I pray your lordship to accept the assurances of the highest consideration with which I have the honor to be, my lord, your most obedient servant, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. Right Hon. EARL RUSSELL. No. 391.] Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I transmit a copy of a note from Lord Russell to me, of the 21st instant, respecting the departure of the Japan, alias the Virginia. I have no reason to doubt the correctness of the representations therein made of the condition of that vessel. Indeed, this will account for the fact that I had not myself received from any of the consuls information of her readiness for a voyage until after she was gone. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. Lord Russell to Mr. Adams. FOREIGN OFFICE, April 21, 1863. SIR: I stated to you in my letter of the 16th instant that your letter of the previous day, respecting the case of the Japan, otherwise the Virginia, had been referred to the proper departments of her Majesty's government; but I will not delay informing you that her Majesty's government have received from the authorities at Glasgow and at Greenock reports, from which it appears that that vessel was constantly visited while she was in course of construction, and that the surveys seemed to show that she was intended for commercial purposes, and that her frame-work and plating were of the ordinary sizes for vessels of her class. She was entered on the 31st ultimo as for Point de Galle and Hong Kong, with a crew of forty-eight men. She shipped on the 1st instant the bonded 115 gals. spirits. 32 gals. wine. 244 lbs. tea. 159 lbs. coffee. 212 lbs. tobacco. 10 cigars. stores stated in the margin, and she cleared on the same day in ballast for Point de Galle and Hong Kong. Her Majesty's government are further informed that the Japan left the anchorage early on the morning of the 2d instant with the ostensible purpose of trying her engines, intending to return, having on board several joiners, who were filling up her cabins. These men, who are said to have been employed at a later time in filling up a magazine, were subsequently landed on some part of the coast lower down the Clyde. 18 cwt. 3, 2, sugar. 2 2 1, 5, raisins. 1 12, currants. The custom-house officer, who visited the Japan on the evening of the 1st instant to see that her stores were correct, reports that he saw nothing on board which could lead him to suspect that she was intended for war purposes. Her Majesty's government are further informed that she was not heavily sparred, and that she could not spread more canvas than an ordinary merchant steamer. I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Esq. RUSSELL. No. 392.] Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: Her Majesty's government does not seem yet to be quite satisfied of the sincerity of my denials of the enlistment of men in this kingdom under the authority of the United States. I transmit a copy of two more notes which have passed on the subject. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. Lord Russell to Mr. Adams. FOREIGN OFFICE, April 16, 1863. SIR: With reference to your letter of the 10th instant, in which you repeated the denial you had formerly made of the truth of the report that men were being recruited in this country for the United States army, I think it right to communicate to you the substance of a report which has just been made to her Majesty's government with regard to the number of persons who are now being shipped as emigrants from Queenstown for New York. It is stated that within the last fortnight 1,278 emigrants have sailed, the greater number being strong, active young men; that it cannot be doubted that they are intended for the United States army, and that, in fact, many of them do not deny it. A certain number of these men were militiamen from Cork and its vicinity, and they informed the emigration officer that they would get from $250 to $300 bounty. It also appears that the prospect of this large bounty has been held out to young men, by general rumor, throughout the country. It is further stated that the friends of these persons in America are paid so much for obtaining and bringing them out to New York. I do not think it necessary to encumber this letter with further statements of a more or less trustworthy character which have reached her Majesty's government corroborative of this asserted recruiting of her Majesty's subjects for service in the United States army, and I shall therefore merely add that I am informed that about 800 young men were booked to sail from Queenstown by the steamer of the 9th instant, it being freely spoken of that all the young men were going to join the northern army, and that although the Inman Company have put on additional steamers, the number of applicants for passage is so great that they cannot all be accommodated, and that several hundreds are consequently left behind each week. I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Esq. RUSSELL. Mr. Adams to Lord Russell. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, MY LORD: I am very much obliged to you for the courtesy extended to me in the communication of the substance of a report which has been made to her Majesty's government with regard to the number of persons who are now being shipped as emigrants from Queenstown. The fact that a great many people, especially in Ireland, have been anxious for some time past to find their way to the United States, has been made known to me by the frequent applications to this legation for free passage. A considerable proportion of these contain offers to enlist in the service of the government. No doubt they are more or less influenced by the high bounties offered in America, accounts of which have been from time to time published in the newspapers here. To all such solicitations the answer given from here has been uniformly to the effect that no authority has been given by the government to listen to any proposals of the kind, or to make any engagements whatever. Instructions have likewise been sent to the respective consuls who have reported similar proposals to me to make the same answer. I have no reason to believe that any American citizen in England clothed with authority has ventured to act in any other way. It is proper for me to add, in explanation of the emigration that is taking place, that a gentleman of influence in America now in London, who is in a situation to know, has lately informed me that some of the great corporations for the extension of railways in the western part of the United States having experienced inconvenience from the liability of the laborers in their employ to be drafted for the war, and apprehending more, are making efforts to procure large supplies from other countries of aliens who are, from that circumstance, exempted from the risk of being called into service. It may well be that some of those who desire to get across the ocean for the purpose of enlisting expect to take advantage of the opportunity thus placed before them. In addition to this, there is no doubt of the fact of a scarcity of laborers in the United States. I learn from private sources that the rate of wages is very much advanced. I am led to believe that these causes, in addition to the alleged distress of the population of Ireland, may explain the phenomena of emigration to which your lordship has been pleased to draw my attention. I pray your lordship to accept the assurances, &c., &c. Right Hon. EARL RUSSELL. CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. No. 565.] Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, April 24, 1863. SIR: Your despatch of April 9 (No. 370) has been received, together with three notes which have passed between yourself and Earl Russell relating to the suppression of the fitting out of hostile naval armaments in British ports. Your course as related in those papers is approved, and the expressions of satisfaction which you have made to his lordship, in view of the proceedings of her Majesty's government therein mentioned, are affirmed on behalf of the President. I am, sir, your obedient servant, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Esq., &c., &c., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. No. 566.] Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: Your despatch of April 9 (No. 369) has been submitted to the President, together with a copy of a further correspondence which has been held between yourself and Earl Russell concerning the intercepted pretended despatches of the agents of the insurgents. The ability with which you have defended the rights of the United States in this correspondence is appreciated, and the views you have submitted to his lordship are approved. I am, sir, your obedient servant, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Esq., &c., &c., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. No. 568.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I have had the honor to lay before the President of the United States resolutions, addresses, and other proceedings of popular meetings which have been held at various places in Great Britain, in compliance with the request of those assemblies, communicated in your correspondence with this department. These proceedings are distinguished, in every case, by an earnest desire that peace may now and forever be preserved between the United States and Great Britain; that the union of this country, which is the bulwark of its safety, may be maintained; and especially that it may not be overthrown so as to give room for a new nation to be founded on the corner-stone of human slavery. The justice of these sentiments, as well as the confidence in the President which is expressed in the proceedings, would entitle the subjects of Great Britain who constituted these meetings to a special, grateful, and fervent acknowledgment on his part. His sentiments in regard to the subjects discussed in those proceedings have, however, been fully expressed in replies which have been made to the workingmen of Manchester, to the citizens of London who were assembled at Exeter Hall on the evening of the 29th of January last, and to the citizens of Bradford. Instead of reiterating the expression of those sentiments in special addresses to so many distinct communities, I have the honor to ask you to make one general acknowledgment, in the spirit of the aforementioned replies, to the citizens who have addressed the President from the following places, namely: Sheffield, Chesterfield, Crosshills, Salford, Cobham, Tower Hamlets, Bristol, Stroud, Glasgow, London, (special meeting of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society of the 19th of January,) Galashiels, Bath, Bromley, South London or Southwark, the borough of Leeds, Middleton, in Lancashire; Aberdare, in South Wales; Aberdare, (second meeting,) Oldham, Rawtenstall, Luddenden Foot. Paisley, Edinburg, Carlisle, Birmingham, Merthyr Tydfil, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Liverpool, Huddersfield, Ashford, in Kent; Ashton-underLyne, Manchester, (Union and Emancipation Society,) Mossley, Leeds, Cirencester, Bolton, Southampton, Newark-upon-Trent, London, (Trades Union,) Bradford, (second meeting,) Great Horton, Woolwich, in Kent, and Bingley, in Yorkshire. I am, sir, your obedient servant, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Esq., &c., &c., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. No. 569.] Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. DEPARTMENT of State, Washington, April 25, 1863. SIR: Your despatch No. 360 has been received. The accompanying answer to the Exeter Hall addresses supplies the omission to which you refer. You will please reply in similar terms to that from Bradford, making such changes as the circumstances may to you seem to be necessary. You will bear in mind a previous instruction to you on the subject, to the effect that, with a view to avoid any show even of disrespect to her Majesty's government, it is deemed advisable, before communicating the answers to the addresses, to submit them to the perusal of Earl Russell. I am, sir, your obedient servant, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Esq., &c., &c., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, April 25, 1863. To the citizens of London who were convened in Exeter Hall on the 29th of January last: The proceedings of a meeting of British subjects, citizens of London, in Exeter Hall, on the 29th of January last, which were transmitted to the undersigned, have, in compliance with a request contained therein, been laid before the President of the United States. It would have been most gratifying to the President if the insurrection which is existing in the United States could have been confined within such bounds as to prevent it from disturbing the prosperity, or otherwise engaging the attention, of friendly nations. Fully convinced that any state which suffers itself to become dependent on the aid, or even the sympathy, of a foreign power, is equally unable and unfit to live, the President has been especially careful to refrain from making any appeal to friendly states, and even from seeming to attempt to influence, their opinions upon the merits of the present conflict further than has appeared to be necessary to avert ill-considered and wrongful intervention. At the same time, the President has neither questioned the right of other nations and communities to form and express their opinions concerning the merits of the questions raised by the insurrection, and the policy which the government has adopted in suppressing it, nor has he complained of the manner in which that right has been exercised. On the contrary, he believes that the ultimate and impartial judgment of mankind upon all such questions is entitled to universal respect and acquiescence. Circumstances which neither this government nor that of Great Britain created or could control, have rendered it unavoidable that the causes, character, tendency, and objects of the insurrection should be discussed in that country with scarcely less freedom and earnestness than in our own. The results of that discussion, if it shall continue to be conducted in a just and impartial spirit, may be taken as foreshadowing, in some degree, the ultimate judgment of mankind. It is, therefore, with sincere satisfaction that the President learns, from the proceedings now under consideration, that a large, respectable, and intelligent portion of the British people have, on unprompted investigation, arrived at the conclusion that the existing rebellion violates the principles of political justice, and that they protest against it as a wrong to the human race, because it seeks to displace a government which is based on the rights of man, to make room for |