Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the Second Session of the Fortieth Congress
Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward
Sir: I have the honor to transmit a copy of the Dublin Evening Post of yesterday, containing a further report of the proceedings in the case of John Warren, now on trial for treason-felony at Dublin.
After accepting the offer of assistance by counsel in his defence, it appears that Captain Warren has preferred to attempt to raise a question of citizenship in connection with a demand for a jury composed one-half of aliens, under the provisions of the common law de medietate linguce. It is evident enough that he expects by this to effect the object so long desired by parties connected with these movements in Ireland, of raising a difficulty between the two countries on the question of the right of expatriation.
The claim of a jury of half foreigners appears to rest entirely upon the special provisions of the English law, and is stated to be recognized nowhere else. I cannot find that it is admitted in the United States federal courts. Indeed, from the very limited authorities within the control of this legation, I find that the service of an alien at all on a jury, if taken notice of and challenged in season, has been rejected as inadmissible. Hence it does not seem as if any question could be raised, by this proceeding, on the ground of international law. It seems to be a privilege which the courts of Great Britain may be expected in courtesy to concede, but the refusal of which does not constitute a ground for reclamation as a wrong done. Captain Warren seems to have overlooked this important distinction, which would appear to render the other question, whether he be an alien or not, of secondary interest, at least in his own case, compared to his defence.
The first effect of this proceeding is that Captain Warren is deprived of the assistance which he might have had, and disabled from taking as much advantages [Page 166] as he could of any legal defects in the prosecution. I am not advised of the course proposed to be taken by Colonel Nagle.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D, C.
The Fenian trials.
COMMISSION COURT—THIS DAY.
The lord chief baron and Mr. Justice Keogh took their seats on the bench shortly after 10 o’clock this morning, and proceeded with the trial of Colonel John Warren. A large number of policemen were stationed in the court, but very few persons were in the gallery. As on the previous days, the Fenian prisoners were conveyed to the court-house in the prison van, guarded by a troop of dragoons and an escort of mounted police.
The prisoners being put forward and the jury having answered to their names, Daniel Buckley was sworn and examined, and deposed as follows: I was born in Ireland; I am 25 years of age; I was born in Munster; shortly after my birth my parents emigrated to America; I remember being in New York when very young; I enlisted in the northern army in 1861; I served through the American war, and I left the service in August, 1865; I became for a time a Fenian after leaving the army; I pledged myself not to divulge the objects for which the organization was established, namely, to revolutionize Ireland and change the govern-men, by making Ireland a republic; I paid subscriptions at the rate of tenpence a week for a year or more; last year I joined an expedition; I went with other members to the State of Maine; I came back again; in February of this year I was introduced in New York to Colonel James Kelly; he was at that time the head of the military department in New York; Kelly told me of an expedition, but he did not tell me when it was to start; it was a Fenian expedition, and I agreed to join it; I met Kelly frequently at the headquarters in New York; I took an oath that I would not divulge the secrets of the expedition; I went to a house in East Broadway, for which I received an intimation from Colonel Kelly through John Hogan; I was to meet others in connection with the expedition; that was on the 12th of April in the present year; I was told to follow others to the foot of Canal street in New York; I was not told what I was to do there; I went to the place, and met those whom I had parted with in East Broadway, coming in ones, twos, and threes; I had met about forty persons in East Broadway; I had no baggage with me; some of the others had baggage; Canal street opens on the river; when we get there we went on board one of the steamers; the steamer then left the quay and went to the outer bay of New York, a distance of fifteen or twenty miles; we remained there from the 12th until the 13th of April, and all that time we stopped on board the steamer; James Kelly and John Hogan had spoken of a vessel which was to convey arms; the vessel not appearing, we intended going back to New York; we met on the way a two-masted vessel, and we steamed close to her and jumped on board; she was called the Jacknell Packet; about four hours after our going on board she set sail; she was not very well rigged, and her crew consisted of four sailors, two officers, a cook, and a boy, besides the captain; I learned that we took the course usually pursued by West Indiamen, in order to avoid capture; I don’t recollect seeing any colors, but during the voyage she hoisted English colors, especially when hailing vessels; the West Indian tack was changed after the 14th, and on the 15th we pursued the ordinary European tack, but a little more south; we continued that tack; a man named General James E. Kerrigan was in command of the expedition; he had been a colonel in the American army; I knew him as a congressman of the United States of America; I did not know he was connected with the expedition until I got on board; I obtained one commission in New York from Colonel Kelly, and another on board from General James Kerrigan; I threw one of them away, and the other I did not bring with me; I got the rank of captain; there were others—Colonel Nagle, Colonel Warren, Colonel Taylor, Colonel Prendergast, Colonel Cecilian, Colonel Jerein, Colonel Doherty, Captain Costello, Captain Greene, Captain W. Simmons, Captain Kane, Captain Leonard; Lieutenants Fitzgibbons, Roche, William C. Nugent, James Lawless, Cade, alias Murray, L. Doyle, Daniel Lee, Thomas Fernan, Patrick Nugent, James Coffey; there were more whom I don’t recollect; I got my commission about an hour after getting on board the vessel: I saw Kerrigan giving commissions to other parties; I did not see the prisoner getting his commission; my commission was signed by Colonel Kelly and by Captain Hogan; its contents were: “To all whom it may concern, greeting: We by these presents do appoint (name) in the army of