These few observations were made with an earnestness and vehemence that showed how fierce and hostile the blood that boiled in the veins of the speaker. Nor was there any appeal from the inexorable logic of his remarks. From the inhuman manner in which England has, for seven centuries preyed upon the vitals of Ireland, and plundered and expatriated her children, the latter are morally absolved from all allegiance or fidelity to her, no matter what the circumstances of their plighted faith. No man should be bound by oaths or obligations, to maintain the supremacy or defend the interests of a tyrant, exacted under an inhuman pressure or in the presence of such an alternative as the poor Irish recruit is subject to, namely, that of enlisting or starving. How can any Irish soldier, possessed of a single spark of pride or patriotism, and wearing the queen of England's livery to-day, be other than the deadly enemy of the representative of a people who have laid his country waste, murdered his kindred and left him and millions of his race without a roof to cover them on their own native shores? How can he gaze with any degree of enthusiasm or pleasure upon the blood-stained rag that waved over Mullaghmast, that was perjured at Limerick, and that endorsed with its baleful glare all the demoniacal atrocities of the Penal Laws? "Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God"—therefore the children of Ireland who have been so long trodden in the dust under the feet of an usurper, are but obeying the dictates of heaven and of humanity, when, by every means within the boundaries of civilization, they endeavor to encompass not only their own redemption from the bonds of the oppressor, but the total destruction of his power in every connection. Ireland owes no allegiance to England. For seven hundred years she has been crying out against the colony of foreign bayonets that have kept her in bondage and reduced her to beggary. For one single hour, throughout the whole of that long period, she has never voluntarily accepted the condition of her thraldom, or bowed submissively beneath the British yoke. She therefore cannot be regarded in the light of a conquered nation, but must be looked upon as still engaged in the deadly and mortal contest, whose first field was fought long years ago, between the Anglo-Norman freebooters and the Fenians of Cuan-na-Groith, or the Harbor of the Sun, when Strongbow, at the instance of the second Henry, made an unprovoked descent upon her shores.

"Yes," replied Tom, when Barry had finished, "both I and mine have felt the cruel fangs of the despoiler; but, sure, where is the use of singlin out ourselves, when the whole of the thrue native Irish—which manes the nineteenth twintieths of the kingdoms-are jist as badly off. The quarrel is not yours nor mine, nor the grievances naither. Both belong to every man, woman and child possessed of a pure dhrop of Irish blood in their veins; for all have suffered alike, as far as that is consarned. And, now, all that has to be done on the head of it, is jist to wait the nick of time that we are all expectin, and then, with one well directed and united blow, dash the tyrant to the ground on this side of the Atlantic, and thrust to Providence, the sympathy of the great American people and our own sthrong arms and hearts for the rest."

"Quebec and the fort beyond there," observed Burk, "may give us some trouble; but further than this, from what has been ascertained of the Province generally, there is little to be apprehended. The intimate business relations and the intermarriages between the Canadians and the people of the United States, will exercise a most powerful influence in the case, while the manner in which both the English and Canadian Governments fomented the recent civil war on the other side of the lines, cannot fail to have embittered the American people against the British Flag, wherever it is to be found. The treacherous attack of England upon the existance of the Republic, in subsidizing the South with arms and money, and in destroying, as she did for a considerable period, the American carrying trade, through the instrumentality of pirates built and fitted out in her own ship-yards and docks, will now afford the American government an opportunity of paying her off in kind, through permitting Fenianism to pursue its course without interruption, until the Provinces become part and parcel of the Union, when they have served as a basis of operation for the purpose of fitting out expeditions against the arch enemy of Ireland and of human freedom, and contributed to the final redemption of that oppressed country from the bonds in which it has so long lain. Surely, what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander; and if England, through the House of Commons, cheered the Alabama when her destructive qualities were described before that body by Mr. Laird, and, after having built the pirate, sent her out to make war upon the North when it was in sore trouble—surely, I say, America will not be over anxious to throw obstructions in the way of any party who may take in hand the chastisement of such an infamous power, no matter what the grounds of the quarrel. But when it comes to be understood that for the last ninety years, and up to a very recent period, England has been the deadly defamer and the secret or avowed enemy of America and American institutions—when it comes to be understood, that the statesmen, the business men and the wives and daughters of the citizens of the American Commonwealth, ever since the immortal Washington won the day for the oppressed of the whole world, have been subjected to the sneers and jibes of the English aristocracy and press, and held up to the ridicule of despotic Europe—when this comes to be understood, I repeat, in connection with the fact, that the cause of Ireland is the cause of human liberty and of republican institutions, there will be but little fear of America stepping out of her way to uphold the skull and cross-bones of St. George, either on this or on the other side of the Atlantic ocean, or, in fact, in any portion of the globe."

"Nor will the clear-sighted children of the Republic be cajoled into a friendly attitude towards this blood-thirsty dastard, because that, in the feebleness and fear that have now overtaken her, she essays to gloze over the infamous acts of which she stands convicted before the nations, and assumes an air of friendship towards them. Had the Union fallen, through her infernal machinations, not a city throughout her dominions but would have blazed with joyful illuminations at the result; while her government would again introduce the impressments of 1812. Even when the slightest reverse was suffered by the arms of the North, the news was heralded throughout the whole of England with tokens of the most intense satisfaction; while both her people and statesmen took a fiendish delight in referring to the Commonwealth as "the late United States!" All this, I say, will influence, and ought to influence, America in favor of the independence of Ireland, and prevent the American people from regarding the present pusillanimous blandishments of John Bull as other than simply the result of cowardice, and an attempt to propitiate a great power that had survived his infernal machinations, and now looms up a just and mighty avenger before him. So long then, as England is permitted to hold Ireland, that is battling for her rights, in chains, or to taint permanently the pure atmosphere of this free continent, so long will the Stars and Stripes shine with subdued lustre, and the memory of the immortal heroes of '76 be but half honored, by those who are pledged to defend it to the death in the sight of both God and man."

"As to Quebec and the other garrisons down this way," observed Barry, "when Hamilton and Toronto are in the hands of the Army of the Irish Republic, they will be easily managed. None of the strongholds are proof against Irish sympathizers, in their vicinity. This I know to be true. Every genuine Irishman within easy hailing distance of the garrison at Quebec, has more than one tried friend within its walls; and so of the other strongholds along the St. Lawrence and lakes. But supposing, for argument's sake, that any of those forts should take it into its head to stand a siege, where would it be when invested with such an army as Fenianism can now put into the field, composed of thousands upon thousands of veterans who are still grim with blood and smoke from the terrible fields of the South? What, too, would your militia do, with their holiday legs and maiden swords, against the men who fought at Cold Harbor, Gettysburg or Bull Run? Why the one-fourth of the force which it is said Fenianism has at its command, would sweep Canada like a tornado from Sanwich to Gaspe, and be recruited every yard of the road, besides; while the instant one signal victory was won by them, the government of the United States would at once acknowledge them as belligerants. This, I believe, is the true state of the case; and if the Fenian organization across the lines, and here amongst us, possess honest, brave and competent leaders, the overthrow of England in the Provinces cannot fail to be achieved; for, after all, she has no secure footing in the hearts of the masses, and enjoys nothing but a mere official existence here, under the protection of her guns, and through the instrumentality of a corrupt government and a hireling press. But as it is getting well up in the small hours, and as I feel I need some rest, I think I'll take another tumbler, if you only join me, and then turn in."



CHAPTER III.

