations accorded 
 him as he moved about. He boasted, I learned afterwards 
 with truth, that he had never robbed a poor man ; and, 
 strange being that he was, he had borne almost all the 
 cost of the education of his brother's children. Indeed, 
 at the time I met him, he was educating in the most ex- 
 pensive manner a poor little girl whom, in a moment of 
 generous caprice, he had adopted as his daughter. 
 
 When I was first brought into contact with him. Cross 
 had his case before the courts on appeal, and, pending the 
 decision, he was living in the most expensive way in 
 prison, boarding at the Governor's table, dressing in the 
 most fashionable way, and smoking the best of cigars. 
 Having no work to do, he interested himself in the affairs 
 of his fellow-prisoners ; and so clever and capable was he, 
 and so great a knowledge of law did he possess, that he 
 succeeded in preparing the cases of many of them for 
 appeal in such a way as to allow of their regaining their 
 liberty. 
 
 I had not been in the prison very long before he ap- 
 pealed to me to take him as my assistant in the hospital ; 
 and attracted by the man as I was, I acceded to his 
 "request, to discover subsequently that I had a most 
 valuable attendant, whose knowledge of medicine was 
 both extensive and practical. 
 
 VHI. 
 
 The career of Cross would supply material for a most 
 exciting fiovel. He always went in for ''big things," as 
 he phrased it. Nothing troubled him more than the fact 
 that he was then undergoing punishment for a small affair 
 
34 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 which he contemptuously referred to as being too paltry 
 altogether for association with him. Perhaps the ''big- 
 gest thing " he ever did was the forgery of a check for 
 ^80,000 in Liverpool, and his escape with the booty. 
 Like many other talented criminals, if he had but turned 
 his ability to proper account, he would undoubtedly have 
 won a place and name in the foremost ranks of honest 
 men to-day. He planned his enterprises with the most 
 consummate care, and worked them out for months before 
 reaching the final stage. An illustration of his method 
 was very well afforded by his forgery on the Park 
 National Bank of New York. 
 
 Determining to commit a forgery on this bank, he set 
 to work to obtain the needful introduction and guarantee 
 for his accomplice, who should eventually present the 
 forged check. He, by the way, never presented a forged 
 check himself — this was always the work of an accom- 
 plice. In order, therefore, to obtain the introduction to 
 the bank, he opened some business with a certain firm of 
 brokers in Wall Street who happened to '' deposit " at the 
 particular bank in question. In this way he ran up an 
 account for a respectable sum, to obtain the repayment 
 for which he one day went to the office in Wall Street 
 accompanied by one Simmons, the accomplice in the 
 future forgery. The check — a draft for twelve hundred 
 dollars — was duly drawn, when Cross asked his friend 
 Simmons to go to the bank to cash it, requesting in a 
 free-and-easy way that the broker might send one of his 
 clerks with him to identify Simmons, he being a stranger. 
 No suspicion was indulged in — there was no ground for 
 such, and the request was willingly complied with. Sim- 
 mons, coached by Cross beforehand, had a hundred-dollar 
 bill in his pocket, the use for which will be apparent in a 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 35 
 
 moment. When the clerk and he reached the bank, the 
 necessary introduction took place ; and in reply to the 
 usual question how he wished the money, Simmons replied, 
 " In hundred-dollar bills." As the clerk counted the 
 notes, Simmons drew his bill out of his pocket, and mix- 
 ing all up as he stood aside to check his payment, he 
 recalled the clerk's attention by the announcement that 
 he had given him thirteen instead of twelve bills. The 
 clerk indignantly protested he had made no mistake. 
 Simmons, playing the role of honest man, became dis- 
 tressed, the manager was appealed to, one of the notes 
 eventually received back, and Simmons retired, the recip- 
 ient of most fulsome thanks, his character and reputation 
 fully established in the minds of the banking officials. 
 Of course the clerk was one hundred dollars to the good 
 at the end of the day, but Simmons's claim to honesty in 
 no way suffered by the fact, as no one for a moment 
 thought of a plot. 
 
 Content to lose the hundred-dollar bill, in the promise 
 of things to come, Cross continued his legitimate traffic 
 with the brokers, Simmons, on the most friendly terms at 
 the bank, cashing the checks, which increased in amount 
 as the time passed. Months had passed, and nothing of 
 an illegal nature had been attempted, when at the end of 
 the fifth month a genuine check for thirty dollars was by 
 Cross changed to 30,000, and cashed by Simmons without 
 the slightest hesitation or suspicion at the bank, both 
 Cross and he escaping with the booty. 
 
 Many and varied as were Cross's tricks with his pen, 
 none was more daring or successful than that which led 
 to his escape from Sing-Sing Prison, that famous home 
 of criminals in New York. Obtaining through outside 
 agency a printed and properly headed sheet of note-paper 
 
36 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 and envelope from the Governor of the States' Office at 
 Albany, he actually forged the order for his own release, 
 had it posted formally from Albany, and, on its receipt, 
 obtained his freedom without provoking the slightest sus- 
 picion or inquiry. 
 
 I am glad to say that Colonel Cross still lives, and is 
 now working out an honest existence under another name 
 in the north-west of America. 
 
 My life at the Illinois Penitentiary was crowded with 
 incidents, and little leisure was left me. Where real 
 sickness did not exist, shamming and malingering in their 
 most ingenious phases were resorted to. I was amazed 
 at the talent brought to bear upon their attempts to 
 escape work by those with whom I had to deal. Some 
 of the methods adopted were simply marvellous in their 
 conception and execution. A more quick-witted lot of 
 men it has never been my fate to meet. Every twist and 
 turn of daily life was subordinated to the needs of the 
 trickster, and not one single daily incident seemed to be 
 without its possibility of application, either to assist in 
 the attempt to shirk work or to escape from imprisonment 
 altogether. Nothing in this way impressed me more than 
 the case of a man known as Joe Devine, an eminent hotel 
 sneak thief, some two and thirty years of age, and of very 
 distinguished appearance. 
 
 It happened that one afternoon about five o'clock a 
 negro prisoner died of consumption. It was the practice 
 to bury the dead immediately the coffin was made ready; 
 but, owing to the fact that the coffin in this case was not 
 ready till after the prison gates had been locked for the 
 night, the burial had to be postponed till the following 
 morning. 
 
 Under the circumstances, I arranged that the coffin 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 7^'j 
 
 with the body enclosed should remain for the night in the 
 prison bath-room. This Joe Devine of whom I speak 
 happened to be in charge of the bath-room at this period, 
 and it therefore became his duty to see that proper 
 arrangements were made for the disposal of the coffin for 
 the night. Early the next morning, as was customary, 
 Devine and some of his fellow-prisoners were allowed out 
 of their cells some little time before the others, in order 
 to prepare the bath-room and other places for their use. 
 With assistance Devine unscrewed the coffin, took the 
 dead negro out, and concealed himself in his place, not, 
 however, before he had worn down the thread of the 
 screws in the lid, so that they could be thrust out with a 
 heavy push from the inside. The time for the funeral 
 arrived in due course, and the coffin was removed in a little 
 cart accompanied by two prisoners whose time was nearly 
 expired, and who were therefore trusted outside the gates 
 of the prison (being known by the name of " trusties "), 
 together with the clergyman of the jail. 
 
 Nothing happened till the grave was reached, when De- 
 vine, presumably concluding that it would be dangerous to 
 remain longer where he was, burst the lid of the coffin and 
 jumped out, immediately starting off at a run. The cler- 
 gyman and " trusties " being too horrified to offer any 
 resistance, he escaped without molestation. The first I 
 heard of the matter was on the return of the clergyman 
 and the '' trusties " with the news that the man had come 
 to life ; but, as they explained in their horrified way, he 
 was white, not a nigger ! The roll was called, and Devine 
 was missing ; so we concluded he was the white man in 
 question. We then set to work to find the corpse of the 
 poor negro. For two hours the prisoners searched up and 
 down without any result. Eventually, however, the body 
 
38 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. 
 
 1 
 
 was discovered underneath a pile of towels in one of the 
 box-seats of the bath-room, the corpse being doubled up 
 in two, the head and feet meeting, in order to permit of 
 its being concealed in its narrow hiding-place. 
 
 Another escape equally effective, for the moment at 
 least, was that of a man known as Bill Forester, a notori- 
 ous bank robber, and one of the suspected murderers of 
 Nathan the Jew, whose death in New York created a pro- 
 found interest at the time. Forester, fortunately for him- 
 self, selected as his medium of exit one of the many boxes 
 employed by Mack & Co., contractors for shoemaking, 
 who employed some four hundred of the convicts. Sur- 
 rounded and hedged in between boots and shoes, in one of 
 the large boxes used for their transport. Forester passed 
 through the prison gates in one of Mack's vans, and not 
 till he had got a distance of a mile and a half from the jail 
 did he venture to emerge from his hiding-place. His 
 liberty, however, proved to be only of a temporary char- 
 acter, for, caught in another State a little later, the enter- 
 prising burglar was again arrested, and carried back to the 
 penitentiary to' complete his term of imprisonment. 
 
 His method had many imitations. None was more 
 novel or disastrous than that employed by a fellow-convict 
 whose name I cannot at the moment recall. This poor 
 fellow hit upon the ingenious idea of getting out of durance 
 vile inside a load of horse-manure, and when the load was 
 half-way packed, he lay at full length with a breathing 
 space arranged, while the remainder of the loading was 
 completed. His intention, of course, was to be freed from 
 his uncomfortable position within an hour, when the 
 manure would be discharged at the quay adjoining the 
 prison. To his horror, however, he discovered, when 
 the cart reached the quay, that a gang of fellow-convicts 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 39 
 
 were engaged unloading a boat under the charge of armed 
 wardens or sentries. To attempt escape meant instant 
 death, and there he lay for hours with the heavy weight 
 of the upper portion of the cart's load pressing upon him. 
 Six o'clock came and with it the return of the men and 
 sentries to prison. Through the long weary hours of the 
 night the poor fellow lay, unable now to move from the 
 consequences of his continued prostration in the manure ; 
 and when the morning arrived he was found but too will- 
 ing a captive. He was immediately placed under my 
 charge, but his recovery proved by no means a rapid 
 affair. 
 
 IX. 
 
 In the midst of all these exciting incidents of prison 
 life, I received a telegram from O'Neill in New York, 
 as follows : " Come at once, you are needed for work." 
 To comply was to surrender my pleasant and interesting 
 position, and to lose for the moment all chance of pursuing 
 my medical study. On the other hand, however, the 
 opportunity of doing good service to my native land pre- 
 sented itself. I did not hesitate. Communicating imme- 
 diately with the "Warden" or Governor, I resigned my 
 position, much to his disgust. He sought an explanation. 
 I could give none. He offered an increased salary. I 
 was unable to explain why even this could not tempt me, 
 and so I left in a way which was misunderstood, and under 
 circumstances which, by the very reason for their existence, 
 could not be appreciated. 
 
 Hurrying to New York, I soon presented myself in 
 person to O'Neill at the headquarters of the Fenian 
 Brotherhood, then situated in the mansion at 10 West 
 
40 TWENTY- FIVE YEARS 
 
 Fourth Street. Here I found the president of the Brother- 
 hood, surrounded by his staff of officials, transacting the 
 duties of their various positions with ail the pomp and 
 ceremony usually associated with the representatives of 
 the greatest nations on earth. I was not long left in sus- 
 pense as to what was required of me. Commissioneti at 
 the very outset as Major and Military Organizer of the 
 Irish Republican Army (at a salary of sixty dollars per 
 month, with seven dollars per day expenses), I was in- 
 structed to proceed to the Eastern States in company with 
 a civil organizer, in order to visit and reorganize the differ- 
 ent military bodies attached to the rebel society. To my 
 unhappy amazement, I learned that I was, while engaged 
 on this work, to address public meetings in support of the 
 cause, and my miserable feelings were accentuated by 
 O'Neill's desire that I should accompany him, the very 
 evening of my arrival, to a large demonstration being held 
 at Williamsburg, a suburb of Brooklyn. I was in a regular 
 mess, for if called on to speak — as I feared — I should 
 be found absolutely ignorant of Irish affairs. There was 
 nothing for it, however, but to keep a brave face, for I had 
 undertaken my work, and in its lexicon there was no such 
 word as fail. 
 
 The evening came, and with it our trip to Williams- 
 burg. On arrival there, in the company of O'Neill and 
 some brother officers, I found several thousands of per- 
 sons assembled. We were greeted with the greatest 
 enthusiasm, and given the seats of honor to the right and 
 left of the chairman. My position was a very unhappy 
 one. I was in a state of excessive excitement, for I 
 greatly feared what was coming. Seated as I was next to 
 O'Neill, I could hear him tell the chairman on whom to 
 call, and hov/ to describe the speakers ; and, as each pause 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 4 1 
 
 took place between the speeches, I hung with nervous 
 dread on O'Neill's words, fearing my name would be the 
 next. The meeting proceeded apace ; some four or five 
 of my companions had already spoken, and I was begin- 
 ning to think that, after all, the evil hour was postponed, 
 and that for this night at least I was safe. Not so, how- 
 ever. All but O'Neill and myself had spoken, when, to 
 my painful surprise, I heard the General call upon the 
 chairman to announce Major Le Caron. The moment 
 was fraught with danger ; my pulses throbbed with mad- 
 dening sensation ; my heart seemed to stop its beating; 
 my brain was on fire, and failure stared me in the face. 
 With an almost superhuman effort I collected myself, and 
 as the chairman announced me as Major M'Caron, tickled 
 by the error into which he had fallen, and the vast cheat 
 I was playing upon the whole of them, I rose equal to the 
 occasion, to be received with the most enthusiastic of 
 plaudits. 
 
 The hour was very late, and I took advantage of the 
 circumstance. Proud and happy as I was at being with 
 them that evening, and taking part in such a magnificent 
 demonstration, they could not, I said, expect me to detain 
 them long at so advanced an hour. All had been said 
 that could be said upon the subject nearest and dearest to 
 their hearts. (Applause.) If what I had experienced 
 that night was indicative of the spirit of patriotism of the 
 Irish in America — (tremendous cheering) — then indeed 
 there could be no fears for the result. (Renewed plau- 
 dits.) And now I would sit down. They were all impa- 
 tiently waiting, I knew, to hear the stirring words of the 
 gallant hero of Ridgeway, General O'Neill — (thunders 
 of applause) — and I would, in conclusion, simply beg 
 of them as lovers of liberty and motherland — (excited 
 
42 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 cheering) — to place at the disposal of General O'Neill 
 the means (cash) necessary to carry out the great work 
 on which he was engaged. This work, I was confident, 
 would result in the success of our holy cause, and the 
 liberation of dear old Ireland from the thraldom of the 
 tyrant's rule, which had blighted and ruined her for seven 
 hundred years. 
 
 These last words worked my hearers up to the highest 
 pitch of enthusiasm, and amidst their excited shouts and 
 cheers I resumed my seat, with the comforting reflection 
 that if it took so little as this to arouse the Irish people, 
 I could play my role with but little difficulty. And as 
 time passed on, and my experience widened, the justice 
 of the reflection was fully assured. With a little practice 
 and scarce any labor, save that necessitated by the use of 
 a pair of scissors and some paste, I succeeded in hood- 
 winking the poor and deluded, together with the unprin- 
 cipled, blatant, professional Irish patriots. 
 
 Before, however, starting on my travels as organizer, I 
 had an experience which went far to justify all I had 
 previously thought and heard as regards the part played 
 by Andrew Johnson in connection with the first Canadian 
 raid. I recall the incident as important, as showing to 
 what extremes American political exigencies have carried 
 men in catering for the Irish vote in America. About 
 American politics generally I shall have something to say 
 later on ; but as this matter fits in chronologically here, I 
 think it better to deal with it now. Johnson, it must be 
 remembered, v/as not by any means a man above suspi- 
 cion. In 1868, so great was the disaffection with his 
 administration of the Presidency, that he was impeached, 
 though unsuccessfully, by the Senate. 
 
 It was in this year — 1868 — that, at O'Neill's request, 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 43 
 
 I accompanied him to the White House to have an inter- 
 view with Johnson. O'Neill and he had been personal 
 friends from '62, when Johnson had acted as Military 
 Governor in Tennessee. The precise object of our visit 
 was the securing of Johnson's influence in the return of 
 the arms to the Fenian Brotherhood, previously seized by 
 the American Government. It will be remembered that 
 I mentioned, some pages back, that every gun taken by 
 the United States Government, after the first raid in 
 1866, was returned to the Fenian organization by this 
 government under a promise, only made to be broken, 
 that they should not be used in any unlawful enterprise ; 
 and in consideration of certain worthless bonds. 
 
 Our reception at the White House was a cordial one, 
 O'Neill's distinctly so. During the conversation the 
 President used some remarkable words. So strange did 
 they sound in my ears, that they impressed themselves 
 upon my memory, and are even now fresh in my recol- 
 lection. 
 
 ''General," said Johnson, addressing O'Neill, "your 
 people unfairly blame me a good deal for the part I took 
 in stopping your first movement. Now I want you to 
 understand that my sympathies are entirely with you, and 
 anything which lies in my power I am willing to do to 
 assist you. But you must remember that I gave you five 
 full days before issuing any proclamation stopping you. 
 What, in God's name, more did you want } If you could 
 not get there in five days, by . . . God, you could never 
 get there ; and then, as President, I was compelled to 
 enforce the Neutrality Laws, or be denounced on every 
 side." 
 
 Such was the language used, such the position assumed, 
 and such the apology tendered to the Fenian leader of 
 
44 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 1868 by the President of the United States Government. 
 Can any comment of mine point the moral and adorn the 
 tale of all this better than the incident itself can do when 
 left in its naked and startling significance ? I think not. 
 
 X. 
 
 I ENTERED with a will upon my duties as travelling 
 organizer, and was alike successful in winning the confi- 
 dence of almost every Fenian with whom I was brought 
 into contact, and in obtaining the most important infor- 
 mation and details for the Home Government. Matters 
 had meantime proceeded apace, so that when the Philadel- 
 phia Convention of 1868 was held, O'Neill's determination 
 to invade Canada a second time was ratified without a dis- 
 sentient voice. I was now promoted to the rank of 
 Inspector-General, and was from time to time sent along 
 the Canadian border to locate the arms and ammunition. 
 The situation was becoming critical where British inter- 
 ests were concerned ; and, in order to grapple with the 
 pressure of the moment, I was placed in direct communi- 
 cation with Lord Monck, then Governor-General of 
 Canada. I paid a visit to Ottawa, and when there, 
 planned a system of daily communication with the Chief 
 Commissioner of Police in Canada, Judge J. G. M'Micken, 
 with whom, from this date to the total disruption of the 
 Fenian organization in 1870, I acted in concert and in 
 the most perfect harmony. 
 
 I cannot speak too highly of the treatment I received 
 at Judge M'Micken's hands. Comparatively young in 
 years as I was then, distinctly youthful in secret service 
 experience, I found him ever ready and willing to help 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 45 
 
 me, meeting me at a moment's notice, placing everything 
 at my disposal, and watching over my safety and my in- 
 terests with a fatherly care which I shall ever recall with 
 thoughts of the keenest appreciation. Equally pleasant 
 and agreeable was my connection with the Home Gov- 
 ernment. Many changes had taken place since my visit 
 to England, and those with whom I had first had com- 
 munication had disappeared from this work to give place 
 to Mr. Anderson, with whom alone I had to deal from 
 this time forward. I shall have a good deal to say about 
 Mr. Anderson further on, and therefore I shall only delay 
 here to repeat what I have said above, that with England 
 as with Canada my connection was of the most satisfac- 
 tory and pleasant character. 
 
 XL 
 
 It was during the autumn of 1868 that, in the course 
 of my travels on behalf of the organization, I first meet 
 Alexander Sullivan. Alexander Sullivan is a well-known 
 man to-day, but if by any chance his identity has to be 
 marked, little else need be mentioned beyond the words, 
 "The Cronin affair." He was a young man then, but 
 then as now he was the same Alexander Sullivan, clever, 
 unscrupulous, careful only of himself, subordinating every- 
 thing to his personal ambition, using Irish politics as a 
 stepping-stone to advancement in American affairs, and 
 reckless who or what suffered if but he did succeed. 
 
 The " Arch Fiend " of Irish American politics, as he 
 has been dubbed, and the alleged chief conspirator 
 in the brutal murder of Dr. Cronin, is no ordinary man ; 
 he is an individual with a history, and that not by any 
 
46 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 means a creditable one. The son of a British pensioner, 
 born in Canada some forty-five years ago, he left that 
 country under a cloud, and settled down in Detroit, where 
 he started a boot-and-shoe store in the Bresler Block, 
 Michigan Avenue. On the night of the I2th May 1868 
 a fire totally destroyed his shop and its contents. The 
 occurrence had its suspicious features, and Sullivan was 
 arrested on a charge of arson. Although the over-insur- 
 ance of his goods and other questionable proceedings were 
 proved at the trial, he gained his liberty through an alibi, 
 sustained by the evidence of Margaret Buchanan, a 
 teacher in the public school of Detroit, who afterwards 
 became his wife. A man, as I have said, of stirring ambi- 
 tion, he had from the outset of his career in Detroit taken 
 a prominent part in political affairs, and his status as an 
 Irish leader (he was then a State '* Centre " for Michigan) 
 lent his position and views a certain importance. He 
 took an active part in the then pending national cam- 
 paign upon the side and in the interests of General Grant 
 and Schuyler Colfax, who in that year were nominated as 
 the respective Republican candidates for President and 
 Vice-President of the republic. 
 
 It was at this time4:hat Sullivan commenced his politi- 
 cal tricks in the manipulation of the Irish vote in American 
 party interests, and it was in consequence of his action in 
 this respect that I was first brought into contact with him. 
 Previous to this date, the Irish vote had been almost ex- 
 clusively Democratic ; but, from the loud and frequent 
 complaints which reached headquarters, Sullivan was found 
 to be using his influence in the organization for political 
 purposes, and seeking to bring about a change of policy 
 in the organization itself, which threatened a serious 
 schism amongst our members. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 4/ 
 
 I was despatched by the President to Detroit in order 
 to investigate the c:isc, and if possible settle the difficulty. 
 I found ample proof of Sullivan's guilt of the charges 
 alleged against him, and, after repeated interviews between 
 us, he agreed that the best thing he could do would be to 
 hand in his resignation as State " Centre " of the Brother- 
 hood, which he accordingly did. My intercourse with him 
 at this time left no doubt on my mind as to his great abil- 
 ity. His line of defence was an exceedingly clever one, 
 and is well worth recording here, as showing how in these 
 early days Sullivan had carefully mapped out his policy in 
 regard to Irish affairs, and their connection with Ameri- 
 can matters. He contended that, in all he had done, he 
 had had the best interests of Ireland at heart. He did 
 not, he said, consider that the Irish people in America had 
 ever occupied the position in the body politic to which 
 they were fairly entitled. The Irish vote, argued he, had 
 been hitherto solidly cast for the Democratic party. Only 
 a division of that vote would cause them to be a potent 
 power in poHtics. With that position and influence to 
 which they were entitled assured to them, they could make 
 terms with the American Government for the cause of 
 Ireland. 
 
 The history of the past twenty years shows how clev- 
 erly Sullivan worked out these views of his, and gained 
 acceptance for them at the hands of his fellow-patriots. 
 The pity of it is, however, that in the result Ireland has 
 gained not at all, while Irish patriots like Sullivan and 
 Egan have filled their pockets and reaped their harvests 
 in Chili and elsewhere. 
 
 Sullivan's immediate reward was his appointment as 
 United States Collector of Internal Revenue at Santa Fe, 
 New Mexico. His resignation of his official position in 
 
48 TWENTY-FJVE YEARS 
 
 the Brotherhood had come too late ; his work bore fruit 
 in the Presidential election, the vote was split, and so he 
 earned his wage. It is worthy of note that this was the 
 first time the Irish vote was split, and that Sullivan was 
 the primary cause of it. Ever since the vote has so 
 remained, to the advantage of the Irish leaders of both 
 sides, who, in the scramble for office, barter the adhesion 
 of their followers in the public market-place. 
 
 Santa Fe, however, did not hold Sullivan long. His 
 shady methods compelled him to make an inglorious exit ; 
 and so he was to be found in the year 1873 working with 
 his wife, 7iee Buchanan, in a reporting capacity on Chicago 
 newspapers. 
 
 Here for the present, however, I must leave Sullivan. I 
 have dealt thus fully with the man at this early stage, 
 because of the strange influence he from this time forth 
 wielded over Irish politics in America ; and in order to 
 properly represent his character, I have somewhat antici- 
 pated events in his life which are far ahead of the time 
 with which I am at present dealing. I have done so ad- 
 visedly, for Sullivan will play a large part in the chapters 
 to which I must now proceed. Where his personalityvvill 
 not thrust itself upon the scene, his shadow will darken 
 every act and incident. From this time onward, for a 
 period of twenty years, I used the man as my dupe. Feed- 
 ing his vanity, assisting his ambition, helping him in the 
 hundred and one ways in which it was possible for me to 
 do, I gained his friendship and his confidence to such an 
 extent, that no man in the whole course of my career in 
 the secret service proved a more valuable, albeit an uncon- 
 scious, ally than he. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 49 
 
 XII. 
 
 Before continuing my narrative, I will stop to relate 
 one of the few cases in which I was forced into a very 
 narrow place, and faced with the near possibility of com- 
 plete exposure. The incident is useful as illustrating the 
 dangers by which I was surrounded, and the requirements 
 of the position in which I was placed. At a council of 
 war held in Troy House, Troy, New York, in the month 
 of November 1868, I came in contact with John Roche, 
 well known as one of the shining lights of Irish nationality 
 in that city. Roche was one of these hypercritical and 
 over-suspicious individuals who were constantly recogniz- 
 ing British detectives in every stranger whom they met. 
 He had been, I discovered, originally a resident of 
 Montreal, and as I had been instructed by O'Neill to visit 
 and study the enemy's country, I indicated to Roche my 
 desire of ascertaining the names of a few reliable brothers 
 whom I could visit. The truth was that the Canadian 
 Government were at this time particularly anxious to find 
 out the extent of the organization which they knew existed 
 in several of their large cities, notably Montreal, Kings- 
 ton, and Toronto ; and I thought this a good opportunity 
 of getting some useful hints. 
 
 Roche furnished me with the names of several leadins: 
 members. Unluckily for me, I foolishly wrote the partic- 
 ulars down in a note-book in his presence. The act, in his 
 opinion, was a suspicious one. He watched me closely, 
 and evidently conceived the idea that my patriotism was of 
 a very incautious character, if not worse. On the eighth 
 
50 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 of the following month, at the Annual Convention held in 
 the Masonic Hall, Philadelphia, to which he was a delegate, 
 I found his suspicions solidified in the form of a set of 
 charges against me, imputing carelessness, dangerous con- 
 duct, and suspicious acts. My friends, and they were 
 legion, together with myself, indignantly denied the alle- 
 gations, and virtuously demanded an inquiry, which was 
 granted, and a committee was appointed to lay the charges. 
 Roche was duly heard, injured innocence was largely en 
 evidence on my part, and very quickly a unanimous verdict 
 was reported back to the Convention, asserting that the 
 charges were scandalous and without the slightest founda- 
 tion, it being fully demonstrated by the following letter 
 that I was authorized to visit and acquaint myself with 
 the other side, as I represented to Roche : — 
 
 " Headquarters Fenian Brotherhood, 
 "No. lo West Fourth Street, 
 
 "New York, October 23, 1868. 
 "P. O. Box 5141. 
 
 "Lieut. -Col. Henry Le Caron, A.A.G., F.B., 
 "Care of Capt. T. O'Hagan, 
 " Ogdensburg, N.Y. 
 
 "•Dear Sir and Brother, — Yours of the 20th and 21st came duly to 
 hand and are perfectly satisfactory. 
 
 "I think it better not commence equalizing goods just yet; I will write 
 you again on the matter. 
 
 " It would be highly beneficial to us for you to avail yourself of every 
 opportunity to study the country on both sides of the line for future emer- 
 gencies. 
 
 " Everything here is going on satisfactorily. 
 