the Fenian Brotherhood;” it was in print, and on paper; nothing happened until Easter Sunday, and then the green flag with the sunburst was hoisted before noon; at its hoisting there was a salute fired, after which the order delivered to Kavanagh (captain) to land [Page 167] the arms in Ireland was read; the order was signed by Captain Powell and Colonel Kelly; the arms were to be landed if possible at Sligo, or wherever else convenient; the vessel also received a new title—“Erin’s Hope;” she was christened by Kavanagh; the officers were present when the order was being read and the vessel christened; Warren was there; we had arms of different kinds; we had Spencer repeating rifles, seven-shooters; we had Enfield and Austrian rifles; we had some breech-loading rifles; those were the larger arms; we also had revolvers; the arms were packed in large boxes; the boxes were put between decks; the vessel was well laden, and was reasonably deep in the water; she had no other cargo; we had some ammunition made up in cartridges which were not carefully packed; there were about a million and a half rounds of ammunition: I should say there were some 5,000 stand of arms on board; there were three pieces of artillery; they were fired as a salute when the green flag was hoisted; they threw three-pound shot or shell; they had no carriages; the cases of arms were opened during the voyage, and the arms were placed so that they could be easily distributed; they were then rearranged in the same boxes; it was stated in New York that the arms were to be landed in Ireland for the purpose of distribution; I had never seen the prisoner until I went on board the brig; there was a discussion on board to the effect that the arms were to be given to men in Sligo to revolutionize the province of Connaught; when we left New York, Colonel Prendergast said we were sailing in a vessel which had no clearing papers; this fact nearly occasioned a mutiny on board; General Kerrigan took Prendergast’s command from him on that account; he afterwards returned it, after two or three weeks; we sighted land in the month of May; we took a pilot on beard named Gallagher; he came out to meet us; in fact, he followed us for hours; that was two miles from land; in the bay of Sligo another person came on board and was received by Captain Kavanagh; he went on the quarter-deck with Kavanagh, and then they went to the cabin, where all the colonels were assembled; I heard from Costello that this man’s name was Burke; he remained on board about an hour; it was dusk when he came on board; after an hour he went on shore in company with Colonel Devin, Colonel Phelan, and Colonel Prendergast; two others of the party had also landed—Colonel Doherty and a man named Shea; they went to Sligo very early in the evening—about an hour and a half before Burke came on board; Gallagher was taken down to the cabin by the captain, and I was about three feet from them; I was at the door leading to the cabin between decks; Gallagher and Kavanagh went into the cabin; the colonels were also there; Warren and Nagle were there, and I heard them conversing; I heard the pilot and Kavanagh talking; the pilot made an excuse for not taking the Fenian oath; he said he was too old; I also heard the pilot take an oath, which was administered to him by Colonel Nagle; the oath was that he would not divulge what the cargo consisted of; the pilot then went on deck; Doherty and Shea did not return; Colonels Prendergast, Phelan, and Devin did not return either; the day on which Burke came on board a loaded pistol exploded in my hand; I was cleaning it; James Coffey, alias Nowlan, and John Connor were wounded; Connor was wounded badly in the ankle, and Nowlan was wounded in the leg: those two men went ashore in company with a man named Pat. Nugent; Gallagher went also in the same boat with those three men; when the boat left the ship we were near the land; next day a council was held in the cabin; all the officers were present; General Kerrigan stated that it was impossible to attack the town of Sligo; that the Fenians were quiet lately; before Burke came on board it had been determined to attack the town of Sligo, but on his report this resolution was changed; Warren was present at this council; Kerrigan also stated that Burke had ordered the captain to sail for Cork; the vessel then put to sea; the council at which it was determined to attack the town of Sligo was held before the agent came on board; all the officers were present; after putting to sea the vessel steered for Cork, and we arrived at a place called Ballimore, in Cork; before arriving we held a council, at which all were present except the crew, General Kerrigan and Colonel Warren, who did not acquiesce in the summoning of the council; the result of the council was that they were to turn the ship’s head towards the western islands in order to reprovision her; our provisions were short at that time; the captain was not at the council; there were notes taken at it by Nagle, by Costello, by myself; I threw my notes away before I came ashore; as the expedition had failed, it was debated whether it would be better to return to the United States and lay before the Irish the experience they had gained, or land in Ireland; the former course was agreed to; I communicated this resolve to the captain in the after part of the vessel; that resolution was changed; when I presented Captain Kavanagh with a docket exonerating him from any blame in the matter, he turned around and asked if they would not land anywhere he might select; it was agreed that they would land anywhere he chose; Kerrigan and Warren were made acquainted with the first resolution of the council; they were in the cabin while the council was being held on deck; the determination of the council was drawn up in writing and signed by the officers; Warren signed it; this document is in the possession of Captain Kavanagh, in New-York; Kavanagh proposed to rescind this resolution, and Warren was agreeable to that course; we landed in Ireland two or three days after; we landed in a fishing boat within a mile or two of Dungarvan; it was on the 1st day of June, in the forenoon; about twenty were landed with us; the crew of the smack consisted of several men; we got on board the smack about four miles from shore; she beached in three and a half feet of water; we had to jump into the water; we were up to our arm-pits; when we landed I went with Costello [Page 168] and Lawless, and shortly afterwards I was arrested; there were two magistrates present when I was arrested, one of whom I now recognize in court—Mr. Fitzgerald; the Costello who was with me at this time was a different man from he who introduced me to Colonel Kelly.
