No. 17.
Mr. Lowell
to Earl Granville.
London, December 23, 1881. (Received December 24.)
My Lord: I have received to-day from Mr. Blaine a dispatch stating that Mr. P. C. O’Connor, of Baltimore, Md., has informed the Department of State that his brother, Mr. Denis H. O’Connor, a naturalized American citizen, has, without cause, been arrested and imprisoned by the British authorities in Ireland on suspicion of being in sympathy with the Irish National Land League.
Mr. Blaine incloses a copy of the certificate of the naturalization of Denis H. O’Connor, and also of a letter from P. C. O’Connor above mentioned, by which it appears that the said Denis went to Ireland about four years ago, and engaged in general drapery business in Charleville, in the county of Cork, under the firm name of O’Connor and Malony, and in Kilmallock, Limerick County, under the firm name of D. H. O’Connor and Co. It is further stated that his incarceration, if continued, may prove fatal, as his health is not good, and may also injure him financially, as he is at the head of the two business establishments, with all his means at present in the hands of strange clerks and salesmen.
Under these circumstances, Mr. Blaine instructs me to bring this subject to the attention of your lordship, with the request that I may be informed as to the grounds upon which Mr. O’Connor was arrested and imprisoned.
I have, &c.,