 " Yours fraternally, 
 
 "John O'Neill, 
 '' Pres. F.Br 
 
 I did not, however, deem it prudent to let matters rest 
 even here, feeling that my ultimate success in the interests 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 5 I 
 
 of the Government depended upon absolute confidence on 
 the part of the ruling powers. Accordingly I sat down 
 and immediately wrote out my resignation as an officer of 
 the Irish Republican Army, giving this want of confidence 
 as my reason, and couching my letter in indignant terms. 
 As I hoped and anticipated, my letter brought the follow- 
 ing welcome response, which placed me on a surer footing 
 than ever, and brought me into even more confidential 
 relations with the head of the organization than I had 
 hitherto enjoyed : — 
 
 "War Department, Fenian Brotherhood, 
 "No. 10 West Fourth Street, 
 " P. O. Box 5141, " New York, Dece?nber 29, 1868. 
 
 " Major H. Le Caron, 
 " Box 1004, 
 
 " Chicago, 111. 
 "Major, — Your letter tendering your resignation as an officer of the 
 I. R, A. came duly to hand, but I delayed answering until such time as I could 
 submit it to the President, who was out of town, as without his instructions I 
 could give you nothing definite in reply. He now directs me to say that it is 
 his wish you should remain an officer of the organization, and that if you 
 require a leave of absence for a month or more, you can have it. He further 
 says he hopes it will not be long before the opportunity you refer to may be 
 granted. Your services have been thoroughly appreciated both by him and 
 the officials of both Departments, civil and military, therefore you should not 
 notice the innuendoes or taunts of parties who cannot value your services. If 
 the officers of the organization who have been vilified and calumniated were to 
 resign on that account, some of its best officers would not now be at their 
 post. The 'Patriot's meed is bitter;' they must bear with much, even from 
 those who should be the first to defend and sustain them. 
 
 " Personally, I would advise you to act on the suggestions of the President, 
 and hope you will. 
 
 " The President will write you in a few days. Whatever course you may 
 decide upon pursuing in this matter, you shall always carry with you the 
 best wishes of 
 
 " Your friend and brother, 
 
 "J. Whitehead Byron, 
 
 " Col. a^ A.A.G., f.b:' 
 
52 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 I got thus safely out of my awkward position, and learnt 
 one good lesson. I never kept a pocket-book again. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 The Annual Convention to which I have made reference 
 in connection with the Roche incident took place in Phila- 
 delphia, "the city of brotherly love," in the month of 
 December 1868. It was made the occasion of an immense 
 demonstration, no less than 6,000 armed and uniformed 
 Fenian soldiers parading the streets. The convention 
 itself was numerically a large one, and was attended by 
 over 400 properly qualified delegates. The proceedings 
 were of the usual kind. Brag and bluster were the order 
 of the day. The determination to invade Canada once 
 more was still upheld by the vote of the assembly, and the 
 position of O'Neill and his colleagues was as fixed and 
 satisfactory as ever — that of myself, of course, being 
 included in this reference. 
 
 The report of the envoy to the sister organization in 
 Ireland — Daniel Sullivan, Secretary of Civil Affairs — 
 was an interesting document, and contained full details 
 of the Clerkenwell Explosion of the previous year. This 
 v/as the attempt to blow up Clerkenwell Prison which 
 Mr. Parnell subsequently described in reply to Mr. Glad- 
 stone — the old Mr. Gladstone, I mean, not the new one 
 — as "a practical joke." It was, however, as we in Phila- 
 delphia 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. Gladstone 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 53 
 
 a confession about its effect being "to bring the Irish 
 question within the range of practical politics," which has 
 ever since proved the most effective and popular argument 
 advanced on behalf of dynamite in the United States. 
 
 About this time, John Boyle O'Reilly, a very well-known 
 Irishman, late editor of the Boston Pilot, a poet and nov- 
 elist, and author of a delightfully written novel, "Moon- 
 dyne," the material for which was obtained during his 
 confinement in Australia as a Fenian prisoner, first arrived 
 in New York, having succeeded in making his escape from 
 the convict settlement at Freemantle. With his appear- 
 ance came the idea of rescuing his fellow-prisoners. The 
 proposal, first mooted in uncertainty, was eventually taken 
 up with the greatest enthusiasm, and carried to a most 
 successful conclusion. For the purpose a whaler was 
 chartered by the organization and fitted out at New Bed- 
 ford, Massachusetts, with the ostensible object of whaling 
 in the South Seas, but, in reality, for bringing the convicts 
 off from Australia. The boat was partially manned by 
 trusted men of the organization, though, to keep up the 
 deception, a certain number of well-known whalers' men 
 went to make up the crew. On arrival at Australia, some 
 of the most trusted Fenians were landed with instructions 
 to open up communication with the convicts, while the 
 vessel cruised about on the high seas. It was not antici- 
 pated that the task set the men left on shore would be a 
 difficult one, because the convicts were hired out as 
 laborers during the day, and communication with them 
 was not by any means a trying matter. As affairs turned 
 out, it was quite easy. The men from the whaler, however, 
 had not been landed more than a day or two, when they 
 found that they were not the only persons arranging the 
 convicts' rescue. Two men — McCarthy and Gray — were 
 
54 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 already at work in this direction, having been sent out by 
 the Supreme Council of the Fenian Brotherhood in Ireland, 
 at the instigation, as he claimed to me subsequently, of 
 Patrick Egan. 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 day, the plot was 
 carried to a successful termination, and the rescued men 
 were placed on board the whaler, which immediately set 
 out for the States. Although an armed cruiser was 
 immediately despatched to stop it, and some firing took 
 place, the whaler succeeded in getting out of Australian 
 waters and on the high seas in safety. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 The year 1869 saw O'Neill still at the helm of Fenian 
 affairs, and large sums of money rolling into the coffers 
 of the organization ; although, as always the case with 
 Irish movements, dissensions reigned within the ranks. 
 The Stephens section, now presided over by John Savage, 
 who had succeeded John O'Mahony, was constantly at- 
 tacking 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 thou- 
 sand stands-of-arms and almost three million rounds of 
 ammunition in the care of the many trusted men stationed 
 between Ogdensburg and St. Albans. Some thousands 
 of these guns were breech-loaders, which had been re- 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 55 
 
 modelled from United States Government " Springfields " 
 at the arms factory, leased and '' run " by the organization 
 at Trenton, New Jersey. The depot from which the bulk 
 were packed and shipped was '' Quinn & 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 compliments for the admirable way in which 
 I discharged my duty, I was now promoted to the office 
 of Assistant Adjutant-General, with the rank of Colonel ; 
 and my new position enabled me not only to become pos- 
 sessed of the originals of every document, plan of pro- 
 posed campaign, etc., but also specimens of the Fenian 
 army commissions and uniforms of the time, which of 
 course I conveyed to the officials of the Canadian Gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 Successful as I was in evading detection through all 
 this work, those assisting me in my secret service capa- 
 city 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 Government, by one of the 
 staff of men placed at my disposal for the purposes of 
 immediate communication and the transit of any docu- 
 ments requiring secrecy and despatch, as well as for per- 
 sonal protection, should such prove necessary. This man, 
 John C. Rose, was one of the most faithful and trusted 
 servants of the Canadian administration, and for months 
 he followed me along the whole border. Though stop- 
 ping at the same hotels, and in constant communication 
 with me, no suspicion was aroused, until his identity was 
 
56 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 disclosed by a visitor from the seat of Government at 
 Ottawa to G. J. Mannix, the head-centre of that Gibraltar 
 of Fenianism, Malone. Men were immediately set to 
 watch him without my knowledge, and the fact of his 
 being found always in 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 sending a despatch 
 from the post-office, was waylaid, robbed, and brutally 
 beaten, and subsequently brought back to the hotel in as 
 sorry a plight as I ever saw. I was immediately advised 
 by my Fenian friends as to the dangerous character of 
 this mutual enemy of ours, as he was termed ; and though 
 shocked and embittered by the treatment accorded to 
 the poor devoted fellow, I had, for political reasons, to 
 applaud their cowardly assault, and to denounce my brave 
 friend, who was bearing all his sufferings in silence and 
 with a splendid spirit. For months poor Rose was quite 
 prostrated, 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 announced 
 the completion of the arrangements for the invasion ; 
 and in the month of December the Ninth Annual Con- 
 vention was called in New York. In connection with 
 this convention, I was called upon to perform a little act 
 which served to more closely knit the bonds of friendship 
 between O'Neill and myself, and, if possible, to obtain for 
 me an even larger share of his confidence than I had hith- 
 erto enjoyed. O'Neill, as was customary in Irish revolu- 
 tionary circles, had, in his capacity of leader, been making 
 free with the funds of the organization. In a word, he 
 had been spending for personal purposes moneys received 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 57 
 
 from the circles or camps. Professor Brophy, the Treas- 
 urer, one of the few honest dekided Irish patriots of the 
 time, refused to cook the accounts in order to cover the 
 President's delinquencies. The books had to be sub- 
 mitted to the Convention, and O'Neill was in a frightful 
 difficulty. In his embarrassment he came to me, and, to 
 my surprise, made a clean breast of the whole matter. 
 The opportunity was too good a one to be lost. I ad- 
 vanced the money, and took his note of hand, thus saving 
 his reputation before the Convention. 
 
 Need I say that money was never repaid 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 pre- 
 served to this date. It is certainly an interesting docu- 
 ment, so I give it here. 
 
 *' New York, April 19, 1870. 
 *' $364 41-100. 
 
 *' Received from Colonel H. le Caron, three hundred and sixty-four dollars 
 and 41-100, borrowed money, to be returned whenever demanded. 
 
 "John O'Neil, 
 '' Pres, F,B:' 
 
 A council of war followed, and all was now activity. 
 In view of active operations in Canada, all moneys were 
 called in, and orders were issued from headquarters to 
 have in readiness all the military organizations. The 
 final order was issued in April as follows: — 
 
 '* Headquarters Fenian Brotherhood, 
 "No. 10 West Fourth Street, 
 
 "New York, February 10, 1870. 
 "P. O. Box 5141. 
 
 " To the Military Officers of the Fenian Brotherhood. 
 
 " Brothers, — You have, no doubt, ere this received general orders No. 
 I from General Michael Kerwin, Secretary of War, F.B. (headquarters, No. 
 50 North 1 2th Street, Philadelphia, Penna). A strict compliance with the 
 
58 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 requirements thereof is hereby imperatively demanded. The success or failure 
 of our holy cause now depends upon the prompt and energetic performance 
 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 readiness for active and iraniediate ser- 
 vice^ 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 com- 
 missioned. 
 
 "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 mili- 
 tary clothing within your knowledge which can be forwarded to certain 
 points, to be named hereafter, so inform the Secretary of War, whom you 
 will address in reply to this circular, and he will, on receipt of your com- 
 munications, forward private instructions with regard to your respective 
 commands. 
 
 *' Pay no attention to what may appear upon the surface or in newspapers. 
 We mean fight — speedy fight — and nothing else, thigin thu ? ^ 
 
 "Officers receiving copies of Military Oath with this circular will sign the 
 same in presence of witness, and return to the Secretary of War. 
 
 "Ascertain and report how many of your men can and will furnish their 
 own transportation, and in the mean time try and persuade all of them to save 
 enough for that purpose. Military men should not forget that the civic 
 circles have supplied the means wherewith to provide breech-loaders, ammu- 
 nition, etc. etc. Their liberality in these regards will, to a limited extent, 
 relieve them from the responsibility of advancing the means of transporta- 
 tion. They will not, however, hesitate to co-operate with the military branch 
 of the F. B. in this matter. 
 
 '■^Preserve the titviost secrecy with regard to this circular and reply at 
 once. Delay, and you are guilty of neglect of duty ! 
 "Yours fraternally, 
 
 "John O'Neill, 
 
 " President Fenian Brotherhood^^ 
 1 The Irish for " Do you understand ? " 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 59 
 
 " Headquarters, War Department, F.B., 
 "Deckertown, Sussex County, N J., 
 ''April 28, 1870. 
 " General Orders. 
 "No 
 
 " Commanding officers of regiments, companies, and detachments will 
 hold their respective commands in readiness to move at a moment's notice. 
 
 " Officers of circles having no military organizations attached will immedi- 
 ately take the necessary steps to organize the military of their neighborhoods, 
 and forward to this office the names of officers selected, so that they may be 
 commissioned. 
 
 "Commanding officers of companies will_^et as many men as possible 
 ready to move at once, leaving to the civic officers the task of collecting and 
 forwarding — if possible within twenty-four hours thereafter — those who 
 may not be able to move with the first detachments. 
 
 "Officers and men must avoid the use of uniforms or any insignia that 
 would distinguish them. 
 
 "Officers must not be recognized by military titles, and officers or men 
 must not speak of Fenian matters while en route. 
 
 " Take no man who is a loafer or a habitual drunkard. 
 
 "Take no man who has not seen service, or who has not sufficient charac- 
 ter to insure his good behavior en route and in presence of the enemy. 
 
 "Any arms, uniforms, or war material remaining in the hands of circles 
 must be immediately packed and forwarded to the points designated in 
 circular of February 19, 1870. 
 
 "Hold no communications with any person not authorized from these 
 headquarters. 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.-Ge7i. and Sec. of War. 
 
 " Approved, 
 
 "John O'Neill, 
 " President Fenian Brotherhood. 
 " H. le Caron, 
 
 " Col. and Adj .-General P 
 
6o TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 XV. 
 
 At this time I was out West, and receiving a telegram 
 from O'Neill, directing me to meet him in Buffalo, I hur- 
 ried thither without delay. I reached that city only to 
 find that O'Neill had ordered an immediate movement on 
 Canada, and that, as he phrased it, '' no power on earth 
 could stop it." This condition of things startled and sur- 
 prised 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 military com- 
 manders 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 Adju- 
 tant-General with the rank of Brigadier-General. We had 
 quick promotion and brave ranks in the Fenian army! 
 
 On Saturday, April 22, 1870, O'Neill and I left Buffalo 
 for St. Albans, he full of enthusiasm and the belief that 
 the Canadians would be taken entirely by surprise, I 
 laughing to myself at his coming discomfiture. We ar- 
 rived at Milton, Vermont, at daylight on the following 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 6 1 
 
 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 Canadian authorities been fully advised, the results, 
 under the circumstances, would have been undoubtedly 
 serious. There was another important feature about this 
 second raid, and that was its preparedness. Matters in 
 connection with the first affair had been of a very happy- 
 go-lucky character. Now the services of a number of 
 ex-military men of undoubted ability had been secured, 
 and war material for at least twelve thousand men was 
 actually on the ground. 
 
 O'Neill's ideas may be set forth in very few words. 
 The chief object he had in viev/ was to obtain possession 
 of Canada, not as the permanent seat of an Irish Repub- 
 lic, 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 Rebellion, to 
 enroll themselves under the Irish banner, and to com- 
 mand expeditions which it was fondly hoped and expected 
 would wrest Ireland from the hands of the oppressor. 
 
62 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 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 unlimited support would rally from the 
 United States. Buffalo, Malone, and Franklin were the 
 three points from which attacks were to be made. How- 
 ever, '* the best laid schemes of mice and men gang 
 aft aglee." O'Neill expected i,ooo 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 themselves. 
 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 messen- 
 gers had departed, carrying full details as to the time, 
 exact points of crossing, numbers, place of operations, 
 etc., 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 confidence, 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 misapprehended the situation on this score, however, 
 as subsequent events showed. 
 
 Hubbard's Farm, the Fenian camp and rendezvous, 
 was situated about half a mile from Franklin, and here 
 all the available ''invaders" were mustered. Arrano-ino: 
 them in line, O'Neill addressed them as follows : — 
 
 "Soldiers, this is the advance-guard of the Irish-Ameri- 
 can army for the liberation of Ireland from the yoke of 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 63 
 
 the oppressor. For your own country you enter that of 
 the enemy. The eyes of your countrymen are upon you. 
 Forward. March." 
 
 And march they did, O'Neill, as he departed at their 
 head, instructing me to bring to his support on their 
 arrival a party of 400 men then en route from St. Albans. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 Careless of consequences, I waited to see what would 
 happen. As I stood on the brow of the hill where our 
 company was situated, the scene was indeed worthy of my 
 study. Ludicrous as were many of the elements which 
 went to make it up, the charm of nature was superior to 
 them all, and commanded my tribute of respect and admi- 
 ration. Right below me was a pretty valley, down the 
 very centre of which flowed a little creek marking the 
 boundary of Canadian territory, and dividing by its narrow 
 course the Canadian from American soil. A soft pleasant 
 sward sloped gracefully down from where I stood to its 
 bank, while on the other side there rose in graceful out- 
 lines the monarchs of a Canadian forest, overtopped by a 
 rocky cliff standing out in bold 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 be- 
 neath me, were seeking, in their own foolish v/ay, to make 
 " Ireland a nation once again." They were a funny crowd. 
 All were armed, but few were uniformed. Here and there 
 
64 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 a Fenian coat, with its green and gray faced with gold, 
 caught the eye, but only to stand out in contrast with the 
 surrounding garments of more sombre hue and everyday 
 appearance. The men marched with a certain amount of 
 military precision, for all had received some degree of m'l- 
 itary 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 bayo- 
 nets, 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. 
 
 A few paces, and on their startled ears came the ring- 
 ing 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 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 subse- 
 quently buried by the Canadians. 
 
 On the slope of the hill was a large structure known as 
 Richard's Farm, to which the invaders retreated and con- 
 tinued their firing, ineffective as it was. 
 
 Seeing that all was over here, for a time at least, I hur- 
 ried off to the point where the St. Albans contingent had 
 by now arrived, and were arming. The process took some 
 time, and while engaged in superintending it, I was afforded 
 practical evidence of the termination of O'Neill's part in 
 the fight. Standing in the middle of the public road where 
 the men were forming into line — it was now half-past one, 
 the *' battle" which I have just described having taken 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 65 
 
 place about 11.30 — I was startled by the cry, ''Clear the 
 road, clear the road! " and almost knocked down by a furi- 
 ously driven team of horses, to which was attached a cov- 
 ered carriage. As the conveyance flashed by me, I caught 
 through the carriage window a hurried glimpse of the 
 dejected faX:e 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 command. I learned subsequently 
 that O'Neill was in the custody of the United States mar- 
 shal, General Foster, who, acting with that precision so 
 peculiar to General Grant's administration, when contrasted 
 with that of Andrew Johnson's, had, in consequence of 
 the information furnished, arrived on the scene of the 
 battle immediately after I left, and arrested O'Neill for a 
 breach of the Neutrality Laws. O'Neill, who was in the 
 company of his comrades, had at first refused submission, 
 and threatened force, but on General Foster placing a 
 revolver at his head, he gave in. 
 
 When the news of O'Neill's arrest reached us later on in 
 the afternoon, a council of war was held, presided over by 
 John Boyle O'Reilly, of whom I have already spoken, the 
 council being held in a meadow, where we all stood in a X 
 circle. Contingents were hourly arriving, and a strong 
 attempt was made to get Boyle O'Reilly to take command, 
 and lead the attack at some other point, but in the end 
 nothing was done. 
 
 Next morning, General Spear, the Secretary of War of 
 the Fenian Brotherhood, arrived at St. Albans, and sought 
 to do something practical in the way of continuing the in- 
 vasion. Through his aide-de-camp^ Colonel Brown, and 
 
66 TIVENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 subsequently in person, he appealed to me to supply him 
 with 400 or 500 stand-of-arms and ammunition within 
 twenty-four hours. Of course, it would never have done 
 for me to have allowed further operations, and so I pleaded 
 it was impossible under the condition of affairs then de- 
 veloped. 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 alac- 
 rity. 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 
 appearance of the United States troops, filled the invaders 
 with dismay, and utter demoralization was the result. 
 
 XVIL 
 
 On Friday, April 27th, under the excuse that I was 
 going to Burlington to see about O'Neill, I went round 
 by way of Rouse's Point to Montreal. I was elated with 
 my success, and wanted to report myself at headquarters 
 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 alto- 
 gether too premature in my self-congratulations. In fact, 
 
IN THE SECRFrr SERVICE. 6/ 
 
 that journey brought me even closer to discovery than I 
 had ever been before. 
 
 Nothmg unusual happened till we got to Cornwall, 
 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 commo- 
 tion at the door of the dining-room, I looked round to find 
 advancing towards me two men, one remarkable for his 
 tall military appearance, and the other for his clerical 
 attire. All eyes were turned upon them, and as I ceased 
 eating for the moment to look up, I heard the clerical- 
 looking person say, as he pointed his finger towards me, 
 "That is the man." Advancing, the tall man, who subse- 
 quently turned out to be the mayor of Cornwall, speaking 
 with a Scotch accent, said, *^ You are my prisoner," accom- 
 panying the words with a grasp of my shoulder. I ima- 
 gined 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 happened to be in the 
 vicinity of Malone when I was locating arms there, and I 
 had been pointed out to him then as the leading Fenian 
 agent. His memory was a very good one, and he imme- 
 diately recognized me when we m.et 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 rea- 
 
68 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 son ? " quoth I, indignantly. " Why am I arrested ? " — 
 " You are a Fenian," came the reply, the words falling 
 clearly and distinctly on the hushed room, where those 
 present began to show signs of anger and indignation 
 towards me. I hurried out with my captors, and was 
 taken to a room adjoining the ticket-office, there to have 
 demanded of me my luggage and my keys, with everything 
 on my person. I had no luggage save a hand-bag, yet I 
 had with me documents which would reveal everything, if 
 made public. My position was dangerous — distinctly 
 dangerous. The prospect before me was that of disclos- 
 ure and imprisonment 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 Government 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 Gov- 
 ernment. Let him send me on to Ottawa under guard, if 
 he liked, and then he would prove my statements true. 
 Did he want immediate proof, then here were my papers, 
 and there a telegram to Judge M'Micken, advising him of 
 my coming, which he himself would despatch. 
 
 My manner must have impressed him, for he decided to 
 adopt my suggestion, and send me on by the same train 
 in which I had been travelling (which had not yet gone, 
 all this occupying but a few minutes), under the escort of 
 a lieutenant who, with his Canadian regiment, was then 
 returning from the scene of the invasion. The details of 
 my arrest as a Fenian quickly spread amongst my fellow- 
 passengers, and travelled before me on the route, and the 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 69 
 
 reception I met with along my journey was most disagree- 
 able. For safety's sake, the lieutenant transferred me to 
 the care of a sergeant and couple of soldiers, and the car- 
 riage in which we travelled was the sole point of attrac- 
 tion in the train. Crowding round this carriage, the 
 infuriated Canadians would hiss and hoot me, while their 
 cries of ''Hang him," ''Lynch him," gave me a very 
 uncomfortable idea of what would happen to me if left 
 alone amongst them. So careful were my guardians of 
 me, that they would not even allow me to have the win- 
 dow 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 smoking. All through my life, 
 even down to the present time, I have been a great 
 smoker, sometimes consuming as many as sixteen cigars 
 in the day, a statement which will probably puzzle some 
 people who hold that tobacco ruins the nerves. 
 
 On reaching Prescott Junction, I found that the news 
 of my capture — of course my name and rank never 
 transpired — had created such a sensation that a special 
 correspondent of the Toronto Globe had travelled to meet 
 me, in order to find out who and what I was, and every- 
 thing about me. He was doomed to be disappointed, 
 however, for I could not be got to speak. When, event- 
 ually, 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 con- 
 veyed to the police-ofiBce, where the Commissioner was 
 awaiting us. Pretty certain of my safety now, I v/as 
 quite prepared to smile, and really did laugh when brought 
 into the presence of my friend the judge. Not so he, 
 
70 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 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 in- 
 structions, I remained in his office till nightfall, when, in a 
 cab under cover of the darkness, I accompanied him to 
 the club to take up my quarters there for the night. 
 
 In the club the Fenian prisoner of a few hours previ- 
 ously was made a most welcome guest, and had an exceed- 
 ingly good time. My identity being known to some of 
 the officers who crowded the club-house after their return 
 from Franklin, I found myself quite the hero of the hour, 
 and had most interesting chats over the experiences of the 
 raid on both sides of the fight. Amongst the pleasant 
 people whose acquaintance I then made, was Dr. Grant, 
 the physician to Prince Arthur, who was in Ottawa at 
 that time. 
 
 With the following day came arrangements for my de- 
 parture for home, and it was decided that, in order to avoid 
 travelling over the same line again, I should be driven 
 during the night to Arnprior terminus — a distance of 
 some forty miles from Ottawa — from which place I could 
 take a branch line to my destination. Fortunate though 
 I thought myself, my troubles were not at an end. This 
 trip of mine to Ottawa was a chapter of misfortunes. As 
 I was on the point of starting, I discovered that I had not 
 sufficient money to bring me home. Accordingly, Judge 
 M'Micken had to supply me with the needful funds. This, 
 however, did not prove by any means an easy thing to do. 
 A check 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 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. *J\ 
 
 — and it was beyond the resources of the ckib at the 
 moment. The services of the club porter therefore had 
 to be utilized 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 imme- 
 diately 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. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 With the fiasco at Pigeon Hill, and the equally in- 
 glorious 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 confinement, was brought to trial, and sen- 
 tenced to six months' imprisonment, and the Fenian 
 organization 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. 
 
72 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 I had scarcely resumed my studies, however, when a 
 visit from O'Neill on his release showed me that there 
 was still some fight left in himself and his comrades. He 
 came to me as a matter of fact to enlist my co-operation 
 in some work of a distinctly active character. In expla- 
 nation 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 cor- 
 respondence gave all the details of a contemplated uprising 
 of the half-breeds in the North-West against the Domin- 
 ion authorities, and stated, to my amazement and disgust, 
 that he — this young priest — had received permission 
 from his Archbishop — Tasche — to throw off his ecclesi- 
 astical garments ard take a part therein. 
 
 In conclusion, O'Neill's assistance and co-operation 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 permission they 
 could not be given up. I cheerfully agreed to let him 
 have 400 breech-loaders and ammunition, and accom- 
 panied him to the points where they were, for the pur- 
 pose 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 in- 
 formation as to what was sur le tapis. 
 
 O'Neill, in company with a trusted confederate, J. J. 
 Donnelly, fitted out his expedition, and on the 5th day of 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 73 
 
 October, 1871, after crossing the line at Fort Pembina, 
 was arrested with his party, and all his war material 
 seized, in consequence of the information supplied by me. 
 Riel, thus deprived of the expected assistance, surren- 
 dered 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 blun- 
 der, handed over to the United States authorities, and by 
 them acquitted on the ludicrous technicality that the 
 offence was not committed on American, but Canadian 
 soil. 
 
 Subsequently O'Neill came back to me and made my 
 life a burden. Discredited and disheartened, 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. Drifting slowly 
 downward through disgrace and drink, O'Neill, the once 
 brilliant, if egotistical. Irishman met a lone and miserable 
 death. 
 
 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 
 v/as 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 
 
74 
 
 TWENTY-FI VE YEA RS 
 
 these opponents I was attacked in company with O'Neill, 
 and the others engaged in the affair, for having ruined the 
 organization by the premature ''invasion" which had 
 taken place. Therefore, I thought it better to remove to 
 another quarter where this state of feeling did not exist, 
 and where my Irish record would be of service 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 acquainted with, and obtain as much information 
 as I could about, Mackay Lomasney — whose name will 
 be familiar in connection with the London Bridge explo- 
 sion — and others just settled down there. 
 
 Lomasney was, in the eyes of the authorities, an impor- 
 tant man ; and his subsequent career, terminating with 
 the attempt to blow up London Bridge, in which he lost 
 his own life, fully justified their estimate. He had been 
 engaged in the '65 and '6^ movements in Ireland, had 
 been charged with the murder of a policeman and ac- 
 quitted, 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 entertain- 
 ing man. The future dynamitard was at this time about 
 twenty-eight years of age. Though of youthful appear- 
 ance, his face was a most determined 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 pro- 
 fusion, it was one face ; when clean-shaven, quite another, 
 and impossible of recognition. Acting, as he constantly 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 75 
 
 did, as the delegate from the American section to the 
 Fenians at home, this faculty of disguise proved of enor- 
 mous 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 met, I 
 never saw such a change produced by so easy a process. 
 I may dismiss Mackay Lomasney from this point of my 
 story by saying that, beyond his activity in connection 
 with the establishment of the Irish Confederation, his 
 movements gave little ground for apprehension, and, as 
 far as the Confederation was concerned, its development 
 proved of very little account. 
 
