Robert Emmet T. A. L. and B. Society: William Moran, president. James Driscoll, vice-president. Martin Ryan, recording secretary. On behalf of Division No. 1, Ancient Order of Hibernians, and 300 men of Fall River, Mass.: John McCarty, president. Thomas Madden, vice-president. John J. Cummings, recording secretary. John Stanton, financial secretary. On behalf of Division No. 3, Ancient Order of Hibernians, of Fall River, Mass.: My LORD: I have the honor to acquaint you that I have received an application to intercede on behalf of Mr. Patrick Slattery, who is confined in Limerick County jail, under the protection of person and property act (Ireland), and who incloses a certificate of his naturalization as a citizen of the United States on the 17th December, 1872, which seems to be in proper form. I have already communicated to your lordship a telegram which I received on the 4th March last, in which I was directed to say that the President hoped the lord-lieutenant of Ireland would be instructed to exercise the powers intrusted to him by the first section of the act in question, to order early trials in the cases of the suspects mentioned in that telegram, and in all other cases in which Americans might be arrested. I beg, therefore, that the President's request may be granted in the case of Mr. Slattery, who states that he has been imprisoned since the 25th July last. I have, &c., No. 41. Earl Granville to Mr. West. J. R. LOWELL. FOREIGN OFFICE, April 5, 1882. SIR: I transmit herewith, for your information, a copy of a letter which I have received from the United States minister in London, pressing for the early trial of Mr. Patrick Slattery, a naturalized citizen of the United States, who is imprisoned in Limerick County jail, under the protection of person and property (Ireland) act, 1831.* I am, &c., No. 42. Earl Granville to Mr Lowell. GRANVILLE. FOREIGN OFFICE, April 5, 1882. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 3d instant, requesting that Mr. Patrick Slattery, a naturalized citizen of the United States, who is detained in Limerick County jail, under the protection of person and property (Ireland) act, 1881, may be brought to trial at an early date. In reply, I have the honor to state to you that I have referred this matter to the proper department of Her Majesty's Government. I have, &c., * No. 40. GRANVILLE. No. 43. Earl Granville to Mr. West. FOREIGN OFFICE, April 6, 1882. (For the text of this note, see Document No. 1 accompanying the letter of the Secretary of State, ante, p. -.) No. 44. Mr. West to Earl Granville. WASHINGTON, March 28, 1882. (Received April 10.) My LORD: I have the honor to inclose herewith to your lordship printed copies of the message of the President to the Senate, transmitting papers relating to the imprisonment of Daniel McSweeney in Ireland. I have, &c., L. S. SACKVILLE WEST. [Inclosure in No. 41.-Ex. Doc. No. 139.] FORTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION, SENATE. Message from the President of the United States, transmitting, in response to Senate resolution of the 9th instant, a report from the Secretary of State, with accompanying papers, relating to the alleged imprisonment by the British Government of Daniel McSweeney, a citizen of the United States. (Omitted.) No. 45. Mr. West to Earl Granville. [Extract.] WASHINGTON, March 28, 1882. (Received April 10.) I have the honor to inclose to your lordship herewith, copy of a letter from ore William Lane, an alleged British subject in prison at Detroit, Michigan, as well as copy of a note which in consequence I addressed to Mr. Frelinghuysen, requesting information as to the alleged statements made therein, and I have now the honor to inclose copy of the reply thereto. [Inclosure 1 in No. 45.] Mr. Lane to Mr. West. WAYNE COUNTY JAIL, Detroit, Mich., March 22, 1882. SIR: I am an Englishman, a native of Bristol, Gloucestershire, and claim your assistance under the following circumstances: On the 18th June last I was arrested on a charge of attempted murder, and have since then been held in jail awaiting trial, which I am utterly unable to obtain. I have been taken into court eight or nine times, and always remanded on some pretext or other. I can easily prove my innocence if I have half a chance, but as I have no relations and no money I cannot get it. I have written to judge, prosecuting attor ney, and the papers to demand the trial that I think I am entitled to, but this is such a free country that they do as they like, and do not like to give me one. A week ago I was in court and the judge promised to discharge me to-day if the prosecution would not go on with the case, but to-day I went down and was again remanded. I am 20 years of age, a printer by trade, and have been four years in this country, coming to New York in January, 1878. I have never even been arrested before, and always bore a good character. The holding of me so is contrary to the laws of Michigan, and grossly unjust any way. Will you please put a stop to this sort of thing as quickly as possible. If you write a line to the judge I think he will discharge me directly, and I would sooner it was done quietly, but anyway get me out of