When young Barry spoke of the girl of his love, he referred to Kate McCarthy, now in her twentieth year, and certainly one of the most beautiful Irish girls that had emigrated to America for many a long day. Kate and he had been schoolfellows and neighbors from their infancy, and, as they grew up, were regarded as a sort of "matter of course match," from the fact, that they were always together, and apparently cut out for each other. They were both natives of the county Leitrim, and born on the banks of the Shannon, in the sweet little town of Drumsna. It was by the beautiful waters of this noble river that they first felt that impassioned glow that colors all the after life of man or woman, and which is as different from the feelings that characterize early boy or girlhood, as the noon-day solar blaze is from the cold and placid beams of the pale new moon. There is one point at which the true passion of love, in all great hearts, leaps into fierce and instantaneous existence. There may be many imperceptible approaches to it in some cases, we know, but out of these it is possible to turn aside. When the hour arrives, however, in a single moment the storming party, under one wild impulse, unknown before, mounts the ramparts of the heart, and, after a moment's sweet confusion, the garrison falls and is surrendered forever into the hands of the enemy. And thus it was with our hero and heroine. Although they had long been the dearest of friends and constant companions—although they had long felt that the happiness of the one was necessary to that of the other, the great secret of their existence was never fully revealed to them, until they felt they were about to be separated from each other for an indefinite period; Kate to accompany her only relatives to America and poor Barry to enter the British army, under a pressure of poverty too dreadful to relate. As already intimated, the prospects of both had been blighted through oppression and villainy, brought to bear upon them by distant relatives, who were the infamous agents of a still more infamous government. The case of Nick, although sore enough in its way, was not so heartrending as that of Kate. He was of a sex fitted to wrestle with the storms of life, but she, proud and brave as she was, occupied a different position. Fortunately for both, however, through the instrumentality of a small pittance set aside by the Courts in her case, and a kind relation in that of Barry, their education was far above their pecuniary pretensions, so that at the age of twenty Kate was really an accomplished and refined girl, while her lover, at that of twenty-five, was a dashing young fellow, with a well stored mind and quite as capable of acquitting himself agreeably in society as any man, no matter what his rank, in the regiment to which he belonged. It was, then, in consequence of his education that he was looked up to by his comrades; although neglected and studiously kept in the back grounds by some of the officers of his company, who, viewing his attainments through the, medium of their English spectacles, closed the door of preferment against him, and never suffered a single stripe to appear on his jacket. With as good blood in his veins as the best of them, and with a sense of the wrongs inflicted upon his country by the government whose abettors they were, he could never bring himself to stoop to the fawning and servility through which the lower grades of rank are attainable, only in the service; and thus, it was that, from first to last, he was viewed with an eye of suspicion by his superiors, who regarded him as an incorrigible young Irishman, who, notwithstanding that he wore the uniform of a British soldier, had no love for the service or the interests it represented.

Barry entered the army under the most terrific pressure only. He found that Kate and her friends were destined for America, and being himself, at the period, totally destitute of funds and without the means of realizing them speedily, in a moment of desperation he enlisted in a regiment that was under sailing orders for that country, in the hope of being stationed somewhere near the being he loved, and of being able, at least, to keep up a constant and unbroken correspondence with her until fortune should turn the wheel in his favor. And so he enlisted and parted from Kate and her friends, to follow her in a short period across the Atlantic, and renew his vows of love and affection upon another shore.

The ship that had borne her away from his view had been scarcely two days at sea, when the deadly intelligence reached his ear that the sailing orders of his regiment had been countermanded, and that instead of proceeding to Quebec, it was to sail for Malta, where it was likely to remain for perhaps a couple of years. This dreadful news almost annihilated him. He had made a sacrifice to no purpose, and was now bound hand and foot beyond the hope of redemption. Before Kate and he parted, he had agreed to write her to Quebec, in care of a friend, if anything should occur that might postpone the sailing of his regiment, or that portion of it that was for foreign service; and now the dreadful opportunity arrived, when he found himself called upon to convey to her the intelligence, that not only was the sailing of the regiment postponed, but its destination altered. In due course the fatal disclosure reached her, and almost deprived her of life and reason. In the space of one brief hour she passed through the agony of years. The being she loved, in the burning ardor of his young soul, had hastily—thoughtlessly sacrificed his freedom; and all for her! It had been a sufficient dagger to her soul to see him attired in the blood-stained uniform of the enemies of her country, yet she knew that he had been driven by the most inexorable circumstances to assume the hated garb. But now he was overtaken with twofold desolation—he was a slave, and beyond the reach of one kind word of solace from her, for whom he had sacrificed all, save and except that which might be borne to him, through the ordinary channels, across the trackless deep.

Racked as she was with those torturing reflections, and while the first wild burst of grief was yet rolling down her cheeks, she determined to begin her lone, young widowhood by instantly writing to him and bidding him hope. In this epistle, all the nobility of her true heart and nature blazed forth so transcendently, and with such fierce, womanly fervor, that the moment it reached the hands of the young soldier the light was re-kindled within him, and he at once set about procuring his discharge, or rather realizing the means of effecting his release from the bonds into which he had allowed his pure 'though ungovernable passion to betray him. His education, as already observed, was most excellent, and now, when off duty, he turned it to good account, and slowly but surely began to add daily to what trifle he was able to save from his paltry pay, in the hope of yet commanding a sufficient sum to purchase his freedom and enable him, ultimately, to sail for America. In this way, and during the two years he was stationed at Malta, he spent his spare moments, being throughout that whole period particularly fortunate in keeping up what was life to him, an unbroken correspondence with his beloved.

At the expiration of three years, having been quartered, on his return from the Mediterranean, for the last one, in England, at length came the welcome and startling intelligence, that the regiment, now indeed, was to proceed forthwith to Canada, where it would be likely to remain for a considerable period. In a delirium of joy he communicated the happy intelligence to his love, and had just time to receive a hurried epistle in reply, in which the very arms of the true-hearted and beautiful Kate seemed thrown open to receive him. For some months previously, however, she had been informing him, from time to time, of a very disagreeable position in which she had been placed, through the persistent attentions paid her by an Irish gentleman named Lauder, who, by some means or other, had so ingratiated himself with her relatives, as to win them over to urge his suit; and who was reputed to be a person of means. These hints, however disagreeable, were always accompanied by a renewal of the vows they had long since plighted on the banks of the Shannon, and the fervent assurance that no one living or yet to live should ever lead Kate McCarthy a bride to the altar, save her own Nicholas Barry.

When Kate and her relatives arrived at Quebec, they remained in that city but a short period, as they had friends at Toronto, as well as near Fort Erie and at Buffalo, in the State of New York, whom they were desirous of visiting, and near whom they had determined to settle permanently. Unfortunately for Barry, the more intimate guardians or relatives of Kate had become unfriendly to his suit ever since he entered the army; impressed, as they had become, with that Irish idea, that the red coat of a private soldier in the British service was the most disreputable that could be worn. In this light, therefore, they encouraged the advances of Lauder, in the hope that absence would so weaken the first love of Kate, as to induce her to yield ultimately to her new suitor. But they little new the girl with whom they had to deal; for when Lauder, under their sanction, made a formal declaration of his passion to her, she quenched his hopes, as she supposed, forever, by informing him that both her heart and her hand were previously engaged, and that were they even at her disposal, she should be quite unable to bestow them upon any gentleman for whom she did not and could not entertain a single particle of true love, although he might have secured her esteem. This rejection, however, did not, as she supposed it would, preclude the possibility of any further advances from such a quarter, for Lauder, nothing daunted, kept up the siege when and wherever he could, without giving absolute offense; so cunningly and intangibly did he still pursue the object set before him. At last, nevertheless, so constant were his visits at the house, and so permanent a footing was he getting in the estimation of her friends, that, after having resided at Toronto upwards of two years, she left it at the instance of one of the family, who, on their first arrival in America, had settled in Buffalo, to which city she proceeded, and in which she now took up her residence.

While in Toronto the thought struck her that she might be able to turn whatever abilities she had to account, in the hope of being able to accumulate sufficient funds to aid our young hero in purchasing his discharge, fearing, as she did, that his own opportunities, in this relation, would be greatly restricted. So with her needle, and through the instrumentality of a small private school, she ultimately found herself mistress of the required amount, and was about to forward it to Nicholas, at the very period when she received intelligence of his regiment being ordered to America. She therefore thought it better to wait until they met, as she had made up her mind to set out, when apprised of his arrival, for any place in which he might happen to be quartered, and there plan for their future and his freedom.