 But, if the Confederation was to accomplish little, the 
 men who with Lomasney took part in its initiation were 
 not without their claims to attention. Foremost amongst 
 them were two bearing names destined to be familiar in 
 latter-day politics. These were O'Donovan Rossa and 
 John Devoy. As both will be found constantly strutting 
 across the stage of Irish-American affairs from this date, 
 I will pause here to refer to them in some little detail. 
 
 Jeremiah O'Donovan — the "Rossa" was, he claims, 
 added in early years as the outward and visible sign of 
 the alleged fact of his being directly descended from the 
 Princes of Rossa — was, at the time of his arrival, one of 
 the most popular men amongst the Irish in the United 
 States. Sentenced to imprisonment for life for taking 
 part in the '65 movement, he had, according to general 
 rumor, undergone the severest of sufferings and indigni- 
 ties in the British dungeons. A strong current of sympathy 
 set in in his favor in consequence, 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 
 
76 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 or grow weak. The man whose name was to be so closely 
 associated with dynamite and devilry in later years, did 
 not at this time suggest by his appearance the possession 
 of any undue ferocity. His face, though determined, was 
 yet not without its kindly aspect, while his love for the 
 bottle betrayed a jovial rather than a fiendish instinct. 
 His fierceness, indeed, lay altogether in speech. Voluble 
 and sweeping in his language, he was never so happy as 
 when pouritig 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. For- 
 bidding 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. Experience 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 be- 
 tween ; and had it not been for his undoubted ability, and 
 the existence of those necessities which link adventurers 
 together, he could never have reached the prominent 
 place which he subsequently attained in the Fenian 
 organization. 
 
 With their fellow-prisoners who had been amnestied. 
 General Thomas F. Bourke, Thomas Clarke Luby, Ed- 
 mond Power, and Henry S. Meledy, together with James 
 J. O'Kelly, late M.P. for Roscommon, but then a strug- 
 gling reporter on a New York paper, Rossa and Devoy 
 brought the Irish Confederation into existence, and 
 formed its first "directory" or executive. They indulged 
 in the wild hope of being able to gather in all the scat- 
 tered Irish under one banner, and to put an end once and 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 77 
 
 for all to the dissensions and divisions which had so dis- 
 astrously affected Irish affairs in the past. They were 
 disappointed. Not by their unaided efforts was this to 
 be accomplished. Indeed, the Confederation 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 himself 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. 
 
 XX. 
 
 While my Fenian friends struggled on in this way, I 
 looked after my own affairs. Completing my studies and 
 business in Detroit, I moved myself and my family to 
 Wilmington, where I settled down to make a home and 
 secure an income. I was now a fully fledged M.D., and so I 
 immediately commenced practising at Braidwood, a suburb 
 of Wilmington. Success attended my start, my Irish con- 
 nection 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 succeeded in getting an appoint- 
 ment 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 lucrative appoint- 
 
y8 • TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 ment 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 extent, 
 will know how paying such offices can be made. 
 
 Meantime I had joined the Medical Society of my State, 
 and assisted in founding the State Pharmaceutical Society. 
 My activity did not even stop here, and, in addition, I 
 took a very active part in bringing about much-needed 
 legislation 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 pharmacy, and I — 
 let me frankly confess it — as much for the sake of popu- 
 larity as anything else, spared no pains, even going to the 
 extent of ''lobbying" 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, frequently attempted, 
 had never yet been wholly accomplished by the aspiring 
 leaders of the Irish in America. This was the bringing 
 together of all Irishmen at home and abroad into one vast 
 and perfect organization. The hour was coming, and with 
 it the men. Born in comparative poverty and insignifi- 
 cance, but under an impressiv^e name, the association now 
 being formed, the great Clan-na-Gael of the future, was 
 destined to be a powerful, rich, and far-reaching organiza- 
 tion, healthy of limb and strong of hand, fated to leave 
 its heavy mark upon the pages of this half-century's his- 
 tory. From small beginnings have come great results. 
 
 Away back towards the end of the sixties, there came 
 into existence one of these temporal societies, an off -shoot 
 of the permanent conspiracy known under the name 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 79 
 
 '•' 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 concert with others under the name of the 
 " United Irishmen," what were really the first camps of 
 the Clan-na-Gael were established. 
 
 The V.C. (the cipher was arranged on the plan of using 
 the alphabetical letters immediately following those in- 
 tended to be indicated) had for its object the same inten- 
 tion 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 character. P. R. 
 Walsh of Cleveland, Ohio, known as " the Father of the 
 Clan," was the apostle of this new condition of things, 
 and he, Vvdth others of shrewd and far-seeing minds, argued 
 with great success, tnat if one lesson more important than 
 another was to be learnt from the past history and miser- 
 able fiascos of the movement, it was that no possible suc- 
 cess could be achieved with a revolutionary organization 
 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 dic- 
 tated 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 unscrupulous, and, to be successful, 
 
8o TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 they could not enter on the contest for freedom with the 
 yoke of the Church around their neck. 
 
 Language like this reads strangely indeed in the light 
 of latter-day revelations, and the knowledge the world 
 now has of Clan-na-Gael priests and their work. But at 
 the time it was not without its appropriateness and sig- 
 nificance. The priests at the period of which I write 
 were, neither in Ireland nor America, the priests of these 
 subsequent years. Then, as in these days of old, when 
 religion was paramount and priestly control 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 peo- 
 ple, 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 content 
 to be led by, rather than to lead those whose consciences 
 were their charge and their responsibility. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 The arguments were well put, and what was more, they 
 were well timed. They proved successful. Everything 
 appeared in favor of the new move ; and the re-establish- 
 ment of the Fenian organization in Great Britain on a 
 more compact secret basis, under the title of the Irish 
 Republican Brotherhood, was one of the many satisfactory 
 features of the moment. Matters, however, moved slowly ; 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 8 1 
 
 and, although actually established in 1869, it was not until 
 the year 1873 that the movement became in any way gen- 
 eral. 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 lead- 
 ing 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 proceedings which might come to 
 him, under penalty of death. A Masonic form of ritual 
 was adopted ; grips, passwords, signs, and terrorizing pen- 
 alties were decided upon ; and all the pomp and circum- 
 stance of mystery, so dear to the Irish heart and so effective 
 in such a conspiracy, were called to the aid of those who 
 now inculcated this new doctrine. 
 
 Undoubtedly, there was no secret made amongst its 
 members as to the treasonable character of the organiza- 
 tion. 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 Irish soil, chosen by the free votes of the whole 
 Irish people, without distinction of creed or class, and the 
 restoration to all Irishmen of every creed and class of their 
 natural privileges of citizenship and equal rights. It shall 
 prepare unceasingly for an armed insurrection in Ireland." 
 
 The Ritual and forms of initiation were framed en- 
 tirely upon Masonic precedent ; and, to the vast majority 
 of the members of the Clan, the statement will come no 
 
82 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 doubt as a great surprise that the much vaunted secret 
 forms of the Masonic order need be secret to them no 
 longer, inasmuch 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 Brotherhood. 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 procedure. One great 
 feature of similarity exists between the two ceremonies. 
 In both the candidate 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, however, 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 organization. 
 
 The candidates for membership were balloted for in 
 the usual club manner, three black balls excluding. The 
 successful ones having answered different queries regard- 
 ing their age, belief in God, etc. etc., were, after being 
 blindfolded and shut out from view of their future asso- 
 ciates, brought forward and addressed by the Vice-Presi- 
 dent of the meeting as follows : — 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. Z^ 
 
 My Friends, — Animated by love, duty, and patriotism, you have sought 
 affiliation with us. We have deemed you worthy of our confidence and our 
 friendship. You are now within these secret walls. The men who surround 
 you have all taken the obligations of our Order, and are endeavoring to fulfil 
 its duties. These duties must be cheerfully complied with, or not at all under- 
 taken. We are Jsjtinfo (Irishmen) banded together for the purpose of free- 
 ing Jsfmboe (Ireland) and elevating the position of the Isjti (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 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 watch- 
 words 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 
 honorable 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 con- 
 flict with any duty which you owe to God, to your country, your neighbors, 
 or yourself. It must be taken before you can be admitted to light and fel- 
 lowship in our Order. With this assurance, and understanding, as you do, 
 that the object of this organization is the freedom of Jsfmboe (Ireland), will 
 you submit yourself to our rules and regulations and take our obligation 
 without mental reservation? " 
 
 At the conclusion of the address, the questions having 
 been put, and correctly replied to, the candidate took the 
 oath as follows : — 
 
 " I, , do solemnly and sincerely swear, in the presence of Almighty 
 
 God, that I will labor, while life is left me, to establish and defend a republi- 
 can form of government in Jsfmboe (Ireland). That I will never reveal the 
 
84 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 secrets of this organization 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 constitutional orders coming to 
 me from the proper authority, to the best of my ability. That I will foster a 
 spirit of unity, nationality, and brotherly love among the people of Jsfmboe 
 (Ireland). 
 
 " I furthermore swear that I do not now belong to any other Jsjti sfwpm- 
 vujpobsz (Irish revolutionary) society antagonistic to this organization, 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 reserva- 
 tion and that any violation hereof is infamous and merits the severest 
 punishment. So help me God." (Kiss the book.) 
 
 And then, in conclusion, the President made the follow- 
 ing 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 co-operate with the J.S.C. (Irish Republican Brotherhood) 
 in securing the independence 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 organization 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 wC' 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 membership, 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) organizations, and, should his vievvs be favorable, you might 
 then intimate that you believe there is a secret organization in existence work- 
 ing 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 infor- 
 mation 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 inter- 
 ests of the V.C. suffer through any want of prudence, perseverance, and 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 85 
 
 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 cipher as F.C.), pre- 
 sided over by a Chairman elected by the body at the 
 annual conventions, and a Revolutionary Directory known 
 without any regard to the cipher by its initial letters 
 R.D. This Revolutionary Directory was composed 
 of seven men, three of whom were nominated by the 
 Executive, three by the Irish Republican Brotherhood 
 (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 characterized by 
 the autocratic power possessed by its members, about 
 whose action no detailed information was supplied, and 
 against whose proceedings there was, in consequence, no 
 basis for appeal. The names of all these officers were 
 known only to the delegates who elected them, and to the 
 Presiding Officer of each camp, known as Senior Guardian. 
 
 To the Executive (or E.G.) was intrusted, amongst 
 other things, the arrangements regarding the places and 
 dates for holding the biennial and annual conventions of 
 the order ; and their decision in this respect was care- 
 fully guarded, and only at the very last moment commu- 
 nicated to the high officials, in order to prevent any spies 
 or agents of the British Government from becoming ac- 
 
S6 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 quainted with their proceedings. The head of each subor- 
 dinate body was informed a week in advance of the date 
 and place of the convention ; and he was instructed to 
 arrange for the immediate election of a delegate from 
 his camp. So close was the secret kept, that the dele- 
 gate, if other than the presiding officer, did not know till 
 the very hour of his starting where he was bound for. 
 Like convicts, the members were known by numbers, 
 never by names. Camps (known as D's) were also num- 
 bered ; and, in order the better to cover their doings from 
 the outside world, each camp had a public name by which 
 it was known. For instance, my own camp was known as 
 the "Emmet Literary Association." 
 
 During the early years of its existence I was not a 
 member of the Clan-na-Gael. Although, as I have stated, 
 I was one of the '' Knights of the Inner Circle," I did not 
 take any prominent part in the early days, when the V.C. 
 succeeded, or rather absorbed it. There were reasons 
 for my not doing so. My prominence and action in the 
 ill-fated Canadian raid had not been altogether forgotten, 
 and I was still held responsible, in certain minds, for the 
 premature undertaking of it. Another reason affecting 
 my action was the difficulty introduced by a clause in the 
 new constitution in regard to the question of nationality. 
 This clause read as follows : — 
 
 "All persons of Irish birth or descent, or of partial Irish descent, shall be 
 eligible to membership; but in cases of persons of partial Irish descent, 
 the camps are directed to make special inquiries in regard to the history, 
 character, and sentiments of the person proposed." 
 
 In view of the whole situation, I determined that I 
 should live down any ill-feeling which might exist regard- 
 ing my previous exploits, and that I should take advantage 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 87 
 
 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 sympathizing 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 m.other — 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 cau- 
 tious. 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 organization. In the 
 O'Neill regime, presumably jealous of my position, he had 
 denounced me as an adventurer, and the ill-feeling he had 
 for me had culminated during the sittings 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 Ex- 
 ecutive Committee appointed in Chicago was in session all day. They say 
 they intend to commence work as soon as they obtain possession of the muni- 
 tions of war. Major M 'Williams and Major Le Caron, two of the delegates, 
 had a little onset in front of the Whitney House last eve, and blood might 
 have flov/ed had it not been for the interference of several delegates." 
 
 The altercation, I may add, on this occasion involved 
 the use of revolvers, and created too pronounced a feeling 
 
88 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 between us to allow of my ever after expecting anything 
 but the bitterest opposition from M'Williams. To my re- 
 lief, however, M'Williams eventually got into a personal 
 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 ex- 
 isted at the time of his death, and so I considered it pru- 
 dent 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 organization quickly followed. 
 It must not, however, be thought that I had been " out of 
 things " meantime. Not at all. Possessed, as I 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 Revolu- 
 tionary faction still faithful to the memory of Stephens, 
 it had, in 1876, a membership exceeding 11,000, which in- 
 cluded amongst its leading names those of Alexander Sul- 
 livan, John Devoy, O'Donovan Rossa, Thomas Clarke 
 Luby, Thomas F. Burke, Dr. Carroll, James Reynolds, 
 Frank Agnew, Colonel Clingen, Wm. J. Hynes, R 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 organ- 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 89 
 
 ization. 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 Chicago, he had 
 taken to the study of law, in which branch of the profes- 
 sion he was now — in 1876 — preparing to practise. He 
 had been maintaining 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 Neiv York Herald staff. Rossa, very 
 much to the front for the moment, in consequence of his 
 "skirmishing" theory, had meantime been living on the 
 proceeds of the fund raised for himself and his fellow- 
 exiles on their arrival in 1871, and a special subscription 
 for himself, which Ford inaugurated in the Irish World. 
 Luby had been a well-known patriot since 1865, when, in 
 company with John O'Leary and Charles J. Kickham, he 
 had been sentenced to a long term of penal servitude for 
 the part he played in Ireland as one of the editors of the 
 Irish People. General Thomas Fras. Burke had served 
 with the Confederate Army, and had been amongst those 
 who, in 1867, left America to lead in that most dishearten- 
 ing 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 physicians in 
 Philadelphia, whose name will appear prominently in the 
 
90 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 future, and who stood one of the sponsors for Mr. Parnell 
 on the occasion of his arrival in America, was best known 
 as the admirer, friend, and associate of John Mitchell, and 
 was himself nothing if not a Revolutionist. James Rey- 
 nolds of New Haven, Conn., whom I first met in connec- 
 tion with the secret organization, was by profession a gas- 
 and brass-fitter, and an avowed advocate of " extreme " 
 measures. He was in fact a member of the Revolutionary 
 Directory 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 inspecting tour, I had oc- 
 casion to inspect a Fenian Company of which he was cap- 
 tain 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 days gone by, and had 
 sat with myself on the Military Board during O'Neill's 
 regime. 
 
 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 opponents of Alexander Sullivan, whom they 
 roundly accused of causing Dr. Cronin's death. Hynes 
 I knew as far back as 1865, when, as a clerk to John 
 O'Neill, he took a very active part in the work of the 
 Fenian Brotherhood. Owing to a row between O'Neill 
 and himself, he severed his connection with active Fenian- 
 ism, and obtained a clerkship in one of the departments 
 at Washington^ finding his way, after a little time, to 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 91 
 
 Arkansas. Although returned as a carpet-bag Congress- 
 man for the State, he failed to prosper, and at last he 
 found himself without a dollar in Chicago. Here the first 
 man to help him was Alexander Sullivan, against whom 
 he is now arrayed. Through Sullivan's political influence, 
 Hynes was engaged as professional juryman at a fee of 
 two dollars a day, from which position he worked himself 
 forward to that of a prominent politician and a well-known 
 member of the bar at which he practises. 
 
 P. W. Dunne proved to be a duplicate of O'Donovan 
 Rossa, in appearance and in many other ways, with this 
 one strong exception, that, whereas Rossa never sacrificed 
 any of his means for the good of his countrymen, but 
 rather lived upon them in fact, Dunne sacrificed an almost 
 princely fortune. In early years he had been a prominent 
 distiller (a very lucrative business) in Peoria, Illinois ; and 
 he was one of the leading seceders from the Stephens 
 wing of the Fenian Brotherhood, after the failure of 1865, 
 in which he himself participated, in company with P. J. 
 Meehan, editor of the Irish Auierican, He was now situ- 
 ated in Chicago, occupying the position of Superintendent 
 of Streets, and had preceded Sullivan and Clingen upon 
 the Executive of the Clan-na-Gael. 
 
 As for the remainder, Poland, once a lieutenant in the 
 United States Army, was now a practising lawyer in Ken- 
 tucky, 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 meas- 
 ures. Feeley, also an attorney-at-law, had been a member 
 of the Royal Irish Constabulary in his early days, and was 
 now, as of yore, one of the most prominent and blood- 
 thirsty of rebels in the States. Kirwen had been Briga- 
 dier-General and Fenian Secretary of War during the 
 
92 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 Canadian raid of 1870, and had preserved his Revolution- 
 ary record unbroken ; while Breslin, chiefly remarkable 
 for the part he had played in helping James Stephens to 
 escape from Richmond prison (Ireland) in 1866, now, as 
 ever since then, a prominent and avowed Revolutionist, 
 was occupying his public life in some municipal office of 
 an important character, while, in secret, playing his part 
 on the Revolutionary Directory of the Clan-na-Gael. 
 
 One name I have left to the last, and that is General 
 Millen's. The discredited hero of the Jubilee Explosion 
 Scheme of 1887 was at this time engaged on the editorial 
 staff of the New Yo7'k 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 military knowledge 
 and his rank when, out in Mexico on the part of the Nezv 
 Yo7'k Herald, he had thrown in his lot with Juarez prior 
 to the overthrow of the government 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 
 Chairman of the Military Board. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 My advent in the organization, though gratifying to a 
 certain extent, did not satisfy me as fully as I wished. I 
 wanted to know everything that took place on the inner 
 side of the movement, and I found that, as one of the 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 93 
 
 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 dissensions 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 Super- 
 visor by a majority of 103 over my opponents. In the 
 end, therefore, I determined to establish a camp in Braid- 
 wood, and with the assistance of the official organizer, a 
 most promising '' camp " was got together, to the Senior 
 Guardianship or Presidency of which I was unanimously 
 elected. Sullivan unconsciously assisted me in my design. 
 It was through his influence, though at my suggestion, 
 that the official organizer 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 play- 
 ing the role of the generous patriot, and there was no 
 subscription list on which my name did not figure in some 
 capacity as the patriotic, political, charitable, or religious 
 friend. The latter was not by any means the most infre- 
 quent, 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 favor of some better 
 
94 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 and more deserving brother. Of course it was simply a 
 case of "swearing I would ne'er consent, consenting." 
 
 I was too useful to my brothers of '' Camp 463," now 
 204, to allow of their permitting me to retire to the ranks. 
 If no other reason but the question of money came in, 
 then this of itself alone would have been sufficient. 
 When a delegate had to be despatched to conventions or 
 gatherings elsewhere, none were more ready to start than 
 I, while — more important still for the patriots — my bills 
 for expenses, instead of being of the large and unjustifia- 
 ble 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 document 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 connection 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 accomplished very little 
 in regard to them. A stringent regulation of the Execu- 
 tive required that all documents — when not returned to 
 headquarters, 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 for me 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 95 
 
 to retain the originals of those whick had to be returned, 
 and of them I could only keep copies. With those requir- 
 ing 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 substi- 
 tute old and unimportant documents for those which really 
 should have been burnt, and to retain in my possession, 
 and subsequently transmit to England, the originals of all 
 the most important. I was, of course, shaking hands with 
 danger and discovery at every turn, and yet so marvellous 
 was my success that I not only escaped betrayal, but that 
 which would undoubtedly have led to it, namely, suspicion. 
 To this end, I was much assisted by the confidence 
 reposed in me by my fellow-officials, the Junior Guardians, 
 who exhibited their trust to the extent of giving me pos- 
 session of their keys of the strong-box, of which they 
 held possession during their period of office. This con- 
 tained 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 being differ- 
 ent 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 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 Com- 
 mission — for I was even then Senior Guardian of my 
 Clan-na-Gael camp — I had both keys of our strong-box in 
 my possession, which I jokingly offered to Mr. Houston 
 as a memento of our strange and unlooked-for meeting. 
 
96 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 XXV. 
 
 Meantime, events had been developing themselves in 
 a strange and unlooked-for way. O' Donovan Rossa — 
 speaking to the Irish in America through the columns of 
 th.Q Irish World — had advocated the establishment of a 
 Skirmishing Fund in the following style : — 
 
 " Five thousand dollars will have to be collected before the campaign can 
 be started. England will not know how or where she is to be struck. A 
 successful stroke or any stroke that will do her 500,000 dollars worth of 
 damage will bring us funds enough to carry on the work; and by working 
 on incessantly and persistently, the patient dirt and powder shock will bring 
 out enough perhaps to carry on \.he war." 
 
 In the same issue of the Irish Worldy Patrick Ford, in 
 the course of a commendatory article, said, — 
 
 " What will this irregular warfare of our Irish Skirmishers effect? It will 
 do this much. It will harass and annoy England. It will help to create 
 her difficulty and hasten our opportunity. It will not only annoy England, 
 but will hush her too. This is what we look for from Skirmishers. One 
 hundred dollars expended on skirmishing may cause England a loss of 
 100,000,000 dollars. That would be a damaging blow to the enemy; and 
 what is to prevent the dealing one of three or four such blows every year? " 
 
 Here I shall drop Rossa and his Skirmishing Fund for 
 the moment, to say a few words about Ford. The oppor- 
 tunity seems a favorable 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 mis- 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 97 
 
 understood 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 organizations which pre- 
 ceded it — as, for instance, the Irish Confederation, but 
 in the membership of the last and most powerful of all 
 the branches of the Irish-American conspiracy, the editor 
 of the IiHsh World has had no place. The secret of his 
 position and influence lies in his paper. This, from the 
 very moment of its start, has been a pronounced success, 
 reaching a high-water mark of influence and circulation, 
 which threw the puny efforts of its competitors completely 
 into the shade. The paper came into existence at the 
 proper moment for itself ; it was well edited, well printed, 
 and splendidly equipped with news from every quarter, 
 and on every point. It caught the public fancy and 
 *' went " amazingly. Ford, originally a printer and a man 
 of no mean attainment, gathered round him a staff of 
 equally clever writers, established correspondents at every 
 important centre, and working at very high pressure, 
 was on the point of failing on several occasions, only to 
 escape through the assistance of friends, politicians, or 
 capitalists, willing to oblige for certain considerations. 
 Indeed, if I am not very much in error, matters are not 
 in the most favorable way for the paper at this very time. 
 Patrick Ford, according to Michael Davitt, is a most 
 worthy disciple of the Christian principles, and a man 
 whose life would serve as a model for very many of those 
 who criticise this dynamite advocate's character in no 
 enthusiastic vein. Speaking of the man simply *^on the 
 view " as the American phrase has it, Davitt's observa- 
 tions are not so far-fetched as they would appear to be at 
 the first blush. In appearance and manner, the editor of 
 
98 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 the Irish World is quite the opposite of the man you 
 would figure to yourself after reading his dynamite appeals 
 and exordiums in his own journal. Quiet and unobtru- 
 sive 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 re- 
 markable for his platform utterances, and while a good 
 talker, is by no means an orator. 
 
 Associated with Patrick Ford in his connection with 
 Irish-American affairs have been his brother Augustine 
 and his nephew Austin. Augustine, whose name comes 
 into prominence with Rossa in the Skirmishing Fund 
 affair, was the publisher, as distinct from the editor of the 
 Irish World ; while Austin, then a young fellow, was 
 afterwards to become a member of the Clan-na-Gael, and 
 to serve as the medium of communication between the 
 leaders of the Revolutionary organization 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 
 the conduct of the vast secret conspiracy known to the 
 initiated as the V.C. For what the Irish World, with its 
 extended popularity, its great influence, and its enormous 
 circulation, championed in public, the Clan-na-Gael worked 
 for in private. Ford and his fellow-workers, in a different 
 path, understood each other full well ; and when, within a 
 year after the establishment of the Skirmishing Fund, it 
 became desirable that the Clan-na-Gael should take charge 
 of it, there was no more ardent advocate of the change 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 99 
 
 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 im- 
 portance, 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 con- 
 sequences of their fiendish part in the Phoenix Park 
 murders, the editor of the Irish World wsls 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. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 To return, however, to Rossa and his Skirmishing 
 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, succeeded 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 skirmishing had taken place, 
 and some little dissatisfaction commenced to manifest 
 itself at the non-fruition of the many promises which had 
 been held out of ''hurting England." There then occurred 
 the transfer of the fund to the Clan-na-Gael under very 
 mysterious circumstances, which have never been thor- 
 oughly explained or understood. The nearest approach 
 
lOO TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 to an explanation was afforded by a communication from 
 Rossa, which appeared in the Irish World of the 21st 
 April 1877, which, I think, I cannot do better than quote 
 here. 
 
 "When I started this Skirmishing Fund, the council-men of the two 
 Irish revolutionary societies in America — the Fenian 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 every- 
 thing, 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 conven- 
 tion 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 proposition of mine was accepted, and 
 all passed off harmoniously. 
 
 "Here is how things stand now: — Mr. James J. Clancy, who acted as 
 treasurer of the fund, got married a few weeks ago and ceased his connection 
 with the Irish World. Then Austin Ford wrote me (on 14th March) the 
 the following note : — 
 
 " ' I told you that, at a certain Irish convention, I had consented 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 Ireland 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 New Haven, Connecticut. He is the man in v/hose name the 
 Catalpa was registered, and he mortgaged his property to raise $4,000, when 
 it was needed at a crisis in connection with the expedition. Now Mr. Clancy 
 and Mr. Ford have resigned, I have in connection with these three men I 
 have mentioned taken into the trusteeship John Devoy, Thomas Clarke Luby, 
 and Thomas Francis Bourke.' 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 10 1 
 
 "Last night Thomas Clarke Luby went to Washington, carrying with him 
 $17,500 in American bonds indorsed by me, to have them transferred for safe 
 keeping to the names of Dr. Carroll, Thomas C. Luby, John Devoy, Tom 
 Bourke, John Breslin and James Reynolds. . . . John O'Mahony died. It 
 was deemed well to send his remains to Ireland. There was no money to 
 bear the expenses. I thought I might trespass on the skirmishing money. I 
 consulted Mr. Ford and Mr. Clancy about a loan. They said it could be 
 legitimately looked upon as within the pale of our work, and they paid me 
 $2,030 to defray the expenses. The Clan-na-Gael and the Fenian Brother- 
 hood have promised to refund the money." 
 
 No secret was made of the connection which now 
 existed between the ''trustees" and the "fund," for a 
 public address was issued "to the Irish people in the 
 United States," and published in the IrisJi World of the 
 2ist April, containing the following passages: — 
 
 "But since the 'skirmishing' project was first announced, circumstances 
 have greatly altered. . . . Old Europe is threatened with a general convul- 
 sion. War on the most tremendous scale cannot much longer be staved off 
 by all the artifices and subtleties of all the diplomatists in the world. 
 Russia and Turkey are equally resolute to fight the inevitable fight. . . . 
 The rest of the Great Powers of Europe will be drawn by an irresistible 
 force into the arena. England, above all, whether she likes it or not, must 
 draw her sv/ord once more or meanly confess herself a third-class power. 
 She is too proud of the part to yield her high place without a blow. She 
 must first be beaten to her knees. 
 