this. The judge's name is Chambers, Wayne circuit court, Detroit, Mich. Hoping to have an answer by return, I remain, &c., WILLIAM LANE. [Inclosure 2 in No. 45.] Mr. West to Mr. Frelinghuysen. WASHINGTON, March 24, 1882. SIR: I have the honor to state to you that information has reached me respecting the imprisonment of a British subject named William Lane, in Wayne County jail, Detroit, Mich., from which it would appear that the arrest took place on the 18th June last, and that since that date Lane has been held in jail awaiting trial, which he asserts he is unable to obtain. Under these circumstances I have recourse to your good offices, in order that inquiry may be made respecting this case. I have, &c., L. S. SACKVILLE WEST. [Inclosure 3 in No. 45.] Mr. Frelinghuysen to Mr. West. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, March 28, 1882. SIR: I had the honor to receive on the 25th instant your note of the 24th, in relation to the imprisonment at Detroit, Mich., of a British subject, named William Lane, who, it is stated, has been hitherto unable to obtain trial on the charge under which he has been held since the 18th June last. I immediately addressed a telegram to the attorney-general of the State of Michigan, acquainting him with the purport of your note, and expressing the desire of the President to learn the facts of the case, and to have the best exertions of the State authorities used to secure to Mr. Lane the early trial which he asserted he was unable to obtain. I am now in receipt of a telegram of yesterday's date from Mr. J. J. Van Riper, the attorney-general of Michigan, who, it seems, at once went from the capital of the State to Detroit, to investigate the case in person. The facts, as very fully reported by Mr. Van Riper, are as follows: William Lane, the accused, had formed an attachment for the wife of one George W. Allen, also a British subject. On the 16th June, 1881, Lane and Allen were out together in a boat. Lane prepared in a cup a drink which he represented to be lemon juice, but which contained a large quantity of morphine, and gave it to Allen, who swallowed the liquid. Violent vomiting ensued, which saved Allen's life, although his recovery was long despaired of, and he has not yet recovered from the effects of the poison. Lane was arrested on the following day, 17th June, 1881. He made a written confession, that he had poisoned Allen, adding that his intention was, when Allen should have become unconscious, to tip him out of the boat. He subsequently withdrew his confession saying that he did not know what he said or wrote. Mr. Van Riper has seen this written confession. Lane was arraigned for trial on the 29th September, 1881. Since that time repeated continuances have been had, but in every instance at the request of Lane's attorneys, and never on the application of the prosecution. The case is, however, now on trial; it was begun on Friday last, the 24th instant; was continued on Saturday, and was on trial yesterday. The State's attorney-general finds no blame attaching to the authori ties for the delay in bringing Lane to trial. The low state of Allen, who was suffering from the poison, prevented the case from being set down for trial earlier than the 29th September, 1881, in the absence of the principal witness, while since that date the dilatory motions, as before said, have come wholly from the side of the defense. I have acquainted Mr. Lowell by telegraph of the investigation ordered on receipt of your note and of its result, in order that her Her Majesty's Government may see the jealous watchfulness which this government is disposed to exercise when the inherent right of any accused person, and especially a subject of a friendly state, to a speedy trial on the charges preferred, is is question. I have, &c., No. 46. FRED'K. T. FRELINGIUYSEN. Mr. Lowell to Earl Granville. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, London, April 14, 1882. (Received April 15.) My LORD: I have the honor to acquaint you that I have received this morning two applications for my intervention from citizens of the United States who have been arrested under the protection of person and property act (Ireland) 1881. One of them is William Brophy, who sends his certificate of naturalization, and states that he was arrested on the 4th March last, and is confined in Naas jail. The other is John Leonard Gannon, who asserts that he was born at Hampton Hill, in the State of Connecticut, on the 13th December, 1852, and imprisoned in the jail at Galway on the 7th May, 1881, on suspicion of being one of an unlawful assembly. He says also that he knows nothing further of the charge against him or of his accuser. I have no information of the causes why Brophy was arrested, but I shall write to our consul at Dublin to ascertain what is stated in the warrant on this subject, and I may have occasion to address your lordship again in relation to it. In respect to the case of Mr. Gannon, his imprisonment has now continued for so long a period that I am sure your lordship will understand why I ask your attention to it with unusual earnestness. It is so contrary to the spirit of English as well as of American