Letter from the Casement Relief Petition Committee to Herbert Henry Asquith, 31 July 1916 Letters 1916-1923

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This is a letter from the Casement Relief Petition sent to Herbert Henry Asquith (1852-1928), British prime minister, from the Casement Relief Petition Committee. They are sending signatures including 18 Bishops and Archbishops, 2 Peers, 26 MPs and 253 Representatives of Universities. These are all 'people of note' and claim to be looking at the situation without being influenced by the popular opinion and outcry. Sir Roger Casement (1864-1916) had been arrested at Banna Strand, County Kerry on the eve of the Easter Rising. Though Casement had not been intimately involved in the planning of the Easter Rising and had travelled to Ireland from Germany to try and prevent it taking place, believing it should not happen without sufficient German support, he had been sentenced to death for treason. The signatories believed that enough blood had been spilt in Ireland and that nothing good will come from the execution.

 National Library of Ireland Roger Casement Papers, Collection List No. A15, Ms. 13,088/9/8 https://letters1916.ie/item/308 English 1916-07-31 44, Parnell Square, Dublin Herbert Henry Asquith 10 Downing Street, London, England Easter Rising Ireland 1916

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 Copy to Mrs. Green 36 Grosvenor Rd Westminster London 44, Parnell Square, Dublin, 31st. July, 1916. Rt. Hon. H.H. Asquith M.P. Prime Minister. Sir, In continuation of our previous letters enclosing forms of petition, we now enclose a few more making in all 18 Bishops & Archbishops, 2 Peers 26 M.Ps. & 253 others, Representatives of Universities & other learned bodies. You may see that only men of character & position & learning have been asked to sign. This committee has not sought great numbers of signatures: it has tried to show the Government that men of weight & position, men & women representing the learned classes, not influenced by popular emotions, having gravely considered the situation, deliberately advise the Government against the execution of Roger Casement. Those who have signed have long & intimate knowledge of the people & their history; they represent many shades of opinion & are united only on this point : that enough blood has been shed in Ireland & that it is in the interests of Ireland & the Empire that mercy should be shown. The members of this committee, who are mostly unconnected with politics, feel in addition that great dangers are to feared if their advice is not followed, but they do not wish to insist on this more than is absolutely necessary in order that their views shall be known to the Government. We understand that some thousands of other petitions have been sent in by other bodies, but this committee has studiously avoided any popular agitation in view of the excited state of opinion in Ireland & the signatures have been collected as privately as possible. We strongly urge the Government not to imagine because there has not been a great popular outcry that a strong and intense feeling does not exist. Hundreds of thousands of signatures could be obtained with the greatest ease, but for the sake of the peace of the Country we have deliberately refrained from demonstration or public appeals. This ought to render our appeal all the stronger. Yours faithfully, 44, Parnell Square, Dublin Letter from the Casement Relief Petition Committee to Herbert Henry Asquith, 31 July 1916 10 Downing Street, London, England Letter from the Casement Relief Petition Committee to Herbert Henry Asquith, 31 July 1916 Herbert Henry Asquith Letter from Alice Stopford Green to Herbert Henry Asquith, 17 May 1916.Letter from William Henry Caunt to Herbert Henry Asquith, 4 May 1916Letter from Richard Canson to Herbert Henry Asquith, May 1916Letter from Jane Barklie to Herbert Asquith, 6 May 1916Letter from P. C. McCarthy to Herbert Henry Asquith, 13 May 1916Letter from Maeve Cavanagh to Herbert Henry Asquith, 1916Letter from Agnes Halton to Herbert Henry Asquith, 28 April 1916.Letter from the Casement Relief Petition Committee to Herbert Henry Asquith, 31 July 1916Letter from Patrick J. Mallon to Herbet Henry Asquith, 29 June 1916Letter from Colonel Maurice Moore to Herbert Henry Asquith, 29 July 1916Letter from Sir John Maxwell to Herbert Henry Asquith, 12 May 1916.Printed copy of letter from Henry Lemass, solicitor, to Herbert Henry Asquith, 13 June 1916.Letter from James J. Judge to Herbert Henry Asquith, 19 May 1916Letter from John Joseph Sutherland to Herbert Henry Asquith, 27 May 1916Letter from Robert Carson to Herbert Henry Asquith, 14 February 1916Letter from Herbert Henry Asquith, 2 August 1916Letter from Jane Cobden Unwin to Herbert Henry Asquith, 2 August 1916