In due time Barry reached Quebec, and from thence was ordered, with his company, to the town in which we first encountered him. Here he was soon joined by the true-hearted Kate, who remained for a few days with her cousins, Big Tom and his sister. During this period it was decided that Nicholas should purchase his discharge when he found that there was any prospect of the regiment being called home. The reasons for his not at once availing himself of the freedom he knew he could obtain at any moment, need not now be referred to more minutely; and as Kate left him to return to Buffalo, just four months previous to the opening of our story, after having made more than one pilgrimage from the United States to spend a few days with her cousins as she averred, it was settled upon finally, that he should quit the service in the ensuing summer, when they should become man and wife, as well as residents of the great Republic of the United States of America.

The intimacy, then, between Big Tom and Nick, is now accounted for in a satisfactory manner; and thus it was, that whenever the young soldier got leave to spend a night out of the Fort, he invariably took up his quarters at the sign of the Harp, where he not only knew he was welcome on his own account, but was sure to find company that was agreeable to him, and sympathized with all his aspirations in relation to his poor, down-trodden country.

Kate McCarthy, as we have already said, was in her twentieth year at the time we were first introduced to O'Brien and his customers, and certainly, as previously intimated, a more lovely woman could scarcely be found in a day's walk. Her face and figure were absolute mirages of beauty, while, if there could be such a thing as black sunbeams, her eyes and hair would have illustrated them to intensity. She was above the medium height, with a slightly olive complexion that harmonized superbly with the glorious orbs through which the pure light of her soul poured forth a mellow blaze, and the dark, heavy tresses that fell in shining masses upon her pearly shoulders. Nothing, too, could surpass the intensified loveliness of her soft, rounded arms, and exquisitely shaped hands and feet, while her delicious mouth and beautifully chiseled nose and ears were really mysteries of loveliness so rare, that few could entertain the idea that she who possessed them could have laid her whole heart at the feet of a common soldier, and that, too, when it was in her power to turn such charms to high account in the every day market of society. But she knew Nicholas Barry and the nobility of his nature, and was aware, in addition, that had he not, like herself, been the victim of foul play and of a government that fostered crime in its adherents, he would never have been constrained to swear allegiance to the flag he both hated and despised, or have been obliged to exchange the garb of the son of a true Irish gentleman for that which had so lowered him, in the eyes of her relatives at least. But rich or poor, in scarlet or homespun, he was all the same to her; and now that he was almost at her side, and master, in a measure, of his own fate, she only looked forward to the period when she should have a legal right to his protection, and to call him by that name which, beyond all others is the one that lies nearest a woman's heart.

The relative and his wife with whom Kate lived in Buffalo, were, in reality, noble and true-hearted people. They had known Nicholas from his childhood, and had always loved him for his manliness and bold struggles to gain some position at home in which he might be able to realize a sufficiency to maintain both himself and the girl of his love, before he led her to the altar. They had witnessed his repeated failures when he applied for any vacant situation where his education could be turned to account, and felt for his dire disappointment upon many an occasion when he was denied even a subordinate office in connection with the management of the large property that had once belonged to his family. With pain and anger they saw his praiseworthy exertions baffled at every turn, and, unlike the rest of their relations, discovered more of his self-sacrificing spirit still, in the desperate step he took for the purpose of joining his betrothed upon a foreign shore—a step which they would have gladly prevented, had their own slender means been sufficient to have transported him with them to their new home. Moved by this spirit of kindness and esteem, these worthy people were the very main-stay of Kate in the hour of her sorest trial, and now that Barry was near her once more, they entered heart and hand into all her projects, and were delighted to know that his discharge should be purchased before his regiment was ordered to leave the colony.

It must not be presumed, however, that Kate, since her arrival in America, had permitted herself to be a burden, in even the slightest degree, upon any of her friends or relations. Far from it; from the moment that they became settled at Toronto, up to the hour of Nicholas' arrival in the colony, she not only supported herself through her industry and perseverence, but contributed, in a degree, to the maintenance of some of them also. Of course, in view of the all-absorbing object she had before her, regarding her lover, she could not be expected to do much in this latter relation; yet she did what she could, and so satisfied her pride and her conscience. Sometimes the recollection of the long and weary chancery suit would obtrude itself upon her, but only to provoke a hopeless and languid smile, prompted by the conviction that her enemy, whom she had never seen, and who had recently succeeded to the claims of his father—Philip Darcy, now but a few months dead—had too much influence with the government and its legal minions, to permit her to indulge in the slightest hope, that, were the case decided tomorrow, it could be otherwise than against her. Consequently, it mattered but little to her whether she was worsted by Philip the elder or Philip the younger; so, in this way, she now invariably disposed of the unpleasant matter. Yet, she felt, notwithstanding, deeply and bitterly upon the subject: and knew that she was the victim of a most diabolical plot; but she did not permit this to interfere with her daily avocations, or induce her to sit down in apathetic sorrow, and repine over a fate that no effort of hers could influence in any degree whatever.

Still, as may be readily supposed, both from her education and a knowledge of her own personal wrongs, and those which had for centuries been inflicted upon the unhappy land of her birth, she was no friend or admirer of the government or people who had wrought her so much ruin in this connection. On this head she was most inexorable, and felt that it was the duty of every true Irishman and Irishwomen in existence, to conspire, as best they could, against a power which had plunged their race and country into such frightful ruin; and she believed, firmly, that, in so far as her native land was concerned, its children were justified in using any means by which they could rid themselves of a tyrant and usurper, who, in violation of every law, both human and divine, subjected them to sword and flame for ages.

It will be perceived, then, that both Kate McCarthy and Nicholas were influenced by the same just and deadly spirit against England; and that neither thought it otherwise than meritorious, to hurl that tyrant to the dust, at any time and under any circumstances. The iron had penetrated their souls; and now that rumors were afloat touching the intention of the great organization of Fenianism, which overspread the American Union, to make a descent upon the Canadas, with a view to destroying the power of England upon this continent, and ultimately rescuing Ireland from the grasp of the oppressor, Kate's eye was lit, from time to time, with the most patriotic fervor; while the world could, at any moment, discover the true nature of the fame that burned within her soul, from the emerald sheen of the silken band which invariably bound up her raven hair, and encircled her snowy throat.

Once or twice she happened to encounter Lauder in Buffalo, so as to recognize him without the possibility of mistake; while on several occasions, she could not divest herself of the idea that he had just passed her in disguise; although she could not imagine what prompted him to such secrecy, when she never noticed him since she had left Toronto, or recognized him on the two occasions when she chanced to meet him in the public street. Yet, a strange presentiment seemed to impress her that he had not, after all her plainness with him, abandoned the idea of obtaining her hand, notwithstanding the repugnance she had always evinced towards him. Now, however, that Nicholas was almost within hail of her, and that her friends, in Buffalo at least, were true to her in every relation, she felt secure from whatever machinations her imagination conjured up; and, therefore, whenever the subject suddenly obtruded itself upon her thoughtful moments, she dismissed it as summarily; reassured by the conviction that she was totally beyond the reach of any schemes that might have been concocted in relation to her or her future.

For the purpose, however, of setting the matter at rest forever, she was resolved that her lover should leave the service now as early as possible; and, stimulated by this desire, on returning to her residence, one evening towards the middle of April of the year in which we first encountered him on the bridge leading from the Fort, she addressed a letter to Nicholas, urging him to leave the army as soon as practicable, assigning as a reason the presence of Lauder in Buffalo, whom she had, as she felt assured, again encountered or rather discovered in the vicinity of her residence, and adding a further reason, based upon the rumor, that the Army of the Irish Republic would soon move upon Canada, and that his regiment could not fail to be called out to oppose it—a circumstance that would, as she well knew, be the cause of more actual pain to him, than anything that could possibly occur in the discharge of what was termed his duty.

This letter Barry received the second day after it was written; and on consulting with O'Brien, at once set about procuring his discharge; but as the Colonel of his regiment had gone to the Lower Provinces, from which he was not to return for a week or two, the matter was left in abeyance until he should again arrive in town. In due course, however, he did return, and the necessary application being made, no objection was offered to granting the discharge, as Barry's conduct had always been most unexceptionable since he entered the service.

