FENIANISM IN ENGLAND.

Hawke's Bay Weekly Times, Volume 1, Issue 49, 9 December 1867, Page 304

FENIANISM IN ENGLAND.

BESCIJE OF EENIANS AT MANCHESTER. . . ONE POIjICEMABf iKHiLED. We'extract the following; particulars from the Home News,. 2nd October:— A'. mpst daring' butrage has'been perpetrated by members of the Fenian organization atManohester, whioh will certainly lead. some, of them to the gallows they haye long deserved, and from 7 which they' have ' hitherto been preserved by a misplaced {lenity. About September lithe police’.fqund four men loitering in the afreets in- the middle; oil the night. Their proceedings excited suspicion that robbery was intended, and they were challenged. In the struggle which then took place, two of the men escaped j the ether two vainly endeavored to draw revolvers from their •pockets, and, were captured. The fact of their being thus armed "confirmed the conjecture, that they were prepared for a desperate’enterprise of some kind. The IrishAmerican accent of the prisoners, and their claim to he treated as American citizens, turned the suspicions of the police in ano ther direction. In order to afford time for communication with the Irish police, the prisoners were detained under the Vagrant Act, and soon after information was received' which left no doubt that they were men of mark, in the Fenian brotherhood. One was “ Colonel Kelly,” and the other “Captain Deasy.” The former is believed' to have been Stephens’ chief colleague, and counselloer, and to have planned .and carried out the escape of his chief from Dublin prison. He appears to be a man of daring ability, and among the Fenians is said to be known as “Kelly the soldier.” Doth Kelly and Deasy were engaged in the' Fenian rising in March last, though the former is supposed to have advised his friends against it as premature and hopeless. On Sept. 18, the ‘•colonel” and the “captain” were brought up at the Manchester police court, and wore again remanded. The Justice room was densely crowded, and a mob also filled the narrow passage by which the prisoners are conducted’to and from the court house. Whether or not the police were .able to detect a Fenian element in this gathering, at least one incident occurred to put them on their guard. Two men of soldierly appearance were noticed lounging about the court in a suspicious manner all the morning, and it occurred to one of the superinten dents that it would be well to secure them. As soon as the constables approached with this object, one of the couple made off, but.the other, after some desperate play with a bowie knife, was overpowered. A double row of constables lined the passage from the couxt honse to the prison van ; and the escort to the gaol was increased —seven constables going with the van, and four. following in a cab. With one exception, none of the constables carried any arms save tbeir truncheons ; the exception was Brett, the turnkey of the van, who rode inside, and who carried a cut lass.

. On the way to the gaol the van had to pass under a railway arch in Hyde road. Lurking in the shadow of the arch was a body of men who suddenly came out into the open road as the van reached this point, and contested its passage. It is computed that there were forty or fifty men in the band, and for the most part seemed to be better dressed than ordinary workmen. Many, of them had pistols; others were equipped with , hatchets, hammers, and stones,. . It was evident from their movement that they were acting as ah organized force, and one among them—since identified as O’Meara Allen—appeared to be in command.. It Was Allen who shouted to the driver to stop the van, and who fired the first shot at the ’police. This was the signal for a volley of pistol shots and stones from the ranks of the assailants. Overwhelmed by the suddenness and vigor of the attack, the police seem to have been at once beaten off. Both horses were shot. The driver was knocked from the box by a heavy stone. Other constables .were more or less wounded; The attacking. parly, left in possession of the van, then surrounding it, one section forming an-outer guard to resist the iueffectul rushes which the police every now and again made upon them, while those in the inner ring applied themselves to the opening ,of the van. The roof was battered in With stones. The lock of the door, not ■yielding readily to the same process, was smashed by the repeated discharge of a revolver- Allen was the leader in this Work of destruction. When the door was pfi. last open, Allen called upon Brett to givie.up his keys that" the various compartment® might be unlocked, and on Brett’s refusal;shot him through the head, and he died soon afterwards.. : Allen then released his friends, four women' who were in 1 the escaping at the same time, and; there 'Was* a? general retreat of l the; Fenians. Kelly and’Deasy both got clear off. * . Allen • was caught,- and was' ‘severely battered While struggling with- liis captors! 7 He had upon him twenty rounds of cartridge for breech loaders;; but had'beeWso- hard pres- ■ -Bed .that; he liad not tune {to load. . :Two other men were alsbstoppedin their flighfc; Another, couple were, taken .later, on ; and !before midnight aVscore of. Ipdged ip ga01..; The military herein some D.easy ; werWseen hy;spme. ;brick-;:^?hWsi.-;ne(W:|piaytqhl';Brilige.;;;to;;eptert 'a .cottage . h&n(dbuffed_; and to.quit: inVa; few J^|nm'nteß : lafe^:'^ithß)ioir j - handß free,;.! .No , f trace, of '. thein,;has .{sincevheen obtained'; Secretary of State immediately offered -^ewa s d'i 9 ft £3OO r Sor Keliy MS of