 "England's difficulty then has all but come; in other words, 'Ireland's 
 opportunity.' Is Ireland prepared to seize that opportunity? . . . 
 
 "In view of the altered circumstances of the time, 'big with fate to us 
 and ours,' we propose to enlarge the basis of the 'Skirmishing Fund,' estab- 
 lished by Rossa, and of the plans it was intended to further. We propose 
 forthwith to create a ' Special National Fund ' to aid the work of Ireland's 
 deliverance. 
 
 " Action, some may think, has been postponed too long. Be this as it 
 may, we are determined to lose as little further time as possible ere we fur- 
 nish 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. 
 
102 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 ..." We shall only add that it is plain that 'the Home Rule Agitation * 
 has signally failed to satisfy the yearnings of the Irish people. The O'Mahony 
 funeral demonstration, with its deep heroic significance, has exercised the 
 vain misleading 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 separa- 
 tion from England; and that total separation can only be achieved by 
 desperate sacrifices, daring enterprises, and the strong hand. 
 
 "John J. Breslin, 
 
 "Thomas Clarke Luby, 
 
 "John Devoy, 1- New York. 
 
 " Thomas Francis BouRKE, 
 
 "Jer. O'Donovan Rossa, 
 
 "Wm. Carroll, M.D., Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 "James Reynolds, New Haven, Conn." 
 
 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 Skirmishing Fund and its custodians were 
 engaging public attention in this way, the secret work of 
 the organization was by no means being neglected. The 
 ordinary work of shipping arms to Ireland, and communi- 
 cating with the sister society as regards members, organ- 
 ization, etc., was conducted with regularity and precision ; 
 while operations of an extraordinary character were in- 
 dulged 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 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. IO3 
 
 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 diplo- 
 matic compact at headquarters in Russia. As is well 
 known, the relations between England and Russia were 
 for some three or four years previous to 1880 of a dis- 
 tinctly strained character, and war at many times ap- 
 peared 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, proposing that they in America should fit 
 out privateers 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 Skirmishing 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 nego- 
 tiation. Dr. Carroll, through the assistance of Senator 
 Jones of Florida, was placed in communication with the 
 Russian minister at Washington, and to this gentleman 
 the Clan-na-Gael ambassador represented that some mil- 
 lionnaires — the names of two were mentioned — were pre- 
 pared to subsidize the undertaking, and that several 
 points had been fixed upon for fitting out the privateers, 
 San Francisco being notably one of them. So satisfac- 
 torily did the negotiations progress for the Clan-na-Gael 
 people, that in a few months Dr. Carroll left America for 
 
I04 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 the Russian capital, where, it was subsequently reported 
 in an official way, the treaty between the Russian Gov- 
 ernment and the Revolutionary organization was formally 
 ratified. 
 
 It was a significant fact that shortly after this the Rus- 
 sian minister at Washington was recalled. The report in 
 the official ranks of the Clan-na-Gael was that the proceed- 
 ing was the result of an action taken by the British Gov- 
 ernment in consequence of what had occurred. Of course, 
 regarding this view of the occurrence, as far as I can 
 speak, there was neither definite information 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 
 ship-yard 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 where, for aught I know, it may be rot- 
 ting at the present day. Its principal use, as far as I could 
 make out, was in supplying a certain number of patriots, 
 charsred with the control of its construction, some five 
 dollars a day each as recognition for their invaluable ser- 
 vices. 
 
 On the other plots and schemes I can only touch in the 
 lightest possible way. They included 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, Alyward, and other soldiers of fortune or discon- 
 tent all figured. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 105 
 
 XXVIII. 
 
 The month of September 'j'^ was remarkable for the 
 arrival in America of Michael Davitt. He had been re- 
 leased from Portland Prison on ticket-of-leave several 
 months previously, and having travelled through Ireland 
 in the mean time, now came to the States with the ostensi- 
 ble object of lecturing. 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. When in Septem- 
 ber 1878 Davitt landed in America to be met by Devoy 
 and others, and welcomed in an effusive address, he took 
 pains, in replying, to state he was still faithful to the prin- 
 ciples of his youth, for which he had suffered imprison- 
 ment, 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 accred- 
 ited 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 promi- 
 nence, must have changed Davitt's views somewhat, for 
 references to past principles, life-long convictions, etc., 
 soon made way for pleasant pictures and prophecies 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 
 
I06 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 the scheme which found its development and outcome in 
 the Parnellite movement, viz., the bringing together the 
 two forces of Irish discontent — the Constitutional and 
 the Revolutionary sections — and, while allying them for 
 strategic and financial purposes, yet so arranging the com- 
 pact 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 proposed 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-trustees of the Skirmishing Fund 
 in the month of October 1878, at a time indeed while 
 Davitt was still in the country. As the cable has a historic 
 interest, I will quote it in full here : — 
 
 *' The Nationalists here will support you on the following conditions: — 
 
 *' First, abandonment of the federal demand, and substitution of a general 
 declaration in favor 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 ques- 
 tions, adopt an aggressive policy, and energetically resist coercive legislation. 
 
 " Fifth, advocacy of all struggling nationalities in the British Empire and 
 elsewhere." 
 
 Following up this proposal, to which, by the way, no 
 direct public reply was ever given, there appeared in the 
 press letters from John Devoy advocating the new move 
 in arguments which I think I can best summarize by using 
 the following extracts from one of his epistles : — 
 
 " The question whether the advanced Irish National party — the party of 
 separation — should continue the policy of isolation from the public life of 
 the country, which was inaugurated some twenty years ago by James Stephens 
 
JN THE SECRET SERVICE. 107 
 
 and his associates, or return to older methods — methods as old at least as the 
 days of the United Irishman — is agitating the minds of Irish Nationalists 
 on both sides of the Atlantic just now; and certainly no simiHar 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 recovery of Ire- 
 land'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 favor of continuing the 
 struggle to-day as some of those who talk loudest against constitutional agita- 
 tion. 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 
 overcome all obstacles in their way. ... I am also convinced that one sec- 
 tion of the people alone can never win independence; and no political party, 
 no matter how devoted or determined, can ever win the support of the whole 
 people if they never come before the public, and take no part in the everyday 
 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 favorable light before the world, and help to win 
 the support of the Irish people." 
 
 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, journeying as one of the secret agents of the Clan- 
 na-Gael, went to Ireland to inspect and report on the con- 
 dition of the Revolutionary organization there to the V.C. 
 Convention, to be held in Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, in 
 July 1879. Associated with Devoy in this work of inspec- 
 tion was General Millen, acting in the capacity of military 
 
I08 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 envoy. Devoy, while in Ireland, made good use of his 
 time. While he organized the Irish Republican Brother- 
 hood 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 visit thus 
 made gave an interesting account of how matters stood in 
 Fenian circles there at this period, I give a few extracts. 
 They are important as showing the condition of the Rev- 
 olutionary 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 : — 
 
 "Three of the best organized counties — Dublin, Louth, and Wexford — 
 seceded from the S.C. (Supreme Council or Executive of the Irish Republi- 
 can Brotherhood), and believing the statements so often repeated, that the 
 American organization supported Mr. Stephens, transferred their allegiance 
 to that gentleman. There still remained with the S.C. (Supreme Council), 
 Ulster, Connaught, Munster, a portion of Leinster, Scotland, and South of 
 England; but the work in these districts was almost paralyzed, and the atten- 
 tion of the men distracted by repeated visits and communications of a conflict- 
 ing 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 3,000 acted independently in the North 
 of England, and not more than 1,500 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 Ire- 
 land, 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. resid- 
 ing 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. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 109 
 
 ** A reorganization of the S.C. satisfactory to all parties concerned was 
 then effected, and an efficient secretary elected, who has since then ren- 
 dered invaluable service in repairing the damage done during the short 
 period of turmoil and contention. Some years before the organization had 
 been a compact body of over 40,000 men, acting under its elected council, 
 and making commendable efforts to arm its members in spite of the most 
 discouraging difficulties. At the beginning of last year, after the S.C. had 
 triumphed over the difficulties above mentioned, 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 endeavor to weld into a solid mass the united 
 fragments than to increase its size by the addition of new members. Some 
 mistakes were made, but, upon the whole, the action of the S.C. seemed 
 to me judicious and safe. Some 17,000 dollars had been sent by the F.C. 
 (10,000 dollars came from the National Fund for arms) for the purpose of in- 
 troducing 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 organization was just beginning to breathe a little freely, and to 
 feel that it was again a solid living body, when I arrived to confer with the 
 S.C. as to the best means to infuse new life and vigor into it. 
 
 '* I began with Tipperary, Limerick, and Clare, and continued my tour 
 till I had a fair idea of the condition of the organization in all of the seven 
 provinces. . . . Besides county and 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, Derr>', 
 Ennis, Glasgow, Dundalk, and other towns. 
 
 " When Leinster and Munster shall have been thoroughly reorganized, 
 which will take some time, I hope to see 50,000 good members in Ireland 
 alone, and I should not care to see many more. In Ulster, Connaught, Tip- 
 perary, 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 organization, and in 
 positions of trust, of a few of the smaller landed gentry, a few professional 
 men, and a large sprinkling of comfortable business men. 
 
I 10 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 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 defrayed 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 proceed- 
 ings of the Wilkesbarre Convention to which the delegates 
 reported. There was no incident connected therewith 
 which calls for any special mention, as particularly affect- 
 ing events at this period. 
 
 XXX. 
 
 Though lacking official recognition and support, the 
 scheme of the '' New Departure " was creating a good 
 deal of enthusiasm throughout the ranks of the Gaels ; 
 and the reports which continued 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 the month of January 1880 gave a fresh impetus to the 
 whole thing. And whatever doubt had heretofore existed 
 as to the possibility of working the new move, and making 
 it subservient to the requirements of the Revolutionary 
 organization, took immediate flight after a week's expe- 
 rience 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 exception, well-known and trusted men 
 of the secret councils were by his side and at his elbow, 
 pushing 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 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. Ill 
 
 did his own utterances leave any room for question. 
 Brimful of references of deep meaning, and constantly lit 
 up with the flashing of bayonets and rattling of musketry, 
 his speeches breathed the sounds of war and the policy of 
 the hill-side in every note, till men listening to his accents 
 thought that at last the hour and the man had come. 
 Poor fools ! They knew not that his enthusiasm was the 
 enthusiasm of the dollar, or its equivalent in English coin 
 when totted up to ^40,000, and his only weapon the House 
 of Commons lie ! 
 
 Mr. Parnell's efforts in America to collect funds for the 
 famine-stricken Irish — this was the ostensible object of 
 his visit — were cut short by the general election which 
 took place in Ireland in the spring of 1880, and he left 
 hurriedly, but not before he had laid the foundations of 
 the Land League, and played into the hands of the secret 
 conspirators by giving them a very leading share in its 
 control. Exit therefore Mr. Parnell to give way to 
 Michael Davitt, and enter Mr. Davitt once more on the 
 American stage in quite a new role. Flushed with the 
 triumphs of his recent proceedings in Ireland in the estab- 
 lishment of the Land League organization, and the posi- 
 tion he had suddenly sprung into, he now came out as a 
 Constitutionalist pure and simple. There were no more 
 visits to Clan-na-Gael camps, for the time at least. All 
 was open and above board. He had his fad ; that fad 
 was the Land League ; and his fad was to win in the 
 political race, hands down. No matter where he went, it 
 was the same story. Travelling Braidwood-way in order 
 to lecture in my district, he spent three days in my com- 
 pany, 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 
 
112 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 talks over the situation, and with me, as with everybody 
 else, 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 r^J/^, 
 that he seized upon the fiasco I related as yet another 
 proof for me of the utter impossibility of doing anything 
 m the way of active operations. Amused and interested, 
 I watched the dark determined face glowing with light 
 and enthusiasm, and wondered within me how long this 
 born conspirator would be content to walk in the tram- 
 mels of a truly constitutional path. The opportunity, 
 however, was too good to be neglected, and I improved it 
 by getting some very useful information unawares from 
 my patient and guest. 
 
 I was quite an conmnt 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-Gacl as members of the League Branch, 
 and thus keeping the control in our own hands. At 
 public meetings held in favor 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 fre- 
 quently presided, and when the occasion arose, introduced 
 Davitt and Devoy. 
 
 XXXL 
 
 So matters progressed and developed, the only impor- 
 tant incident of the interval being the discovery 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 
 
/A- THE SECRET SERVICE. II3 
 
 of arms to Ireland, had thrown in his lot with the advo- 
 cates 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 
 blov/ing up England went to subsidize the New Departure. 
 Davitt and Devoy had both drawn upon them to a large 
 extent, though Davitt conscientiously 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 Depart- 
 ure was to the methods of revolutionary work, and how 
 he regarded the Land League but as the stepping-stone 
 to more decisive things. This is how he put the matter : — 
 
 " P. O. Box 4, 479. 
 
 New York, N'ovember i, 1880. 
 
 "Dear Sir and Brother, — I propose to give a course of lectures 
 this winter of the subject of 'The Irish National Cause and the Present 
 Crisis,' with a view to stirring up our people here and increasing the resources 
 of the National movement. I will stipulate beforehand that the proceeds 
 shall either go to the Revolutionary Fund of the V.C. or to the National 
 Fund, so that we may be better prepared to meet any emergency that may be 
 forced upon us by England, While believing that all our efforts should be 
 directed to restraining the people in Ireland from any premature insurrection- 
 ary movement, I think the excitement at home should be utilized for the pur- 
 pose of procuring the funds necessary to enable the National party to complete 
 the preparations for the struggle for independence. The titne 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 endeavors; and it therefore behooves 
 us to commence stirring up our people in America now. I think the Land 
 League has now money enough for present purposes, and that the state of 
 things prevailing in Ireland demands that all money that can be got from our 
 people here should be devoted to revolutionary purposes. I am convinced, 
 in fact, that the doing of this is the best help we can at present give the Land 
 
114 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 League. The prosecutions have already given the agitation a more decidedly 
 national tone. Let us help to broaden it into a truly national movement, and 
 make it serviceable to the cause of independence. 
 
 " If you agree with this view of the situation, I should be glad to receive 
 your assistance in organizing lectures in your v\c\r\\X.y , provided yotcr doing so 
 •would not be detri?nental to the interests of the V. C. 
 
 •* I intend to begin in the New England States, then to go through a por- 
 tion of New York State and Pemea, and thence west. Communicate to the 
 P.O. Box mentioned. — Fraternally yours, 
 
 John Devoy." 
 
 I was only too willing to arrange for such a lecture as 
 Devoy wanted, for thereby I should be bringing Devoy 
 and myself into contact, with every probability of getting 
 useful information. Accordingly, Devoy lectured for me 
 somewhere about January or February '8 1, 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 contended should not all go for bread, and in this 
 connection he outlined to me the ideas of the Revolution- 
 ary 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 organization on this side," said 
 he, meaning America, "have agreed to furnish the means, 
 and the organization in Ireland have signified their will- 
 ingness to carry out a system of warfare, characterized by 
 all the rigors of Nihilism." 
 
 All, however, was not plain sailing to him, and with 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 u; 
 
 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 move- 
 ment in the weak condition in which the organization 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 attitude 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 organization (Rossa, 
 I should explain, had by this time taken up an indepen- 
 dent attitude, and was working in connection with the 
 fragments that remained of the old Fenian Brotherhood). 
 It was thoroughly understood that work had been done 
 by Rossa's emissaries or rather some of them ; hence the 
 danger. The name of Boynton, whom I did not know at 
 the time, but who was, as I learnt, a brother of Boynton 
 the swimmer, engaged as a League organizer in Ireland, 
 then came up, and I was informed that Boynton was one 
 of those occupied in developing the new policy. By this 
 I mean active warfare aux Clan-na-Gael as distinct from 
 the constitutional work openly advocated by the Land 
 League. Devoy remarked regarding this active policy 
 that it was being well looked after, but would take time to 
 complete. 
 
 Devoy's confidences were in fact most exhaustive, 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 keep- 
 ing the I. R. B. (the sister society) men in some parts of 
 Ireland, notably in Mayo, where they had the best organi- 
 zation and most arms, from making what Devoy described 
 as ** fools of themselves." He, it appeared, feared attacks 
 
114. TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 on the military when the latter were attending evictions. 
 This striking interview between the Clan-na-Gael leader 
 and the Secret Service agent concluded with the important 
 announcement on the part of the former that he had re- 
 ceived a letter from Mr. Parnell, through a friend, in which 
 Mr. Parnell stated he was exasperated and was willing to 
 do anything. He (Mr. Parnell) had agreed to the calling 
 of the 1882 convention, and to its being a National move- 
 ment convention ; and, in conclusion, Devoy said, per- 
 sonally, Mr. Parnell's personal attitude towards the 
 National {i.e., Revolutionary) party was well and satis- 
 factorily understood. 
 
 This was, indeed, a time of confidences with me. I had 
 communications with Alexander Sullivan and Meledy 
 within a very short period from this, and from them — 
 Sullivan being one of the Executive, and Meledy a leading 
 member of the Clan-na-Gael — I learnt, though at differ- 
 ent times, that a new plan, of campaign was coming into 
 force, nothing more or less indeed than one of cold-blooded 
 murder and destruction. It appeared that a man called 
 Wheeler had invented a new hand grenade, and had offered 
 a supply to the organization. They were of such a port- 
 able character as to be easily carried in a satchel, and 
 were especially adapted for the purpose in view. Meledy 
 told me he had offered to take part in the work of placing 
 them in Ireland and England. 
 
 The significance of the matter was lost upon me at the 
 time, but was fully appreciated by me later on, when I 
 learnt of the informer Carey's evidence in connection 
 with the Phoenix Park murders and the Invincible con- 
 spiracy, 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 per- 
 
IN THE SECRE7' SERVICE. I17 
 
 fected in the organization, which could be easily thrown 
 from a window in a house in Cork Hill, Dublin, which 
 they had selected for the purpose. 
 
 XXXII. 
 
 My private affairs permitted of my taking a holiday in 
 the early part of the year 1881, and so I determined to 
 make a trip to Europe. Happening to communicate my 
 intention to my old friend, Colonel Clingen, now the com- 
 mander of the Clan-na-Gael guards in Chicago, and a very 
 prominent member of the organization, he gave me to un- 
 derstand that the Executive would avail themselves of my 
 journey to send by me documents which could not be 
 trusted to the mails. Nothing could have suited me bet- 
 ter, and I willingly consented to be of any service I possi- 
 bly 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 be- 
 tween Devoy and myself at the Palmer House, Chicago, 
 in the month of March 1881. Devoy on this occasion 
 handed me sealed packets addressed to John O'Leary and 
 Patrick Egan in Paris. O'Leary was then regarded as the 
 representative agent and official means of communication 
 between the Clan-na-Gael and the Irish Republican Broth- 
 erhood in Ireland ; Egan was the treasurer and accredited 
 representative of the Irish Land League. 
 
 Journeying by way of Liverpool, I reached England 
 on the 1 2th of April 1881, and stopping in London in 
 order to see Mr. Anderson and show him the packets, as 
 well as to receive instructions, I eventually travelled to 
 Paris. On arrival there I drove to the Hotel Brighton. 
 
Il8 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 where I had learned Egan was located, and where I deter- 
 mined to take up my abode. The first person I met with 
 in the hotel was Egan himself. He was coming down the 
 stairs in view of me, as I asked for him, in company with 
 Mrs. A. M. Sullivan (wife of the late M.P.), both being 
 bound for the opera, where, on their invitation, I subse- 
 quently joined them. I made myself known to Egan at 
 once, only to find of course that he had received some 
 hint of my coming, and was quite expecting me. 
 
 As I washed and prepared to take myself to the opera, to 
 see some more of this strange man, I endeavored to recall 
 his appearance, and to see how far he fitted in with the idea 
 I already held regarding him. A man of bright cheery 
 presence, stout build, and jovial look and voice, the latter 
 very marked in its Irish accent, with bright laughing eyes 
 and warm handshake and a closely cut head of tawny hair, 
 he was the last person in the world you would take for a 
 deep conspirator, and a constructer of murder. I was 
 puzzled and bewildered — I could not make it out ; and so 
 giving up all thought of trying to read the man's character 
 on the outward view, I determined I should leave my 
 further studies in this direction to a later date and go and 
 enjoy the opera, which I did. 
 
 The next morning saw me en route for the residence of 
 John O'Leary, to whom I wished to deliver my second 
 packet without delay. I discovered him without much 
 difficulty in his abode at the Hotel de la Couronne, in the 
 Quartier Latin. I found the old man surrounded by his 
 books and manuscripts, and from his appearance more fit 
 for the patient secluded life of the student than the troub- 
 lous 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 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. II9 
 
 friends of the Clan. Yet I found him fully posted, and 
 as keen to talk with me as possible. At first somewhat 
 suspicious and uncertain in his manner, he gradually lost 
 his appearance of distrust, and in the end gossiped with 
 me quite freely. As he opened Devoy's packet in my 
 presence, I was enabled to discover that I had been the 
 bearer of a very long document, with an enclosure, to 
 which he paid great heed. 
 
 From the very start I found O'Leary opposed to the 
 " active " policy. He was as strong and bitter an oppo- 
 nent of the murderous idea as one could wish to meet ; 
 and, unlike Irish patriots in general, he was not without 
 the courage of his convictions. He showed me a copy of 
 the Dublin IrisJinian (the unfortunate Pigott's paper), of 
 some date in the month previous, containing a letter over 
 his signature, denouncing all secret warfare. In fact, so 
 far did this really honest patriot go, that he refused in his 
 official capacity to take any responsibility for expenditure 
 in connection with the "active " policy. While condemn- 
 ing such methods, however, he avowed himself in full 
 accord with an open insurrectionary movement ; and he 
 spoke in the bitterest terms of the way in which J. J. 
 O'Kelly and others had played false, while acting as paid 
 members of the organization. Another point in connec- 
 tion with our talks was the opposition shown by O'Leary 
 to the Parnellite alliance. He would have nothing to do 
 with such a joining of forces as was proposed, and he was 
 all against laixing 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 him I found 
 a fine, h jnest, fearless spirit. The man was old and gray, 
 with furrowed brow and stooped figure, the result of his 
 long confinement in English prisons. There was little 
 
120 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 about him then to remind one of the bright-eyed daring 
 prisoner who, fifteen years before, had, from the dock of 
 a Dublin court-house, hurled defiance at judge, jury, and 
 Government alike ; but there still remained with him the 
 same fearlessness of tone and honesty of conviction which 
 marked him out then, as now, a prince amongst his fellows 
 of the Irish conspiracy. 
 
 XXXIII. 
 
 In strong contrast to O'Leary was another old Irish 
 rebel whose acquaintance I made in Paris for the first time. 
 He was a man whose name was familiar to me as a house- 
 hold word, but with whom I had never before been brought 
 directly into contact. I speak of James Stephens, the 
 leader with whose name it was at one time possible to con- 
 jure in Ireland, who had been the head and front of the 
 Fenian Brotherhood in Ireland in 1865, whose word was 
 law to its sworn thousands, and who, after making his 
 escape from Richmond Bridewell in Dublin, ended his 
 inglorious public career by an unromantic exit in petti- 
 coats. Curious being that he was, he inspired feelings of 
 the sincerest affection on the part of his immediate fol- 
 lowers ; and there were few things that, in their regard for 
 him, they would not seek to accomplish on his behalf. 
 
 His escape from Richmond Prison, attended with tre- 
 mendous 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 anything, 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 anc true, 
 who were instrumental in releasing me were J. J. Breslhi and 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 121 
 
 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 Gov- 
 ernor's safe. He had to distract the Governor's attention ; 
 steal the key, putting another in its place; get the impres- 
 sion, 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 
 an my right, M'Leod, a thief, was in the cell on my left. 
 A gong was placed in his cell communicating with the 
 Governor's office, in order to allow of his giving the alarm 
 if necessary ; and he could not have helped hearing me get 
 out, when Breslin and Byrne, at one o'clock in the morn- 
 ing, 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 onl}' a few minutes to do our work in. It was pitch 
 dark, and the storm howled furiously. The ladder pro- 
 vided for my scaling the wall proved too short. Breslin, 
 who was chief hospital warden, and Byrne, who was night- 
 watchman and "lock up, " were armed with two revolvers 
 each. They had also provided for me. Our intention was 
 to fight, if discovered, until killed. 
 
 " The short ladder nearly proved fatal. I could not reach 
 the top of the wall, which was twenty feet high, so Byrne 
 got a table out of the dining-room and placed the ladder 
 upon it. Even then it was too short. I had to come 
 down again. Breslin was fairly wild. Another table was 
 procured, and again I tried. After a dreadful struggle, I 
 succeeded in getting outside of the wall. It was no joke 
 to jump twenty feet into the darkness. I had to do it, 
 however, or be caught. Breslin gave me directions where 
 to go if I did not break my neck in falling ; and he and 
 
122 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 Byrne returned to their duty. I let go my hold, and 
 down I went, fortunately falling on soft ground. 
 
 ** My directions were to follow a gravel walk (for I was 
 in a garden) until I came to another wall twenty feet 
 high, where I was to throw a stone over as a signal to 
 eleven men, all armed, who were waiting outside to 
 receive me. 
 
 " I had some difficulty in finding the walk, and could get 
 no stone of any size in the dark. At last I reached the 
 garden wall, and threw over a handful of gravel. A rope 
 with a weight attached was thrown over the wall. I 
 climbed up by its aid, and soon found myself in the arms 
 of my body-guard. We embraced with joy, and I soon 
 made them disperse. I went to a house in sight of the 
 jail, and remained there fourteen days. I afterwards went 
 to a fashionable boarding-house in the finest part of 
 Dublin and stayed two months. I left Dublin in the 
 brigantine Coficord, in company with Flood and Kelly, on 
 the 1 2th of March, and landed in Ardrossan on the 
 afternoon 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. 
 
 XXXIV. 
 
 All this time Egan and I had been constantlv to- 
 gether. My desire was, of course, to make a study cf the 
 man, and to get to know as much about him as I possibly 
 could. Everything played into my hands. Egan was 
 ignorant both of the geography and the language of the 
 French capital, and he very largely availed himself of the 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. I 23 
 
 help which I was enabled to render him, as the result of 
 my supposed French nationality and knowledge of the 
 city. My position, altogether, was a very pleasant one at 
 this period. Egan lived in a most extravagant fashion, 
 and as he would pay for everything and would not allow 
 me to share in any outlay, I had the best of all things 
 without any strain on my pocket whatever. He fre- 
 quented 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 read- 
 ing for the poor dupes in America and Ireland who sub- 
 scribed 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 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 suggestion of 
 secrecy between us as to our attitude towards Revolu- 
 tionary 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 I>eaguer, and some- 
 thing else when the opportunity presents itself." He 
 boasted to me of his having been the backbone of the 
 Fenian organization in Dublin for many years, and ad- 
 mitted 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 organizations, I found 
 Egan an enthusiastic advocate of the ''active" policy 
 spoken of by Devoy, and he heartily entered into a dis- 
 
124 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 cussion with me as to the ways and means of carrying it 
 out. In this connection reference was made to Mr. Par- 
 nell, and he assured me most emphatically that " Parnell 
 was all right as a Revolutionist." In support of this state- 
 ment he cited the fact that some twelve months pre- 
 viously Mr. Parnell sought admission into the ranks of 
 the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood, but was refused. 
 '* Parnell," remarked Egan with a wise look, ''thought a 
 good deal of the organization, but it was not then in 
 a flourishing condition, and we thought he would think a 
 great deal more of it by being on the outside rather than 
 in it." 
 
 Our conversations naturally tended in the direction of 
 finance ; and when the topic cropped up, Egan dealt with 
 it in no nervous spirit, regarding me as quite a worthy 
 recipient of his confidence. About this time a demand 
 was being made for a public audit of the accounts of the 
 League. He explained that an audit committee of three 
 members of the League had already gone over his books, 
 and this w^as all the audit that could possibly take place. 
 His reasons for such a strong statement were very frankly 
 given. A public audit would, he said, be the very thing 
 Dublin Castle — meaning the Irish Government — would 
 like to have, but this was out of the question. It was 
 impossible for him to make public many of the items of 
 his expenditure ! I laughed to myself as he said this, 
 wondering whether the expenses of our many extravagant 
 trips about Paris came under this head. 
 