Five other prisoners were then put forward.
Examination resumed:
I see those five men; they are Colonel Nagle, Colonel Warren, Captain Costello, Patrick Nugent, James Coffey, alias Nowlan, and Lieutenant Fitzgibbon; all the prisoners were brought up to Dublin, excepting five.
The chief baron asked the prisoner if he wished to ask the witness any questions.
The prisoner said he did not.
The chief baron said he had some questions to ask the witness, but he would defer them for the present.
The court then adjourned for a short time.
SECOND EDITION.
On the reassembling of the court, Michael Gallagher was examined by Sergeant Barry:
I am a pilot in Donegal; I recollect in May last seeing a brigantine coming into Sligo bay; it was in the evening; I was on shore at the time; I saw her up to six o’clock that evening, and next morning about eight o’clock; she was then leaving Sligo bay and coming towards Donegal; she was then about six miles off; I then boarded her in a small boat, about 12 o’clock noon; I had six men with me; I went on board myself, and saw a man on the quarter-deck, who told me he was from Spain bound for Glasgow, with a light cargo; he also said he landed the captain the night before at Sligo to get provisions; he asked me if I was the pilot, and on saying I was he gave me charge of the vessel, I agreeing to pilot her for two guineas; he then called me down to the cabin; I went down and I found some men there; I saw that man there, (pointing to the prisoner;) there was another man there whom I would know; he asked me if I was a Fenian, and I said not; the man in charge of the ship then said “swear him;” I said, for God’s sake don’t swear me, for 1 have a large family; the man in command then took a loaded pistol and told me to take the book; I had to take it and swear as he told me. (Colonel Nagle was put forward.) That is the man who handed me the book and tendered the oath; I repeated what he said; I swore that I would tell no one of what I had seen, and that if I noticed anything in the ship I would not report it; neither was I to give a description of the vessel; one of the men gave me five or six shillings, when I spoke about my wife and family; I then went on deck and took charge of the vessel; the hatches were shut down and there were only six or seven men on deck; when I came on deck my crew went away in their own boat; I sailed the vessel to Mullaghmore, keeping within about a half a mile of shore; this is in Donegal bay on the Sligo side; I then steered for St. John’s Point, on the Donegal side; when I saw that the coast guards did not come out I let the vessel drop down to Killybegs; I then learned that it was near six, and that I was to take the vessai to meet the captain; I then took the vessel to Streedagh and there was no sight of the captain; about ten o’clock I saw a hooker coming down; she came astern of the ship, and some conversation took place between the men in charge of the two vessels; the man in charge of our vessel took the man commanding the hooker on board the ship and they went down to the cabin; they then came up on deck, and I asked was that the captain; he told me to mind my own busines and watch the vessel; I said I would watch the vessel no longer, and I went to the stern and jumped into the boat; the man in charge told me to come on board again, and said that he had two wounded men to send ashore; I forgot to state that I heard of the men being wounded two hours after I went on board; I was told that they had a fight; I was dragged up on board the brig, and I remained on board till one o’clock in the morning, and then I was told to put the vessel in towards land in order to land the two wounded men; I did so, and the two wounded men were sent ashore in a boat, besides three others and myself; the boat struck on the sand, and one of the wounded men was carried up to the beach; I then went away. (James Coffee, alias Nolan, and Patrick Nugent were then put forward.) Those are the men who were wounded.
