Roche furnished me with the names of several leading members. Unluckily for me, I foolishly wrote the particulars down in a note-book in his presence. The act, in his opinion, was a suspicious one. He watched me closely, and evidently conceived the idea that my patriotism was of a very incautious character, if not worse. On the eighth of the following month, at the Annual Convention held in the Masonic Hall, Philadelphia, to which he was a delegate, I found his suspicions solidified in the form of a set of charges against me, imputing carelessness, dangerous conduct, and suspicious acts. My friends, and they were legion, together with myself, indignantly denied the allegations, and virtuously demanded an inquiry, which was granted, and a committee was appointed to lay the charges. Roche was duly heard, injured innocence was largely en evidence on my part, and very quickly a unanimous verdict was reported back to the Convention, asserting that the charges were scandalous and without the slightest foundation, it being fully demonstrated by the following letter that I was authorised to visit and acquaint myself with the other side, as I represented to Roche:—
“Head-Quarters Fenian Brotherhood,
“No. 10 West Fourth Street,
“New York, October 23, 1868.
“P. O. Box 5141.
“Henry le Caron,
“Care of Capt. T. O’Hagan,
“Ogdensburg, N.Y.
“Dear Sir and Brother,—Yours of the 20th and 21st came duly to hand and are perfectly satisfactory.
“I think it better not to commence equalising goods just yet; I will write you again on the matter.
“It would be highly beneficial to us for you to avail yourself of every opportunity to study the country on both sides of the line for future emergencies.
“Everything here is going on satisfactorily.
“Yours fraternally,
“John O’Neill,
“Pres. F.B.”
I did not, however, deem it prudent to let matters rest even here, feeling that my ultimate success in the interests of the Government depended upon absolute confidence on the part of the ruling powers. Accordingly I sat down and immediately wrote out my resignation as an officer of the Irish Republican Army, giving this want of confidence as my reason, and couching my letter in indignant terms. As I hoped and anticipated, my letter brought the following welcome response, which placed me on a surer footing than ever, and brought me into even more confidential relations with the head of the organisation than I had hitherto enjoyed:—