midday
An ' now I have nothin ' more to say except that if there 's anything on your mind that wants absolution , look to it . '' We must now pause for a moment to observe upon that which we suppose the sagacity of the reader has already discovered -- that is , the connection between what has occurred in Flanagan 's lodge , and the last dialogue which took place between Nogher and Connor O'Donovan . It is evident that Nogher had spirits at work for the purpose both of watching and contravening all Flanagan 's plans , and , if possible , of drawing him into some position which might justify the `` few friends , '' as he termed them , first in disgracing him , and afterwards of settling their account ultimately with a man whom they wished to blacken , as dangerous to the society of which they were members . The curse , however , of these secret confederacies , and indeed of ribbonism in general , is , that the savage principle of personal vengeance is transferred from the nocturnal assault , or the midday assassination , which may be directed against religious or political enemies , to the private bickerings and petty jealousies that must necessarily occur in a combination of ignorant and bigoted men , whose passions are guided by no principle but one of practical cruelty . This explains , as we have just put it , and justly put it , the incredible number of murders which are committed in this unhappy country , under the name of way-layings and midnight attacks , where the offence that caused them can not be traced by society at large , although it is an incontrovertible fact , that to all those who are connected with ribbonism , in its varied phases , it often happens that the projection of such murders is known for weeks before they are perpetrated . The wretched assassin who murders a man that has never offended him personally , and who suffers himself to become the instrument of executing the hatred which originates from a principle of general enmity again a class , will not be likely , once his hands are stained with blood , to spare any one who may , by direct personal injury , incur his resentment . Every such offence , where secret societies are concerned , is made a matter of personal feeling and trial of strength between factions , and of course a similar spirit is superinduced among persons of the same creed and principles to that which actuates them against those who differ from them in politics and religion .