In this way matters stood, then, on the night on which we found Big Tom in secret conclave with his two friends, Nick and Burk, in his own little sanctum; Nick having got leave to stay out until morning, as the officer in command informed him, it was probably the last request he should have the power of granting him.



CHAPTER IV.

An organization so wide-spread and so numerous as that of the Fenian Brotherhood, it was not to expected that all its members, without an exception, were good men and true; yet so rarely were traitors found among its ranks, that no patriotic confraternity of its magnitude had ever, in ancient or modern times, presented so pure a record in this relation. When we take into consideration the fact that, the insidious and subsidizing gold of England was brought to bear upon the frightful poverty of the masses that composed the organization in Ireland, as well as the temptations to treason held out by the government, through their agents in the Republic of the United States of America, the wonder is that there were not more Corydons and Masseys to do the work of the usurper, and betray the cause to which they had sworn fealty. However, there were traitors sufficient at work to cause great damage in individual cases, and send many a brave fellow into the gloomy depths of a British dungeon. Nearly all the injury in this connection, however, appears to have been done at home, as treason of this character was totally powerless under any foreign flag—or at least not so capable of direct mischief. From the first moment of the inception of the organization, the British and the Canadian governments had their paid spies in and outside the American press, who kept the authorities well informed as to all the particulars that transpired within the range of their observation or through other channels; but these disclosures were necessarily meagre and, in many cases, totally unreliable; from the circumstance that those disreputable parties, for the purpose of magnifying their importance, and securing further the patronage of their employers, colored and distorted facts so terribly, that scarce a line from their pens or a sentence from their lips was worthy even the slightest credence. Still, from time to time, some little rumor struggled to the surface, which pointed to treachery somewhere; and thus it was that the authorities of the organization were often placed awkwardly in relation to the idle though dangerous gossip which occasionally singled out this individual or that, as the party who had betrayed his trust. In the various cities along the American frontier, there was from time to time a good deal of this gossip—a circumstance that might have been quite easily accounted for; seeing that the inhabitants of some of these places were in what might be termed hourly intercommunication with the people of Canada; giving, in some cases, rise to suspicions, which were in the main without any foundation. This distrust, although affecting the stability or growing prosperity of the Brotherhood in scarcely any degree, had yet the effect of strengthening the hands of British sympathizers in the Union, and inducing them to resolve themselves into little coteries or societies—such as was hurriedly formed not long since under the influence and guidance of Mr. H——, of Buffalo, for the ostensible purpose of aiding destitute Canadians, but with the real design of keeping an eye upon Fenianism, and disclosing, as far as the members could divine, all its intentions, hopes and prospects, to the British government. Occasionally an emissary, direct from Great Britain, in the guise of a lecturer or tourist, visited these associations and received their report, which, as far as was practicable, he verified by personal observation, and through whatever reliable channels, he believed to be open to him. These emissaries have been supplemented by others of a somewhat different character, but all bearing upon the interests of England. In this latter case, however, it has been the direct unfriendly relations between the American government and that of Great Britain, which had stimulated the pilgrimages of certain individuals of this class to the shores of the great Republic. England perceiving that she had Fenianism to deal with on the one hand, and American hostility, regarding her infamous course during the late war, on the other, in her cowardly fears for the consequences, backed up her anti-Fenian agents, by sending out such persons as Mr. Charles Dickens and Mr. Henry Vincent, to prove to the citizens of the Commonwealth how friendly the sentiments that England had always entertained for them, and how disasterous a thing it would be to both peoples, should a war, under any circumstances, be permitted to take place between them. Both these gentlemen, and others, distinguished and popular in their respective literary shades, went forth preaching peace and good will between the Saxons on the one side of the Atlantic and their so-called American cousins on the other. With an audacity the most barefaced and unaccountable, upon every possible occasion, opportune or otherwise, they wore the olive branch at their button-hole, and described in periods the most eloquent, the identity of blood and interests which characterized both nations, and which it were heinous to ignore. Notwithstanding that for ninety long years their infamous government had been indulging in the most heartless sneers, insults and injustice towards the press, the people and the executive of the United States—notwithstanding that during the late war every reverse of the arms of the Republic was hailed with heartfelt joy by the English party, both at home and in Canada, and that pirates were built and fitted out under the very eyes of the British Cabinet, and with the secret sanction of that corrupt horde, to make war upon American commerce and destroy the Union in the hour of its extremity—notwithstanding all this, we say, and maugre the kindred circumstance of subsidizing the South with money and arms so as to prolong the fratracidal conflict until both parties lay bloody and broken at the feet of English despotism, these able and smooth-tongued gentry had the accursed assurance to stand up in most of the principal cities of the Democracy, and assert broadly, that England was the true and tried friend of republican institutions and of the people who sustained them on the free continent of America. Under the liberal laws which accord freedom of speech to every man who touches the shores of the Republic, these men had, we know, a right to express, publicly or otherwise, their sentiments in this connection, how treacherous and untenable soever; but what we could never fathom, was the daring of any journal professing to be true to the interests of freedom or those of the Union, in endorsing those sentiments and setting them forth to the world as truthful and worthy the acceptance of every genuine American, no matter what his creed or party. An attempt so monstrous to stullify all past experience and ignore all history has never been made in any relation whatever; and the wonder is, that, few as they are, so many Americans have been led astray by it. To any individual, of even the most ordinary penetration, it must be obvious, that the present cringing and treacherous attitude assumed by England towards the American people, is but the mask of a foul and dangerous spirit, snatched up in a moment of mortal fear to be worn only until some opportune moment arrives when it can be thrown aside with safety, revealing the old, familiar, demoniacal scowl which lurked unaltered beneath its smiling exterior. America, to be true to herself, must beware of such false lights, of the press as these. They are for the most part subsidized by English gold, or so imbuded with English sentiment, that the interests of the Union are quite a secondary consideration with them. In evidence of the truth of this assertion, we have only to dwell upon the apathy with which these journalists regard the building up of a dangerous despotism upon our borders, in the very teeth of American traditions and sentiments, and in opposition to the feelings of the masses whom it effects more immediately, and who were not permitted by their tyrants to express a single opinion at the polls on so grave a subject as the total disruption or remodeling of the constitution under which they lived. Look at the expression of Nova Scotia on this head, and see how it reflects upon the course pursued by the great American people in relation to the confederation of the adjoining Provinces. Not long since the inhabitants of that section of the New Dominion set forth, in a memorial to the British government, that this same confederation was forced upon the people of the Canadas, through falsehood, bribery and the vilest fraud. And, yet, free and generous America, who assumes to be the day-star of freedom on this continent, and to the world, permitted this despotic measure to be enforced at her own threshold, and in relation to a people, thousands upon thousands of whom sympathized with her interests and institutions, and looked forward with longing eyes to the hour when the Stars and Stripes should float from every flag-staff and tower throughout the whole of the English possessions in the New World. Surely the missionary spirit of the Republic has not been best illustrated in this instance; nor can we discover now, how it is, that the authorities of the Union sit quietly playing at thumbs, while the Parliament of the Dominion is voting millions for the defenses of the new despotism, and framing projects that are intended to result in a line of impregnable forts from Sandwich to Gaspe, and at every point where it is possible for an invader to set foot upon their shores. Wait until false, foul and treacherous England can sit beneath the shadow of the guns of her infant monarchy, on the Canadian frontier, and then see if she does not begin to show her cloven foot anew. Let her once get a permanent foothold among the newly projected fortresses along the St. Lawrence and the Lakes, with Quebec as their key, and the peace and prosperity of America, as well as the stability of republican institutions, cannot be counted as secure, for a single day, from petty annoyance, or perhaps inroads of a more formidable character. This idea may, we know, be scouted by those who have a well grounded faith in the destiny of the American people and the power they undoubtedly possess in a naval and military point of view; but, after all, a gun is a gun and a garrison a garrison; and to allow an implacable and formidable enemy to possess herself of either, within range of our fire-sides, when we can prevent it, is what we should call courting the presence of a bombshell on our borders, that may at any moment be thrown into our midst.

