The Dock and the Scaffold | Page 4

The members of the
organization at home began to long for union with the Irish Nationalists
who formed the branch of the confederacy regenerated under Colonel

Roberts; and Kelly, who, for various reasons, was unwilling to accept
the new regime, saw his adherents dwindle away, until at length he
found himself all but discarded by the Fenian circles in Dublin. Then
he crossed over to Manchester, where he arrived but a few weeks
previous to the date of his accidental arrest in Oak-street.
The arrest of Colonel Kelly and his aide-de-camp, as the English papers
soon learned to describe Deasey, was hailed by the government with
the deepest satisfaction. For years they had seen their hosts of spies,
detectives, and informers foiled and outwitted by this daring
conspirator, whose position in the Fenian ranks they perfectly
understood; they had seen their traps evaded, their bribes spurned, and
their plans defeated at every turn; they knew, too, that Kelly's success
in escaping capture was filling his associates with pride and exultation;
and now at last they found the man whose apprehension they so
anxiously desired a captive in their grasp. On the other hand, the arrests
in Oak-street were felt to be a crushing blow to a failing cause by the
Fenian circles in Manchester. They saw that Kelly's capture would
dishearten every section of the organization; they knew that the broad
meaning of the occurrence was, that another Irish rebel had fallen into
the clutches of the British government, and was about to be added to
the long list of their political victims. It was felt by the Irish in
Manchester, that to abandon the prisoners helplessly to their fate would
be regarded as an act of submission to the laws which rendered
patriotism a crime, and as an acceptance of the policy which left Ireland
trampled, bleeding, and impoverished. There were hot spirits amongst
the Irish colony that dwelt in the great industrial capital, which revolted
from such a conclusion, and there were warm, impulsive hearts which
swelled with a firm resolution to change the triumph of their British
adversaries into disappointment and consternation. The time has not yet
come when anything like a description of the midnight meetings and
secret councils which followed the arrest of Colonel Kelly in
Manchester can be written; enough may be gathered, however, from the
result, to show that the plans of the conspirators were cleverly
conceived and ably digested.
On Wednesday, September 18th, Colonel Kelly and his companion

were a second time placed in the dock of the Manchester Police Office.
There is reason to believe that means had previously been found of
acquainting them with the plans of their friends outside, but this
hypothesis is not necessary to explain the coolness and sang froid with
which they listened to the proceedings before the magistrate. Hardly
had the prisoners been put forward, when the Chief Inspector of the
Manchester Detective Force interposed. They were both, he said,
connected with the Fenian rising, and warrants were out against them
for treason-felony. "Williams," he added, with a triumphant air, "is
Colonel Kelly, and Whyte, his confederate, is Captain Deasey." He
asked that they might again be remanded, an application which was
immediately granted. The prisoners, who imperturbably bowed to the
detective, as he identified them, smilingly quitted the dock, and were
given in charge to Police Sergeant Charles Brett, whose duty it was to
convey them to the borough gaol.
The van used for the conveyance of prisoners between the police office
and the gaol was one of the ordinary long black boxes on wheels, dimly
lit by a grating in the door and a couple of ventilators in the roof. It was
divided interiorly into a row of small cells at either side, and a passage
running the length of the van between; and the practice was, to lock
each prisoner into a separate cell, Brett sitting in charge on a seat in the
passage, near the door. The van was driven by a policeman; another
usually sat beside the driver on the box; the whole escort thus
consisting of three men, carrying no other arms than their staves; but it
was felt that on the present occasion a stronger escort might be
necessary. The magistrates well knew that Kelly and Deasey had
numerous sympathisers amongst the Irish residents in Manchester, and
their apprehensions were quickened by the receipt of a telegram from
Dublin Castle, and another from the Home Office in London, warning
them that a plot was on foot for the liberation of the prisoners. The
magistrates doubted the truth of the information, but they took
precautions, nevertheless, for the frustration of any such enterprise.
Kelly and Deasey were both handcuffed, and locked in separate
compartments of the van; and, instead of three