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2 November eee De : oa
| Dean Sm: Pen bi! rae \ mee |
“The. condition of. unhappy Ireland, and the. circumstances cof her oppression, ‘demand the serious
attention of the intelligent and patriotic amongst the Irish people in the United States. In view of. this
‘fact, which is recognized and felt by all whose hearts have not become rocreant, tc to the memories whichthe . .
~ true Irish “heart” everywhere cherishes, I desire to inform you that a Congress of ‘representative Irish
Nationalists will convene its session on the 24th inst., in the city of Philadelphia, Pa., and I have the honor,
on behalf of the Fenian Brotherhood, to invite you, asa patriotic Irishman, to attend there, and hear and see
for.yourself what the Organization is endeavoring to effect for our unhappy country. Your character among
your neighbors and fellow-citizens makes me aware that your heart beats as | warinly as our own for the cause
of our common country ; and, as our object is to unite all good Irishmen in this holy crusade, we desire to
remove any doubt. that may ’oxist in the minds of those of our people here who are in a position to aid
effectively the good cause, by showing them, not only that the. affairs of our Organization are conducted in
a manner that, ‘Will bear the, closest ‘scrutiny: of every honest’ man, but that our plans are ‘at once the most
feasible and likely to result in success, andthe only hope of regeneration our country now. possesses. .
Should you accept, this invitation will procure your ¢ admission. to the floor of the Congress, on proper
identification before the Committee of Credentials ; and we are confident that, from what you will there
learn, your faith in the future of Ireland, and your readiness to aid us in preparing to fight her battle, will be
strengthened and quickened into patriotic action,
and is.denied the assistance of many of her truest. sons, by, the failure to bring directly, and
pérsénally before their attention—engaged as they are in the ordinary pursuits of life—her claims, the work
in progress for her elevation, and the plans for its final completion and.success.
~"Disarmed as Ireland’ is by the law of England; impoverished as she is “by Landlord rule ; ;. the
oppressor ‘unscrupulous and regardless of ev erything: but. successful subjugation ; our people at..home
look to us ‘abroad for that action which their condition denies to them. .'The heroism of -her unconquerable
national spirit, and her intensified: determination. to be free, awaken in us a patriotic admiration and pride,
which should result in something more than idle plaudits. and approving words. ‘The present Fenian
movement is peculiarly a movement of the people. It has shown by its. past history that it will tolerate no
corruption or dishonesty ; that it insists upon earnest, zealous, true devotion to the great cause of Ireland:
a Republic. It has made and unmade leaders, as it found it necessary or wise for. the good of that cause..
Tt has shown that it.is no wild or turbulent passion, or mere effervescent enthusiasm, which animates and.
controls it; for there has never been a regularly established government on the earth that enforced its’
constitution and laws with more success, alike upon its officers and its members, than has ‘this national;
Organization, which has established, as the fulcrum of its policy, a regard for constitutional law, enacted by:
the truc.representatives. of the, Trish people. The history of Irish politics for the last century, the uniform
policy of the English Government, and still more, the permanent interests of England, admonish us that:
the only path w shich will bring Treland to Independence and Freedom, is the one indicated by the sword.
I cannot, of course, within the limits of an invitation of this character, make statements, or advance;
arguments which would, I think, suggest to your mind an encouraging prospect of the solution of Ircland’s ,
difficulty. There is not a monarch. in 1 Europe to-day but includes in his calculations of. an European war:
the power of the Irish nation, as proving its vitality in the Fenian movement. he attitude of the Fenian
Brotherhood gives England such serious concern, that the question of Irish grievances is now the paramount
and sole issue in the coming elections in that country. But of what consequence, comparatively, is the
overthrow of the Established Church—this evidence of the foreign rule; the subjugation, the usurpation,
the confiscation, the implacable English tyranny, they all remain just the same after this witness is withdrawn,
still leaving the only realissue for Ir eland, National Independence and Universal Liberty. An English Parlia-
ment cannot, and will not, honestly or wisely legislate for Ireland. The history of Ireland, from “’82” to
the “Union,” demonstrates that Ireland Sree would be too powerful a rival to England i in the fields of
commerce and manufactures, England, lying at the back of Ireland, fears her superior commercial position
in the sea, her incomparable harbors, her matchless facilities for domestic commerce and communication,
her exhaustless water-power, and the energy of her sons, who have in every land distinguished themselves
in all the industries of life. England’s oppression of Ireland is a part of her commercial policy, and it is,
therefore, in her commercial interests that she can alone be vitally touched on the Irish question, This is
the key to the solution of the whole problem. Let us secure but a point of territory whereon wo can”
establish a government, in the name of the Irish nation, that can enjoy the belligerent rights to issue Letters
of Marque, and run down British commerce upon every sea, and we shall have freed Ireland. Cannot we do