 But he was dealing with far more dangerous matters. 
 He stated explicitly, in a very significant way, that the 
 money had been used for other purposes than those of 
 constitutional agitation. Amongst these sources of out- 
 lay were the expenses of the Dutch officers from Amster- 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. I 25 
 
 dam to assist the Boers in their revolt against British 
 control in South Africa ; and coming nearer home, the 
 varied expenditure in connection with parties attached 
 to the Irish Republican Brotherhood in Ireland. Alto- 
 gether our talks on this branch of the subject enlightened 
 me on many points, and supplied me with sufficient mate- 
 rial to form a fixed belief in my mind that his idea, at 
 least, was identical with that held in the States — that 
 the opening agitation was but a branch of the movement 
 to obtain the separation of Ireland from England. 
 
 I use the phrase '' his idea," but to be really accurate I 
 should say ''their idea," for Egan always spoke on behalf 
 of his colleagues — with one exception, which I can recall 
 — and represented that a complete harmony of view pre- 
 vailed. And in everything that happened subsequently 
 during my stay in England, I found this representation of 
 his sustained by fact, save the single exception 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 travelled to London, and by him I was introduced 
 into the House of Commons, and to several Irish M.P.'s, 
 with the significant description "one of our friends from 
 America." I well remember that amongst those I first 
 met in this way was Mr. Parnejl himself, from whom I re- 
 ceived a very warm greeting. On this occasion I was 
 accommodated with a seat under the gallery of the House. 
 This was but one of several visits I paid to the House -at 
 this time, in the course of which I constantly came in 
 contact with Egan. When alone I generally sent in my 
 card to Mr. Parnell, and he obtained the necessary admis- 
 sion for me, much to his disgust, I am sure, when a later 
 
126 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 day came and I put in an appearance in the witness-box of 
 Probate Court No. i, London. 
 
 At every point I, of course, made careful notes of 
 what occurred, and, either verbally or in writing, reported 
 them to my chief, so that the Government were not really 
 so deplorably ignorant as the Parnellites then proudly 
 hoped and believed. In fact, no single occurrence of 
 importance with which Egan became acquainted — and 
 he really knew everything, and kept nothing back from 
 me — was delayed by one single post from headquarters 
 at the Home Office in London. To resume, however. 
 After this first visit to London, Egan and I returned to 
 Paris by different routes, and on arriving there the same 
 close intercourse prevailed between us, I had not been 
 very long back, when Egan informed me that Mr. Parnell 
 had written him expressing a very strong desire to see me 
 before my return to America. Nothing loth, I promised 
 to call upon the Irish leader when next in London, and I 
 duly carried out my promise. 
 
 XXXV. 
 
 Making my way down to the House on the occasion of 
 my next appearance in London, I obtained admission to 
 the Lobby — admission was then an easier matter than 
 now — and encountered Mr. J. J. O'Kelly in my search 
 for Mr. Parnell. The late envoy of the Clan-na-Gael, who, 
 unfaithful 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 appear- 
 ance. While we talked in this way, O'Kelly complained 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 127 
 
 bitterly of the opposition which the open or constitu- 
 tional movement known as the Land League was still 
 receiving from the Irish Republican Brotherhood or secret 
 organization in Ireland, and he stoutly advocated coercion 
 on the part of the directors of the American branch of 
 the conspiracy in order to bring the Irish malecontents 
 into line. 
 
 His remarks, however, were cut short by the appear- 
 ance 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, speaking in lov/ 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 cor- 
 ner. As I afterwards learnt, the statement was not with- 
 out foundation, for every movement of myself and my 
 companion was noted, with details as regards time, and 
 duly reported to Government officials within twenty-four 
 hours. 
 
 The whole matter, said Mr. Parnell, following up 
 O'Kelly's remarks, rested in our hands in America. We 
 had the money, he said, and if we stopped the supplies 
 the home organization 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 ; and he 
 commissioned me to use my influence with Devoy, and 
 to arrange for his presence in Paris at as early a date as 
 possible. So anxious was he to bring Devoy over that he 
 
128 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 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 organization, mentioning particularly the names of 
 Alexander Sullivan and William J. Hynes, the presence 
 of either of whom, upon this side of the water, he desired 
 for the purpose of bringing about a thorough understand- 
 ing and complete harmony of working. Special reference 
 was also made to Dr. William Carroll of Philadelphia, and 
 his attitude towards the open movement. Dr. Carroll, I 
 may here explain, had been elected Chairman of the Ex- 
 ecutive Body at the Wilkesbarre Convention of 1879, t)ut 
 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, hav- 
 ing been specially charged with the carriage of negotia- 
 tions between the V.C. and the Russian Government. 
 
 After arranging these matters with me, Mr. Parnell en- 
 tered into details regarding the position of the Irish Ques- 
 tion at this time. His remarks on this point were a 
 veritable bomb-shell to me. He started off by stating that 
 he had long since ceased to believe that anything but the 
 force of arms would accomplish the final redemption of 
 Ireland. He saw no reason why, when we were fully pre- 
 pared, an open insurrectionary movement could not be 
 brought about. He went carefully into the question of 
 resources and necessaries. He stated what the League 
 could furnish in the way of men and money, and informed 
 me as to the assistance which he looked for from the 
 American organization. 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 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 129 
 
 position occupied by the- home and American Rcvolutioii 
 ary organizations, 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 impas- 
 sive, as was his wont ; he had been business-like all 
 through ; there was no uncertainty, no indistinctness in 
 his utterance. He had certainly made a plunge, but it 
 was a plunge taken with all deliberation and premedita- 
 tion. 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 members 
 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 hap- 
 pened, while the facts were fresh in my memory. Care- 
 fully I went into every detail, and as carefully Mr. Ander- 
 son 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 concluding at last, I took my 
 departure to lose no time in getting that sleep for which I 
 
130 TIVENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 commenced to pine, and which I considered I had very 
 fairly earned. 
 
 XXXVI. 
 
 I SAW Mr. Parnell once more. This was when I went 
 to say good-by 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." I kept this 
 as an interesting souvenir for a long time, but had to 
 surrender it at last to the Special Commission, amongst 
 the records of which it now finds its resting-place. Soon 
 after I left London for Ireland, 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, Sulli- 
 van, M.P., who now, poor man ! is no more. I well 
 remember Egan's impressing upon me the necessity for 
 my covering my revolutionary sentiments 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 recall many of 
 his happy efforts which would well bear reproduction, I 
 shall not, however, yield to the temptation of bringing 
 them in here, but will content myself with recalling one 
 pleasant story told about the irrepressible Mr. Biggar. 
 Mr. Biggar, as I was informed by way of preface, was 
 known as the great objector and " counter-out," sometimes, 
 sad to relate, moving that the House be counted when it 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. I31 
 
 was not to the interests of the party to take any notice of 
 the want of a quorum. Very pious in disposition, he 
 rarely failed to attend early mass, in spite of late sittings 
 and consequent fatigue. One morning Mr. Biggar, fatigued 
 after a very heavy night's sitting, but still devotionally 
 inclined, attended mass at St. George's in Southwark. 
 So tired out was he that he fell fast asleep in his chair as 
 the service proceeded, and so he remained until all had 
 been concluded and every one had gone. Upon being 
 vigorously aroused by the verger, Mr. Biggar started up, 
 rubbed his eyes, looked at the roof, and fancying himself 
 at the moment in the House of Commons, with the master 
 instinct strong within him, loudly exclaimed, *'Mr. Speaker, 
 I 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, Egan's brother-in-law, and 
 to those in charge at the Land League headquarters. 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 entertaining 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 Kilmainham Prison, and through his kind introduction 
 that I made the acquaintance of John Dillon, P. J. Sheri- 
 dan, M. J. Boynton, 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 out- 
 side world — at least when you were an Irish political 
 prisoner. To my surprise there was no attempt made by 
 the warder to hear the conversation I had with Boynton. 
 On the contrary, this interesting ofificial most obligingly 
 took himself off. 
 
32 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 This meeting with Boynton 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 Boynton the swimmer. From 
 him in the secrecy of conversation, undisturbed by the 
 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 organiza- 
 tion 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 organization and leaders. He 
 besought my assistance in proving his claim to be a nat- 
 uralized 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 outside the prison, I received from Dr. Kenny a let- 
 ter which Boynton had intrusted to him after leaving, 
 containing a couple of his photos. Boynton, need I state, 
 was a paid Land League organizer 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, 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. Ander- 
 son. I was commended for my success ; said good-by to 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 133 
 
 everybody ; and once more took ship for home, in order 
 to get back in time for the Convention of the Clan-na- 
 Gael, which was to take place very soon. Of course there 
 was another matter which prompted my speedy return, 
 and that was the work I had undertaken to do on behalf 
 of Mr. Parnell. I had to see Devoy and the others, to 
 report the Irish leader's views to them, and having ac- 
 quitted 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 utilize the information in my capacity 
 as an agent of the Secret Ser vice. 
 
 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 correspondence took 
 place between us. Though at first reluctant to go to 
 Europe, he eventually undertook to do so. His consent, 
 however, was conditional on his colleagues agreeing to the 
 undertaking, and with them he promised to confer imme- 
 diately 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 mat- 
 ter. 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 im- 
 portant character. 
 
134 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 **4i Orange Street, New Haven, 
 " Office of Mr. Reynolds, 
 ''June 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. without its consent, and which must take 
 time to get; and none of us, even if we had that consent, could give any 
 guaranty for the individuals on the other side, who are hostile, and who, I 
 feel certain, do not represent the opinion of the home organization. There 
 can be no change there until there is a change of persons, and that is sure to 
 come in time. All I could do would be to tell E. (Egan) and P. (Parnell), 
 on my own responsibility, what I believe would be satisfactory to our friends 
 here, and make propositions that I might have felt morally certain would be 
 approved of; but I would not, on any consideration, have them pay my 
 expenses; that would place me in a false position at once. I have asked 
 advice, and if certain friends here think it the right thing to do, I shall start 
 next Wednesday; but, at present, I do not think I shall be so advised. They 
 seem to misunderstand our dissatisfaction here. It is not their action in Ire- 
 land, but the action they allow their friends to take in their name here. 
 There is little difference of opinion about the essential point, but we cannot 
 tolerate the kind of thing begun in Buffalo. Please drop me a line. — 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 Revolu- 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 35 
 
 tionist," he remarked, ** I have no further use for him." 
 As for any practical alliance between the two forces, his 
 idea was that no two or three people should take upon 
 themselves to decide, but that the whole question should 
 be brought up before the coming convention. Altogether, 
 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 atti- 
 tude 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 betv/een the three of us. The news I brought 
 them appeared to be a source of gratification. They ap- 
 parently fully realized 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, con- 
 tent with my labors, I returned home, wrote a full account 
 of my proceedings to Mr. Anderson, and turned my atten- 
 tion to my business. I com.municated 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 every thing in time, 
 and I was quite content to wait. 
 
 As I had anticipated, I did hear the result, and on no 
 less an authority than that of Sullivan himself. He in- 
 formed me some time later that the sanction of the execu- 
 tive 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 sail- 
 
136 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 ing. Even then he expected trouble from the members 
 of the home organization, but he pointed out that their 
 opinion was not that of the organization 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 inde- 
 pendence of mind and speech was not by any means 
 relished, and so it was determined that he should go. 
 There could be no radical change brought about, Sullivan 
 confessed, while O'Leary was there, and, I might depend 
 upon it, a change of the representative was certain to 
 come very soon. As he talked, Sullivan grew quite en- 
 thusiastic over the new move, and he showed me by his 
 manner that he had given the subject a great deal of 
 thought. 
 
 '' I feel morally certain," he continued, "that the propo- 
 sitions I will make will be approved of. I for one am 
 opposed to bringing up this matter openly at the coming 
 convention. I shall most certainly object to Parnell, or 
 any of his friends compromising themselves by allowing 
 such a course. The whole matter must be left to the 
 Revolutionary Directory and the F.C." (Executive Body). 
 [As it will be seen later, this is exactly what happened. 
 There was no public discussion of the proposal in open 
 convention, but matters were satisfactorily arranged in 
 the quiet caucuses of the responsible committees.] Sulli- 
 van, continuing, said, " They (that is, the Parnellites) 
 seem to misunderstand our dissatisfaction here. Our 
 quarrel is not with their action in Ireland, but with the 
 action they allow their friends here to take in their name. 
 I know there is but little difference about essential points, 
 but we cannot tolerate the kind of thing begun in Buffalo." 
 
 This reference to Buffalo dealt with some proceedings 
 in connection with the first American Land League Con- 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 1 37 
 
 vention of a few weeks previously, which had attracted a 
 good deal of attention and comment at the time. I had 
 no personal knowledge of what took place, owing to the 
 convention having been held while I was in Europe, but I 
 heard fully of the affair on my return. The whole thing 
 was nothing more or less than an attempt on the part of 
 the clerical element to gain the controlling power in the 
 League Councils, to the exclusion of the Clan-na-Gael 
 influence. Certain speeches had been made and action 
 taken with this view, and although the result had not 
 weakened them, the Clan-na-Gael leaders felt very bitter 
 on the point. 
 
 XXXVIII. 
 
 The month of August at length arrived, and with it the 
 Great Dynamite Convention of 188 1. It was pretty well 
 known that ''active " work was to be the order of the day, 
 when the future plans and schemes of the organization 
 came to be discussed. Nothing was talked of throughout 
 the camps but the utter lack of practical effort which had 
 characterized the pa^t few years ; and now, when funds 
 were pretty large, and the organization itself in a very 
 flourishing condition in every way, it was determined that 
 some outward and visible sign should be given England 
 of its power of doing mischief. The stories which were 
 daily reaching America of the alleged brutalities being 
 practised by the British Government, only served to in- 
 flame the blood of the rank and file of the conspirators, 
 and to make them the more eager to force on some exhibi- 
 tion of their strength. The leaders, however, were in no 
 sense behindhand in the way of bloodthirsty sentiment ; 
 indeed, as will be seen by what I have already stated about 
 
138 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 Devoy and others, arrangements had ere this been com- 
 pleted for giving expression to the popular desire. 
 
 The convention, which assembled in the club room of 
 the Palmer House, Chicago, lasted from the 3d to the 
 loth of August 1881 ; and although the word dynamite 
 finds no single place in the official records of the assembly, 
 it was in the air and in the speeches from start to finish. 
 The whole question^ of active operations came up and was 
 debated at great length in connection with the statement 
 of accounts furnished by the trustees of the Skirmishing 
 Fund. Many of the delegates present attacked both the 
 Revolutionary Directory and the Executive Body for hav- 
 ing practically done nothing, while an enormous amount of 
 money had been spent from this fund ; and wild demands 
 were made for particulars. The fight raged so fiercely 
 that disclosures were made compromising people on the 
 Irish side of the water ; and, in order to prevent a com- 
 plete expose a resolution was suddenly passed forbidding 
 the mention of names and other compromising particulars. 
 Explanations were, however, tendered as to the schemes 
 which had been discussed and in part arranged. These 
 included the treaty with Russia, the supply of officers to 
 the Boers, the torpedo-boat, the hand grenade, the pur- 
 chase and shipment of arms, the purchase of 200 six-pound 
 cannons at $25 each, and the attempt to rescue Michael 
 Davitt on two occasions. 
 
 In the end a resolution in the following terms was 
 adopted which, read by the light of the many and excited 
 debates, was a clear instruction to the Executive Body to 
 be up and doing at once in the way of ''active" war- 
 fare : — 
 
 "That it is the sense of this Convention that, while we do not dictate to 
 the F.C., whatever action they may inaugurate, however decisive, will meet 
 the full approval of the delegates present and the V.C. at large." 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 1 39 
 
 This, however, was not the only important resolution 
 they recorded. While the fight over an active policy was 
 being engaged in, I secretly attended by request before 
 the Committee of Foreign Relations, and explained to 
 them the views of Mr. Parnell and Patrick Egan. As the 
 result of what took place in connection with this matter, 
 the following resolution was proposed and adopted in open 
 convention : — 
 
 *'That it is the sense of this Convention that both branches of the S.E. 
 i^i.e., the Irish and the American members of the Revolutionary Directory), 
 in so far as they can give their time and energies to it, should devote them- 
 selves to the work of revolution; and if such bodies cannot give their 
 approval to public movements that are intended to promote the political and 
 social regeneration of Jsfmboe (Ireland) when they are supported by a large 
 proportion of the Jsjti (Irish) people, they will at least refrain from antagoniz- 
 ing them, and that the members of the I.S.C. (The Irish Republican Brother- 
 hood) and the V.C. (Clan-na-Gael) should not arbitrarily be prevented from 
 exercising liberty of action in regard to such movements." 
 
 XXXIX. 
 
 In this way did both of Mr. ParnelFs ideas receive rec- 
 ognition and support. In the first place, the Revolution- 
 ary Directory was instructed to prepare for the rising of 
 which he spoke, while, in the second, a pretty strong hint 
 was given to the home organization that members in their 
 individual capacity should join the League and support its 
 programme. It is only right that I should state at this 
 point that I was not the only one charged with represent- 
 ing Mr. Parnell's views. My attendance before the For- 
 eign Relations Committee brought me into contact with 
 John O'Connor, alias Dr. Clarke, alias Dr. Kenealy, the 
 travelling agent of the Clan-na-Gael in Europe, who in- 
 formed me that he specially attended in his representa- 
 
140 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 tive capacity to support the " understanding." This was 
 not my first meeting with O'Connor by any means. When 
 in Paris I had been introduced to him by O'Leary, and 
 had frequently met him in the company of Egan, with 
 whom he was on the most confidential terms, and working 
 in perfect harmony. O'Connor's statement was followed 
 by one on the part of Devoy, who informed me that "the 
 matter was now all right." 
 
 This convention saw the initiation of the Sullivan 
 regime, Alexander Sullivan, ere its close, being elected to 
 the position of president of the organization, with head- 
 quarters at Chicago. His election was attended by many 
 changes in the constitution. Up to this the executive 
 body, or *' F.C." as it was termed, had consisted of a chair- 
 man, secretary, and treasurer, with eleven district mem- 
 bers or ''E.N.'s," elected to control the society in their 
 several districts. The convention now reconstituted the 
 "F.C." by excluding these eleven " E.N.'s," and limiting 
 the number to six, including the secretary, who was ex- 
 officio, but without a vote. This was quite a revolution in 
 the management of affairs, and Sullivan, in his new posi- 
 tion, acquired a power and prominence never enjoyed by 
 any previous president. It was after gaining possession 
 of this important and powerful post that he visited 
 Europe, in accordance with the arrangement I had been 
 the means of first proposing to him. Of course it was 
 not publicly announced that Sullivan was in Europe. By 
 some he was understood to be ill, by others in Florida. 
 It would never have done for him to have publicly ad- 
 mitted or allowed the fact to be known that he was so far 
 east as Paris. 
 
 I had very many interesting conversations at this con- 
 vention, but none more so than those with Dr. Gallaher, 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 141 
 
 now in Portland Prison for complicity in the dynamite 
 outrages, and Mackay Lomasney, who had just returned 
 from Ireland, where, like Devoy in 1879, he had beeia act- 
 ing as the inspecting envoy of the Clan-na-Gael. Gallaher, 
 at the time I speak of, was making experiments in the 
 manufacture of explosives, and advocating their use. He 
 was quite enthusiastic in their praise, and so carried away 
 by his subject that he expressed his willingness to per- 
 sonally undertake the carriage of dynamite to England 
 and to superintend its use there. Lomasney was an 
 equally ardent dynamitard, not foreseeing then the fate 
 which awaited him under London Bridge. 
 
 I think I cannot better conclude this chapter than by 
 quoting the following statement of accounts furnished at 
 this convention, of the Skirmishing Fund, which, in all its 
 details, even to the amount stolen by the messenger of 
 the Irish Worlds should prove of interest. 
 
 RECEIPTS, ETC. 
 
 Total receipts by Irish World \x^ to May 31, 
 
 [881 
 
 $88,306 32 
 
 Received by trustees from other sources . 
 
 1,603 50 
 
 Interest 
 
 1,072 50 
 
 Profits on Exchange 
 
 471 25 
 
 
 $91,453 57 
 
 EXPENSES, ETC. 
 
 
 Purchase of bonds 
 
 $31,488 87 
 
 Lent per F.C. to S.C. for tools 
 
 
 
 
 10,000 00 
 
 Lent to F.C 
 
 
 
 
 5,875 00 
 
 Irish volunteers 
 
 
 
 
 1,000 00 
 
 J. J. O'Mahony's burial 
 
 
 
 
 2,030 00 
 
 O'D. Rossa's defalcations 
 
 
 
 
 1,321 90 
 
 Old submarine vessel 
 
 
 
 
 4,042 97 
 
 New submarine vessel 
 
 
 
 
 . 23,345 70 
 
 Miscellaneous expense . 
 
 
 
 
 321 04 
 
 Lent Dr. Carroll . 
 
 
 
 
 860 00 
 
142 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 Luby and Burke lOO oo 
 
 Checks dishonored ...... 78 68 
 
 Reception, Condon and Meledy .... 249 79 
 
 Allowed A. Ford on old money, Rossa's not cashed, 41 90 
 
 Irish ^Fi^r/rf' overcharged ..... 5 04 
 
 Subsidizing foreign newspapers (J. J. O'Kelly) . 2,000 00 
 
 Land League trial (Davitt) ..... Ij532 00 
 
 Special to O'Kelly 177 63 
 
 Author, New Departure ..... 1,003 9*^ 
 
 Stolen by messenger of Irish World ... 27 50 
 
 Reception of Parnell . . . . . . 165 00 
 
 $85,666 92 
 
 ASSETS. 
 
 Balance in bank $S>745 82 
 
 Balance on hands ..... 40 83 
 
 $5,786 65 
 
 XL. 
 
 I HAVE found this subject of Irish secret conventions 
 so interesting to the many people who have talked with 
 me Clan-na-Gael affairs since my appearance in the wit- 
 ness-box that I almost think I might venture on some 
 slight description of the modus opei^aiidi of these gather- 
 ings without wearying the reader. Like all proceedings 
 from which the general public are shut out, a Clan-na- 
 Gael assembly becomes interesting in proportion to the 
 amount- of secrecy by which it is attended. Not indeed 
 that a Clan-na-Gael convention is anything very exciting 
 or terrible after all. It possesses none of the weird fea- 
 tures of that scene in which our three old friends of Mac- 
 beth figure. It is on the contrary very Irish — very 
 Irish indeed. But what it is and what it is not can best 
 be demonstrated by some few details by way of descrip- 
 tion ; and so, transforming my gentle reader for the nonce 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 1 43 
 
 into a V.C. delegate, I will take him with me for a flying 
 visit to the Clan convention of 1881 in the club-room of 
 the Palmer House, Chicago. 
 
 As we pass along down the corridor to the iron doors of 
 the club-room, we find our passage barred by two stalwart 
 Irishmen. They are members of the local camp, sta- 
 tioned as sentinels to prevent the entry of the unauthor- 
 ized. We have already presented our credentials and 
 been intrusted with the necessary passwords, and on giv- 
 ing the outside password to these guardians of the door, 
 we are duly admitted. On the other side, however, we 
 are brought face to face with another couple of trusted 
 Gaels, and to them we have to give the inside password. 
 'Tis done, and, freed now from further question, we enter 
 the charmed assembly. What a sight ! What a babel of 
 voices and a world of smoke ! You can scarce see for the 
 clouds which curl and roll round you as the breath of 
 fresh air is admitted by the opening door, while, as for 
 hearing, your ears are deafened by the din and clatter of 
 many tongues and stamping feet. Yes, we are at last in 
 the Irish Parliament, as it is grandly termed, in full ses- 
 sion. These are the hundred and sixty odd delegates of 
 the great V.C, sworn ''to make Ireland a nation once 
 again," who are now assembled in the year of grace 1881 
 to clamor for dynamite as the only means of achieving 
 their patriotic ends. 
 
 Let us sit down in the corner and study the scene with 
 attention. It partakes, on the first view, more of the char- 
 acter of a ''free and easy" entertainment than a grave 
 portentous gathering of conspirators ; but you must not 
 judge by first appearances or outward characteristics. It 
 is the way these men have of doing their business, and 
 the dread character of their work is in no way affected by 
 
144 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 the almost ludicrous phases of the preliminary performance. 
 Always you must remember that you are dealing with 
 Irishmen, who in their wildest and most ferocious of fights 
 still retain that substratum of childishness of character 
 and playfulness of mood, with its attendant elements of 
 exaggeration and romance, which make it as difficult for 
 an ordinary House of Commons member to rightly under- 
 stand his Irish colleague when he launches forth in descrip- 
 tion or invective as it is for the civilized foreigner to know 
 where the actual grievance now comes in. 
 
 Well, we are seated, and we must proceed to make the 
 most of our time. And so I hurry on with my description. 
 That is the chairman seated over there on the platform, 
 with his two secretaries in attendance. The permanent 
 presiding officer, as he is termed, is on this occasion no 
 other than our friend Wm. J. Hynes, the gentleman who 
 received his start in Chicago politics as a professional 
 juryman through the instrumentality of Alexander Sulli- 
 van, and who since that time has put together flesh as 
 well as riches, and is now one of the strongest-looking 
 men here, possessed of that which, if he had no other 
 qualification would yet constitute a strong claim for the 
 office of chairman — a voice capable of rising above the 
 din caused by fifty excited patriots all yelling with their 
 greatest might. Seated round in semi-circular fashion are 
 the different delegates who, in the language they love so 
 well, may be described as the flower of Irish-American 
 patriotism. They are a funny crowd, as lolling with arms 
 akimbo, and thumbs resting in their waistcoat arm-holes, 
 they hang their feet on the chairs in front, which for com- 
 fort's sake are tilted to an angle of some 40 or 45 degrees, 
 and puff their cigars — on such an occasion there is noth- 
 ing so vulgar as a pipe indulged in — high up into the air, 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 145 
 
 changing their position now and again in order to have a 
 pull at those interesting-looking black bottles, or to disrobe 
 themselves of coat or waistcoat, the better to cool their 
 heated frames. 
 
 But hark ! there is a row on now. Listen to the oaths 
 and foul epithets which fill the air. These two patriots 
 to our left have apparently disagreed about something 
 and want to fight it out. See how they jump to their 
 feet, kick the chairs about, throw a curse across the floor 
 at the chairman as he seeks to stop their rowdy proceed- 
 ings, and enter into grips with each other. Watch how 
 friends hurry up on either side, and note the general con- 
 fusion which now reigns. The business of the convention 
 of course is brought to a standstill, but not for long. See, 
 all is quiet again now. These incidents are of hourly 
 occurrence, and the fun of it all is that these two com- 
 batants will be drinking whiskey in the most amicable way 
 out of the same black bottle in less than a quarter of an 
 hour's time. Do you notice these few men hurrying in 
 with handkerchiefs to their lips } Thirsty souls ! They 
 have been taking advantage of the interval to pay a visit 
 to the bar. 
 
 XLI. 
 
 At last we turn to business again. Luckily the topic 
 is an exciting one- — nothing less indeed than the Skir- 
 mishing Fund discussion — and so matters will be inter- 
 esting. O' Meagher Condon is on his feet, and he is 
 launching forth in vehement style against the whole of 
 the governing powers. Condon is one of those men who 
 were mixed up in the Manchester Martyr affair, and since 
 his arrival here a couple of years since, on being amnes- 
 
146 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 tied, he has been quite a hero. He has now a posi- 
 tion in a Government department at Washington, and is 
 much esteemed in the ranks of the Gaels. How his face 
 works with excitement and passion as he attacks Devoy 
 and his fellows on the Revolutionary Directory for their 
 want of practical work. He finishes at last, and up jumps 
 Devoy, more sour-looking than ever, with the perpetual 
 scowl growing heavier and heavier. As he proceeds, the 
 author of the New Departure has recourse to the usual 
 method of controversy. He asserts that Condon is a 
 coward, and was guilty of the grossest neglect at Man- 
 chester. If Condon had but distributed the twenty odd 
 pounds which was found on him on his arrest, many of 
 the men would have escaped, instead of being captured 
 with empty pockets. Gruffer and gruffer becomes De- 
 voy's voice, as losing partial control of himself he trembles 
 with excitement and flings charge after charge across the 
 floor. 
 
