No. 33.
Earl Granville to Mr. Lowell.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 27th instant, informing me of the directions that have been given both by the President of the United States and by the Secretary of State, upon the application that has been made by Her Majesty’s minister at Washington in order to obtain for William Lane, a British subject, who is detained in prison at Detroit, a judicial hearing of his case, which the accused asserts he is unable to obtain.
In reply, I beg leave to express to you my thanks for the information you have conveyed to me respecting William Lane, the particulars of whose ease have not yet reached this department, and to assure you that the action of the President and of Mr. Frelinghuysen with regard to the representations made by Mr. West are cordially recognized by Her Majesty’s Government.
With reference to that portion of your letter in which allusion is made to the cases of those citizens of the United States who are now detained in prison in Ireland under the protection of person and property (Ireland) act, I greatly regret the delay which has arisen in replying to the representations you have already addressed to me on their behalf. This delay has unfortunately been unavoidable, and has only occurred from the necessity of communicating upon the subject with the responsible advisers of Her Majesty in Ireland. I trust, however, that I may very shortly be in a position to communicate to you the views of Her Majesty’s Government in this matter.
I have, &c.,