Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward.

No. 205.]

Sir: In my despatch (No. 201) of the 1st instant, it may be recollected that I reported Lord Russell as making a conditional promise to furnish me with a copy of his letter to the Liverpool merchants, about the uses made by them of the port of Nassau. On the evening of the 4th instant I received a note transmitting the copy, but with a restriction that it was given in confidence. The next day, however, I received a Liverpool newspaper, in which the letter seems to have been inserted by the parties to whom it was addressed. Since then it has appeared in all the London papers. I therefore feel myself at liberty to transmit a copy of Lord Russell’s note and of its enclosure.

I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,

CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS.

Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.

Earl Russell to Mr. Adams.

[Confidential.]

Lord Russell presents his compliments to Mr. Adams, and has the honor to forward to him herewith, confidentially, for his information, a copy of a letter which Lord Russell caused to be addressed to Mr. Horsfall in reply to [Page 171] a memorial forwarded by him from certain British merchants and ship-owners in Liverpool respecting the proceedings of the United States cruisers off the Bahamas.

Mr. Layard to Mr. Horsfall.

Sir: I am directed by Earl Russell to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 2d instant, enclosing a memorial from certain British merchants and ship-owners at Liverpool, in which they state that they view with considerable anxiety and apprehension the hostile attitude assumed by federal cruisers in the Bahama waters, and the memorialists pray that steps may be taken by her Majesty’s government to protect British shipping in those waters, and to put a check on the seizures so repeatedly made by the federal cruisers.

I am to state to you, in reply, that it is alleged on the other hand by Mr. Seward and Mr. Adams that ships have been sent from this country to America with a fixed purpose to run the blockade; that high premiums of insurance have been paid with this view, and that arms and ammunition have been thus conveyed to the southern States to enable them to carry on the war. Lord Russell was unable either to deny the truth of those allegations or to prosecute to conviction the parties engaged in those transactions. But he cannot be surprised that the cruisers of the United States should watch with vigilance a port which is said to be the great entrepot of this commerce.

Her Majesty’s government have no reason to doubt the equity and adherence to legal requirements of the United States prize courts. But he is aware that many vessels are subject to harsh treatment, and that, if captured, the loss to the merchant is far from being compensated even by a favorable decision in a prize court.

The true remedy would be that the merchants and ship-owners of Liverpool should refrain from this species of trade. It exposes innocent commerce to vexatious detention and search by American cruisers; it produces irritation and ill-will on the part of the population of the northern States of America; it is contrary to the spirit of her Majesty’s proclamation; and it exposes the British name to suspicions of bad faith, to which neither her Majesty’s government nor the great body of the nation are justly obnoxious.

It is true, indeed, that supplies of arms and ammunition have been sent to the federals equally in contravention of that neutrality which her Majesty has proclaimed. It is true, also, that the federals obtain more freely and more easily that of which they stand in need. But if the confederates had the command of the sea they would no doubt watch as vigilantly and capture as readily British vessels going to New York as the federals now watch Charleston and capture vessels seeking to break the blockade.

There can be no doubt that the watchfulness exercised by federal cruisers to prevent supplies reaching the confederates by sea will occasionally lead to vexatious visits of merchant ships not engaged in any pursuit to which the federals can properly object. This, however, is an evil to which war on the ocean is liable to expose neutral commerce, and her Majesty’s government have done all they can fairly do, that is to say, they have urged the federal government to enjoin upon their naval officers greater caution in the exercise of their belligerent rights.

Her Majesty’s government having represented to the United States government every case in which they were justified in interfering, have only further [Page 172] to observe, that it is the duty of her Majesty’s subjects to conform to her Majesty’s proclamation, and to abstain from furnishing to either of the belligerent parties any of the means of war, which are prohibited to be furnished by that proclamation.

I am, sir, &c.,

A. H. LAYARD.

T. B. Horsfall, Esq., &c., &c., &c.