law to keep a man in prison for many months without any opportunity of confronting his accusers or of disproving the charges against him, that your lordship cannot be surprised at the great excitement which such cases as this of Mr. Gannon have occasioned in the United States, or at the instructions I have received from my government to ask respectfully that the accused parties may either be released or brought to trial. I beg leave to repeat this request in the cases of Mr. Brophy and Mr. Gannon, as well as of other American citizens who have been imprisoned in Ireland, some of them for long periods of time. I have, &c., No. 47. Mr. West to Earl Granville. J. R. LOWELL. WASHINGTON, April 4, 1882. (Received April 17.) My LORD: I have the honor to report to your lordship that a bill has been introduced into the Senate by Senator Morgan, of Alabama, to define the rights of American citizens in and when residing in foreign countries. It sets forth that the rights of American citizenship in foreign countries, which are required to be protected in the manner and by the means provided in section 2001 of the Revised Statutes, extend to and include the right to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, and the right to be exempt from domiciliary visits with out legal warrant, according to the forms of law of the country in which they are dwelling; and the right on demand of themselves or counsel to be informed of the nature and cause of any accusation against them, when they are under arrest or are imprisoned upon a suspicion, or accusation, or charge of being guilty of any crime or offense against the laws of such foreign country; and the right of trial in such cases within a reasonable time to be confronted with witnesses against them, to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in their favor, and to have counsel for their defense. This bill was read and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations. I have, &c., L. S. SACKVILLE WEST. No. 48. Earl Granville to Mr. Lowell. FOREIGN OFFICE, April 17, 1882. SIR: I have had the honor to receive your letter of the 14th instant, calling my attention to the cases of Messrs. William Brophy and John Leonard Gannon, and other citizens of the United States of America, who are imprisoned in Ireland under the protection of person and property (Ireland) act, 1881. In reply, I beg leave to state to you that I have caused your present application on behalf of these persons to be communicated to the proper department of Her Majesty's Government. I have, &c., GRANVILLE. No. 49. Earl Granville to Mr. Lowell. FOREIGN OFFICE, April 19, 1882. SIR: With reference to my letter of the 29th ultimo, respecting the case of Mr. James L. White, a naturalized American citizen, who has been in custody under the protection of person and property (Ireland) act, 1881, I have the honor now to state to you that I am informed that after causing careful inquiry to be made orders were given by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for the discharge of this prisoner. I have the honor further to observe, with reference to the last paragraph of your letter of the 28th ultimo, that his excellency has satisfied himself that there was no mistake whatever in the arrest of Mr. White, and that no undue severity was exercised toward him while in custody, but that, on the contrary, he was last month released on parole for ten days, on account of the illness of a relative. I have, &c., No. 50. Mr. West to Earl Granville. GRANVILLE. WASHINGTON, April 6, 1882. (Received April 24.) My LORD: At the request of the Secretary of State, I called upon him the day before yesterday, when he put into my hands a communication which he said he was about to make to the House of Representatives, and which, before doing so, he wished me to read, in order that it should not appear in print without my knowledge, as it related to what had passed between us respecting the Irish-American suspects. I thanked Mr. Frelinghuysen for his courtesy, and said that this communication would at all events evince the amicable spirit which animated the two governments. I have the honor to inclose to your lordship printed copies of this document as it was presented to the House of Representatives. I have, &c., L. S. SACKVILLE WEST. [Inclosure in No. 50.-Newspaper extract.] To the President: The Secretary of State, to whom was referred the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 31st January last, requesting the President "to obtain a list of all American citizens, naturalized or native-born, under arrest or imprisonment by authority of the British Government, with a statement of the cause or causes of such arrest and imprisonment, and especially such of said citizens as may have been thus arrested and imprisoned under the suspension of the habeas corpus in Ireland, and, if not incompatible with the public interest, that he communicate such information, when received, to this House, together with all correspondence now on file in the Department of State relating to any existing arrest and imprisonment of citizens as aforesaid," has the honor to inform the President, in part response to this request of |