Without dwelling further on this particular point, however, we may observe, that through some of the channels already referred to, the English government became aware, in 1865, that it was the intention of the Irish Nationalists in the United States to make a descent, at no distant day, upon Canada, and seize it as a basis of operations, with a view to carrying out their projects for the redemption of Ireland. In connexion with this information, they found, also, that the troops in Canada were largely interspersed with Irishmen, and it was consequently deemed necessary to send a secret agent to the Provinces to look into the case and report upon it, or rather upon the sentiment of the Irish element in the colony, whether in or out of the army, in relation to Fenianism. This they thought could be best accomplished through the instrumentality of a tried emissary of their own, as even from the Provincial Cabinet conflicting accounts were arriving constantly in relation to the all-important subject. In furtherance of this view, the Castle of Dublin was, of course, applied to, and a creature selected to do the work, who was not himself fully aware that his position was recognized by the imperial Cabinet so decidedly, but simply fancied himself in the capacity of a sort of trusty policeman, appointed by one of the Castle authorities, who was anxious to know for himself how the case stood on the other side of the Atlantic. This agent was one of the cleverest of his class, and possessed of the most consummate cunning, and a spirit of reckless daring but seldom evinced by members of his tribe. Already he had rendered substantial service to the Viceroy and to England, as an inveterate spy, and a scoundrel who had, on more than one occasion, distinguished himself in the witness box. In addition to his investigations in Canada, he was instructed to extend the line of his observations to the United States also, and to move from point to point, as his own judgment might dictate in the premises. He was, of course, furnished with ample means to carry out successfully the project intrusted to him; and although but little faith could be placed in his integrity, so far as the disposal of the funds put in his hands were concerned, yet, by an opportune circumstance, connected with his own personal interest, and overriding any sum that was entrusted to him, the Castle was enabled to hold him in check, no matter how he might be tempted, or where he chanced to move. With his activity and fidelity thus insured, this miserable wretch, who went in Dublin by the name of Philip the Spy, was despatched on his mission, and, in due coarse arriving at Quebec, set about it in his usual cautious and conning manner. He visited the Citadel as a stranger, under the ordinary pass from the Town Major, and soon made himself agreeable in the dark, low canteen among the soldiers. Whenever he thought he discovered a young and inexperienced Irishman among the rank and file, he was unusually pleasant and communicative. With such a companion he always moved about the garrison, descanting upon its force and power, and imperceptibly stealing into his good graces, until he found some opportunity of making an apparently accidental enquiry touching the information he was desirous of obtaining. In this way he became possessed of the knowledge that even Quebec held within its impregnable walls many a man who was far from being the true friend of England, and who, as he surmised, waited the opportunity of not only deserting her flag, but betraying her stronghold into the hands of her enemies. In this state of things he could not but discover the truthfulness of the beautiful line of the poet, "Coelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt," for he perceived that the mighty waters of the great Atlantic were insufficient to wash out the blood stains from the skirts of England in relation to Ireland, or to remove the deep hatred of the exiled children of the latter, towards a tyrannical power that had held them in bitter thrall so unjustly and so long.

Satisfied of this, and of the additional fact, that the garrison was invulnerable from the river side only, and that much of the artillery that manned the citadel was all but worthless, on the pretense of being a friend to the cause of Irish freedom and a deadly enemy to England, he learned that not only were there many Fenian sympathizers within the walls of the garrison, but that the city outside was literally alive with similar friends, some of whom were to be found among the French population, who had never forgotten England's treatment of the First Napoleon, or her conquest of Canada in the days of Wolf These he knew himself were sore points with the Lower Canadians, and likely to bear bitter fruit in relation to English interests in America, one day or other. He perceived also that these facts, taken in connection with the unfriendly feeling which England had engendered in the United States, through the Alabama piracies and secret subsidies to the South during the war that had just closed, would, tend to both foster and embolden Fenianism, until it grew almost into an institution in the New World, or became, at least, a leading idea with no inconsiderable portion of both the Canadian and American people. He knew that every civilized nation on the face of the earth, save England herself, sympathized with the lamentable condition of the country to which he himself was a traitor; and such being the case, he felt how easy it would be on the part of these sympathizers, to find a means of justifying almost any measure that might be adopted against the usurper, by the organization at home and abroad. He saw and felt all this, and thus it became him to be doubly cautious, as he could not but understand, that were his mission divined by those whom he was now hourly betraying into positions of death or danger, it would go hard with him indeed. In fact, the idea struck him, that England, with all her boasting, was but little better than a camp in America; and that, as in Ireland, she was surrounded here also, by a hostile although a less demonstrative population.

And, certainly, a truer deduction than this has never been drawn from any premises whatever. The nine tenths of the loyalty of Canada towards the British Crown, is superficial and terribly unreliable. Subtract the official and the Orange element from the masses, and they would drift at once into the arms of the United States. The events of 1837 prove that a strong undercurrent of American feeling exists in the colony, and various subsequent disclosures prove that it is even now only restrained by circumstances. When we find Canadian representatives on the floor of the House of Assembly, threatening England with an appeal to Washington in a certain connection, and when we see Americans filling some of the highest offices in the Dominion, and sitting at the Council Table with the representatives of royalty, we may be sure that the interests of Great Britain are not in safe keeping in such an atmosphere, and that such persons can always be brought to see how necessary it is to the material welfare of the inhabitants of the Canadas that they should become part and parcel of the free and prosperous Republic of the United States. They cannot fail to see, that in their present dependent position,—lying, as they are, in the grasp of an English aristocrat, unacquainted with their wants and wishes, and who sympathizes only with the Crown, their trade, their commerce, and their internal resources must suffer to a frightful extent. So long as they are outside the pale of the Union and under the British flag, so long will a mighty war cloud hang upon their borders, that is liable to roll in upon them at any moment. The fact is fixed and unalterable, that the people of Ireland have secured for all time a permanent footing on this continent, where their numbers, wealth and influence have become irresistible, touching any project that they may entertain within the limits of the American Constitution. We say the American Constitution, for to this they have sworn fealty, and its maintenance is to them a matter of the first importance—a matter of life and death; from the fact, that it is to its generous provisions and the liberal spirit of its framers and their descendents, as well as to the kind sympathy of the American people in general, that they now owe their all. Were it not for the noble stand against tyranny taken by the heroes of 1765, and the subsequent glorious career of the country they had freed from the grasp of the English tyrant, Ireland should be still laden with chains the most hopeless; but, now that free America has influenced her to higher aspirations than she had ever felt previously in relation to human liberty and just and enlightened government, it is probable that she shall become the first fruits of American institutions on the despotic side of the Atlantic, and raise her bright republican head, in the midst of the hoary tyrannies of Europe, a glorious monument to the genius of American liberty and power, as well as to the memory of the immortal heroes of the war of Independence, who first taught manhood to the nations, and hurled to the dust, beneath their feet, the foul and blood-stained braggart who had sought to build up her despotic rule upon their virgin shores. In no way can America so justify the purity and sincerity of her soul in relation to her institutions, as by hurling them against the despotisms of the old world, and diffusing amongst its peoples, wherever she can with any degree of propriety, the blessings they are so eminently calculated to impart. And no point stands more invitingly open at the present moment for an experiment so indispensable to the true prestige of her power and greatness, than Ireland. Self-evident as the fact is, that that country has for generations been kept in slavery at the point of the bayonet, and plundered and starved by an accursed despot and her own deadly enemy, too, she can with the greatest possible ease move in the direction of breaking those galling bonds, and wreathing the poor, fleshless limbs, so long lacerated by them, with the flowery links which so bind her own glorious children in one harmonious and invincible whole. So long as Ireland lies groaning beneath the heel of the usurper, so long shall America have failed in her mission, and her duty towards God and man. She cannot be truly great, and sit down beneath her own vine and fig tree, listlessly enjoying the blessings of liberty, peace and plenty, while her kindred and friends lie in chains on the opposite side of the Atlantic, or while the infamous flag of the despot who oppresses them, and who but recently sought to stab her to the heart, floats in triumph on her very borders. Both heaven and humanity demand something more at her hands; and if actuated by no higher motive than that of mere self-preservation, or of providing against a rainy day, we would advise her, in view of the powerful armaments and the ingrained antagonisms which characterize Europe in every direction, to assist in establishing one friendly power at least on the shores of the Old World, which, in the hour of need, would make common cause with her in the interests of freedom, justice and truth. This, and the fact of the attempt now being made by England to build up an armed despotism in the New Dominion of Canada, are, in our humble opinion, matters of the deepest moment to the great American people; while we are equally convinced, that, should they neglect to avail themselves of their right to interpose wherever human suffering of the most heart-rending character obtains under the sway of a tyrant, or where the peace and security of a whole continent is threatened, by portentous and aggressive undertakings on its confines, the day will arrive, and that speedily, when they will be afforded a bitter opportunity of regretting their criminal apathy and neglect, without the power of atoning for either.



