Page:History of the Fenian raid on Fort Erie with an account of the Battle of Ridgeway.djvu/16

Rh than the land they had left, naturally became imbued with republican ideas and tendencies, and soon imbibed a hatred to England and the British Empire, not only from the nursing such a feeling would receive among a people who themselves had thrown off the English authority, but also from the teachings and urgings of the leaders who had escaped for their lives from Ireland, and who blamed England because their native land was not as prosperous as the land which gave them refuge.

This feeling on the part of the Irish people in America was made use of by the leaders of the rebellion of 1848, or at least by the most enthusiastic among them, who believed that by uniting their race in Ireland and America they would be in a position to realize their day-dream of having their country an independent republic, or at least a kingdom ruled over by some modern Brian Boru. In order to carry out this idea, a few of these men organized a small society in New York, which afterwards, enlarging in its dimensions, became the Fenian Brotherhood. James Stephens, one of the men of 1848, took upon himself the duty of organizing the brotherhood in Ireland, while the task of furthering its interests in America devolved upon Colonel O'Mahoney. This was about the year 1857. For some years after that its progress seems to have been very slow, and its movements were little known, and, if known or heard of, attracted but little attention.

When the war broke out in the United States, it gave a great impetus to the Fenian organization. Up to that time the present generation had not undergone any experience in war. After a lengthened peace men get so accustomed to peaceful pursuits, and the idea of war becomes so hateful to them, that the military spirit of a nation becomes almost extinct, or at least exceedingly sluggish in its action. When a people are in that condition, it is useless to attempt to get them to embark in any undertaking likely to lead to war and bloodshed.

After, or during a war, on the other hand, the military spirit is awakened, and in some instances even created, and after a