about two o’clock in the morning
Whatever censure may be attached to any portion of the career of the founders of Fenianism , after the organization had become a recognized power on both sides of the Atlantic , we can not divest ourselves of the settled impression , that the men who were mainly instrumental in calling it into existence and sustaining its infancy , were actuated by the purest motives . To be sure , Fenianism can scarcely be said to be the embodiment of a new idea , or the exponent of new principles ; but , then , there was a masterly grouping of energies and sentiments in connection with it , which possessed the merit of originality , and which tended so largely , not only to popularize it , but to give it a foothold on every Irish national hearthstone . In the selection of the name by which the organization was to be distinguished , there was a clearness of judgment as well as a thorough acquaintance with the necessities of the case , that can not fail to strike any impartial observer . Had the Brotherhood been organized under any commonplace appelation , or under any of the various names that had characterized the previous revolutionary societies of Ireland , the probability is , it would have long since fallen into line with those convivial associations , which content themselves with an annual exposition of the grievances of Ireland , over the short leg of a turkey , a `` bumper of Burgundy , '' and that roar of lip artillery , against the usurper , which dies away in a few maudlin hiccups , about two o'clock in the morning , to be revived only at the expiration of another twelve months . Under the burden of any commonplace name , such , we say , might have been the fate of the organization ere this ; and so we regard the knowledge and genius which obviated the possibility or rather the probability of failure in this relation , as entitled to prominent consideration and respect . To the superficial observer , this may appear of very little moment in connection with a subject of such magnitude ; but let it be understood , that we are influenced by seeming trifles and the surface of things to an extent far greater than we ourselves are willing to confess . Notwithstanding the oft repeated query , `` what 's in a name ? ''