Office of the Historian

Mr. Adams to Lord Stanley

Legation of the United States, London, December 27, 1866.

My Lord: I have the honor to ask the attention of her Majesty’s government to a case of alleged hardship which has been reported to the State Department at Washington, and which is deemed by it of sufficient importance to require that the particulars should be laid before your lordship.

It would appear from a report drawn by the consul of the United States at Kingston, in Jamaica, and transmitted to the proper authorities at Washington more than a year ago, that John Willis Menard, claiming to be a citizen of the United States, but resident in the parish of St. David’s, in that island, was, on or about the 27th of October, 1885, without warrant or complaint under oath, seized by order of the authorities, in a district not under martial law, was conveyed by force into a portion of the county of Surry, then under martial law, and was there put into close confinement, no charges being exhibited against him, until the 4th of November, when he was banished from the island, by virtue of a simple order issued by the governor.

The consul, after investigating the circumstances attending this case, reports that he can find no evidence of any offence committed by Mr. Menard, nor any reasonable ground for suspecting him to have been implicated in illegal transactions or designs of any kind. So peremptory was the order that Mr. Menard was compelled to leave behind him a wife in destitute circumstances, who was soon afterwards delivered of a child, but whom he was not permitted to visit, as well as to appeal to the consul to provide for him the means of immediate transportation to the United States.

I am instructed by my government to communicate these facts as they have been reported tout; and further, to ask your lordship the favor to cause the proper investigation to be instituted, in order that in the event of a confirmation of their accuracy such reparation may he made as would appear to her Majesty’s government to be reasonable and just.

I pray your lordship, &c., &c., &c.

CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS.

The Right Hon. Lord Stanley, &c., &c., &c.