Sir Roger Casement (article 30 november 1914)
Sir Roger Casement is a letter written by Arthur Conan Doyle first published in The Daily Chronicle on 30 november 1914 and reprinted in The New-York Times the same day.
Editions
- in The Daily Chronicle (30 november 1914 [UK])
- in The New-York Times (30 november 1914 [US]) as Casement Insane, says Conan Doyle
Sir Roger Casement (The Daily Chronicle)
Sir, — I am sure that you are wise to use no stronger term than "infatuation" for Sir Roger Casement's journey to Berlin. He was a man of fine character, and that he should in the full possession of his senses act as a traitor to the country which had employed and honoured him is inconceivable to anyone who knew him. He had, it is true a strong prepossession in favour of Germany before the war, but this was due to his belief that she was destined to challenge the Monroe doctrine, which Casement bitterly resented as being the ultimate cause of all that Putumayo barbarism which he had officially to investigate. I may say that I disagreed with him upon this subject, but in all our discussions I have never heard him say a word which was disloyal to Great Britain. He was a sick man, however, worn by tropical hardships, and he complained often of pains in his head. Last May I had letters from him from Ireland which seemed to me so wild that I expressed fears at the time as to the state of his nerves. I have no doubt that he is not in a normal state of mind, and that this unhappy escapade at Berlin is only an evidence of it. On the face of it, would any sane man accept an assurance about Ireland which had obviously been already broken about Belgium
ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE
Windlesham, Crowborough, Sussex.
Casement Insane, says Conan Doyle (The New-York Times)
Thinks Hardships in the Tropics Undermined Sir Roger's Health.
IS REPUDIATED BY M. P.'S
But an Irish Committee in New York Condemns Attacks on Casement and Praises His Action.
Special Cable to THE NEW YORK TIMES.
LONDON, Monday, Nov. 30. — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has written a letter to The Daily Chronicle on Sir Roger Casement's recent visit to Berlin, where he was received as an "Irish Nationalist leader," visited the Foreign Office, and obtained assurances from the Imperial Chancellor that Germany would not engage in a hostile invasion of Ireland. Sir Conan Doyle says:
"That he should in the full possession of his senses act as a traitor to the country which had employed and honored him is inconceivable to any one who knew him. He had, it is true, a strong prepossession in favor of Germany before the war, but this was due to his belief that she was destined to challenge the Monroe Doctrine, which Sir Roger Casement bitterly resented as being the ultimate cause of all that Putumayo barbarism which he had officially to investigate.
"I may say that I disagreed with him upon this subject, but in all our discussions I have never heard him say a word which was disloyal to Great Britain. He was a sick man, however, worn by tropical hardships, and he complained often of pains in his head.
"Last May I had letters from him from Ireland which seemed to me so wild that I expressed fears at the time as to the state of his nerves. I have no doubt that he is not in his normal state of mind, and that this unhappy escapade at Berlin is only an evidence of it."
The Irish Nationalist Party in the House of Commons has repudiated Sir Roger Casement and all his works. A prominent member of the party, in conversation with a Morning Post representative, said:
"We deny that Casement has the least right or title to speak in the name of the Nationalists of Ireland. The only aim that he and those like him are seeking to accomplish is to injure out nationalism and prejudice our cause in the eyes of the British people. The attitude declared by Mr. Redmond at the outset of the war is the attitude of every sane and sensible Nationalist."
At a meeting of the Irish National Volunteer Fund Committee of New York City, held at the Irish Athletic Club, 199 East Sixtieth Street, last night, a resolution was unanimously adopted "placing on record our appreciation of the timeliness and importance of the declaration of the German Government with regard to Ireland" and defending Sir Roger Casement from attacks previously made upon him.
