Meanwhile another movement was going on, which seems to have been at first wholly distinct from the Fenian conspiracy—­the constitutional agitation for Home Rule or Repeal, led by Isaac Butt.  It commenced its Parliamentary action in 1874; but was ere long broken up by the more violent spirits within its own ranks.  As had so frequently happened in similar movements in Ireland, France and elsewhere, the moderate men were thrust aside, and the extremists carried all before them.  Fenianism, though apparently crushed in Ireland, continued to flourish in America.  Michael Davitt, who had been a prominent member both of the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood and of the Fenian Society, had been convicted of treason felony, and sentenced to penal servitude.  On his release in 1877, he was received as a hero, and amongst those who took part in the welcome to him were C.S.  Parnell, J.G.  Biggar, J. Carey, D. Curley and J. Brady.  He went to America and there matured the plan of his operations on the lines laid down by Lalor, which he proceeded to carry out in Ireland in 1879 by means of a Society which was at first called the “Land League” but which has since been known by various other names.  Amongst his allies were J. Devoy, O’Donovan Rossa, and Patrick Ford.  Devoy and Rossa took an active part in establishing the Skirmishing Fund, which was subscribed for the purpose of levying war on England with dynamite.  Rossa afterwards publicly boasted that he had placed an infernal machine onboard H.M.S.  “Dottrell,” and had sent it and all its crew to the bottom of the ocean.  As a reward for his patriotic conduct he was some years later granted a pension by the County Council of Cork, payable out of the rates.  Ford was the ablest and most powerful of the number, for by means of his paper—­the Irish World—­he collected vast sums for the Parliamentary party.  In this paper he strongly advocated the use of dynamite as a blessed agent which should be availed of by the Irish people in their holy war; and elaborated a scheme for setting fire to London in fifty places on a windy night.  After D. Curley and J. Brady had been hanged for the murder of Lord Frederick Cavendish and Mr. Burke, he collected money for a testimonial to them as heroes, and prayed that God would send Ireland more men with hearts like that of J. Brady.  Mr. Redmond has recently described him as “the grand old veteran, who through his newspaper has done more for the last thirty or forty years for Ireland than almost any man alive”; Mr. T.P.  O’Connor has congratulated him on the great work he is doing for Ireland; and Mr. Devlin has eulogized him for “the brilliancy in the exposition of the principles inculcated in our programme.”