Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams.
Sir: Mr. M. R. Clark, of New York, on the 16th instant, addressed a communication to this department, relative to the arrest at Dublin, and confinement in Mountjoy, of his son-in-law, Lieutenant Colonel Burke, who it appears from the statements accompanying that communication served with honorable distinction in the Union army during the rebellion. On the same authority it also appears that the wife of Colonel Burke being an invalid, the attending physician recommended a sea voyage as necessary for the restoration of her health; that with this object in view they went to Ireland, and that after arriving there [Page 108] the colonel was arrested and thrown into prison, on suspicion of being concerned with the Fenian movement. You will be pleased to invite the attention of the British government to this representation of the case, and should it be found to be correct, it is not doubted that his release will be promptly granted. In any event you will exercise such unofficial good offices in favor of Colonel Burke as may in your judgment be warranted by the merits of the case.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Charles Francis Adams, Esq., &c., &c., &c.