It is not Irish-born men alone whose souls are filled with a chivalrous
love for Ireland, and a stern hatred of her oppressor. There are amongst
the ranks of her patriots none more generous, more resolute, or more
active in her cause than the children born of Irish parents in various
parts of the world. In London, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham,
Glasgow, and all the large towns of Great Britain, throughout the United
States, and in the British colonies, many of the best known and most
thorough-going "Irishmen" are men whose place of birth was not beneath
the Irish skies, and amongst them are some who never saw the shores of
the Green Isle. One of these men was Captain John M'Afferty. He was born
of Irish parents in the State of Ohio, in the year 1838, and at their
knees he heard of the rights and wrongs of Ireland, learned to
sympathise with the sufferings of that country, and to regard the
achievement of its freedom as a task in which he was bound to bear a
part. He grew up to be a man of adventurous and daring habits, better
fitted for the camp than for the ordinary ways of peaceful life; and
when the civil war broke out he soon found his place in one of those
regiments of the Confederacy whose special duty lay in the
accomplishment of the most hazardous enterprises. He belonged to the
celebrated troop of Morgan's guerillas, whose dashing feats of valour so
often filled the Federal forces with astonishment and alarm. In the
latter part of 1865 he crossed over to this country to assist in leading
the insurrection which was then being prepared by the Fenian
organization. He was arrested, as already stated in these pages, on
board the steamer at Queenstown before he had set foot on Irish soil;
when brought to trial at Cork, in the month of December, the lawyers
discovered that being an alien, and having committed no overt act of
treason within the Queen's dominions, there was no case against him, and
he was consequently discharged. He then went back to America, took an
active part in some Fenian meetings, made a speech at one of them which
was held at Jones's Wood, and when the report of the proceedings
appeared in print, he, with a sense of grim humour, posted a copy
containing his oration to the governor of Mountjoy Prison, Dublin. In
the latter part of 1866, when James Stephens was promising to bring off
immediately the long-threatened insurrection, M'Afferty again crossed
the ocean, and landed in England. There he was mainly instrumental in
planning and organizing that extraordinary movement, the raid on
Chester, which took place on Monday, 11th of February, 1867. It is now
confessed, even by the British authorities themselves, that but for the
timely intimation of the design given by the informer Corridon,
M'Afferty and his party would probably have succeeded in capturing the
old Castle, and seizing the large store of arms therein contained.
Finding their movements anticipated, the Fenian party left Chester as
quietly as they had come, and the next that was heard of M'Afferty was
his arrest, and that of his friend and companion John Flood, on the 23rd
of February, in the harbour of Dublin, after they had got into a small
boat from out of the collier "New Draper," which had just arrived from
Whitehaven. M'Afferty was placed in the dock of Green-street
court-house for trial on Wednesday, May 1st, while the jury were absent
considering their verdict in the case of Burke and Doran. On Monday, May
the 6th, he was declared guilty by the jury. On that day week a Court of
Appeal, consisting of ten of the Irish judges, sat to consider some
legal points raised by Mr. Butt in the course of the trial, the most
important of which was the question whether the prisoner, who had been
in custody since February 23rd, could be held legally responsible for
the events of the Fenian rising which occurred on the night of the 5th
of March. Their lordships gave an almost unanimous judgment against the
prisoner on Saturday, May 18th, and on the Monday following he was
brought up for sentence, on which occasion, in response to the usual
question, he spoke as follows:--
"My lords--I have nothing to say that can, at this advanced stage of
the trial, ward off that sentence of death, for I might as well hurl
my complaint (if I had one) at the orange trees of the sunny south,
or the tall pine trees of the bleak north, as now to speak to the
question why sentence of death should not be passed upon me according
to the law of the land; but I do protest loudly against the injustice
of that sentence. I have been brought to trial upon a charge of high
treason against the government of Great Britain, and guilt has been
brought home to me upon the evidence of one witness, and that witness
a perjured informer. I deny distinctly that there have been two
witnesses to prove the overt act of treason against me. I deny
distinctly that you have brought two independent witnesses to two
overt acts. There is but one witness to prove the overt act of
treason against me. I grant that there has been a cloud of
circumstantial evidence to show my connection (if I may please to use
that word) with the Irish people in their attempt for Irish
independence, and I claim that as an American and as an alien, I have
a reason and a right to sympathise with the Irish people or any other
people who may please to revolt against that form of government by
which they believe they are governed tyrannically. England
sympathised with America. She not only sympathised, but she gave her
support to both parties; but who ever heard of an Englishman having
been arrested by the United States government for having given his
support to the Confederate States of America and placed on his trial
for high treason against the government? No such case ever has been.
I do not deny that I have sympathised with the Irish people--I love
Ireland--I love the Irish people. And, if I were free to-morrow, and
the Irish people were to take the field for independence, my sympathy
would be with them; I would join them if they had any prospect
whatever of independence, but I would not give my sanction to the
useless effusion of blood, however done; and I state distinctly that
I had nothing whatever to do, directly or indirectly, with the
movement that took place in the county of Dublin. I make that
statement on the brink of my grave. Again, I claim that I have a
right to be discharged of the charge against me by the language of
the law by which I have been tried. That law states that you must
have two independent witnesses to prove the overt act against the
prisoner. That is the only complaint I have to make, and I make that
aloud. I find no fault with the jury, no complaint against the
judges. I have been tried and found guilty. I am perfectly satisfied
that I will go to my grave. I will go to my grave like a gentleman
and a Christian, although I regret that I should be cut off at this
stage of my life--still many an noble Irishman fell in defence of the
rights of my southern clime. I do not wish to make any flowery speech
to win sympathy in the court of justice. Without any further remarks
I will now accept the sentence of the court."
Mr. Justice Fitzgerald then in the "solemn tone of voice" adopted on
such occasions proceeded to pass sentence in the usual form, fixing the
12th day of June as the date on which the execution should take place.
The prisoner heard the sentence without giving the slightest symptoms of
emotion, and then spoke as follows:--
"I will accept my sentence as becomes a gentleman and a Christian. I
have but one request to ask of the tribunal, and that is that after
the execution of the sentence my remains shall be turned over to Mr.
Lawless to be by him interred in consecrated ground as quietly as he
possibly can. I have now, previous to leaving the dock, once more to
return my grateful and sincere thanks to Mr. Butt, the star of the
Irish bar, for his able and devoted defence on behalf of me and my
friends. Mr. Butt, I thank you. I also return the same token of
esteem to Mr. Dowse, for the kind and feeling manner in which he
alluded to the scenes in my former life. Those kind allusions recall
to my mind many moments--some bright, beautiful, and glorious--and
yet some sad recollections arise of generous hopes that floated o'er
me, and now sink beyond the grave. Mr. Butt, please convey to Mr.
Dowse my grateful and sincere thanks. Mr. Lawless, I also return you
my thanks for your many acts of kindness--I can do no more."
He was not executed however. The commutation of Burke's sentence
necessitated the like course in all the other capital cases, and
M'Afferty's doom was changed to penal servitude for life.
* * * * *