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you that Mr. Bancroft has ascertained that Mr. Bergen, who is an American citizen by birth, is an insurance broker, doing business in New York, that he came over to this country to see if he could find business at Liverpool, &c., and had already decided to return to America, when he was suddenly and unexpectedly arrested while on a visit to Dublin, and that Mr. Bancroft has been told by some of his countrymen, who saw Mr. Bergen in Ireland till a few hours before his arrest, that they could discover nothing about him that had the least aspect of fomenting discontent.

Under these circumstances, Mr. Bancroft writes to me that, while we would not interfere if Mr. Bergen were chargeable with any offences committed in Ireland, yet that, as we believe, he came here solely for business purposes, and was, at the time of his arrest, on the point of embarking for America, we cannot but hope the authorities in Ireland will offer no further obstruction to Mr. Bergen's return to his native land.

T. Redington, Esq.

I have, &c.

JOHN R. BRODHEAD.

SIR,

(3.)-Mr. Toucey to Mr. Bancroft.

Washington, September 4, 1848. HAVING been appointed Secretary of State ad interim, during the temporary absence of Mr. Buchanan, I am directed by the President to call your attention to the condition of those American citizens who have been arrested and held for trial under the charge of sedition or treason, for interference in the affairs of Ireland.

The department has no official knowledge of any such arrest or interference, nor any information on the subject, except such as is before the public. I am not, therefore, able to furnish you with a list of names, or to aid your inquiries; yet so much has transpired through the public journals as to induce the belief that such arrests have taken place, and to make it expedient that they should attract

some official notice.

If, upon inquiry, it shall be ascertained that any such arrests have occurred, it will be right, and the duty of the Government to see that the persons arrested have the full benefit of legal defence. And it may be, and in the present instance is, its duty also, to interpose its good offices in their behalf, beyond the strict limit of securing for them a full and fair trial.

It is the wish of the President, and he instructs you to urge upon the British Government the adoption of a magnanimous and merciful course towards these men, who have been implicated in the late disturbances in Ireland. The calamities which have recently befallen her starving population by the dispensation of Providence in the destruction of her crops, the close bonds of sympathy between them

and a large class who have removed and established themselves permanently in America, the national sympathy which has been extensively manifested in acts of charity and good will towards the Irish people, and the unsettled state of so large a portion of the civilized world, constitute a series of exciting causes so powerful as to render it hardly possible that an interference or outbreak to some extent should not have taken place.

But the power of the British Government is so great that it can well afford to be magnanimous. Perhaps no act on its part would have so happy an effect, or would be received by other nations with more universal approbation, than an act of general amnesty. While the Government of The United States disclaims any right to interfere on behalf of British subjects, it is at liberty to say that such an act, so far as it embraces the case of our own citizens, would be regarded with particular favour. And should an act of grace and pardon, extended to our own citizens, be deemed to carry along with it the necessity of similar favour to British subjects in Ireland, it is believed that that necessity would constitute no objection to the measure, but would redound to the honour of Great Britain in the estimation of the wise and good in all ages.

It is the desire of the President that this subject be presented to Her Majesty's Government with great delicacy, and pressed by all the considerations that may occur to you and appropriately belong to it. I am, &c.

G. Bancroft, Esq.

ISAAC TOUCEY.

(4.)-Mr. Bancroft to Viscount Palmerston.

MY LORD, 108, Eaton Square, September 6, 1848. I DESIRE to bring to your Lordship's knowledge that Mr. James Bergen, now held imprisoned in Ireland, is an American citizen, born in New England, and as such entitled to the protection which his country can afford him in a foreign land.

Mr. Bergen is a married man, with a wife and children in America dependent on him for their support, and he was arrested in Dublin for causes to him unknown, just as he was preparing to return to The United States.

I beg to be informed why he was thus suddenly taken into custody; and to request that he may enjoy such privilege of egress from this kingdom as belongs of right to foreigners who come to Her Majesty's dominions to engage in lawful pursuits connected with the commerce of the two countries.

Viscount Palmerston, G.C.B.

I have, &c. GEORGE BANCROFT.

SIB,

(5.)-Mr. Buchanan to Mr. Bancroft.

Washington, September 7, 1848. By an accident, I am enabled to communicate to you some facts which you will doubtless consider of an extraordinary character, and which it may, perhaps, be useful for you to be apprised of, as our Minister at the Court of Great Britain and Ireland.

On the 2nd of August last, a general order (printed) was issued by Colonel McGregor, the head of the constabulary in Dublin, to the various officers under his authority, directing them to arrest all persons "coming from America," to seize, search, and examine their luggage, their persons, and the lining of their clothing. It allows no discretion to the agents of the police, nor does it even authorize that such persons arrested should be restored to their liberty in case of there being no ground for suspicion against them. Thus, you will perceive, Sir, that citizens of our republican land, those, too, tainted with the circumstance of having come from there, even when conducting themselves peaceably and inoffensively, and not interfering in political questions here, were ordered by this Government to be incarcerated at pleasure, and for an indefinite period.