 We are in for another personal quarrel, and so have to 
 wait patiently while Condon, for the hundredth time, re- 
 cites the threadbare narrative of his glorious deeds in 
 Manchester. Matters are very electrical when the Rev. 
 George C. Betts of St. Louis craves a hearing, and with 
 his well-known smile seeks the suffrages of his fellow- 
 patriots for the moment. Truly, a strange figure in a 
 strange place. Tall, erect, in the black garb of the Church, 
 with priest-like face and priest-like form, he woos the as- 
 sembly to a strange quietness as his clerical style of utter- 
 ance falls upon the audience. He is as hot a dynamitard 
 as any, but he wants no personalities. If they are to ac- 
 complish anything, they really must be more practical. 
 And so he proceeds, winning applause and spreading en- 
 thusiasm, till Devoy and Condon, and their personalities, 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 1 47 
 
 are swept into forgetfulness, and all are engaged in ap- 
 plauding revolutionary sentiment spiced with religious 
 quotation, and served up in the most orthodox of fashions. 
 
 The reverend dynamitard concludes, and resumes his 
 seat amidst most enthusiastic evidences of his popularity. 
 He gives way to an equally inharmonious figure in this 
 motley gathering. The man who now rises is one of 
 medium height, whose every movement bespeaks the pro- 
 fessional man, as awhile back the picture presented by the 
 Rev. Dr. Betts bespoke the cleric. A young man too is 
 this, with his neat attire, trim beard, and gold-headed cane. 
 No less a person is he than Dr. Gallaher, who, in this year 
 of 1892, in the convict suit of gray with its regulation 
 arrows, works out his weary life in Portland prison. As 
 you watch, and as he speaks in that quiet gentlemanly 
 fashion of his, you can well believe that he is a man of 
 whom it might be afterwards boasted that he was intro- 
 duced to Mr. Gladstone himself. Save in his sentiments 
 there is nothing of the dynamitard about him, but in the 
 matter of his speech there is no room for doubt. Quiet 
 and self-controlled though he be, his talk is the talk of 
 war, and the enthusiasm which lights up his countenance 
 is that strong steady flame which will steadily burn till 
 England's dungeon doors close upon him and cut short his 
 career of recklessness. 
 
 Follov/ing him on the floor is the familiar form of 
 Denis Feeley, the fellow '' Triangler " of Sullivan in later 
 days, and with him the object of attack on the part of 
 Cronin's friends. Cool, calm, and deliberate, he carries 
 his audience with him as he advocates " a secret blow at 
 the enemy;" while his big form shakes with indignation 
 as he works himself up to an excited pitch over '' the 
 wrongs of their beloved country." At last Feeley con- 
 
I4S TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 eludes, and there rises another well-known figure, that of 
 T. V. Powderly, for years the chief of the largest working- 
 men's organization in America, known as " The Knights 
 of Labor." Little doubt can there be as to his views. 
 Listen to what he says : — 
 
 "The killing of English robbers and tyrants in Ireland, and the destruc- 
 tion by any and all means of their capital and resources, which enables them 
 to carry on their robberies and tyrannies, is not a needless act. Hence I am 
 in favor of the torch for their cities and the knife for their tyrants till they 
 agree to let Ireland severely alone. London, Liverpool, Manchester, and 
 Bristol in ashes may bring them to view it in another light." 
 
 And SO the talk goes on, and seven hundred years of 
 grievances find expression from the lips of excited patri- 
 ots, while quarrelsome delegates destroy all decorum. 
 There is little purpose in our waiting further. One hour 
 will be but the repetition of the other. As we rise to 
 leave, however, one figure catches the eye and impresses 
 itself upon us. It is that of the arch-plotter Sullivan, 
 who, through all this din and turmoil, sits and makes no 
 sign. He knows that later on he will be the candidate 
 for the highest place amongst them, and so he takes no 
 side. There is no possibility of your missing him as you 
 pass him by. There he sits, quiet, watchful, and alert. 
 You cannot mistake the man. There is a sense of power 
 and intelligence in that clean cut, clean shaven face of 
 his, lit up by its bright daring eyes. Had you but heard 
 him speak, the lesson of his presence would have been 
 complete. His clear trumpet voice, rising and falling 
 with the play of a practised orator, his choice finished 
 diction, his well-reasoned, well-arranged argument, and 
 the graceful gesture and movement of his whole body 
 would prove to you that there at least was a man gifted 
 to command and competent to control. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 1 49 
 
 And SO we terminate our flying visit to the Eighty-one 
 Convention of the Clan-na-Gacl, wherein there were assem- 
 bled forty lawyers, eight doctors, two judges, clergymen 
 of both leading religions, merchants, manufacturers, and 
 working men, all mixed up in glorious confusion, almost 
 all reduced to the level of the whiskey bottle, and none 
 removed from the struggles of personal avarice and 
 ambition. 
 
 XLII. 
 
 Nothing of a very stirring character happened for the 
 next couple of months, and so, much to my satisfaction, I 
 was permitted to attend for a little without interruption to 
 my private affairs. They sadly lacked some notice on my 
 part, for business was growing, my drug-stores were in- 
 creasing in number, and so was my family. Patients 
 were very numerous too, but expenses were not without 
 their increase, for I had to employ a regularly qualified 
 M.D. to take my place in my absence. If I could have 
 settled down and simply minded my own business from 
 this henceforth, I would have been in a very satisfactory 
 position to-day. But 'twas not to be. I was constantly 
 on the move, and living at high pressure right through. 
 To keep myself thoroughly posted I had to be here, there, 
 and everywhere, and, in the end, my ordinary business 
 had to take a very secondary place. Even at this time 
 my leisure from political affairs was to be of very short 
 duration, for, in my capacity as Senior Guardian, I received 
 the following in the month of November 1881 : — 
 
150 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 «' Private, 
 
 " For S. G. alone. 
 
 " Headquarters, K., 
 '■'■November 21, 1 88 1. 
 **S.G. of D. 
 
 "Dear Sir and Brother, — It is the desire of the F.C. that as many 
 members of the V.C. as can possibly attend the Irish National Convention at 
 Chicago, November 30, 1881, vi^ill do so without entailing expense on the 
 organization. 
 
 " You will therefore make every effort to get the members of the V.C. 
 elected as delegates from any Irish society that may have an existence in 
 your neighborhood, whether it be as representative of the Land League Club, 
 the A.O.H., or any other organization. 
 
 " The F.C. particularly desires your presence as a delegate, if it is possible 
 for you to attend as such. 
 
 " Fraternally yours, 
 
 "K.G.N. OF THE V.C." 
 
 I thoroughly knew what this meant. Under the new 
 resrime of Sullivan there was to be no more of the *' Buffalo 
 business," and to prevent it things were to be done in a 
 thoroughly practical manner. The members of the secret 
 revolutionary organization were to capture the representa- 
 tion at the coming Land League Convention, to act 
 unitedly in the development of a policy in harmony with 
 the Clan-na-Gael, and to officer the future executive 
 in such a way as to prevent further misunderstanding. 
 In order to do all this, the Clan-na-Gael men were to 
 obtain election as League, or Ancient Order of Hibernian, 
 delegates, the latter organization being a purely benevo- 
 lent body, whose branches had largely affiliated with the 
 League or open movement from the start. This was 
 accordingly done ; and thus it came about that, when I 
 met my fellow-delegates to the open Land League Con- 
 vention of 1 88 1, I found almost every second man a 
 brother from the camps of the Clan-na-Gael. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. • 151 
 
 The whole scheme worked in the most perfect manner. 
 On arrival in Chicago each Clan-na-Gael man reported 
 himself to the chief officer of the district, to whom cre- 
 dentials were presented. Official intimation was then 
 given as to what would happen, and each conspirator 
 learned that, prior to the sessions of the convention, cau- 
 cuses of the Brotherhood would be held in the hall of 
 Camp 16, Twenty-second Street, Chicago. The usual 
 precautions were taken, and admission only gained by 
 passwords exchanged on each occasion. As the chairman 
 at the first gathering — the Rev. George C. Betts — 
 humorously put it, ''our object was to make things easy 
 for the Land Leaguers, and to save them as much trouble 
 as possible." At each meeting the plan of procedure at 
 the coming session was decided upon, and the election of 
 temporary and permanent officers arranged. Nominations 
 for various committees were fixed, and no opportunity 
 neglected for adapting the constitution and officials to our 
 requirements. The resolutions subsequently adopted in 
 open convention were drafted by our committees. 
 
 It therefore came about that John F. Finerty of Chicago, 
 the well-known dynamite advocate and prominent member 
 of the Clan, "called the convention to order," and made 
 the opening speech. William J. Hynes of the Revolu- 
 tionary Directory, and the chairman of the late Clan-na- 
 Gael convention, was appointed temporary chairman, and 
 Joseph E. Ronayne, who had acted in a similar capacity at 
 the Dynamite Convention, was appointed secretary, while 
 T. V. Powderiy of the Clan Executive, whose fiery speech 
 at the same convention was given a few pages back, was 
 nominated assistant-secretary. The nomination of these 
 men led to a trial of strength between the two forces of 
 the convention, but the real tug of war was reserved for 
 
152 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 the second day, when resolutions previously adopted at the 
 Gael's caucus were proposed, nominating the Rev. George 
 C. Betts of St. Louis as permanent chairman, and Patrick 
 Ford, John Devoy, Mrs. Parnell, and a number of priests 
 as vice-presidents. Of course the priests were put forward 
 for political reasons. The vice-presidents were not ob- 
 jected to, but the appointment of the Rev. George C. 
 Betts, a Protestant clergyman, was strongly opposed by 
 the priestly party. A very excited debate took place, but 
 in the end the opposition to Betts was withdrawn at the 
 instigation of the Irish visitors — Messrs. T. P. O'Connor, 
 M.P., T. M. Healy, M.P., and Father Sheehy — and so at 
 the close this vice-president of the Clan-na-Gael was 
 elected, and the secret organization triumphed all along 
 the line. 
 
 The Irish political controversy was this year darkened 
 by the sad event in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, when Lord 
 Frederick Cavendish and Mr. Burke met their deaths at 
 the hands of the Irish Invincibles. As regards the In- 
 vincible conspiracy, I have little or nothing to say. It 
 was in no sense an American affair, and no matter how 
 little or how much certain sympathizers in the States may 
 have known of the murderous conspiracy, nothing was 
 said on the subject in public or in secret to connect the 
 Clan-na-Gael in any way with the proceedings of Carey 
 and his friends. There was, of course, a certain amount 
 of sympathy with the affair, as was shown by the attitude 
 taken up by John Devoy in his paper the Irish Nation^ 
 which was, by the way, the official organ of the Clan-na- 
 Gael at this time, and subsidized from its fund. Devoy 
 gave great prominence to the refusal of Egan to offer a 
 reward for the discovery of the murderers, printing the 
 following telegram in his issue of 13th May 1882 : — - 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 153 
 
 «* PATRICK EGAN ON BLOOD-MONEY. 
 
 " Paris, May 10, 1882. 
 
 " Mr. Egan, the Treasurer of the Land League, has telegraphed the fol- 
 lowing to the Freeman^ s Jota-nal of Dublin : — 
 
 '"Editor, Freeman, Dublin. — In the Freeman of yesterday Mr. James 
 F. O'Brien suggests a reward of £2.^000 out of the Land League Fund for the 
 discovery of the perpetrators of the terrible tragedy of Saturday. Remem- 
 bering, as I do, the number of innocent victims who in the sad history of our 
 country have been handed over to the gallows by wretched informers, in order 
 to earn the coveted blood-money, and foreseeing the awful danger that in the 
 present excited state of public feeling crime may be added to crime by the 
 possible sacrifice of guiltless men, I am determined that if one penny of the 
 Land League Fund were devoted for such a purpose I would at once resign 
 the treasurer ship. 
 
 *' 'Patrick Egan.' " 
 
 And commenting upon it in the following vein : — 
 
 *' ' Patrick Egan has spoken out like a man against the adoption by Irish- 
 men of the base English policy of suborning informers. He declares that 
 should a penny of the Land League funds be devoted to such an object, he 
 will resign the treasurership. Mr. Parnell should at once repudiate the attempt 
 made from this side to connect him with action so culpable and un-Irish. By 
 consenting to become the trustee of the Irish-American blood-money he would 
 forfeit the sympathies 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 odor for a long time previously, owing to his un- 
 satisfactory 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 repudiated 
 by the recognized officials of the secret organization. 
 
154 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 XLIII. 
 
 Eighteen hundred and eighty-three proved a very busy 
 time with me. There was another Land League conven- 
 tion : Egan, Sheridan, Frank Byrne, and other Invincibles 
 "on the run" arrived in the country, and altogether my 
 time was pretty well occupied in obtaining information 
 and passing it on to my chief. The year opened amidst 
 rumors in the public press of the secret movement having 
 captured the open organization of the League. Mr. Par- 
 nell himself had taken action previously in connection with 
 the Kilmainham Treaty, and in other ways which were not 
 understood or appreciated, and, as a consequence, a partial 
 breach had occurred. So strained were matters becoming 
 that in February it was announced that both Mr. Parnell 
 and Egan would come to America in April for the purpose 
 of discussing the whole situation and fixing upon some 
 new mode of operations for the future which, while equally 
 effective as regards joint working, would not impair Mr. 
 Parnell's usefulness. Many weeks, however, had not 
 ■passed ere the fight between the clerical and revolutionary 
 elements in the States began to wax exceedingly hot, and, 
 changing his plans, Mr. Parnell determined not to inter- 
 fere, and so failed to put in his promised appearance. 
 
 Egan, however, thanks to the revelations of Carey, had 
 to make a speedy and somewhat undignified exit from 
 Dublin, and not waiting till the month of April, he put 
 himself en evidence in American life in the month of 
 March. I met him a week or two after his arrival, when 
 he was the guest of Alexander Sullivan, the President of 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. I 55 
 
 the Clan-na-Gael, at Chicago. We renewed our cordial 
 friendship, and the same close intimacy prevailed between 
 us as had been the case in Paris. He told me that the 
 programme now to be proposed would give full satisfaction 
 in America; while, as for Sullivan, he (Sullivan) remarked 
 to me significantly about this time that, though he had 
 never doubted Egan, he was now more than satisfied. 
 
 The public convention of the Land League henceforth 
 to be known as the National League of America, took 
 place at Philadelphia on the 26th April and following days. 
 The same plan of campaign as had been developed in 1881 
 was put in force by the Clan-na-Gael. A secret circular 
 was issued instructing the camps to send delegates, and 
 these delegates when assembled in Philadelphia pursued 
 the same line of policy in their caucus gatherings. The 
 whole thing worked like an exquisite piece of mechanism, 
 and produced the most satisfactory of 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 transpired, 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 secretary of the Irish Land League, both of whom took 
 part in the proceedings, and of Frank Byrne and his wife, 
 who were accommodated with seats on the platform. 
 
 In accordance with the arrangements made at one of the 
 caucus meetings, Alexander Sullivan was appointed presi- 
 dent of the new organization. He played his part well on 
 the occasion, and succeeded in entirely overcoming the 
 scruples of those opposed to him in consequence of his 
 
156 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 being chief of the Clan-na-Gael. Not once but twice did 
 this prince of intriguers decline the honor 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 promised appear- 
 ance, he sent a lengthy and significant 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 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 following extracts from my official report to my 
 camp on my return will show : — 
 
 "The various reports were read and routine business transacted. These 
 developed that the Land League had not increased in members, but, on the 
 contrary, had decreased during the past year; that a majority of the patriots 
 of America had become tired of giving their earnings for * Simon Pure agita- 
 tion; ' of the 900 branches existing a year ago, 105 had disbanded, and 298 
 had failed to report. The total receipts for the past year from, all sources 
 were 79,138 dollars, 40 cents, and the disbursements 74,123 dollars, 40 cents, 
 leaving on hand a balance of 4,915 dollars. 
 
 "There was an evident desire upon the part of clerical delegates and lady 
 Land Leaguers (who evinced a fear of amalgam^ating with dynamiters and 
 secret society Revolutionists) to retain the organization intact, dropping the 
 word land, adopting the platform of the Dublin Convention of last October, 
 electing their ofncers for the ensuing year, calling themselves the National 
 League, and adjourning sine die. This policy received an able but unscru- 
 pulous supporter in Miles O'Brien of New York, a renegade member of the 
 V.C., who exhibited the last circular of instructions from the F.C. to a num- 
 ber of priests to show them how they were to be manipulated by the terrible 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE, I 5/ 
 
 Clan-na-Gaels. Had this source been successful it would have prevented 
 union, it would have continued the various factions, and the formidable front 
 presented to-day of all the societies of the country pledged upon one platform 
 to work united with one object in view would never have been achieved. 
 
 " Brother Brown of St. Louis moved a substitute for all resolutions to de- 
 clare the Land League dissolved after the adjournment of this Convention, 
 and the delegates to attend the National Convention the next day. This 
 eventually was practically carried by a large majority. 
 
 "The Convention, to which I presented credentials from this body on 
 Thursday morning, presented the grand array of nearly 1 ,200 delegates upon the 
 floor, the stage being decorated with portraits, paintings, statues, flags, and 
 flowers, and graced by some fifty ladies — conspicuous amongst them being 
 Mrs. Parnell and Mrs. Frank Byrne — the galleries packed to overflowing, 
 some five thousand interested spectators being present, a sight not soon to be 
 forgotten. 
 
 " Again the V.C. showed the work of its second conference of Wednesday 
 night, the proceedings being opened by Brother Sullivan, and Brother Dorney 
 being unanimously elected temporary presiding officer, the temporary secre- 
 taries being Brothers Roach 01 Troy, Brown of St. Louis, Hines of Buffalo, 
 and Gleason of Cleveland. The appointment of the Committee on Cre- 
 dentials, after the opening speeches, constituted the first work on hand, and 
 here again the perfect organization of the V.C. developed itself; and the 
 first breeze created by the Rossa-Dunne faction, who moved an amendment 
 that each society have a member upon the Committee on Credentials, was 
 promptly voted down. Rossa presented his credentials as a member of the 
 National Party of New York, but was admitted only upon a press ticket. 
 
 "The knowledge of a Mood and thunder set of resolutions being in the 
 pocket of Major Horgan of New York, ready to be fired, regardless of con- 
 sequences, into the convention, required the passage of a resolution that, 
 until permanent organization was effected, all resolutions offered should be 
 referred to the Committee on Resolutions without being read. A permanent 
 organization was effected in the afternoon by the unanimous election of 
 Brother Foran of Cleveland as presiding officer. The various committees 
 being appointed, the Convention adjourned till Friday morning, the result of 
 the day's work summarized showing that there was nothing to warrant the 
 fear that the Rossa faction would develop any strength or discord; that the 
 V.C. were in the majority everywhere; that by every action it was desired to 
 follow out the instructions of Mr. Parnell as cabled to the Convention on 
 that day; and at least, so far as the public policy was concerned, to drop all 
 nitro-glycerine methods of procedure, and to perfect the union of the united 
 societies of the country and Canada upon one platform, for the purpose of 
 
158 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 sustaining Parnell and his policy by acting and existing permanently as an 
 auxiliary body, or rather further, to the Irish National League. 
 
 " One straw to show which way the wind blew was the nomination in com- 
 mittee of P. A. Collins of Boston for permanent chairman. His candidature 
 was unitedly set down with a will for his action in offering a reward of 5,000 
 dollars for the discovery of the killers of Burke and Cavendish last year. 
 
 " Friday morning found the Convention in session with the various com- 
 mittees on Plan of Organization, Platform, Resolutions, and Permanent 
 Organization ready to report. After some spirited speech-making by Fathers 
 Boylan and Agnew, and others, Dr. O'Reilly of Michigan submitted the 
 report of the Committee on Resolutions, in which was included the platform 
 of the NationaljLeague of America. After reading, an attempt was made by 
 Finerty to adopt them seriatim, for the purpose of getting inserted some 
 more favorable to the turbulent Rossa-Dunne faction. They were, however, 
 adopted as a whole. . , . 
 
 "The Committee on Organization presented their report, which was unani- 
 mously adopted. 
 
 " It was then in order to elect officers for the ensuing year. Alexander 
 Sullivan nominated Dr. O'Reilly of Michigan as treasurer. He was elected 
 without opposition, Father Walsh having declined, stating privately that he 
 had to choose between his parish and the treasurership; and that being the 
 case, he would have to decline. 
 
 "The nomination for president resulted in the almost unanimous choice of 
 Brother Alexander Sullivan, who, after twice diplomatically declining, finally 
 was prevailed upon to accept. The Executive Council of one from each 
 State was elected, a large majority of whom were members of the V.C. 
 
 " Brother Hines of Buffalo was unanimously elected permanent secretary. 
 Various sums of money were subscribed for the new league, principally by 
 the ladies. Resolutions were passed turning over the books, balances on hand, 
 and property of the old Land League to the new League. 
 
 " Speeches expressive of God-speed and goodwill followed by everybody, 
 and the Convention adjourned to meet again next year at the call of the 
 Executive. 
 
 "The Executive Council subsequently met and elected the Council of 
 Seven, five of which are members of the V.C. 
 
 "To briefly summarize the results of the Convention, we find the unifica- 
 tion of all Irish societies pledged under one leadership to follow the lines laid 
 down by Parnell and the party at home, not to lead but to follow them whence 
 they may go with all the energy, practical and financial support possible — a 
 proof to the world that the ten millions of Irish nationality upon the conti- 
 nent can be represented in convention by their 1,200 delegates, and work 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 1 59 
 
 harmoniously and unitedly, and giving to those, and their number is legion, 
 who believe in force alone, the supreme satisfaction of knowing that the 
 machinery of the cause is now under the control and direction of their com- 
 rades, who believe, as they do, that dynamite, or any other species of warfare 
 that can be devised is perfectly legitimate, so long as it can be made effective, 
 and accomplish results permanent and tangible. 
 
 "Michael Boynton arrived upon the second day of the Convention with 
 two members of the Supreme Council, who, as it will be readily understood, 
 did not figure publicly on this occasion." 
 
 XLIV. 
 
 It was shortly after this — I think somewhere about 
 the 29th of May — that I was fortunate enough to learn 
 from Sullivan some particulars as to what was going on 
 in connection with the Dynamite Campaign. A demon- 
 stration had been arranged at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 
 honor of Patrick Egan, and at Sullivan's pressing invita- 
 tion I accompanied him in order to participate in it. We 
 travelled together and conversed almost all the way, 
 Sullivan, as was his wont, supplying me with very inter- 
 esting details. He told me that the management of the 
 secret warfare was entirely in the hands of the Revolu- 
 tionary Directory in America. Men, it appeared, could 
 not be obtained at home to do the work, for, from some 
 lack of courage or discipline, they could not be relied 
 upon. 
 
 The rule adopted was that no volunteer should be ac- 
 cepted. Special choice would be made of men without 
 families, and a special course of instruction in the use of 
 explosives was necessary after a man was chosen. So 
 great was the care taken in the selection of agents, that 
 their whole career and character were inquired into be- 
 
l6o TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 forehand without their knowledge. No new members 
 would be chosen for the work', because forty of the Royal 
 Irish Constabulary had been sent on full pay to America 
 to join the organization with a view to selling it. Sulli- 
 van imparted the further interesting information that Dr. 
 Gallaher, when on his mission, purposely abstained from 
 coming in contact with Irish members, and obtained 
 introductions to, and acquaintance with, English mem- 
 bers. He was often in the House, I was told, and had 
 been even introduced to Mr. Gladstone himself. 
 
 Contrary to expectation and the requirements of the 
 existing constitution, no Clan-na-Gael convention took 
 place in this year — 1883. In the ordinary course of 
 events such an assembly should have met in August 1883. 
 For reasons best known to themselves, however, Sullivan 
 and his colleagues on the executive of the secret organi- 
 zation postponed the gathering, and in the end, by a 
 system of manipulation which Sullivan developed to a 
 perfect science, in connection with his management of 
 Irish affairs, the approval of the organization was gained to 
 certain changes which included the putting off of the con- 
 vention to the following year, 1884. To allow of these 
 changes being approved of, it was necessary to hold a 
 series of district conventions, and delegates were there 
 elected to represent the districts at the general conven- 
 tion which would follow. Sullivan's adherents were gen- 
 erally in the majority at such district assemblies, and so 
 it was a matter of ease for him to have supporters elected 
 at almost every gathering, which, in other words, meant 
 that the delegates then elected were nothing more or less 
 than ardent Sullivanites, who in the future convention 
 would question nothing, whereas ordinary delegates would 
 undoubtedly prove curious, if not embarrassing, in their 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. l6l 
 
 search for information as to the conduct of the affairs of 
 the Clan-na-Gael. 
 
 All was not clear sailing, however, and murmurs were 
 heard in several quarters regarding this attempt to burke 
 discussion and inquiry as to the work of the past two 
 years. Several of the camps eventually ceased their alle- 
 giance and were immediately expelled, and the organiza- 
 tion split up into two sections, the one being Sullivanite 
 and the other anti-Sullivanite. Devoy and his whole cam_p 
 were amongst those expelled from the Sullivan wing. 
 The seceders formed a new organization under the old 
 name, and the Sullivanites became known as the U. S. 
 Sullivan was still the strong man, and had the greatest 
 number of supporters ; and, following my usual rule, I 
 acted with the majority and became a U. S. man. At the 
 start a change was made as jegards the number and title 
 of the governing body. Three members formed the 
 executive, and they were now known as the Triangle — a 
 name taken from the A sign which was used by way of 
 cipher signature on all documents coming from head- 
 quarters. The fight between the two sections was now 
 raging bitterly, and the oath of the U. S. was so drawn 
 as to exclude members of any other Revolutionary body, 
 thereby denying the right of any person to be a mem- 
 ber of both organizations. 
 
 Meantime, under the plea of imminent danger of dis- 
 covery, the books of the organization were all burnt, and 
 no record whatever was left in existence which would 
 allow of investigation. This had driven very many men 
 to desperation, and loud and sweeping were the charges 
 which the seceders made against the Triangle for misap- 
 propriation of funds and other like charges. None were 
 more prominent in leading the attack on Sullivan and his 
 
1 62 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 colleagues than Dr. Cronin, whose murder has recently 
 been the subject of such lengthy investigation. Indeed, 
 from this point onwards, almost down to the end of 1888, 
 the history of the Clan-na-Gael is the history of the dis- 
 pute between Cronin and Sullivan. And now, having 
 purposely excluded all special mention of Dr. Cronin from 
 my story heretofore, in order that I might the more fully 
 and clearly deal with the matter in a compact form, I 
 shall proceed to sketch the life and career in Irish-Ameri- 
 can politics of this last victim of political assassination. 
 In explaining the situations in Irish affairs as they af- 
 fected or were affected by Dr. Cronin, I shall have to 
 travel rapidly over points already dealt with ; but I think 
 it better to do this than to improperly represent the ill- 
 fated Cronin by omitting from my reference to his career 
 the points which told in favor of himself or his adver- 
 saries. 
 
 XLV. 
 
 Philip H. Cronin was born in Ireland, but when very 
 young emigrated to Canada. From thence when a young 
 man he went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he studied 
 medicine at the St. Louis College of Physicians and Sur- 
 geons. Before this he had been clerk in a chemist's store, 
 and had thus acquired a very considerable practical knowl- 
 edge of medicine. He graduated with high honors, and 
 became eventually Professor of Materia Medica and 
 Therapeutics in the college. He also attended a medical 
 college from which he secured the degree of M.A. Cro- 
 nin was a man of fine presence, good looking, almost six 
 feet in height, and very well formed. He was a clever 
 man in every way, and a good forcible speaker, though in 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 1 63 
 
 style aggressive and combative to a degree. Very ambi- 
 tious, like his future enemy Alexander Sullivan, he was 
 never happy in a back seat, always thrusting himself for- 
 ward and fighting for the place of leader. In fact, so pro- 
 nounced were his ideas in favor of his supremacy, that 
 where he could not rule he was quite prepared to ruin. 
 
