No. 128.
Mr. Lowell to Mr. Frelinghuysen.
Legation of the United States,
London, July 10, 1882.
(Received July 24.)
No. 393.]
Sir: Referring to my telegram of the 20th of
May last, in which I stated that I had read your No. 366 to Lord
Granville and left a copy with him on the 18th of that month, I have the
honor to acquaint you that I have just received a letter from his
lordship in reply to that dispatch, a copy of which I herewith
inclose.
It will be observed that of the six alleged American citizens to which
you invited my attention in that dispatch on the 25th of April last,
Brophy has accepted his release on the condition proposed by the lord
lieutenant, and McInerny has also been released from custody.
The remaining four suspects still remain in prison, viz, O’Mahoney,
McSweeney, Slattery, and Gannon.
The certificate of naturalization which O’Mahoney produced to me
expressly stated that it was granted on the ground of his service in the
Navy, which was so clearly irregular that I do not consider him entitled
to the privileges of American citizenship.
In the lists of persons detained in prison June 5,1882, under the statute
44 Victoria, c. 4, a copy of which accompanied Lord Granville’s note,
and which I also inclose herewith, I do not find the names of any
persons who have been arrested under that act and who have applied to me
for protection excepting those mentioned in Lord Granville’s
communication.
It will be observed that the British Government do not entertain the
intention of bringing the four persons still remaining in prison to
trial.
I have, &c.,
[Inclosure in No. 393.]
Lord Granville
to Mr. Lowell.
Foreign Office, July 8, 1882.
Sir: Her Majesty’s Government have had
under consideration Mr. Frelinghuysen’s dispatch of the 25th of
April, a copy of which you were good enough to communicate to me on
the 18th of May, in which the Secretary of State has invited
attention to the cases of Messrs. O’Mahoney, McSweeney, McInerny,
Slattery, Brophy, and Gannon, who are stated to be American citizens
and have been detained in prison under the protection of person and
property (Ireland) act, 1881. I have now the honor to state to you
that I have been informed that in the case of five of these
prisoners, namely, O’Mahoney, McSweeney, McInerny, Slattery, and
Brophy, an order was issued by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland on the
24th of April last that they should be discharged from custody on
the terms of their leaving Ireland for America.
They all at the time refused to accede to these terms and were
consequently detained in custody. Brophy, however, subsequently
consented to go to America, and has been since released, and
McInerny has also been released from custody.
Some doubt existed at the time as to the claim set up by John Gannon
as an American citizen, but on being satisfied on this point later,
his excellency made the same order in his case as that made in the
case of the other five prisoners, viz, that he should be discharged
if he consented to leave Ireland for the United States; a permission
of which the prisoner has not availed himself.
Of the persons, therefore, on whose behalf application has been made
by the Government of the United States, four still remain in
custody, viz, O’Mahoney, McSweeney, Slattery, and Gannon.
In response to the desire expressed by the Government of the United
States to be furnished with information as to the causes of their
detention, I have the honor to forward herewith duplicate copies of
a paper which has been laid before Parliament, [Page 285] containing a list of all persons
detained in prison under statute 44 Vict., c. 4, in which are given
in a separate column the grounds stated for their arrest in the
warrant sunder which they are detained.
I beg leave to refer you to Nos. 4, 13, 27, and 74, in this list,
under which will be found the particulars laid before Parliament as
to the arrest of Messrs. O’Mahoney, McSweeney, Slattery, and
Gannon.
In conclusion I have the honor to state to you that at present Her
Majesty’s Government do not entertain the intention of bringing
these prisoners to trial.
I have, &c.,