for • the men;, conoerned in the outrage. Thirty-three .persons were arrested in connection with this outrage. , The examination of the prisoners before the magistrates began on September 26 Their safe conduct to the court was ensured by an escort of horse and foot, and 100 rank and filo were.marched up to the court house in Bridge-street, while, the . prison vans, were being, conveyed from the,gaol. The cortdge. moved at a quick pace, and owing to the. early hour. (8;30) there was less popular demonstration than might have been expected. Mr Robinson Fowler, stipendiary magistrate, presided, and a large number of the-city; justices were also present on the bench. Mr Higgin, deputy recorder of Manchester, conducted the prosecution. The following,prisoners were placed in the dock, charged with the wilful murder of Sergeant Brett, on Sept. •18:—William O’Meara Allen, Edward Shore, Henry Wilson, and "William Gould, defended by Mr Ernest Jones, barrister; Michael Larkin, Patrick Kelly, from Galway, Charles Mooohouse, John Brennan, John Bacon, and William Martin, defended by Mr Cottingham, hamster; John F. Nugent and James Sherry, defended by Mr Ward; Robert M‘Williams, defenned by Mr Bremner; Michael Maguire, Thomas Maguire, Michael Morris, Michael Bryan, Michael - Corcoran, and Thomas Ryan, defended by. Mr Bennett; and John Carroll, John Gleeson, Michael Kennedy, John Morris, Patrick Kelly (from Lietrim), Hugh Foley, Patrick Coffey, Thomas Kelly, aud Thomas Kelly, and Thomas Scalley, defended by Mr W. P. Roberts, instructed by the subscribers tq a defence fund. M r Ernest J ones and Mr Cottingham, who appeared for . the prisoners, asked that their handcuffs might be removed, but the presiding magistrate refused the application, observing that tlie matter was in the hands of the police, who declared that it would not be safe to accede to the request. A renewal of the application subsequently led to a scene. After some rather strong observations by Mr Jones, Mr Fowler said, “ With regard to the manacles, the police have been called upon to protect the interests of justice and the court, and if they think that the handcuffing of prisoners is part of the measures necessary to be adopted, I cannot take upon myself to order them to be removed. But if any any prisoner is suffering, I will take upon myself to say he shall have some other handcuffs put upon him that do not hurt him.” “ Then,” said Mr Jones, as a member of the English bar, I decline to sit in any court where the police override the magistrates. I will not lend myself to any such violation of the ordinary course of j ustice. There is your brief, Mr Roberts. lam sorry to return it, but I cannot disgrace the bar by proceeding with the defence.” Mr Jones then handed back to*Mr NuttalTs clerk the brief for the defence of another of the prisoners, and, gathering up his papers and. his umbrella, left the court. The examination was resumed on 27th September, when eleven of the prisoners were discharged and the others remanded. The prisoners were further examined before the stipendiary magistrate on Saturday, September 28. Ultimately the prisoners were again remanded.