 He moved to Chicago in the latter part of 1881, and 
 immediately entered upon the practice of medicine, taking 
 up his residence at 351 Clark Street, at the corner of Oak 
 Street. At this time he was about thirty-two years of age, 
 so that he was only some forty years old at the time of his 
 murder. From the moment of his arrival in Chicago, he 
 went in enthusiastically for Irish politics, and took a lead- 
 ing part in both Revolutionary and Land League matters. 
 He identified himself with the Clan-na-Gael, and was prom- 
 inent at all gatherings of the Irish of every kind. He 
 was strong in social instincts, and was quite a figure at 
 social gatherings, where he used to great advantage the 
 fine tenor voice of which he was possessed, singing na- 
 tional songs especially with great spirit and enthusiasm. 
 As a consequence he rapidly came to the front in Chicago, 
 and in six months was better known than an ordinary resi- 
 dent would have been in ten years. Towards the Land 
 League movement he was especially sympathetic, and he 
 took a very large part indeed in building it up. He was 
 in a short time elected President of the i8th Ward League, 
 then known as the '' Banner League " of Chicago. Equally 
 active in the secret movement, he was a guiding spirit of 
 Camp No. 96 of the Clan in Chicago, publicly known as 
 the " Columbia Literary Association," and so great was 
 his influence that, on the appointment of the notorious 
 Frank Agneau to the position of district member, Cronin 
 succeeded him as Senior Guardian of the Camp. This 
 
164 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 was the Camp which held its weekly meetings in the well- 
 know Turner Hall on the north side of the city. 
 
 It was at this time that the policy of dynamite had been 
 decided upon, and that the campaign against English Gov- 
 ernment buildings and persons was being inaugurated. 
 Cronin (who was anything but a saint in character) was 
 an ardent advocate of the policy ; and, owing to his scien- 
 tific attainments, he was appointed as chief instructor in 
 the use and handling of explosives, acting all this time, be 
 it marked, as the President of the Banner League (or 
 Chicago branch of the Land League) as well. In fact, he 
 held the position of President of the Land League branch 
 down to the year 1888. Cronin, unfortunately for himself, 
 succeeded at a very early stage in falling foul of Alex- 
 ander Sullivan. Living as he did till 1887 at the corner 
 of Clark and Oak Streets, within a few doors of Sullivan 
 himself, he gained such an amount of prominence that he 
 was rapidly throwing Sullivan into the shade. He threat- 
 ened to become more powerful than Sullivan, and this 
 Sullivan, equally ambitious and more unscrupulous, could 
 not brook. In a short time Sullivan and his adherents 
 came to detest the Doctor, and as I found — for I lived 
 within a stone's throw of each, knew them both intimately, 
 and saw them continuously — the relations between them 
 were becoming more strained and bitter every day. 
 
 In June 1881, as I have related, Sullivan obtained a vic- 
 tory over all his rivals by being chosen President of the 
 Clan-na-Gael, or Revolutionary organization, at the Dyna- 
 mite Convention held that year at the Palmer House, 
 Chicago. It was after this that Cronin gave the first pro- 
 nounced sign of his enmity in public. The opportunity 
 for its display was brought about by the attack made by 
 O' Meagher Condon upon John Devoy, the principal of the 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 1 65 
 
 three members of the Revolutionary Directory, Devoy 
 with his colleagues being charged with responsibility for 
 the failure of the many schemes of active warfare proposed 
 by Condon. Devoy, evidently jealous of Sullivan's elec- 
 tion, indulged in a good deal of incrimination, not confin- 
 ing his attacks to Condon alone, and he was afterwards 
 supported by Cronin, who was possessed of the same griev- 
 ance. The two joined forces, but without any effect, for 
 Sullivan's position was assured. From the dispute, how- 
 ever, which occurred at this convention, dates the com- 
 mencement of undisguised hostility between. Sullivan and 
 Cronin. 
 
 Early in 1883, when the call was issued for the Phila- 
 delphia Convention (at which was formed the first branch 
 of the American National League as distinct from the 
 Land League) a meeting of Cronin's branch of the League 
 took place in Chicago for the election of delegates to the 
 convention. Sullivan and his friends, determining to 
 crush Cronin if they could, packed this meeting, and had 
 elected as delegates Alexander Sullivan himself, his brother, 
 and other personal adherents, much to the disgust of Cronin 
 and his supporters. 
 
 Sullivan was equally successful later on when, under the 
 new constitution, the Executive called district conventions 
 in lieu of the general convention they had managed to 
 postpone. The convention in Cronin's district was held 
 in Millionnaire Smythe's Hall in Chicago — Smythe being 
 Senior Guardian of Camp 458 ; Cronin, as Senior Guard- 
 ian of his own camp, attended in the capacity of delegate 
 therefrom. Mackay Lomasney, my old friend from Detroit, 
 also attended from his district in a like capacity. Although 
 an attempt was made to impeach Sullivan's action, it was 
 not successful. His friends were in the majority, and his 
 
1 66 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 conduct was upheld. All attempts on the part of Cronin 
 to bring about a different state of things — and they were 
 not a few — were voted down, and Alexander Sullivan, in 
 company with Mackay Lomasney, the London Bridge 
 dynamitard, was elected delegate to the Triangle Conven- 
 tion of 1884. 
 
 Cronin, filled with fury, returned to his camp and made 
 a series of most sweeping charges against the Triangle. 
 In return charges were preferred against him of being 
 a traitor, liar, etc., Sullivan of course being the insti- 
 gator. A Trial Committee, of which I was one, was 
 appointed, and by it Cronin was promptly found guilty and 
 formally expelled. I voted, as I always did, on the side 
 of the winning party. Cronin on his expulsion imme- 
 diately joined the ranks of the seceders, which by this 
 time included such well-known men as Devoy, Dillon, 
 M'Cahey, and others, and he immediately obtained a seat 
 on the executive of the new body. And here, for the 
 moment, I must leave him. 
 
 XLVL 
 
 The next matter of public importance in which I was 
 interested was the Boston Convention of the Irish Na- 
 tional League of America, which took place in the Faneuil 
 Hall, Boston, on the 13th and following days of August. 
 Of course I went in my dual capacity as League delegate 
 and Revolutionary official. The same plan of campaign 
 was practised with the same successful results. The Rev. 
 Dr. Betts was again to the front as president of the secret 
 caucuses, while Egan, grown more bold by this, was a 
 regular attendant. When the nomination of officials of 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 167 
 
 the League came up, Sullivan was named for re-election 
 as president. He, however, declined, and made way for 
 Patrick Egan. Egan, after some refusal on the ground 
 that the British Government probably knew of his connec- 
 tion with the secret movement, and that his taking office 
 might compromise Mr. Parnell, eventually agreed, and so 
 he took the chair vacated by Sullivan. This corivention 
 was attended by Mr. Thomas Sexton, M.P., and Mr. Wil- 
 liam Redmond, M.P., on the part of the Parnellite party, 
 and by P. J. Tynan, the famous " No. i " of the Phoenix 
 Park murders — shall I say on behalf of the Invincibles } 
 Sullivan undoubtedly was the pet boy of the period, for 
 he was the object of the most adulatory references on the 
 part of Mr. Sexton. He was, we were told, a man who 
 did honor to the race from which he had sprung ; a man 
 of whom any race might well be proud — and so on. 
 Egan, however, came in for his fair share of attention too. 
 He was, according to another speaker, *' that clean handed, 
 that patriotic, that heroic exile," although, of course, no 
 reference was made to the reasons for his exile as sup- 
 plied by the Phoenix Park crimes. 
 
 If, however, no reason was given in public for his exile, 
 Egan was not slow to refer to the matter in private. I 
 had journeyed in his company to Boston, and had had a 
 very exciting chat with him in which the question of his 
 flight had largely figured. His description of how he was 
 enabled to get away from Dublin was most graphic. He 
 started off by boasting how he had got information from 
 the Castle ; and to show how readily it could be obtained 
 he said that, within twenty minutes of the order being 
 issued for the warrant for his arrest, he knew of the fact. 
 He was at his office at the time, and at once proceeded 
 to his house and packed his satchel. He had two children 
 
l68 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 sick then, and Dr. Kenny was attending them. He de- 
 stroyed a number of documents which he had in the 
 house, some of them pertaining to his connection with the 
 Irish Republican Brotherhood, and also some letters of 
 James Carey. In fact he destroyed all papers tending to 
 incriminate him in case he was arrested. Fortunately for 
 him there happened to be in Dublin at the time a Scotch 
 friend in the Belfast flour trade, who assisted him in get- 
 ting away. He gave this friend his rug and valise, and in- 
 structed him to purchase a ticket for Belfast at the North- 
 ern Terminus. He himself arrived at the railway station 
 one moment before the train started, took his valise and 
 rug from his Scotch friend, slipped into the train, and that 
 night was in Belfast. On his arrival at Belfast he found 
 that he could not get out by boat, and he went to an hotel, 
 where he slept. In the morning he purchased a return 
 ticket to Leeds, travelled with that as far as Manchester, 
 and then got off the train. There he purchased another 
 ticket from Manchester to Hull, took the steamer from 
 Hull to Rotterdam, and thus got out of the country. 
 
 From the account of his own escape, he passed on to 
 tell me how his fellow-official Brennan, the secretary of 
 the Irish Land League, had got away. Brennan, it ap- 
 peared, gained the first hint of his being implicated by 
 reading the announcement of Carey's evidence on a news 
 sheet displayed on the pavement in the Strand. He was 
 accompanied by Mr. Thomas Sexton, M.R, at the time, 
 and on reading the announcement they at once turned 
 down a side street where arrangements were made for 
 Brennan's flight. Brennan started off for his lodgings in 
 order to pack a valise, while Mr. Sexton, going to Charing 
 Cross, purchased a ticket for Paris. On this ticket he 
 travelled to London Bridge, and there by arrangement he 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 169 
 
 met Brennan, who immediately proceeded on the train to 
 the French capital. Egan was very generous in his con- 
 fidences on this occasion, and amongst other things he 
 told me that he was satisfied the new Executive Body 
 v/ould continue the "active work," and it would be done 
 by men who would not go further than their orders, as 
 Dr. Gallaher had done. This was news to me, and I 
 inquired how. " Why," replied Egan, "he (Dr. G.) got 
 in with some of Rossa's men, and MacDermott (a reputed 
 informer) got it from them, and gave him away." Previ- 
 ously to this I had met Egan in camp gatherings, and 
 knew that he was now an actual member of the American 
 Revolutionary organization. It was, by-the-by, at a camp 
 meeting in Philadelphia in this year that Egan, addressing 
 some sixty members, said, " I have been reading up the 
 records of the Italian banditti, and from them I have 
 come to believe in this rule : Let us meet our enemies 
 with smiling faces, and with a warm grasp of the hand, 
 having daggers up our sleeves ready to stab them to the 
 heart." Strange words these, and yet I thought when I 
 heard of their being uttered of the smiling face and warm 
 hand clasp which iiad puzzled me not a little on that first 
 night when I met the speaker on the staircase of a Pari- 
 sian hotel. 
 
 The convention of the secret organization followed 
 immediately after that of the National League, but as I 
 was not a delegate I had no intimate connection with it. 
 It was at this convention, as I learnt subsequently from 
 Sullivan, that arrangements were made — few, if any, 
 Anti-Sullivanites were present — for the destruction of 
 the records of which I have already spoken, and which 
 gave rise to so much bitterness on the part of the Cronin 
 faction. 
 
I/O TWENTY-FIVE YEARS « 
 
 The principal fact worthy of notice in connection with 
 the secret convention of 1884 was the acknowledgment 
 by the '' Triangle " of 1 18,000 dollars as the sum received 
 and expended for dynamite purposes from the date of the 
 holding of the convention of 1881. No vouchers or 
 detailed statements were forthcoming, and their absence 
 was sought to be explained on the ground that it was 
 inexpedient to supply information in view of the risk and 
 exposure of brave men engaged in the enterprises. No 
 detailed statement of the expenditure of this vast sum has 
 ever been made to this day. 
 
 As one result of this unsatisfactory condition of things, 
 a circular was drawn up by Cronin and his friends, making 
 definite and formal charges against the ''Triangle" of 
 stealing the funds of the organization. Cronin was very 
 aggressive in giving currency to these charges in the 
 most offensive language, and the feeling against him on 
 the part of Sullivan's adherents became extremely em- 
 bittered. As it grew in intensity it spread to more than 
 Cronin, and soon the followers of both men were ranged 
 in hostile camps, fighting a wordy war of the deadliest 
 type. All attempts to heal the breach proved fruitless, 
 although much outside influence of an important character 
 was brought to bear upon the different parties concerned. 
 
 XLVII. 
 
 While the contest raged between the opposing fac- 
 tions, I was up and doing, travelling about, and gaining 
 as much information as I possibly could. I made many 
 trips to various points of the country, and so was enabled 
 to gauge pretty accurately the condition of public feeling 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE, 17I 
 
 and the probabilities of the future. My pretexts for all 
 this travelling were admirably adapted to divert suspicion 
 from my real object! When a journey for my health's 
 sake was not possible, I got appointed (through Irish polit- 
 ical influence) to a seat on the Mississippi Valley Sani- 
 tary Commission ; and when no more work was to be done 
 under this cover, I connected myself with one of the 
 largest pharmaceutical houses in the States, and travelled 
 as their representative in whatever direction suited me. 
 So successful was I in combining business development 
 with my secret work, that I had great difficulty in resign- 
 ing this latter connection, the proprietors strongly urging 
 my continuance in it, and only parting with me after 
 many fruitless attempts to change my decision. When at 
 home I was of course an ardent politician, and a volunteer 
 on every committee in the Democratic interest. So promi- 
 nent was I in local politics, that on one occasion I ran for 
 election for the House of Representatives, only being de- 
 feated by a majority of 128 votes on a poll of several 
 thousands. It was the cry of '' The Fenian General " that 
 lost me the seat with the English voters. 
 
 I was frequently in communication with Egan through 
 all this period, for he made many trips to Chicago, both 
 for business purposes — he had now embarked in the 
 grain trade — and with the object of consulting with 
 Alexander Sullivan, whose wc\rX.hy fichis Achates he proved. 
 It was as the result of one of my interviews with him 
 that I received the following passport to the faithful, 
 which proved of such service in the way of corroboration 
 when I appeared before the Special Commission: — 
 
1/2 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 "Patrick Egan, President, Lincoln, Neb. 
 
 "Rev. Charles O'Reilly, D.D., Treasurer, Detroit, Mich. 
 
 "Roger Walsh, Secretary, Lincoln, Neb. 
 
 " Irish National League of America, 
 
 "Offices of President and Secretary, 
 "Lincoln, Neb., November 24, 1885. 
 
 " It affords me great pleasure to introduce to all friends of the Irish 
 National League with whom he may come in contact during his visit to the 
 south my esteemed friend, Dr. Lc Caron of Braidwood. Dr. Le Caron, 
 although French by name and descent, has ever proved himself one of the 
 most devoted friends of the Irish National cause, and since the formation of 
 the Land and National Leagues has been most indefatigable in promoting the 
 good of those organizations. 
 
 "Patrick Egan, President.'^ 
 
 Alexander Sullivan meantime occupied himself very 
 busily in purely American politics, and for the purpose of 
 making his position in this regard the more favorable, he 
 caused it to be understood 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 important to note is that Sullivan warmly advo- 
 cated the election of J. G. Blaine to the Presidency, and 
 that he in secret circles made much of the fact that Blaine's 
 foreign policy would do all that the Clan-na-Gael desired. 
 Mr. Blaine paid a high tribute in the public prints to the 
 services rendered Him by Sullivan. 
 
 The year 1886 saw the introduction of the Home Rule 
 Bill by Mr. Gladstone, and consequent 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, 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 173 
 
 and that at last we were in sight of the point for which 
 all had struggled and many had bled, 'Uhe making of Ire- 
 land a nation once again." Mr. Parnell now appeared to 
 have a distinct claim upon Irish-American indulgence, and 
 particular pains were taken to prevent anything 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 
 postponed in order that Mr. Parnell might be present. 
 The gathering eventually took place in the month of 
 August 1886, but there was no Mr. Parnell, his place 
 being taken by no less than four of the leading Parnellites 
 from the English side — Messrs. Michael Davitt, John E. 
 Redmond, M.P., John Deasy, M.P., and William O'Brien, 
 M.P. As usual, the whole proceedings were governed by 
 the Sullivanite wing of the secret organization. I was 
 myself a delegate, attended the secret caucuses presided 
 over by Patrick Egan, and assisted in developing affairs 
 in the interests of the conspirators. 
 
 The fact that Devoy, Cronin, and others were now in 
 opposition was an element of danger in connection with 
 the satisfactory working of the intrigue to ''nobble" the 
 open movement ; but by a system of proxy voting success 
 was achieved, and the adherents of the Croninites routed 
 from the field. The way in which this was accomplished 
 was remarkable, and very suggestive of the position which 
 Egan, the ex-Land League official, and friend and adviser 
 of Mr. Parnell, held in the Revolutionary organization. 
 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 immediately forward such proxies to 
 
174 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 Patrick Egan. Here was a clear confession of the close 
 connection between the two movements — open and secret 
 — existing in the person of the present United States 
 minister to Chili; the then President of the Irish National 
 Leaeue of America. 
 
 XLVIII. 
 
 I HAVE already touched at several points on the Dyna- 
 mite Campaign, and I will now pause inmy narrative for the 
 purpose of dealing in some detail with the incidents at- 
 tending the development of the plot to " blow up England." 
 Although there had been several attempts made by O'Don- 
 ovan Rossa's adherents to damage public buildings, nota- 
 bly the Mansion House, London, the barracks at Chester, 
 the police-station and the Town Hall at Liverpool in 1881 
 and 1882, the Dynamite Campaign as organized by the 
 Clan-na-Gael did not really commence till the latter end 
 of 1882, or rather the beginning of 1883. Indeed the at- 
 tempts on the part of Rossa's people were simply gunpow- 
 der explosions, and had no connection with dynamite at 
 all. They were of a very miserable character, and quite 
 in keeping with O'Donovan Rossa's reputation in the 
 States. With him experience proved that it was always, 
 as the homely phrase has it, a case of "great cry and little 
 wool." 
 
 To Dr. Gallaher, our friend of the professional appear- 
 ance 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 proiii"sed. In one secret circular the P^.C. (or gov- 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 175 
 
 erning body) had informed the members ''that it had no 
 delicacy or sentimentahty 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." 
 
 Under the p'retence of taking a voyage to Europe for 
 his health's sake, Gallaher set out in the steamship Alaska 
 on the 15th October 1882, reaching Liverpool in good 
 time, and from thence travelling to Glasgow, in order, as 
 he explained, to see some relatives. Glasgow, by the way, 
 has always had a prominent representative of the British 
 branch of the Fenians in residence there. From Glasgow 
 he came on to the London Wall Hotel, and here he re- 
 mained for a month spying out the land and making the 
 preliminary arrangements for the work which was to fol- 
 low. 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 Queenstown, where in the Bosnia he took passage 
 for home on the loth December, having, as he subse- 
 quently reported, made all necessary arrangements for 
 commencing his branch of the " active work." 
 
 He was with Sullivan in Chicago in the following 
 month, and here he and I met and had many chats 
 together. We were fellow-doctors, and we " chummed " 
 together in a fashion very agreeable to me. He soon 
 wearied me, however, for I found he could talk of nothing 
 but dynamite, its production, its effectiveness, and the 
 great weapon it was soon to prove against the British 
 
176 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 Government. He spent the next couple of months in 
 communication with the powers that were, and placed 
 them in full possession of all he had done and all he 
 hoped to do. They took an equally sanguine view of the 
 possibilities of success, and no time was lost in enlisting 
 the first dynamite band which visited Europe. By the 
 middle of March there were eight men embarked on the 
 dangerous enterprise, Gallaher being the leader and pay- 
 master ; and at this date the first of them set out for 
 England in the Cunarder PartJna. 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 Nor- 
 man, all being Clan-na-Gael men, though none save the 
 doctor held any important position in the organization. 
 
 The first arrivals of this precious assembly of dyna- 
 mitards reached Liverpool on the 27th of March, and, of 
 course, separated at once. Gallaher went to the Charing 
 Cross Hotel, which he made his headquarters. His men 
 v/ere quickly put to work, and in a very short time a nitro- 
 glycerine factory was established in Birmingham, under 
 the superintendence of Whitehead. From here large 
 quantities of liquid were conveyed to some few points in 
 London in rubber bags and rubber shooting-stockings. 
 All the elaborate arrangements, however, were destined 
 to come to naught, for before any "active" work could 
 be done, thanks to the vigilance of the police in London 
 and Birmingham, Gallaher and his associates were arrested, 
 and the whole of the nitro-glycerine seized. The month 
 of May 1883 saw the trial and conviction of the leader 
 and three of his associates. Whitehead, Curtin, and 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. \^^ 
 
 Wilson, the case for the Crown being completed by the 
 testimony of Norman, alias Lynch, who played the role 
 which never lacks an exponent in the case of an Irish 
 conspiracy — that of informer. All of the unfortunate 
 prisoners were sentenced to penal- servitude for life. An 
 interesting feature in connection with Gallaher's arrest 
 was the discovery on his person of no less a sum than 
 
 What the actual designs of this dynamite band were, 
 are not, and probably never will be known. Quite suffi- 
 cient for the public must be the fact that so enormous 
 was the quantity of nitro-glycerine discovered that, accord- 
 ing to experts, it was quite equal to the blowing up of 
 every 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 exist- 
 ence of any condition of things calling for a more elabo- 
 rate 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 Eng- 
 lish 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, Bruton, 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 Vic- 
 toria Station; in May 1884, at Scotland Yard; in Decem- 
 ber 1884, at London Bridge; and in January 1885, at the 
 House of Commons and the Tower. The dynamite em- 
 
178 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 ployed in these cases was all brought from America, 
 secreted about the persons of the conspirators, and of 
 women who were sent over with it, as well as by an em- 
 ploye of one of the steamers of the National Steamship 
 Line, who belonged to the organization. The explosive 
 was generally made up in slabs of Atlas powder, obtained 
 from, amongst other sources, the Atlas Company and the 
 Repauno Chemical Company of Philadelphia. 
 
 Of the second group, only two men were brought to 
 trial, Cunningham and Bruton ; and these men, for the at- 
 tempts on the House of Commons and the Tower, were 
 sentenced to penal servitude for life. The remainder, 
 with the exception of Lomasney, escaped to America. 
 Lomasney, in company with a man supposed to be named 
 Fleming, met his fate under London Bridge in his attempt 
 to blow up that structure. Luckily for the Londoners, the 
 bridge escaped without any injury, but Mackay and his 
 companion apparently came to their end by the discharge 
 of the explosive, for they were never seen more. 
 
 There were two other men whose part in the Dynamite 
 Campaign of this period deserves mention. 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 of all, and his intended 
 crime merits special reference. This was the blowing up 
 of the House of Commons while in session, by the throw- 
 ing of bombs on to the table in front of the Speaker. So 
 ardent was Daly in planning this foul enterprise that he 
 twice gained admission 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 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 1 79 
 
 used, would have been quite sufficient to send every stick 
 and stone, to say nothing of the members of the House of 
 Commons themselves, heavenwards or thereabouts. Luck- 
 ily, 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 Westmin- 
 ster Abbey; This 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 Ire- 
 land 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 restoration 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 tra- 
 dition " 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 
 
 1 As this same Daly has more than once been the subject of lengthy debates in Par- 
 liament, and his release demanded by the Irish members on the ground of his being the 
 victim of a wrong conviction, I think it well to state that his sentence and the subse- 
 quent refusal of the Home Secretary to accede to these demands, have been based on 
 letters written by him to the notorious J. J. Breslin of the Revolutionary Committee 
 of the Clan-na-Gael, and now in existence among the records of the Home Office. 
 
l8o TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 in London, and it was decided that some of the conspira- 
 tors 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 
 and waited, but the opportunity never came, for one of 
 the group gave the whole thing away to the police, and 
 the detectives who surrounded the sacred edifice made the 
 seizure impossible. In the end the three principals had to 
 leave the country for fear of arrest, and the whole affair 
 ended in smoke — as usual ! 
 
 The close of the year 1885 brought the announcement 
 of Mr. Gladstone's conversion to Home Rule, and the 
 termination of the Dynamite Campaign for the time being. 
 How the political situation was viewed at this period, can 
 best be represented by the following extracts from a secret 
 circular of the Clan-na-Gael, or United Brotherhood, 
 issued two days before Christmas : — 
 
 *' The operations so far conducted, have compelled the enemy to recognize 
 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 Brother- 
 hood). . . . We expect to resume active operations after the present exigen- 
 cies of the Constitutional party are passed. We have purposely and advisedly 
 abstained from doing anything likely to embarrass them during the crisis of 
 the elections. It is to be hoped that during these operations, members will 
 abstain from making inquiries or discussing the subject in any manner, for we 
 cannot say when we undertake to answer members, but that at the same time 
 we are answering the inquiries of our enemy, furnishing important informa- 
 tion, and giving important clews to detect and suppress our work. The mys- 
 tery of an unknown power striking in the dark, always able to avoid detection, 
 is far more terrible than the damage inflicted. We caution you, therefore, 
 above all things, to be silent; but if compelled to speak, disavow all knowl- 
 edge, or better still, mislead all inquirers. In the mean time, we wish to 
 impress on you the necessity of mutual forbearance and faith." 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE, l8l 
 
 So, for the time, in deference to *' the exigencies 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 
 instruments 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 disastrous to 
 them. 
 
 XLIX. 
 
 The secret convention of the Revolutionary organiza- 
 tion — or rather, of the principal section which had re- 
 mained faithful to Sullivan — met in due course, in 
 August 1886, but as I was not a delegate, I had no per- 
 sonal knowledge of what took place. The spirit of the 
 time, however, was very fairly reflected in some circulars, 
 issued prior to its assembly, from which I take the follow- 
 
 "The indications all point to the conclusion that the measure 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 are now preparing for 
 those contingencies, and the estimates for the cost of making a rigorous cam- 
 paign 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 forward- 
 ing it entirely to ' delusion ' (dynamite). In the meantime, in the next few 
 months, important operations are likely to take place; you are cautioned to 
 use every device to mislead those engaged in tracing our operations." 
 
1 82 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 And again : — 
 
 "We have some members who are opposed to the active operations of the 
 last few years, and who, therefore, favor a more enlarged representation. It 
 would seem to us that the operations objected to are fully vindicated by the 
 concessions wrung thereby from England. However, we offer no suggestions 
 as to what line of policy you may see fit to pursue. It will be the business 
 of your Convention to frame that policy, and the business of the Executive 
 Body to execute them without regard to individual opinions. . . . 
 
 " The silent secret warfare has been productive of results. It would be 
 well, therefore, to instruct your delegates as to your wishes on those points 
 fully and clearly. Having instructed your delegates which of these policies 
 you wish to pursue, the details will not be difficult. It would be well, there- 
 fore, to put your instructions to your delegates in one of the following gene- 
 ral terms, with such alterations as you deem proper: — 
 
 " Viz., ' Our delegate is instructed to favor an active secret policy, similar 
 to recent operations;' or, in the alternative of favoring a return to open 
 insurrectionary operations as follows: — 
 
 "Viz., * Our delegate is instructed to favor the planting of ploughs (dis- 
 tribution of arms) and an open insurrectionary movement.' 
 
 "There can then be no insinuations of misrepresentation, and whatever 
 policy is adopted will have the overwhelming support of the organization at its 
 back. It will be well, also, to embody such changes as are desirable in the con- 
 stitution in your instructions. It is to be hoped that, in the short time inter- 
 vening between this and the Convention, you will fully, wisely, and carefully 
 consider the policy of the future, and the character, intelligence, and expe- 
 rience of your delegates. . . . 
 
 " The active operations of the U.S. (United Brotherhood) have brought 
 about the probable granting of Home Rule. It is desirable that delegates to 
 the National Convention shall be fully informed of your desire to follow up 
 these operations on the same lines, or whether you desire to fall back on the 
 old work of putting ploughs in. The latter course does not seem to us 
 fruitful of results or practical. The former policy has been vindicated by 
 great destruction with little loss to us. It is for the Convention to decide, 
 however, what the future policy shall be." 
 