The Chief Baron (to the prisoner.) Do you wish to ask the witness any questions?
Prisoner. For the sake of law and justice, I wish to call your lordship’s attention to this man’s information given in May last and his evidence now; there are great discrepancies, and his evidence is a tissue of perjury and falsehood.
The Chief Baron. We shall examine the informations, and question the witness on those matters in which the discrepancies occur.
The court again adjourned; and, on reassembling,
Michael Gallagher, the pilot, was recalled.
The chief baron asked the prisoner if he wished to have the whole of the evidence read, or only that portion of it which seemed to be material.
The prisoner said that, merely for the sake of justice, he would wish his lordship to question the witness as to that portion which seemed material.
[Page 169]The chief baron then read a portion of the witness’s information, in which he stated that he told all he knew to the coastguardsman, and that he knew nothing more about the vessel.
The witness said that he swore that to the magistrate in order that he might not break the oath that he took in the cabin.
The prisoner said that the witness, in his information, swore that he did not know what the cargo of the vessel was, and in his evidence now he swore that the vessel contained a cargo of fruit.
In reply to the chief baron, the witness said that he did not state to the magistrate that the vessel contained a cargo of fruit.
The Chief Baron. In the information of May the discrepancies occur, but perhaps they may be rectified in the informations of June and October.
The Prisoner. In the information of June he stated that he did not ask the name of the captain, nor did he learn it; and in that of October he says, “I asked the captain’s name, and was not told it.”
The chief baron asked the witness how he could reconcile these statements.
The witness, in reply, stated that it might have been put down in such a style, but, as he could not read, he was not aware of it.
The prisoner pointed out other discrepancies in the witness’s informations, and especially where the prisoner, after leaving the vessel, did not say a word to the coast guards about the vessel.
The witness said he did tell the coast guards.
The Prisoner. That man is a perjurer, and ought to be in the dock where I now stand.
The Chief Baron. You are not at liberty now to say that.
The prisoner said the witness was in the same prison with him, and, after being liberated, was again brought to the prison to identify him. He submitted that the whole story was concocted, and that those men had not a foot to stand on. He also said, “Ignoring the jurisdiction of the court, I must thank your lordship for your kindness.”
The Chief Baron. You are under no obligation to me; I am simply doing my duty to the Crown.
Daniel Coffey was then called, and, on coming on the table, he said he should refuse to give evidence, on the ground that it would criminate himself.
The chief baron said that he should be sworn, and that then he was not bound to answer any question that might criminate himself.
The prisoner protested against forcing the witness to give evidence.
Mr. Longfield (to the witness.) Did you become a Fenian in America? I decline to answer the question. Did you embark on board the Jackmel ? I decline to answer. Were you wounded at any time? I decline to answer.
The chief baron said the questions could not be pressed.
Mr. Longfield refused to question the witness any further, and he was told to leave the table.
John Hockey was the next witness called.
The prisoner stated that the witness was present in court during the whole of Gallagher’s examination.
The chief baron said he should not have been present; it was usual for Crown witnesses not to remain in court while evidence was being given.
The witness was examined by Mr. Murphy, Queen’s counsel, and merely stated that he was the third man that went on board the vessel from the boat, and that he went to the galley to warm himself. He knew nothing about the vessel or her cargo.
The prisoner refused to ask the witness any questions.
Daniel Jones was next examined, and stated that he brought a car to Streedagh and conveyed the wounded men to the infirmary.
Joseph Clarke, a coast guard, was examined, and deposed that he arrested a man on the shore and brought him to the coast-guard station. He also landed the two wounded men.
On three of the prisoners being put forward, the witness identified Nugent as being the man he took into custody.
Examination resumed: “I saw a vessel on the day named, in the offing; she was a brigantine; she was two miles off the Streedagh station. I had a conversation with Gallagher in the morning; I asked him who he was; he said he was a pilot; he said he was after landing from the brigantine, and that she was a Spanish vessel bound for Glasgow; he said he did not know what cargo she had. He was out fishing, and he boarded her; he was asked, he said, to take her to Killybegs; he took her to Streedagh, and then the captain said they would land the pilot and proceed to Glasgow themselves. He said nothing more.”
Bernard Burke, a coast guard, on being sworn, said he was on duty in Streedagh on the morning of the 25th of May last. He saw a horse and cart, and he went after them; it was going in the direction of where the wounded men were found; the man who had charge of the cart was named Michael Bruen, and the civilian was named Jones. I asked the wounded men who they were. There were a number of foot-tracks in the sand to the water’s edge. Both men had bandages on them; I got them conveyed to the watch-house. Identifies Coffey as one of the wounded men.] The evening before I saw a brigantine coming over from the Donegal shore; she had her sails set.
The witness was under examination when we went to press.