ment of the Irish established church and the evident favor which the proposal meets with, is now absorbing the attention of the Roman Catholic clergy, and inducing a disposition on their part to co-operate in the restoration of quiet in the disturbed district. It seems as if the cohesion of the ministry was already endangered by it. But the experience of the last year has made people wary of predicting anything from outside appearances. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. No. 2151.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I have received your dispatch of the 20th of March, No. 1556. The interesting account which you have given of demonstrations of personal respect and consideration which have been made on the occasion of your anticipated retirement by members of the British branch of the international league for peace, and many other British subjects, has been brought to the notice of the President, and they are regarded by him with very great satisfaction. It has seldom if ever before happened that the representative of one country has performed diplomatic services in another, through so long, so difficult, and so eventful a period, and with such success as to sensibly increase not merely the estimation in which the minister was previously held in both countries, but to increase also the popular feeling of good will in both nations. I felicitate you upon this honorable termination of labors which have been equally loyal, discreet and toilsome. I am, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD. CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Esq., &c., &c., &c. Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward. [Telegram per cable.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, Will you authorize payment of prisoners' return home? Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. No. 1568.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: In consequence of representations made to me by Mr. West, the consul at Dublin, to the effect that the authorities there had expressed a willingness to liberate several of the prisoners, citizens of the United States, held there subject to trial, provided they would quit the country, and that for want of means to pay their passage to the United States they were unable to comply with the terms, and hence must continue in confinement, I ventured upon addressing to you a telegram, on the 6th instant, desiring to know whether the government would assume the charge of sending them home. The same day I received a reply desiring me to report the amount of the probable cost of the undertaking. On the 7th I replied, setting the limit at £60. To this an answer came in a few hours directing me to assume the expense. I have therefore written to Mr. West, at Dublin, instructing him to take the necessary measures to attain the object. I trust, therefore, that in a few days more I may be able to have the satisfaction to report to you that the prisons of Ireland are cleared of all citizens of the United States remaining under confinement without trial. I have ventured to renew my application to Lord Stanley in behalf of John McClure, who was last year tried, who pleaded guilty, and was condemned to death. His punishment was, however, commuted to impris onment for life. There were many circumstances in the young man's case that seem to me to entitle him to particular consideration. I am in hopes that the one year's penalty he has already endured will be regarded as sufficient to atone for any offense he may have committed, and that he will be relieved before I take my own departure. The trial of Captain Burke, which has been expected to take place in this city before now, must soon come on. I shall endeavor to forward to you a report of the proceedings as soon as it appears. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward. No. 1569.J LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: The telegraph now communicates the news of events which occur on this side with so much rapidity that it seems to supersede the neces sity of doing more than to allude to them in my dispatches that lag behind. The issue of the debate on the Irish church indicates that the opposi tion party has once more become consolidated. The only question left is, then, whether the ministry will yield at once, or try the experiment of a dissolution of Parliament. It is generally understood that the first will not be done. Resistance will be made as long as possible, and if the worst comes to the worst, an appeal will be made to the people on the issue of the church in danger. Inasmuch as all the preparatory measures necessary to carry into effect the law extending the franchise are not yet completed, it may happen that a dissolution will now interpose another House of Commons elected on the old basis, prior to the organization of the new system. So great will be the reluctance of members to incur the risk of a heavy double expense by this process, that I cannot help thinking the prime minister may succeed in holding over the present session after all. It is scarcely likely that his term can extend beyond that; for nothing seems more clearly written in the future than the ultimate overthrow of the established church in Ireland, whichever may be the issue of the immediate struggle. The consequence may be some further delay in the negotiations between the two countries on the questions now open between them. A change of ministry will probably bring in persons even more friendly to us than the present one, but past experience teaches that the best opportunities for arriving at practical results are generally offered during a state of parties similar to that which now prevails. I fear that the prospect for reaching any immediate settlement is growing less and less promising. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. No. 2154.] Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: Your dispatches numbered 1553 to 1560 have been received and are approved. The delay of the British government on the naturalization question, to which reference is made in your No. 1558, is regretted. I am, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD. CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Esq., &c., &c., &c. No. 2156.] Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: With a note of the 9th of November last, Mr. Ford, her Britannic Majesty's chargé d'affaires here, by order of his government, communicated to this department a copy of an instruction of Lord Stanley of the 22d of October to the British agent and consul general in Egypt, marked confidential, on the subject of certain reforms, which the viceroy of that country was said to be desirous of introducing into the Egyptian judicial system. This department has since consulted Mr. Hale, the agent and consul general of the United States at Alexandria, on the subject. Mr. Hale has made a full and luminous report in regard to it. His conclusions are, that in the first instance, at least, it would be preferable for foreign governments to limit their advice to that of Egypt, to the establishment by the latter, at once, and without further consultation with other governments, of a tribunal of five judges, two or three of whom should be able and learned Franks of unimpeachable integrity, with assured salaries for at least a term of years. The jurisdiction of this tribunal should be limited to suits brought by Franks against the Egyptian government, or its native subjects. That government may request the consulates to give the same assistance to the tribunal in requiring the attendance of witnesses and other incidental proceedings. as is now bestowed in comity by one consulate upon another. When the decisions of the tribunal shall be in favor of the plaintiff, they should be promptly and fully carried into effect by the Egyptian government. Mr. Hale expresses an opinion that if this should be fairly done, the tribunal Would at once become among Franks the most popular institution in Egypt. He further suggests that the same tribunal might also hear cases in which subjects of different nationalities were parties, whenever the parties should agree, in advance, to accept its jurisdiction. He also suggests that the Egyptian government request the Christian powers to instruct their consuls to give prompt and full execution to the decision of the tribunal against any of their respective subjects resident in Egypt, in those cases where the parties had accepted the jurisdiction before the case was heard. It is desirable to know the views of her Majesty's government upon these recommendations and suggestions of Mr. Hale. To that end you are authorized to leave a copy of this instruction with her Majesty's principal secretary for foreign affairs. I am, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD. CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Esq., &c., &c., &c. No. 1571.] Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to transmit, at the desire of the writer, a letter addressed to me by Colonel Nagle, at Dublin. I have written to him in reply to apprise him that on my last visit to Lord Stanley, when I made a representation of his case, he informed me that it was the intention of the government to bring him to trial at Dublin at the next assizes. If they should fail to do so, my opinion is that he will then be liberated. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, SIR: I have been over ten months in close confinement deprived of every right belonging to a free man; suffering in body and mind-my health broken, my family injured, my social and business connections destroyed. I do not appeal to you, honorable sir, for the purpose of exciting your sympathy or to ask your influence to procure me any favor from my oppressors. But I address you as a free-born citizen of the United States suffering outrage and wrong from a foreign power which has failed to prove any just cause for its oppression of me, but continues to hold me in its prisons notwithstanding my repeated demands for freedom and the earnest request of the government of my country for my release, and in a vindictive, malicious spirit has conspired against my liberty and seeks to destroy my every hope in life. A Six months have elapsed since a charge of treason-felony was brought against me. month ago I was for the second time indicted on the same charge, yet I remain a prisoner without trial. I hope it may not be considered presumptuous in me or as evincing a spirit of impatience if I respectfully ask why, my character as an American citizen being acknowledged, if my right and liberty as such are entitled to any consideration; and if so, how long a foreign power may with impunity deprive me of all without any just causé. I respectfully submit that my imprisonment has been thus prolonged by the premeditated action of the Crown authorities; that I was arrested without any warrant of law or evidence of any character against me, confined in prison and kept there until through conspiracy, intrigue, bribery and perjury some appearance of justification for the action against me might be produced and an attempt made to consign me to the slavery and horrors of a British convict prison. The grand jury of Dublin county on their oaths declared I had committed treason in Dublin, yet I was not tried for it because it suited the purpose of the Crown better to gain time, and after an interval of five months take me to a remote part of Ireland, where another grand jury on their oaths declared me guilty of acts of treason in the county of Sligo.. The Crown authorities were well aware of the fact that a jury de medietate could not be found in Sligo before I was taken there. But the object (more time and my continued punishment) was gained. So these proceedings may continue until I am indicted in every county in Ireland, for no doubt juries can be found equally facile in every part of the country. In the mean time I may linger and die in prison unless the government of my country demands my release. The expense incurred by my government in my defense is already large. I am deeply grateful, for had I not been so defended I would in all probability be now enduring the slavery of a British convict prison condemned by a mockery of justice for acts I never committed. But through the management of the Crown lawyers all this expenditure of money has been without avail or effect, and if brought to trial at some future time, I am defenseless unless my government deems it proper to incur further expense on my account. This is certainly a wrong to the government and a great hardship to me. If you have not received instructions to take further action on my behalf, I respectfully ask of you to forward this letter to the honorable Secretary at |