In this way many hundreds
of thousands of men, hunted by British law and British policy out of
Ireland, have, during recent years, been added to the number of brave
and devoted citzens possessed by the United States. But yet, it
seems, the law of England affords no recognition to this transfer of
allegiance, expressly denies the legality of any such act, and claims
as subjects of the British crown, not only all persons born within
British jurisdiction, but also their sons and grandsons, wherever
their domicile and their place of birth may be. Between the
British law on the subject of allegiance and the American system of
naturalization, there is, therefore, an irreconcilable discrepancy;
and the course taken by Colonel Warren, on his trial, was to bring
this question of law between the two governments to a direct issue.
He took his stand on his American citizenship; he claimed to be tried
as an alien, and, on the bench refusing to accede to his demand, he
abandoned all legal defence, directed his counsel to withdraw from
the case, and put it upon his government to maintain the honour and
vindicate the laws of America, by affording him the protection to
which he was entitled.
Other Irishmen, naturalized citizens of America, had previously been
tried and sentenced for Fenian practices, including acts done and
words spoken by them in America, which would not have come within the
cognizance of the court had they been tried otherwise than as British
subjects; and in their addresses to the court they had made reference,
proudly and hopefully, to the fact that they were adopted sons of
that great country; but none of them had struck upon a course so well
calculated as that taken by Colonel Warren to raise the international
question, and necessitate a distinct and speedy solution of it.
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