CHAPTER V.

Although Kate had, as we have already stated, encountered Lauder on more than one occasion in Buffalo, without any very uneasy feeling as to his unpleasant proximity, yet she was not totally devoid of suspicion that she was, in some way or other, the cause of his presence in that city. True, she had rejected his heart and hand in the most decided manner; but then there was something about the man so obtrusive and yet so cunning, that at times she could have wished herself totally beyond has reach or hopes, as the wife of the noble young fellow she loved so ardently. When in Toronto, she had been sorely tried by the insidious attacks and insinuations of her persecutor, bearing upon the character and vocation of Nicholas, regarding which he appeared to be exceedingly well informed. He spoke of the uniform faithlessness of soldiers in general—their wretched mode of life and morals, together with the stigma that invariably attached to the wife of any individual who wore a private's coat in the service. In addition, he seemed to be conversant with the pecuniary embarrassments of Kate, as well as with the circumstances of the chancery suit, and, as he averred, the settled opinion at home, that it would be soon decided, and, without any possible doubt, in favor of the son of Philip Darcy. All this was heart-rending in the extreme to the poor girl; but yet her faith never faltered for a single moment in the truth and fidelity of her lover; and what cared she for aught else in the world, so long as he was left her without spot or blemish. Observing the foothold that Lauder had in the house and estimation of her relatives, she did not feel herself at liberty to treat him with all the contempt and severity that he deserved; so that she was too often, for appearances sake and out of respect for the feelings of those under whose roof she was, constrained not to notice in anger much that had escaped his lips regarding Nicholas, or, rather, the possible character which he had turned out to be under the baneful influence of a soldier's life. When, however, she accepted the hospitality and kindness of that portion of the family who had taken up their residence in Buffalo, and who were the staunchest friends of young Barry, she, at once, cut the acquaintance of her rejected suitor, and, as already observed, passed him once or twice in the street without deigning to notice him.

This probed Lauder to the quick, and aroused all the fiend within him; and now that Barry had reached Canada, he determined to work in some way the ruin of either the one or the other, in order to make their union impossible, were even the most revolting crime necessary to that end. While dwelling on this subject, every vestige of humanity disappeared from the heart and face of the wretch who would encompass such ruin, and that, too, in the case of two individuals who had never injured him in thought, word or act. He was slighted and rejected by the only woman on earth that he cared to marry, and he would be avenged at even the risk of his life. He would dog her footsteps were she to move to the uttermost ends of the earth, until an opportunity to put his infernal plans in operation arrived; and as he had abundance of means at his command, he would enlist in his service those who would not hesitate to sell their souls for gold. Moved by this diabolical impulse, he followed her to Buffalo, and there made the acquaintance of two unmitigated villains who kept a low gambling house in one of the vilest streets in the city, and who were capable of any atrocity known to the annals of crime. These two vagabonds were already refugees from Canadian justice, having been concerned in one of the bank robberies so frequent in the Provinces, and had an accomplice of their own stamp on the Canadian frontier, not far from their present den, to whom they were in the habit of secretly forwarding goods stolen on the American side, to be kept until the excitement regarding the robbery had subsided, and an opportunity presented itself for disposing of them in some part of the Province where detection would be impossible. Under the cover of night one or the other of these wretches frequently stole across the lines and visited this locality, where he remained concealed until a fitting period occurred for returning to his old haunt.

Of this stamp were the two persons whom Lauder now took into his confidence and employment in relation to the abduction of Kate McCarthy from her friends, and her transportation into Canada to some place of secrecy and of safety, until he should be able to force her into an alliance with him, or failing in this, make such a disposition of her as should, at least, place an eternal barrier between her and Nicholas. Among their friends and acquaintances these two villains were known as "black Jack" and the "Kid,"—the former as forbidding a specimen of the human race as ever breathed the vital air. He was low and thick set, with a neck like a bull, and a frame of prodigious strength.. His nose was broad and flat, his month large, his ears of immense size, his forehead low and retreating, while the breadth between his ears at the back of his head was inconceivable.

His companion in crime, the Kid, in so far as external appearance was concerned, was his intensified antipodes. He was slightly formed and of rather prepossessing appearance; and were it not for a sinister expression of his full watery, grey eyes, remarkable when excited by anger, and some coarse and sensual lines about his mouth, perceptible upon all occasions, he might pass unnoticed among the thousands that crowded daily the locality in which he lived. He was the general, Jack the army—he plotted, Jack executed; and thus it was, that, through his consummate cunning, they had both been enabled to avoid justice so long. They ostensibly kept a sort of drinking saloon, from which they professed to banish all disreputable characters, and which, through the clear-headedness of the one, and the awe in which the great personal strength of the other was held, was unusually free from the disreputable rows and scenes that generally characterize such places.

If the Kid and Black Jack differed from each other in personal appearance, they were nearly if not quite as much opposed to each other in dress. Jack's attire was of the very coarsest description, and always slovenly in appearance. No matter what the season of the year, he invariably wore a dark blue flannel shirt, a short, heavy over-coat, with huge, deep pockets, thick, iron-shod boots, coarse, loose trousers, and a huge, greasy, slouched, hat, of black felt, invariably pulled over his eyes when out through the city. The only difference as to the disposition of his attire, touching winter and summer, was, that during the former season he always served his customers with his slouched hat and jacket on, while throughout the warmest part of the latter, he was invariably to be found behind his dark, dingy bar, with his shirt sleeves tucked up and his collar unbuttoned and thrown open, displaying a pair of huge, swarthy arms, covered with coarse, black hair, and a broad and massive chest, presenting a similar aspect, and which exhibited all the characteristics, in this connection, of the most savage denizens of the forest. Such, then, were the personal appearance and the character of the two men whom Lauder now visited by stealth from time to time, but always in a disguise which defied detection, and which was made up with the most consummate skill.

Unconscious of all the danger that surrounded her, Kate still kept the even tenor of her way, happy in the prospect of soon becoming the wife of the man she loved; while Barry, on the other hand, felt but little apprehension as to any fears that she had expressed in relation to the proximity of Lander; believing, as he did, that she was totally beyond his reach or power, and that his presence in Buffalo was occasioned by some business not in any degree connected with her. What, he argued, had she to fear from any man whom she despised, and from whose society she had deliberately and pointedly estranged herself? The days of feudal abductions had passed away, and if in this practical age a woman refused to become the wife of any man, she had a perfect right so to do, and there the matter ended. Besides, was she not beneath the roof of her own relatives, who loved her with the sincerest warmth, and who were able to protect her until she could claim the shelter of his own breast, as he stood by her side the husband of her heart. All this went to reassure him, so that when he sat down to reply to the letter which urged him to procure his discharge at once, he wrote in the most cheering and happy manner, bidding her to be of good heart, that she was safe from the importunities and machinations of any individual who sought to gain her affections; but intimating, at the same time, that he should at once, or as soon as practicable, leave the army and as quickly as possible join her on the other side of the great lakes.