On the 18th of August this order was modified, so as to limit the arrest and incarceration, seizure and search, to returned emigrants and "those Americans against whom there may exist suspicion." If nothing should be found to warrant such suspicion, these latter were to be liberated, but watched. This order is the last upon this subject. I have seen and read both of these orders attentively, and you may rely upon the perfect accuracy and precision of what I have stated.

I have felt it my duty to make this communication to you, as the Representative abroad of the rights of our country and our people, to the end that you may know what steps have been taken by the Government of Great Britain to deprive, at one time, all Americans of their personal liberty and the ordinary privileges and rights extended to foreigners against whom there may have been no charge, no complaint, no suspicion; now, indeed, so limited as to affect more particularly our naturalized citizens who may have come here on peaceful pursuits, of pleasure or business, relying upon the protection of their adopted country. These proceedings are relics of ancient barbarism, as well as a violation of the Treaty stipulations usual among all civilized nations. I am, &c. G. Bancroft, Esq. JAMES BUCHANAN.

[The writer of the letter, of which the foregoing is a copy, is well known to me. J. B.]

*

(6.)-Mr. Bancroft to Mr. Buchanan.

London, September 8, 1848. I INCLOSE a copy of an Act of Parliament, passed on the 25th of July, 1848, "to empower the Lord Lieutenant or other Chief Governor or Governors of Ireland to apprehend and detain, until the 1st day of March, 1849, such persons as he or they may suspect of conspiring against Her Majesty's person and Government," which confers for a time arbitrary and unlimited powers of detention on the Irish Government. Under this law several Americans have been arrested. Some have been promptly released, some are still detained in custody. I have had interviews on the subject at the Foreign Office and at the Home Office. A readiness is avowed to recede where the arrests are founded on mistake. As to those, if any such there be, who took part in Ireland in the abortive insurrection, I believe no intention exists of adopting extreme measures towards them. I annex a copy of a note to Lord Palmerston on the incarceration of Mr. James Bergen.

J. Buchanan, Esq.

SIR,

GEORGE BANCROFT.

(7.)-Mr. Redington to Mr. Brodhead.

Dublin Castle, September 9, 1848. I AM directed by his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 30th ultimo, and with reference to the case of Mr. James Bergen, beg to inform you that that gentleman has been detained in custody by the warrant of the Lord Lieutenant, under 11 Victoria, cap. 35, being charged with treasonable practices. Under these circumstances his Excellency regrets that he cannot at present direct any steps to be taken for the release of Mr. Bergen.

I am further directed by the Lord Lieutenant to state that the result of inquiries made in reference to Mr. Bergen leads his Excellency to believe that that gentleman is a subject of Her Majesty. I have, &c.

J. R. Brodhead, Esq.

SIR,

TH. REDINGTON.

(8.)-Viscount Palmerston to Mr. Bancroft.

Foreign Office, September 11, 1848. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 6th instant, stating that Mr. James Bergen, an American citizen, has been imprisoned in Ireland for reasons not known to him; and requesting that you may be informed why Mr. Bergen was taken into custody, and also that he may be allowed to leave this kingdom.

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And I have to inform you that I have not failed to send a copy of your letter to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department for his consideration.

G. Bancroft, Esq.

I have, &c.

PALMERSTON.

(9.)-Mr. Bancroft to Viscount Palmerston.

MY LORD, 108, Eaton Square, September 12, 1848. I HAVE received from some of my countrymen, who are well known to me, various statements of measures authorized to be adopted in Ireland, towards my fellow-citizens of the American Republic. These statements are of such a nature as to make me desire from Her Majesty's Government exact information on the subject; and, to that end, I ask for a full copy of the order issued on the 2nd day of August last, by Colonel McGregor, the head of the constabulary in Dublin, in reference to the arrest of persons coming from America, and also a copy of an order on the same subject of the 18th of August last.

I do this that I may be able to give proper advice to my countrymen, and exact information to the American Government.

Viscount Palmerston, G.C.B.

I have, &c.

GEORGE BANCROFT.

(10.)-Mr. Bancroft to Viscount Palmerston.

MY LORD, 108, Eaton Square, September 12, 1848. I LEARN that Mr. Richard F. Ryan, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident in the State of Ohio, is detained in prison in Dublin. He has, I understand, a passport from the American Secretary of State; and I have received also, respecting him, a letter from a distinguished member of The United States' Senate, of which I annex a copy. I am bound to ask the cause of his detention, and to express a hope that he may be released. I have, &c.

Viscount Palmerston, G.C.B.

GEORGE BANCROFT.

(Inclosure.)-Mr. Hannegan to Mr. Bancroft.

DEAR SIR, Washington, May 16, 1848. THIS will be handed you by Richard F. Ryan, Esq., a citizen of Ohio, and a member of the Cincinnati bar. He is a gentleman of high standing and fine acquirements, and I take pleasure in commending him to your friendly offices.

Very respectfully, &c.

G. Bancroft, Esq.

E. A. HANNEGAN.

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