Charles Francis Adams, Esq., &c., &c., &c.
Mr. Rogers to Mr. Seward
Law Office of James J. Rogers,
No. 10 Wall street, New
York,
May 18, 1867.
Sir: I have the honor to call your
attention to my letter of the 13th instant, the receipt of which you
kindly acknowledged on the 15th instant. In that communication I
stated that the proofs of the birth and citizenship of William
Jackson, otherwise John McCafferty, now or lately imprisoned in
Mountjoy prison, at or near Dublin, Ireland, were expected by me
from McCaffrey’s birth-place, Sandusky city, Ohio.
On Thursday of this week I received from Ireland a copy of a
newspaper called the “Freeman’s Journal,” published at Dublin, May
3, 1867, in which, among other reports of the proceedings on the
trial of McCafferty, the following appears, viz:
“THE FENIAN TRIALS—THE SPECIAL COMMISSION—TRIAL OF
CAPTAIN M’CAFFERTY.
“At the sitting of the court yesterday morning at 10 o’clock, the
prisoner, John McCafferty, having been placed at the bar, was sworn
as to the contents of an affidavit on which to ground a motion to
have his trial postponed.
“Mr. Butt then said: My lords, I appear on
behalf of the prisoner at the bar to apply to your lordships to
postpone this trial, and I do so on the following affidavit:
[Counsel then read the affidavit made by the prisoner, from which it
appeared that he was a natural-born citizen of the United States of
America, and that he had been indicted at the last special
commission for the county of Cork, and that on that occasion the
jury who tried him was composed half of foreigners. For the purposes
of that trial he handed to his attorney, who appeared for him at
Cork, certain official documents of the republic of the United
States authenticating the fact of his having been a natural-born
citizen of America.] He had applied for those papers, and they had
not been found. He now wished for time to obtain those papers for
the purpose of showing that he was a natural-born citizen of the
United States. At the trial in Cork it was admitted by the Crown
that the prisoner was a natural-born citizen, and of this fact he
believed one of their lordships had judicial notice. He [Mr. Butt]
need scarcely tell their lordships that it would make a very great
difference on his trial to show that he was a natural-born citizen
of the United States.
“The Chief Justice. In treason?
“Mr. Butt. Yes, my lord; unless he were
found guilty of having committed some overt act in this country he
could not be found guilty of high treason.
“Mr. Justice Fitzgerald said he believed
that was the ground on which he was committed.
“Mr. Butt then asked their lordships to
adjourn this trial to the last in the commission, in order that in
the mean time an application might be made to the American
ambassador in London for the required evidence as to birth.
“The Attorney General said he was quite
prepared to relieve his learned friend of any difficulty by
admitting for the purposes of this trial, whether the fact was so or
not, that the prisoner was an alien and a natural-born citizen of
the United States of America.
“Mr. Butt. That my lords, was the object of
this application.
“Justice Fitzgerald stated that he was
aware that on the trial of the prisoner in Cork it was admitted by
the Crown that he was born at the place named.
“Mr. Smarts the deputy clerk of the Crown, having called over the
long panel, informed the prisoner that he was now put upon trial for
his life on a charge of high treason, and of his right to challenge
the jurors.”
It is presumed that the admission thus made by the government of
Great Britain through their attorney general, and the judicial
notice taken of the fact by Justice Fitzgerald, of
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the court by which McCafferty was about
to be tried, will render any further efforts on his part, or on that
of his friends, towards obtaining additional proof of his birth and
citizenship in the United States, unnecessary, and that the fact
will be accepted by the American government as true.
The case, then, so far as the fact of McCaffrey’s American
citizenship and his right to call upon the American government for
protection and redress are concerned, is complete. He therefore
makes this demand of the American government, in order that he may
be released from imprisonment and permitted to travel throughout the
British dominions wheresoever an American citizen may travel by
virtue of the law of nations and existing treaties. I feel assured,
from your letter of the 15th instant, that his case will receive
immediate attention, and I feel assured further that the attention
will be commensurate with the high position which you occupy so
ably, and commensurate with the proud dignity of American
citizenship.
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JAMES J. ROGERS, Attorney, &c.
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State.