In the love that exists between two true Irish hearts that have been pledged to each other, deliberately and solemnly on the threshold of man and womanhood, there is often something so confiding, so unreasoning and so unselfish, as to put one in good humor with humanity. There is no country on earth in which the love of gain intermixes with the affections of the heart to so small an extent as in Ireland. In this relation we, from time to time, witness in the Green Isle such genuine and grateful glimpses of the better phases of human nature, that, no matter to what subsequent inconvenience and embarrassments they may tend, they, for the time being, at least, charm us into a recognition of something that is, after all, beautiful and truthful in our souls. Except where the inexorable tyranny of birth creeps in, our matrimonial alliances are, for the most part, purged of the cool calculation of Scotland, or the bread and beef considerations of the English. This may be censurable in us, and doubtless it is; but, still, the charge lies more against our heads than our hearts. It is a fact the most indisputable, that in England most of the marriages in high or low life are those of convenance, while in Ireland the contrary is the case. Even the poorest Irish girl in the land gives her hand only, where she can bestow her heart; nor, as a general thing, can any amount of wealth induce her to ignore her pride or affections in this connection; while, should her love be given to even the simplest peasant that ever stood by her milking pail, she is totally beyond the reach of temptation. On the part of both there is an out-going of souls in this direction that may be said to be peculiar to Ireland. Completely outside all physical accidents and circumstances, there is a commingling of spirit which ratifies a compact for all time, and lives in the future as well as the present. Stretching beyond the hoar, such souls are not dependent upon mere personal contact or intercourse for the vitality of the passion that animates them, for they are ever en rapport with each other, and clasped breast to breast wherever their individual physical organizations may be. In this manner they bid defiance to fate and all materiality; living on, undivided, and secure in the continuence of the power that binds them to each other. Such individualities become one spiritually—all their aspirations are identical—all their sentiments are the same, and so closely do they become united, that you cannot destroy the one without destroying the other. We know and feel, beyond any shadow of doubt, that there are beings whose loss or total annihilation we should be unable to survive, and if doomed to live, whose place could never be filled in our souls, throughout the endless ages of eternity. Hence the generous and beautiful, provision of the All Wise and All Good. To every human heart, that interprets His Laws aright and conforms to His will, he presents that beautiful counterpart which, although mysteriously foreign, is yet, so delightfully and essentially, a part and parcel of our two-fold nature.

In no country in the world, then, does this divine law of natural affinities prevail more than in Ireland; and in no case had it ever been more clearly illustrated than in the case of Nicholas Barry and Kate McCarthy; as each, if so inclined, could have sacrificed the other in forming a matrimonial alliance respectively, identified with what was believed, to be undoubted wealth. For the hand of Kate, long before she left her native land, there had been more than one suitor of means; while handsome Nick, previous to his entering the army, was an object of the warmest admiration on the part of many a damsel whose prospects were of the most flattering description. But all to no purpose; not one of the wealthy women was Kate McCarthy in the one case, and not a single well-to-do gentleman was Nick Barry, in the other. So this made all the difference; and Nick and Kate, without pausing to cast their horoscope, gave themselves to each other, as already described, by the banks of the Shannon—a river whose bright murmuring waters have reflected more beautiful eyes and manly forms than those of any other in Europe, or perhaps the world. Without a thought for the future at the moment of which we have already spoken, they plighted their faith for all time and eternity; and well they kept their vows; although previous to the arrival of Nicholas in America, they had been upwards of three years separated from each other-the one leading the life of a soldier in a sunny clime, and the other, on a far distant shore, hoping for the hour when they should be once more side by side.

When, however, our hero found himself the plighted lover of the being he adored, and discovered himself simultaneously separated from her toy the most cruel, unexpected and perverse fate, he bent, as previously observed, every energy towards effecting his release from the bonds he had assumed for her sake. He consequently, instead of wasting his hours in sullen and useless repining, set actively to work and kept both his mind and his body in a healthy condition; never losing confidence for a moment, in his own ability to secure freedom or permitting the hope to be shaken, that he should ultimately join the woman of his love in the new world, and there realize an independence for both. And here we may observe, that this feature in the character of Nicholas was one of the noblest and most dignified that could possibly distinguish any member of the race to which we belong. The world has been lost to many a man, from the fact of his not sitting down to look circumstances fairly in the face, with a full determination to grapple with them and give them a tussel for if wherever a good man and true places any reasonable and legitimate object before him, no matter how dark the clouds that surround him, in nine cases out often he achieves it. The grave error in this connection is, that finding our inability to move the great mass of our difficulties out of our road en bloc and at once, ignoring the lesson taught by the constant drop that wears the stone, we sit down overwhelmed, and never set sturdily about trying to remove it piecemeal. The most profusely illustrated lesson that heaven has yet taught to man, is that of industry and perseverence. Whether within the fragrant chambers of the golden hive, or in the kingdoms of the busy ant, or mid the curious nests that swing from forest boughs, we roam in thought, we find what perseverence can accomplish, and that too, by steps almost imperceptible in themselves. It is the individual atoms that build up the mighty and effective aggregate that overawes all opposition, and like an avalanche sweeps all resistance before it. The loftiest pyramid that throws its shadow over the desert to-day, and that dwarfs at its foot the beholder into the most incomparable insignificance, incapable of being removed in fragments not larger than a pea, from its present site to the other side of the globe; and the grandest structure ever erected by human hands, has been built up from almost imperceptible beginnings, into the imposing dimensions which so overshadow the admirer and excite in his bosom feelings of almost superstitious awe. So that look where we may, throughout the whole range of nature, of science or of art, we find tee lesson of industry and perseverence inculcated in the most impressive manner, and in a language that should reach and influence our spirit struggles to the core.

If less distinct than we have here delineated them, such were the sentiments and convictions that influenced the actions and conduct of our hero and heroine when fate had separated them. Moved by the same impulses, they both set about accomplishing the same end, and in the same manner. Barry's pen and Kate's needle flew at intervals; and the result, as already intimated, was, that each had accumulated a sum sufficient to effect this release from the army, and that it now was to be brought into requisition for the purpose of accomplishing that end.

Had Nicholas been made of that sort of stuff which, with the greatest possible degree of coolness, lays a friend or relative under contribution, he might have been able, through its instrumentality, to realize a sufficient sum to have taken him to America, at the period that Kate sailed, without having had recourse to the dreadful alternative of enlisting in the English army; but not being built of such questionable material, he bowed beneath the heavy yoke, believing, as he did, that however distasteful and derogatory to his feelings, it was more honorable and independent to be indebted to himself, even at so great a sacrifice, for the means of joining his beloved on the other side of the Atlantic, than to be constrained to traverse its trackless waste, weighed down with the conviction, that, for the purpose of accomplishing an object that could at least be honestly attained otherwise, he had deprived those whom he had left behind of that of which they themselves stood sorely in need. Besides, he felt satisfied from what he knew of himself, and the prospects open to even an industrious soldier on the shores of Canada, he should soon be able to relieve himself of his bondage, and stand erect once more, freed from the humiliation of the uniform he wore. But, as already seen, the fates were against him in the first moments of his military career; and for the time every fibre of his being was almost crushed beneath the most frightful tension to which could have been possibly subjected. How dreadful must have been the appalling intelligence of the countermand of his regiment to the Mediteranean, when it first fell upon his ear; and how sufficient was the awful announcement to crush any ordinary mortal. Yet, with the elasticity which is ever inseparable from a true and noble spirit, when the first crash of the news bore him almost to the earth, he steadily began to brace himself against it, and ultimately, though by slow and painful degrees, straightened himself beneath it, and, although it was not the less heavy, stood erect under it at last, and bore it squarely upon his shoulders.

Poor Kate, although brave, too, had at first almost given up hope, when, a few days after her arrival at Quebec, she learned the fatal intelligence contained in the letter already referred to; but soon perceiving, as he did, that nothing was to be achieved by useless murmuring or hopeless inactivity, she shook herself, as free as her strength would permit, from the dreadful incubus of the sorrow that bowed her to the earth, and turned whatever talents she possessed to good account; working night and day to accomplish the great and only desire of her heart, and trusting to heaven for the rest. In this way her constant and unwearied exertions lightened much of the load that could not have failed under less favorable promptings, to have crushed her completely, and have, in all human probability, consigned her to a premature grave.

