Holograph letter from Field Marshal Viscount French, Commander-in-Chief of Home Forces, G.H.Q. Home Forces, Horse Guards, S.W., to General Maxwell following Maxwell's appointment as Commander-in-Chief of British Forces in Ireland, on his talks with Sir Edward Carson and John Redmond. Also remarks 'I don't think there is much chance (now) of a German landing on the west coast of Ireland but that is what we must be prepared for'. Also relates the King's views on the Rising.

Typescript copy of despatch from Maxwell, Headquarters, Irish Command, Parkgate, Dublin to Lord Kitchener concerning the execution of Francis Sheehy-Skeffington by Captain J.C. Bowen-Colthurst, and other less serious incidents, due to the inexperience and 'jumpiness' of the British troops. Also reports on the progress of mobile columns dealing with 'Sinn Feiners and Citizen Army' members around the country and general reaction in Dublin to the Rising. 'I have done nothing vindictive, but the list of casualties suffered by the Army, Police and Civilians is sufficiently convincing of the serious nature of the rebellion, and had it not been promptly dealt with, and had the rebels been able to seize, acquire or produce more arms, the rebellions would have assumed a much more serious character and I doubt if Redmond & Co. would have been able to keep the National Volunteers from joining in'. Includes a 'Short History of rebels on whom it has been necessary to inflict the supreme penalty'.