The Irish standard., 1915-03-27
Berlin. Feb. 1. 1917.

Berlin, Feb. /, 1915.
To the Right Hon. Sir Edward Grey,
Baronet, X. G., M. P, London:
SRI learn that in the House of
Lords question was asked as to my
pension, which 1 had already re-
nounced of my own will when l went
to Germany, in order to inform my.
self about the intentions of the Ger
man government as regards Ireland.
AS far as l know the Earl of Crewe
remarked in the course Of the debate
that "Sir Roger Easements course of
action ought to be punished severely"
1t seems appropriate. once for all, to
clear up the question thus raised, how
my action and the publicly advocated
punishment is to be judged. A dis
cussion is all the more appropriate
because at last have unmistakable
proof in my hands of the nature of
the punishment which you, sir, secret
ly intended to mete out to me.
I admit that was informed about
your intentions from the very day
when I first set foot on Norwegian
soil three months ago. But it was
some time before l could induce your
diplomatic agent in Norway to furnish
documentary proof of the intrigue
which the government of His Britanic
Majesty schemed against me.
First of all, you will allow me briefly
to explain my personal course of &C.
ton before l pass on to contrasting
it to your own. AS you we'll know,
the question of pension, remuneration
or decoration was never involved in
my dealings with the British govern
ment. have served the British gov
eminent loyalty and faithfully as long
as I could; when l could do so no
longer /. sent in my resignation. And
when 1 found it impossible honorably
to use the pension which I could le-
gally claim. renowned it just as
voluntarily as I renowned the post
by reason of which 1 drew it, and so
I now divest myself of all honors and
distinctions which H. MS government
has bestowed on me at various times.
Last year, in the month of October,
1 returned from America to Europe,
being anxious that my homeland-Ire.
land-should suffer as little as possible
from the unhappy effects of this war,
whatever its final issue might be. I
have made my standpoint sufficiently
clear in an open letter, dated New
York, Sept. II, which l sent over to
Ireland, that it might be distributed
among my countrymen. l beg to in
close a printed COPY of that letter,
which represents s#point of view
exactly, and whieS puts forth my
opinions, which l hold now as 1 did
then, about the duties which an Irish.
man owes to his mother country in
this world crisis. Shortly after draw.
ing up that letter left for Europe
The chance of protecting Ireland
against some of the evils of the pres
ent war was worth to me not only
the loss of all external honors and
Of my pension, but was even worth
the trouble of committing 'high
treason" in the technical sense OF
that term. But while l had antici
pated the personal risk should have
to bear, and any punishment with
which the law might threaten my
course of action, | had not anticipated
that trap would be set for me by
means transgressing what is legally
permitted as far as immoral and rep
rehensible motives are absent from
my course of action. In other words
when l reckoned with English justice
and the punishment which law i'm
poses, and willingly sacrificed name
and fame, position and income as the
price to be paid, had not reckoned
with the present British government
l was prepared to face charges be-
fore a competent court of law, but
did not expect that was to be en-
trapped and abducted by force, that
my companions were to be bribed
and that was to be knocked down !;
in short, was not prepared for the
measure to which your representative
in a neutral country resorted when
he heard of my presence in that
country.
For all these things, and even more,
are comprised in the criminal plot
which Mr.. M. de G. Findlay, minister
of His Britannia Majesty at the Nor
lwegian court, planned with Adler
Christensen, a Norwegian subject, at
the British legation on Oct. 80 last
year. The plot not only involved an
illegal assault on my person, for the
execution of which the British minister
In Norway promised my valet, Chris.
Jensen, $4,000, but it also comprised
a violation of international and COM
mon law, for which the British min
lister in Norway guaranteed the Nor
wegian subject full immunity.
Coming from America I arrived at
Christiania on Oct. 20 last year. A few
hours after my landing secret agent
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