And thus, we see, that these two brave young spirits had all but accomplished the wish of their hearts, at the period at which our story opens, and that they were now but simply awaiting the hour when Nicholas should be able to exchange the hated red jacket that he wore, for a dress more in consonance with not only his own feelings, but those of the being he so faithfully loved.



CHAPTER VI.

Whatever censure may be attached to any portion of the career of the founders of Fenianism, after the organization had become a recognized power on both sides of the Atlantic, we cannot divest ourselves of the settled impression, that the men who were mainly instrumental in calling it into existence and sustaining its infancy, were actuated by the purest motives. To be sure, Fenianism can scarcely be said to be the embodiment of a new idea, or the exponent of new principles; but, then, there was a masterly grouping of energies and sentiments in connection with it, which possessed the merit of originality, and which tended so largely, not only to popularize it, but to give it a foothold on every Irish national hearthstone. In the selection of the name by which the organization was to be distinguished, there was a clearness of judgment as well as a thorough acquaintance with the necessities of the case, that cannot fail to strike any impartial observer. Had the Brotherhood been organized under any commonplace appelation, or under any of the various names that had characterized the previous revolutionary societies of Ireland, the probability is, it would have long since fallen into line with those convivial associations, which content themselves with an annual exposition of the grievances of Ireland, over the short leg of a turkey, a "bumper of Burgundy," and that roar of lip artillery, against the usurper, which dies away in a few maudlin hiccups, about two o'clock in the morning, to be revived only at the expiration of another twelve months. Under the burden of any commonplace name, such, we say, might have been the fate of the organization ere this; and so we regard the knowledge and genius which obviated the possibility or rather the probability of failure in this relation, as entitled to prominent consideration and respect. To the superficial observer, this may appear of very little moment in connection with a subject of such magnitude; but let it be understood, that we are influenced by seeming trifles and the surface of things to an extent far greater than we ourselves are willing to confess. Notwithstanding the oft repeated query, "what's in a name?" there is a great deal in a name. Let two strangers, Mr. Harold Bloomfield and Mr. John Smith send in their cards together to an important official, of whom they expect to get an audience separately, and the chances are nine out of ten in favor of Mr. Bloomfield's being granted an interview first. This, we apprehend, holds good in a thousand kindred instances, and in no way has the supposition been more clearly verified than in relation to the name bestowed upon the organization under consideration.

The name "Fenian" is of very remote antiquity, and appears to be most comprehensive in its signification, and to be peculiarly adapted to the great confraternity of patriots which now engrosses so much of the history of passing events. There seems to be nothing sectional in it. It is national in the broadest sense of the term, and primative and forcible to intensity. In some annotations to the Annals of the Four Masters we find that the ancient Fenians were called by the Irish writers Fianna Eirionn signifying the Fenians of Ireland, and mentioned under the name of Fene, or Feine, which, according to Dr. O'Conor, signifies the Phenicians of Ireland, as Feine, according to Dr. O'Brien, in his dictionary, at the word Fearmiugh, signifies Phenicians; as they were probably called so from the tradition that Phenicians came to Ireland in the early ages. They are also called by the Irish writers Clann-Ua-Baois-gine, and so named, according to Keating and others, from Baoisgine, who was chief commander of these warriors, and ancestor of the famous hero Fionn, the son of Cumhall; but according to O'Conor, in his notes to the Four Masters, they were called Baoisgine, as being descended from the Milesians who came from Basconia, in Spain, now Biscay, in the country anciently called Cantabria. The Fenian warriors were a famous military force, forming the standing national militia, and instituted in Ireland in the early ages, long before the Christian era, but brought, to the greatest perfection in the reign of the celebrated Cormac, monarch of Ireland in the third century. None were admitted into this military body but select men of the greatest activity, strength, stature, perfect form, and valor, and, when the force was complete, it consisted of thirty-five Catha, that is, battalions or legions, each battalion containing three thousand men, according to O'Halloran and various other historians, making twenty-one thousand for each of the five provinces, or about one hundred thousand fighting men in time of war for the entire kingdom. The Ardrigh, or head king of Ireland, had, for the time being, chief control over these forces, but they often resisted his authority. A commander was appointed over every thousand of these troops, and the entire force was completely armed and admirably disciplined, and each battalion had their own bands of musicians and bards to animate them in battle, and celebrate their feats of arms. In the reign of the monarch Cormac, the celebrated Fionn MacCumhaill, who was descended from the Heremonian kings of Leinster, was the chief commander of the Fenian warriors, and his great actions, strength and valor are celebrated in the Ossianic poems, and various other productions of the ancient bards; he is called Fingal in MacPherson's Poems of Ossian; but it is to be observed that these are not the real poems of Ossian, but mostly fictions fabricated by Mac Pherson himself, and containing some passages from the ancient poems. Fionn had his chief residence and fortress at Almhuim, now either the hill of Allen, near Kildare, or Ailinn, near old Kilcullen, where a great rath still remains, which was a residence of the ancient kings of Leinster. The Fenians were the chief troops of Leinster, and were Milesians of the race of Heremon; and their renowned commander Fionn, according to the Four Masters, was slain by the cast of a javelin, or, according to others, by the shot of an arrow, at a place called Ath Brea, on the river Boyne, A.D. 283, the year before the battle of Gaura, by the Lugnians of Tara, a tribe who possessed the territory now called the barony of Lune, near Tara, in Meath; and the place mentioned as Ath Brea, or the Ford of Brea, was situated somewhere on the Boyne, between Trim and Navan.

In the reign of king Cairbre Liffeachair, son of the monarch Cormac, the Fenian forces revolted from the service of Cairbre, and joined the famous Mogh Corb, King of Munster, of the race of the Dalcassians. After the death of Fionn Mac Cumhaill, the Fenians were commanded by his son Oisin or Ossian, the celebrated warrior and bard; and at the time of the battle of Gaura, Osgar, another famous champion, the son of Oisin, commanded the Fenian forces. The army of Munster, commanded by Mogh Corb, a name which signifies the Chief of the Chariot, and by his son Fear Corb, that is, the man or warrior of the chariot, was composed of the Clanna Deagha and Dalcassian troops, joined by the Fenians and their Leinster forces; and it is stated in the Ossianic poems, and in Hanmer's Chronicle, from the Book of Howth, that a great body of warriors from North Britain. Denmark and Norway, came over and fought on the side of the Fenians at Gaura. The army of the monarch Cairbre was composed of the men of Heath and Ulster, together with the Clanna Morna, or Connaught warriors, commanded by Aodh or Hugh, King of Connaught, son of Garadh, grandson of Moraa of the Damnonian race. The Munster forces, and Fenians, marched to Meath, where they were met by the combined troops of the monarch Cairbre, and fought one of the most furious battles recorded in Irish history, which continued throughout the whole length of a summer's day. The greatest valor was displayed by the warriors on each side, and it is difficult to say which army were victors or vanquished. The heroic Osgar was slain in single combat by the valiant monarch Cairbre, but Cairbre himself soon afterwards fell by the hand of the champion Simon, the son of Ceirb, of the race of the Fotharts of Leinster. Both armies amounted to about fifty thousand men, the greatest part of whom were slain; of the Fenian forces, which consisted of twenty thousand men, it is stated that eighteen thousand fell, and on both sides, thirty thousand warriors were slain. In the following year, Hugh, king of Connaught, according to O'Flaherty's Ogygia, defeated the Munsters forces in battle at Spaltrach, near the mountain Senchua, in Muscry, in which he slew Mogh Corb, king of Munster. The tremendous battle of Gaura is considered to have led to the subsequent fall of the Irish monarchy, for after the destruction of the Fenian forces, the Irish kings never were able to muster a national army equal in valor and discipline to those heroes, either to cope with foreign foes, or to reduce to subjection the rebellious provincial kings and princes; hence the monarchy became weak and disorganized, and the ruling powers were unable to maintain their authority or make a sufficient stand against the Danish and Anglo-Norman Invaders of after time.