Mr. Seward to Mr.
Adams.
No. 1805.]
Department of State, Washington,
July 18, 1866.
Sir: I enclose herewith a communication from
Thomas Hynes, late of Kanus, who, it appears, has been arrested on
suspicion of being engaged in the Fenian
[Page 150]
movement in Ireland, and is now detained in Mount
Joy prison, Dublin. I will thank you to invite the attention of her
Majesty’s government to the matter, and to request that an investigation
may be made at their earliest convenience, with a view to the liberation
of Hynes, if the facts are as stated.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Charles Francis Adams, Esq., &c., &c., &c.
Mr. Hynes to President Johnson.
Mount Joy Prison, Dublin,
June 25, 1866
Honorable Sir: Having applied in vain to
the representatives of our government here for that protection to
which, as citizens of the great republic, we feel justly entitled,
we call upon you, Mr. President, knowing that you, of all men, are
the person who has it in his power to aid us. To me it is incomprehensible why the United States
authorities permit us to remain the victims of a foreign
despotism—treated as the vilest criminals, shut up in convict cells,
and laughed at if we speak of our adopted country. I have committed
no crime or violated no law, and I am sure that the same is the case
with scores of my fellow-citizens whom I daily see, but to whom it
is a crime to speak.
Mr. West, the United States consul here in Dublin, told me that his
position had become a very humiliating one, since all the requests and demands which he made were made with
the foreknowledge that they would be refused. This very fact is
enough to make an American blush. We are told plainly that we are
subjects of her Majesty—documents to the contrary notwithstanding. I
am a cripple—never bore arms, and never can. Should my imprisonment
be prolonged I will be ruined for life. I hope, Mr. President, you
will, as you have heretofore done, remember the suffering, and at
the same time vindicate our national honor.
With this hope I remain, yours, hopefully,
THOMAS HYNES, Late of Kansas, United States.
Hon. Andrew Johnson, President of the United States.