 From the official report of the secret convention which 
 reached me subsequently, I learnt that the votes in favor 
 of dynamite had been in the majority, for the policy of 
 the late Executive had been indorsed, and the new Execu- 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 1 83 
 
 tive given a free hand for the future. What, however, 
 was perhaps the most important proceeding of all at this 
 convention of .the Revolutionists, was the passage of the 
 following resolution : — 
 
 "Resolved: — That we maintain the same relations in the future to open 
 societies, working for the same purpose as ourselves, that we have in the 
 past." 
 
 If further proof were wanted beyond that already given 
 of the *' understanding " which existed between the open 
 and secret organizations, it could not be supplied in a more 
 emphatic manner than this. 
 
 Although the Executive was given full power to act as 
 they thought best, it was apparently considered undesir- 
 able to do anything during the latter part of 1886, and so 
 nothing of importance came to pass up to the month of 
 April 1887, when I made another trip to Europe, without, 
 however, any letters or credentials on this occasion. My 
 visit was, nevertheless, not of an uneventful character. I 
 visited the House of Commons more than once, and in 
 the social intercourse which took place between myself 
 and some of the Irish M.P.'s, learnt many facts of an in- 
 teresting character. It was during this visit that I set 
 myself to find out some particulars regarding Dr. James 
 G. Fox, M.P. I was rather curious about this gentleman, 
 who now failed to recognize me in the House of Commons 
 lobby, although we had met on more than one occasion at 
 Land Leasfue conventions in the States, where we had been 
 brother delegates. His associations, his position as State 
 Executive for the League in New York, and his well-known 
 National proclivities as evinced during his fifteen-years' 
 residence at Troy and elsewhere in the States, all made 
 me anxious to know something of the man in his new 
 position of M.P., and of how his thoughts now inclined. 
 
184 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 I learnt casually that he was in the habit of frequenting 
 Gatti's Restaurant in the Adelaide Gallery, Strand, and 
 there I determined to renew my acquaintance with him. 
 The opportunity for doing so was not long wanting, for 
 on an early day I found myself seated at the same table 
 with him, where he was deeply engaged in perusing the 
 Irish World. Making this fact an excuse for opening a 
 conversation with him, I asked, in an interested way, if I 
 could obtain copies of the paper he was reading at any 
 place in London. I spoke with a marked American accent, 
 and my appearance did not belie the suggestion I wished 
 to convey as regards my nationality. He replied that he 
 thought not, explaining that he received it regularly from 
 the other side, asking me in conclusion if I was interested 
 in the publication. I replied in the affirmative, and then 
 followed his query as to whether I was not from the 
 United States. To this I made answer by producing my 
 card, whereupon he looked intently at me as he remarked, 
 "Why, I ought to know you ; I have met you in conven- 
 tions. My name is Fox." The information was rather 
 unnecessary as far as I was concerned, but, maintaining a 
 quiet face, I thought for a moment, and in the end con- 
 fessed to a recollection of him. We were soon on familiar 
 terms, and discussed American matters with great freedom. 
 
 There was one fact that I wanted particularly to discover, 
 and that was whether or not Fox was a member of the 
 Clan-na-Gael. I had had no opportunity of learning this 
 at the open conventions at which we had previously met, 
 but yet my view very strongly inclined to the belief that 
 he was. In the course of our conversation, therefore, I 
 took occasion to give him the "hailing sign," but he did 
 not return it, merely remarking significantly that he was 
 not a member of any secret society, a remark which, taken 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE, 1 85 
 
 in connection with my sign, tickled me not a little. I 
 never ascertained the truth of the matter, but I remembered 
 the circumstance when, in June 1888, at the Clan conven- 
 tion in Chicago, a burly delegate near me mounted his 
 chair, announced himself from Troy — where Fox had 
 lived — and in a loud voice demanded recognition by the 
 chair. On this being accorded him, he said, holding up 
 the Ti7nes 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 information it contained 
 could only have been supplied by a traitor high up in the 
 ranks of the organization. He moved for a committee to 
 inquire into the matter. This committee was appointed, 
 but their inquiry ended in smoke, the " traitor," as I was 
 termed, having another narrow escape. 
 
 While in England on this trip, the authorities learned 
 of the presence of General Millen in Paris, and to Paris I 
 was despatched, in order to find out if possible what 
 Millen was doing. I found "le brave General" of the 
 Clan-na-Gael very comfortably settled in the Hotel des 
 Anglais in the Cour de la Reine, accompanied by his wife 
 and two interesting daughters. I called upon him, rep- 
 resenting that I had heard of his being in Paris through 
 the Herald office, and was anxious as an old friend to say 
 ''how do you do." I did not, however, gain very much 
 by my visit, for the simple reason that at this time Millen 
 had not, as far as I believe, any close connection with the 
 dynamite business known as the Jubilee Plot, with which 
 his name was subsequently associated. At this point his 
 business in Europe had to do with the bringing about of 
 a reconciliation between the British and the American 
 branches of the Revolutionary organization. 
 
1 86 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 The fact was, that for two or three years previously the 
 relations between the two sections of the conspirators had 
 been of a very strained character. Sullivan, finding that 
 the home organization was not in favor of dynamite, when 
 the campaign was started, had argued that they should 
 not have any more money to spend on organization and 
 arms, which, for all that was known to the contrary, were 
 simply rusting away in Ireland ; and, accordingly, supplies 
 were stopped, and the home Fenians were not notified of 
 the last couple of conventions, with the result that no 
 envoys from Great Britain and Ireland attended. This 
 led to a very bitter feeling in Ireland, and the contention 
 was strongly urged that the conduct of the American 
 Executive was distinctly iiltra vires. Now, when dis- 
 sensions ranged in America, Sullivan, long-headed as 
 usual, sought to strengthen his section by the allegiance 
 of the home organization ; and accordingly, Millen was 
 despatched to Europe to bring about a more satisfactory 
 condition of affairs. His mission, in this regard at least, 
 was unsuccessful. 
 
 As for Milieu's connection with the Jubilee explosion, I 
 know very little. The whole undertaking was shrouded in 
 mystery, but it is pretty certain that it was not a Clan-na- 
 Gael affair alone. The best description that could be 
 given of it would be that it was in its inception a Rossa 
 undertaking financed by the Clan-na-Gael. For political 
 reasons the secret organization could not openly ally them- 
 selves with dynamite for the moment, because tactical con- 
 siderations dictated the giving of a fi^ee and untrammelled 
 hand to Mr. Parnell to hoodv\^ink 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 move- 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 1 8/ 
 
 ment, and yet a satisfactory stand in the eyes of the fiery 
 rank and file, Rossa was temporarily taken into the good 
 graces of the Executive, and some of his adherents de- 
 spatched with funds from the secret organization to kick 
 up a row in England. Millen, at the time I saw him, was 
 not in the plot, which at that moment indeed had not been 
 hatched ; but on his return to America he fell in with the 
 scheme and returned to Europe to work it up. His bun- 
 gling, however, led to his being superseded by John J. 
 Moroney, a tried and trusted friend of Alexander Sullivan, 
 who was despatched to London with a large amount of 
 money and distinct orders to show some value for it. 
 What happened is a matter of too recent history to need 
 recapitulation here. The introduction of Moroney and 
 his colleagues to the House of Commons by Mr. Joseph 
 Nolan, M.P., and the facts associated 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 ^ack again to Europe 
 at the end of the year. This time my visit was of a purely 
 private character, and the sluggishness of affairs allowed 
 of my having a complete rest from all sorts of investiga- 
 tions and interviews. I came to Europe in connection 
 with a business speculation which promised highly satis- 
 factory returns, and I was successful in laying the founda- 
 tion 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 in the witness-box, I 
 was prevented from returning to the States at the tim.e 
 when the profits were accruing, and so had to undergo 
 the loss of this as well as many other sources of income. 
 
1 88 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 The following year — 1888 — was my last in America, 
 and ere its close I left for the purpose of attending the 
 dying bedside of my father. I left for England in Decem- 
 ber 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 services 
 in connection with the Special Commission, but nothing 
 had come of my proposal, and I had no idea that anything 
 would happen in connection with the matter. My idea 
 was, as I have explained, that the Government were really 
 prosecuting the Parnellite party, and I could not under- 
 stand how all the information which I knew them to be 
 possessed of was not appearing. The charges and allega- 
 tions had made a great stir in America, and the disclosure 
 of the whole v/orking 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 complete 
 data for arriving at a proper conclusion regarding 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 con- 
 clusion 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 bringing 
 the record of revolutionary matters down to the date at 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 189 
 
 which they and I parted. To return, therefore, to the 
 Cronin matter, which I left at the point in 1886 where ap- 
 peals from outside quarters failed to heal the breach. As 
 a last resort, a conference was arranged in September 1887 
 between committees from each organization, 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 set- 
 tlement. The conference continued up to April 1888, 
 when a basis of union was arrived at. The rock upon 
 which the disputants invariably split was the demand made 
 by the Cronin section for the appointment of a committee 
 to try their charges of misappropriation against the Ex- 
 ecutive, and the expulsion of the Executive from the organ- 
 ization if found guilty. In the end, this was conceded ; 
 and a united convention was called in June 1888, which, 
 meeting first in Madison Street Theatre, was eventually 
 moved to Green Baum, in consequence of the allegation 
 that British detectives had gained admission to the former 
 place of meeting. 
 
 Here was pandemonium let loose for eight days, during 
 which the convention sat morning, noon, and night. I 
 was a member of this convention, and I never heard such 
 a row in my life. The Sullivanites had it all their own 
 way at first ; but the seceders, with Cronin at their head, 
 threatened to " bolt " if they did not get fair play ; and 
 they appealed to the patriotism of their countrymen to 
 give them a chance. They were, accordingly, given a 
 representation on all committees, but were always in a 
 minority. Cronin perhaps took as prominent a part in the 
 convention as any man, and his conduct naturally incurred 
 the enmity, and eventually the vengeance, of his oppo- 
 nents. He and Devoy submitted formal charges of fraud, 
 
190 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 etc., against Sullivan's executive.^ Strong language was 
 used, but Sullivan's friends defended him warmly. Finally 
 a Trial Committee was appointed to try the parties charged. 
 Cronin, strange to say, was a member of this Trial Com- 
 mittee, though he was one of the persons making the 
 charges. There was a terrible scene when his appoint- 
 ment was made known, but the convention had to put up 
 with him in the end. 
 
 All the Trial Committe were sworn by the oath in the 
 ritual to truly and justly try the charges submitted to 
 them. The committee consisted of seven members, and 
 as subsequent events showed, four of them were Sullivan's 
 friends. They met in November 1888. Previous to this, 
 however, Cronin had been playing a very objectionable 
 part. He spoke against the accused whenever occasion 
 
 1 John Devoy, in the course of a speech delivered at Cheltenham Beach prior to 
 the death of Mr. Parnell, made the following statement as regards the Cronin affair : — 
 
 " The men to whom I refer and whom I charge to be in alliance with the men who 
 instigated the murder of Dr. Cronin, are Michael Davitt and John O'Connor, one of 
 the members from Tipperary. (Cheers and cries of hear, hear.) I say here that there 
 is a combination between the coterie which brought about the murder of Dr. Cronin 
 and the Davitt clique in Ireland, to oust Mr. Parnell from the leadership and place 
 Michael Davitt in his place. In Michael Davitt's sworn testimony before the Parnell 
 Commission, he said, ' I sought out John Devoy, because I heard he was going 
 to make trouble in the convention, so that I might learn his plans and frustrate 
 them.' I am glad of that admission from Michael Davitt himself, and for the pay- 
 ment of a thousand dollars given to him for one speech in Ogden's Grove, and the full 
 proceeds of a lecture tour given throughout the United States under the auspices of the 
 Triangle. The Cronin murder was as much a part of the infamous work of this alli- 
 ance to down Parnell, and to down every man in this country who believes in giving 
 his movements a fair, full, and reasonable trial, as the puffs of Michael Davitt at a 
 thousand a puff." 
 
 In corroboration of Devoy's statement, I find in the financial report of the Clan- 
 na-Gael the sum of one thousand dollars charged ; and while Mr. Davitt had for some 
 years disassociated himself from the party of violence, he does not appear to have 
 been averse to receiving a portion of their spoils. Mr. Davitt may plead, as other 
 well-known Irish patriots have done, that he did not know the source from whence 
 this money was derived ; but no man was in a better position to have found out than 
 he, had he so desired. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. I9I 
 
 offered, wrote to the papers in accusation of them, and in 
 no way showed himself the unbiassed person he had 
 sworn himself to be. Sullivan naturally felt very bitter 
 over all this, and he fell out with a number of friends who 
 sided with Cronin in the claim for full investigation. 
 When the trial came on, it was found that all the vouchers, 
 papers, and indeed every evidence of expenditure, had 
 been destroyed, in accordance with the resolution which 
 had been adopted at the Boston Convention. This in- 
 creased the uproar, and after two weeks of inquiry the 
 majority, consisting of Sullivan's friends, expressed them- 
 selves 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 X 17,000. The result of the trial was that 
 Michael Boland was convicted of misappropriation ; Sulli- 
 van was acquitted, but censured for the loose way in which 
 the Executive had done its business, and D. C. Feeley 
 was likewise 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 Committee had 
 adjourned, and Cronm was back in Chicago. The Execu- 
 tive had refused to sustain the action of the Trial Com- 
 mittee by a majority of one, and there the affair stood. 
 But Cronin would not let well enough alone. He had 
 been talking very plainly, and denouncing Sullivan right 
 and left. I figured in this trial by furnishing Sullivan 
 with affidavits for his defence. Cronin afterwards charo:ed 
 Sullivan with getting me admitted into the organization, 
 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 
 
192 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 which would damn Sullivan forever. What followed is a 
 matter of recent inquiry. Cronin was foully murdered, 
 and Sullivan, with others, was charged with participation 
 in the crime. Sullivan was released, but three men, well- 
 known members of the Clan, were convicted, and sen- 
 tenced to penal servitude for life. The inquiry was fruit- 
 ful in many ways, and brought to light a vast amount of 
 corroboration of the most important portions of my tes- 
 timony. There were, however, no two more sensational 
 incidents than those produced by the report issued by 
 Cronin after the Trial Committee had dissolved, and the 
 positive proof now supplied for the first time of the state- 
 ment frequently made, that Sullivan had in May 1882 
 received in his position as chief of the Clan-na-Gael a 
 sum of £20,000 from Patrick Egan, then treasurer of the 
 Land League in Paris. 
 
 The report issued by Cronin stated amongst other 
 things: — 
 
 " That the Trial Committee appointed at Chicago was unable to elicit all 
 the facts connected with the charges placed before it, because of the refusal 
 of several of the witnesses to answer many of the questions asked, and because 
 of the inability of others to remember events and figures that might be sup- 
 posed 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 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 1 93 
 
 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 responsible 
 for this enormous and wasteful expenditure. 
 
 " That the $80,491 reported to the district convention as having been 
 spent in active work was not spent for any such work, no such work having 
 been done or contemplated during the eleven months within which this large 
 amount was drawn from the treasury. The active work done between the 
 Boston and district conventions was paid for out of the surplus held 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 enter, beyond stating the fact that 
 banking officials were called to prove by 
 their books that on May 15, 1882, Sul- 
 livan cashed, through Monroe & Co. 
 of Paris, two checks amounting to the 
 sum I name. This, I may state, was 
 about the date when Sullivan, in re- 
 sponse to Mr. Parnell's request, crossed to Paris in order 
 to settle the difficulty 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 contro- 
 versy had raged for many years : — 
 
 " The O'Donovan Rossa resents Mr. Patrick Egan's imputation 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 
 
194 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 Irish patriots from this country, who induced him to give 100,000 dollars of 
 the money contributed to Land League purposes to them for revolutionary 
 purposes, ?.<?., making war on the British Empire with dynamite and such 
 things. Mr. Egan having seen or heard of O'Donovan's statement, 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 following telegram : — 
 
 '''Editor of the " Tribune,'' 
 
 "'Mr. Patrick Egan denies my statement. I say my statements are 
 more worthy of belief than Patrick Eagan's. I stated in Chicago that money 
 sent from America to support the no-rent movement in Ireland was followed 
 over by some parties who got 100,000 dollars of it; that it was not used for 
 any such work in Ireland, and that Patrick Egan knows all about it. I 
 repeat my assertion. Will Patrick Egan meet me in the presence of John 
 Finerty and Denis O'Connor of Chicago, or in the presence of Patrick Ford 
 and Major Horgan of New York, both answering all questions under oath? 
 
 "'O'Donovan Rossa, 
 '"Editor " United Irishman.'' 
 "'New York, July 15, 1883.' " 
 
 LT. 
 
 Long before these final developments, however, I had 
 sailed for England, and severed for all time my connec- 
 tion with Irish politics in the United States. I had come, 
 as explained, to my father's dying bedside. Unfortu- 
 nately for me, I was not in time to find him conscious, 
 and did not reach the house where he lay till the day on 
 which he died. When the sad offices connected with his 
 death had been fulfilled, I turned my thoughts again to 
 home, and set about preparing for another voyage to the 
 States. Everything had been completed for my depart- 
 ure, when I suddenly learned from Mr. Anderson that the 
 Tmtes had approached him with a view of obtaining a 
 witness regarding the American side of the conspiracy. 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 195 
 
 Before this point was reached, I had chatted over my pro- 
 posal of going into the witness-box with Mr. Anderson, 
 but he had very frankly told me that he had no intention 
 of giving up such a useful informant of his own initiative ; 
 and as he had no connection with the Times case, he did 
 not think it likely that any approach would be made to 
 him on the subject. 
 
 Matters, however, turned out differently to what he 
 expected, and on the eve of my departure for America I 
 learned that my services might, after all, be utilized, 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. Anderson to 
 make such arrangements as would allow of this being 
 the case. As a result, I was informed a little later that the 
 Times people had arranged that Mr. Houston should be the 
 person with whom I should deal, and that to him alone 
 should I be known pending my appearance in the witness- 
 box. This was the first mention I had ever heard of Mr. 
 Houston, and it was with no little curiosity I made my 
 way to No. 3 Cork Street in search of the gentleman to 
 whom I bore a single line of introduction. I remember well 
 how, when I was first ushered into his now familiar room by 
 his faithful "Rogers," I gazed suspiciously at the tall 
 youthful figure which met my view. As Mr. Houston 
 took my letter of introduction from me and carelessly 
 opened it, answering my suspicious glance with a slight 
 smile hovering about his face, I could not help the remark, 
 " Sir, you are a much younger man than I was led to 
 believe I should meet." The smile broadened into a 
 laugh as the reply came back, '' I am sorry, but I cannot 
 help being young, you know. However, I am Mr. 
 Houston." And so we two people met for the first time. 
 
196 TIVENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 I informed Mr. Houston that it was always an under- 
 stood 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 my disposal. Accordingly I 
 had, on learning that my evidence would be accepted, re- 
 quested 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, exclud- 
 ing any of the papers which he had made official by pass- 
 ing them on at the time of their receipt. It was then 
 arranged between Mr. Houston and myself that I should 
 get the documents from Mr. Anderson, and go to work at 
 once in the preparation of my evidence. Much to my 
 disappointment, I learnt there was not time for me to 
 make a last hurried trip home, and that if I was to carry 
 out my intention of testifying I should have to be content 
 with the many losses which would result from my stopping 
 in England. One thing, however, I stipulated for, and 
 that was the bringing over of all my family to England 
 before I appeared in the. box. I was willing to let all my 
 private affairs go to ruin by my non-return ; but I was 
 not prepared to leave my wife and family to bear the 
 brunt of the popular ill-will which would result from what 
 was to follow. 
 
 One of the first things I did, therefore, was to cable for 
 my wife and children ; and having eased my mind on this 
 score, I went to work with a will in the preparation of my 
 evidence. For ten long working days, Mr. Houston and 
 I waded through the hundreds of letters and Clan-na-Gael 
 documents 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 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 19; 
 
 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 colors, 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 
 detective Meiklejohn, in order that he might identify me. 
 Nothing, of course, came of the incident ; but as I once 
 more saw Mr. Baber, I thought to myself how little he 
 knew of the part I had played at his father's death-bed. 
 It was in 1884 that I was hurriedly called one day to see 
 a patient who was said to be dying. I found him an old 
 man of eighty, surrounded by his family and friends. In 
 a few minutes he was dead ; and finding that all round 
 about me were strangers to the grim monster, I performed 
 the last offices for the body. As I was so employed, the 
 poor people related to me their history, and then I learned 
 to my surprise that the man whose eyes I was now clos- 
 ing 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 
 
1 98 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 in the witness-box to tell my tale, and morning after 
 morning read the scoffing references of those who be- 
 lieved it not, that in a little while the blood of a mur- 
 dered Gael would cry out in judgment against those of 
 whom I spoke, and that in the outcome truth would pre- 
 vail, and the black foul conspiracy be dragged into the 
 open light. Yet so it was ; and to-day there are none who 
 question the existence of the murderous alliance to which 
 I testified, and of men within its ranks prepared to obey 
 its leaders, even unto the shedding of blood. 
 
 LII. 
 
 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 honor can I pay him than 
 to say that during all this time I was never discovered. 
 Only those who have played my part can fully appreciate 
 what this means. Not always careful, not always guarded 
 enough in the rattle and bustle of my life, there were 
 times when, had it not been for my chief's watchfulness, 
 discovery might have overtaken me. But he never wav- 
 ered 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 sympa- 
 thizing 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 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 199 
 
 worthy of the trust than he had been charged with the 
 knowledge of my identity, then I fear I should not be here 
 to-day on English soil quietly penning these lines. 
 
 If my identity remained undiscovered, it was not for 
 want of attempts on the part of colleagues of Mr. Ander- 
 son to find it out. It was but natural, of course, that 
 those associated with my chief should seek to penetrate 
 his reserve 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 attem.pts, however, in this 
 direction, and they were many, proved fruitless. So de- 
 termined was a certain public official at one time to dis- 
 cover 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 organization there. Of course 
 there was no chance of getting at me in this way, but, never- 
 theless, I was warned in time, and left no possible loophole 
 for discovery. Imagine, dear reader, the weakness of such 
 a policy as this, .vhich would commit the safety of an im- 
 portant informant to the irresponsible knowledge of an 
 ordinary detective ! 
 
 When this attempt failed, communications were sought 
 to be opened up with me by the same official through Sir 
 John Rose and Judge M'Micken, with whom I had acted 
 at the time of the Fenian raid of 1870. So strong, indeed, 
 was the pressure brought upon Judge M'Micken, that the 
 old gentleman travelled specially to Chicago to see me on 
 the point. However, I would have none of it. I was quite 
 contented, and too well assured of my safety as I was ; and 
 so, much to my own satisfaction, I was left undisturbed in 
 Mr. Anderson's charge. 
 
200 TIVEN TV-FIVE YEARS 
 
 There was only one thing about which he had frequently 
 to remonstrate with me, and that was my expenditure. 
 Many a lecture did I receive from him on the subject of 
 money spending. It was not, of course, his fault, but 
 rather that of the system. Indeed, so kind and friendly 
 was he that he at times advanced me money for which he 
 himself had to wait for repayment for sometime, 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, whenever I could, debited 
 my expenses to those other undertakings which I allied 
 with my Secret Service work. But it was not always pos- 
 sible to pursue such an economic course, and in very many 
 instances where Mr. Anderson 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 absolute necessity for my pur- 
 pose, 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 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 201 
 
 for the purpose ? There are, I believe, some thirty men 
 charged with the special duty of circumventing political 
 crime in London. All praise and honor to them for the 
 work they have done, and the sincerest of congratulations 
 to Chief-Inspector Littlechild, who so ably conducted the 
 arrests of all the principals of the latter-day dynamite plots. 
 But these policemen have succeeded more by chance than 
 anything else ; events have played into their hands, and, 
 clever men that they are, they have been sufficiently capa- 
 ble to take advantage of the little that came to their knowl- 
 edge, and from small clews to work out great things. 
 
 Some day, however, a big thing w^ill happen, about 
 which there will be no leakage beforehand, and then the 
 affrighted and indignant British citizen will turn on his 
 faithful band of thirty and rant and rave at them for their 
 want of capacity and performance. The fault will be the 
 want of a perfect system of Secret Service, properly 
 financed. If plots are to be discovered in time — and 
 already there are some whisperings of coming danger — 
 they can only be discovered through information coming 
 from those associated with them. As I have shown, the 
 men engaged in them are very highly paid. If it is to be 
 made worth their while to speak, then the price offered 
 by the British Government must be higher than that of 
 the other paymasters. There is no use in thinking that 
 mere tools like Callan and Harkins — the men now in 
 prison in connection with the Jubilee Explosion Plot — • 
 would be of any service. These men know nothing. It 
 is the Millens and the Moroneys of the conspiracy who 
 should be in Government pay, and they have no mean 
 price. Imagine offering either of these men a retainer 
 of ;;^20 a month with a very odd check for expenses 
 thrown in ! The idea is ridiculous. I have heard it urged 
 
202 , TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 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 when I remembered that London, as somebody has 
 said, is the cesspool 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. 
 
 LIIL 
 
 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 
 conscientious motive, and in a conscientious spirit I pur- 
 sued it to the end. I have in no sense been an informer, 
 as the phrase is understood. I allied myself with Fenian- 
 ism in order to defeat it ; I never turned from feelings of 
 greed or gain on the men with whom I at first worked in 
 sympathy. I never had any sympathy with Irish Revo- 
 lutionists. Quite the opposite. Nor have I been an 
 agent provocateur. Although I always voted for politic 
 reasons on the side of the majority, even to the joining 
 in the vote which meant dynamite, on no single occasion 
 was I instrumental in bringing an individual to the com- 
 mission of crime. True, I had to take many oaths. But 
 what of that t 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 ; 
 
/x rifF. sr.cRr/r sr.RyrcE. 203 
 
 but for the juc]<^mcnt of these double-oathed gentlemen 
 who, having first taken the Fenian oath, then rushed to 
 Westminster to swear allegiance to the Crown and Con- 
 stitution they had aforetime sworn to destroy, I have 
 nothing but contempt and derision. 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 more by my appearance 
 in the witness-box. To me no more satisfactory result 
 could attend my disclosures than the realization 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 most sincere sym- 
 pathy. To know these people, to come into contact with 
 them, and to discuss with them the eternal subject of 
 Irish nationality, is to respect their honesty of purpose, 
 no matter how n.ucli we feel called upon to condemn 
 their methods of procedure. But, for the blatant loud- 
 voiced agitator, always bellowing forth his patriotic princi- 
 ples, while secretly filling his pockets with the bribe or 
 the consequences of his theft, there can be no other 
 feeling but that of undisguised loathing. 
 
 I speak of what I know from personal experience, when 
 I say there is no greater fraud in this nineteenth cen- 
 tury of ours than the modern Irish patriotic agitator in 
 America. Gold is his god, his patriotic principles — save 
 the mark! — his breviary and his beads, holding aloft 
 which he stands at the corner of the market-place so that 
 
204 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 
 
 he may be seen of all men, and paid tribute to by some. 
 By jobbery, trickery, treachery, and delusion of the mean- 
 est 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 whiskey-laden breath blasphemously 
 calls for the blessings of Heaven upon the foul enterprise. 
 It has been in fighting such scoundrels as these that I 
 have spent the last quarter of a century. From them 
 I would fain deliver their poor dupes ere I completely 
 efface myself from Irish affairs. I have no stronger, no 
 sincerer wish than to see an end put once for all to the 
 delusion which is practised upon thousands of poor Irish- 
 men throughout the States by the men of whom I have 
 written. With the rank and file it has assuredly been a 
 case 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 with- 
 out 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 reck- 
 less and improvident executive. Gallahers, Dalys, and 
 Mackay Lomasneys there always will be — men inspired 
 
IN THE SECRET SERVICE. 
 
 205 
 
 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 de- 
 manded. 
 
 With such men I hope these words of mine will have 
 weight ; and if, awakening to a true sense of their situa- 
 tion, and realizing 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. 
 

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