abled to judge of the bearing which any proceedings which you might take on behalf of the government of the United States in the case of the Alexandra would have on the proceedings of her Majesty's government in the same case, they wish to be informed what they are to understand by the expression in your letter, "simultaneous action on the part of the United States." I have therefore to request that you will have the goodness to furnish me at your earliest convenience with an explanation on this point, for the information of her Majesty's law officers. I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Esq., &c., &c., &c. RUSSELL. Mr. Adams to Lord Russell. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, MY LORD: Without incurring the delay necessary to consult with counsel in regard to the question which your lordship has done me the honor to propose to me in your note of this day, just received, I hasten to say that by the terms of the seventh and eighth sections of the enlistment law it would appear as if action could be taken both against the persons engaged in the offences specified and against the ships or vessels fitted out by them, or against either. In the one case, the proceedings would seem to be by indictment against the person for a criminal offence; whilst, in the other, the action might be against the vessel, and in a different court. The purpose of inquiry which I had the honor to make was rather to learn whether her Majesty's government would desire any form of co-operation in the prosecution of this matter than to embarrass them by specifying forms of action with which I am, necessarily, not familiar. Should it, however, be agreeable to the law officers of the crown to obtain more specific information in regard to the practical measures contemplated by the counsel retained on behalf of the government of the United States, I shall be happy to procure it at as early a moment as may be practicable. 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, &c., &c., &c. No. 378.] Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: On re-examining Lord Russell's note to me of the 2d instant, I found that in my reply of the 6th instant I had accidentally omitted to notice a passage which virtually renewed the allegation that the government of the United States authorized enlistments of men in this kingdom for their service. In order to preclude any inferences that might be drawn from this silence, I thought it advisable to address a new note to his lordship, a copy of which I send herewith. I add also a copy of his reply. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. Secretary of State, &c. [Enclosures.] 1. Mr. Adams to Lord Russell, denying recruiting, April 10, 1863. Mr. Adams to Lord Russell. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, MY LORD: In the note which I had the honor to address to your lordship on the 6th instant, in reply to yours of the 2d instant, I inadvertently omitted to make a remark upon one passage, which I had intended and which it seems to be my duty yet to supply. I refer to that in which you observe that I am "not ignorant that it is now again asserted that her Majesty's subjects are being recruited for the purpose of aiding the United States against the so-called Confederate States." In point of fact, at the time of receiving your lordship's note, I was ignorant that such an assertion had been made in any quarter deserving of notice. But inasmuch as I have since perceived the story, wherever originated, to have gained credit in the mind of your lordship, and also to have been dignified by the notice of the first minister of the crown, in his place in the House of Commons, I must now ask permission to recall your attention to the denial I was authorized by my government to make, of any such action, so long ago as in my note of the 30th of December last. I beg leave now to repeat that denial, and further to observe that there is no agent of the United States here possessed of authority to "recruit her Majesty's subjects within this kingdom for the purpose of aiding the United States against the so-called Confederate States." Should any person appear professing to have such powers, I should be much obliged for any information which would enable me to report his conduct promptly to my government. I supply this omission in my former note to your lordship expressly to preclude any unfavorable inference which might be drawn from my silence, and not from any intrinsic importance attached by me to the rumor. I pray your lordship to accept, &c., CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. Right Hon. EARL RUSSELL, &c., &c., &c. Lord Russell to Mr. Adams. FOREIGN OFFICE, April 11, 1863. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 10th instant, renewing your assurances in regard to the alleged recruiting in this country for the army of the United States. I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Esq., &c., &c., &c. RUSSELL. No. 379.] Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to transmit copies of several notes which have passed between Lord Russell and myself, touching the departure of a vessel called the Japan, alias the Virginia, equipped for the same general purposes as the Oreto and the gunboat No. 290. This vessel did not stop at Alderney, but received her armament from the Allar on the high seas, not far from the French coast. The depositions of two of the seamen, copies of which have been sent to you by Mr. Dudley, tell the whole story. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. W. H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, &c. CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. [Enclosures.] 1. Mr. Adams to Earl Russell, reporting the Allar at Plymouth, April 11, 1863. 2. Extract from second edition of the Times of April 11, 1863, about the Allar and Japan. 3. Lord Russell's receipt of the above, April 11, 1863 4. Mr. Adams to Lord Russell, with depositions of Thompson and Mahon, and list of men shipped at Liverpool, as well as of those who returned from the Japan. Mr. Adams to Lord Russell. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, London, April 11, 1863. MY LORD: I have the honor to enclose to your lordship a slip, extracted from the London Times of to-day, touching the case of the vessel now called the Japan, but named at Greenock lately the Virginia. It is needless to add that the statement therein made of the destination of the vessel is known to me to be false. I have reason to believe that she has not gone. The steamer Allar has already transferred to her one 56 gun and four smaller ones, and is expected to return to her. I pray your lordship to accept, &c.. Right Hon. EARL RUSSELL, &c., &c., &c. CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. seas. [From second edition of the Times, April 11, 1863] PLYMOUTH, Saturday morning. The steamship Allar, Captain Back, of and from Newhaven, for St. Malo, put in here this morning and landed seventeen men belonging to the steamship Japan, Captain Jones, 600 tons, which left Greenock on the 28th of March for a trading voyage in the China On arrival off the coast of France, she lay to for three days, it is supposed, to take in more cargo. On the 4th of April, at 11 a. m., one of the condensers of the steamengines, which are about 200 horse power, exploded, and two firemen in the stoke-hole were scalded, viz: Alexander McDuff, of Edinburgh, and William Hamilton, of Down Patrick, seriously. They were taken immediately into the captain's cabin, transferred to the Allar on the 9th, and ale now in the Devon and Cornwall hospital here. The other fifteen are seamen and firemen, who took advantage of the proximity of the Allar, and are said to have "backed out" of the voyage to China. They left by train this morning for various parts. The Japan, which has a complement of 80 men, has proceeded. The Allar had to lie to in the channel on Thursday and Friday in consequence of some trifling damages. Lord Russell to Mr. Adams. FOREIGN OFFICE, April 11, 1863. SIR: The statement in the second edition of the Times respecting the Japan and the Allar, to which you refer in your letter of this afternoon, had already attracted my attention, and I had brought it, some hours before I received your letter, to the notice of the secretary of state for the home department and of the lords commissioners of her Majesty's treasury. I have now forwarded to those departments a copy of your letter, with a request that such steps may be taken as can legally be taken to prevent any violation of the law. I have the honor to be, &c., &c., CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Esq., &c., &c., &c. RUSSELL. Mr. Adams to Lord Russell. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, MY LORD: I have the honor to transmit copies of two depositions of British subjects, who appear to have been solicited to engage in the unlawful expedition of the Japan alias the Virginia against the commerce of the United States. I append a list, marked A, of the officers and men, subjects of Great Britain, shipped at the sailors' home in Liverpool, a large part of whom have been induced to join the piratical expedition. Likewise a list, marked B, of the men who refused to enlist, left the Virginia, and returned to Liverpool. It is not without great pain that I feel it my duty to point out to your lordship these transactions at Liverpool, and the extent to which, if not in some way prevented, they are calculated to give rise to complaints in the United States of the violations of neutrality deliberately committed by her Majesty's subjects in the port of Liverpool. 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, &c., &c., &c. [Enclosures.] 1. Deposition of Edward Thompson; 2. Deposition of Thomas Mahon; 3. List of men shipped at Liverpool; 4. List of men who returned from the Japan. No. 554.] Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: Your despatch of April 3 (No. 364) has been received, together with a copy of a deposition made by Clarence R. Yonge, late a pretended paymaster in the marine insurgent service. The proceedings you have taken in regard to that person, as well as the uses you have made of the information received from him, are approved. I have laid the papers before the Secretary of the Navy, with a view to his being prepared for a meeting with Mr. Yonge when he shall present himself at this place. I am, sir, your obedient servant, SIR: Your despatch of April 3 (No. 362) has been received. It is pleasant to know that evidence has been procured in regard to the fitting out of hostile expeditions in England which the British government may be expected to treat with some consideration. The Peterhoff will be left to the care of the courts. Her mail will be forwarded to its destination unopened. I shall, however, improve the occasion to submit some views upon the general question of the immunities to public mails found on board of vessels visited under the belligerent right of search. The subject is one attended by many embarrassments, while it is of great importance. The President believes that it is not less desirable to Great Britain than it is to the United States, and other maritime powers, to arrive at some regulation that will at once save the mails of neutrals from unnecessary interruption and exposure, and at the same time prevent them from being made use of as auxiliaries to unlawful designs of irresponsible persons seeking to embroil friendly States in the calamities of war. I am, sir, your obedient servant, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Esq., &c., &c., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. No. 562.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of the 7th instant, (No. 366,) and to express my satisfaction at the proceedings of Earl Russell in regard to the Alexandra, and my approval of your own course in the matter. I am, sir, your obedient servant, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Esq., &c., &c., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. |