CHAPTER XVII.
BLOCKADE RUNNING—ATTEMPTED SUPPRESSION OF "UNITED IRELAND"—WILLIAM O'BRIEN AND HIS STAFF IN JAIL—HOW PAT EGAN KEPT THE FLAG FLYING.
"United Ireland suppressed" was the chief headline in the morning papers on the Friday before the Christmas of 1881.
In point of fact, what had happened was that the detectives, acting under the extraordinary powers given by the special "law" in force in Ireland, had invaded the offices of the Land League organ the night before, and seized all the copies of the paper found on the premises.
It was a bungled job, for the country edition had already gone out, including the supplies for England and Scotland, so that the only copies seized were those intended for Dublin and the suburbs.
Nothing indicated the intensity of the struggle going on between the government and the people more than the dead set which was being made against "United Ireland." Its editor was in jail, its sub-editor was in jail, most of its contributors were in jail, even the commercial and mechanical staffs had been seized, one by one, and in the paper each week the names and descriptions of the victims appeared, prominently set out in tabular form, in the place where the first leading article had previously been printed.
But, in spite of these difficulties, the paper appeared regularly each week, its fiery spirit not a whit abated, and its outspoken exposure of Mr. "Buckshot" Forster and his methods in no way curtailed. Confronted with this open failure, the government swallowed the last vestige of its regard for appearances, and made the bold attack on the liberty of the press involved in the seizure and attempted suppression of "United Ireland."
It was not the first time (nor has it been the last) in Ireland that a national organ was thus attacked. From the days of the United Irishmen, towards the close of the 18th century, to those of 1867, there had been a long series of suppressions, of which, perhaps, John Mitchel's "United Irishman" (1847) and the Fenian "Irish People" are the best remembered instances.
In this case, however, the leaders of the popular movement determined that they would not be put down, but would use all "the resources of civilization"—to quote Mr. Gladstone's famous phrase—to keep the flag flying. I am very proud of the fact that they invited me to be their instrument.