Mr. Adams to Mr.
Seward.
No. 366.]
Legation of the United States,
London,
April 7, 1863.
Sir: I send this note out of the ordinary
course, merely to let you know, in advance of my regular despatches,
that on Sunday last, the 5th inst., I received a note from Lord Russell
apprising me that, with reference to my letter of the 30th ult., orders
had been sent to Liverpool for the seizure of the Alexandra. She was
accordingly taken possession of on Sunday, as appears by notices in all
the morning journals.
Copies of the notes that have passed will be forwarded, in regular
course, on Saturday. I think we may infer from this act that the
government is really disposed to maintain its neutrality. I rejoice at
this symptom of a disposition to defeat the machinations of those who
hope to relieve the rebels by the creation
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of a diversion from this side. The manner in which
their sympathizing newspapers notice the event betrays the bitterness of
their disappointment I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient
servant,
Hon. Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
The seizure of the Peterhoff.
The following reply has been received from the foreign office by the
owner of one of the British vessels recently captured by the federal
cruisers :
Foreign Office, April 3, 1863.
Sir: I am now directed by Earl Russell to
make you acquainted with the conclusion at which, having considered,
in communication with the law officers of the crown, your letter of
the 26th of March, requesting to be informed in regard to the right
of British vessels to trade with Matamoras, her Majesty’s government
have arrived.
The government of the United States has clearly no right to seize
British vessels bona fide bound from this
country, or from any other British possession, to the ports of Vera
Cruz or Matamoras, or either of them, or vice
versa, unless such vessels attempt to touch at, or having
an intermediate or contingent destination to, some blockaded port or
place, or are carriers of contraband of war, destined for the
Confederate States; and in any admitted case of such unlawful
capture, her Majesty’s government would feel it their duty promptly
to interfere, with a view to obtain the immediate restitution of the
ship and cargo, with full compensation, and without the delay of
proceedings in a prize court. Her Majesty’s government, however,
cannot, without violating the rules of international law, claim for
British vessels navigating between Great Britain and these places
any general exemption from the belligerent right of visitation by
the cruisers of the United States, nor can they proceed upon any
general assumption that such vessels may not so act as to render
their capture lawful and justifiable. Nothing is more common than
for those who contemplate a breach of blockade, or the carriage of
contraband, to disguise their purpose by a simulated destination,
and by deceptive papers; and the situation of the ports on the coast
of Mexico with reference to the Confederate States is such as to
make it not only possible, but in many cases probable, that an
ostensible Mexican destination would be resorted to as a cover for
objects which would really justify capture. It has already happened
in many cases that British vessels have been seized while engaged in
voyages apparently lawful, which vessels have afterwards been proved
in the prize courts to have been really guilty of endeavoring to
break the blockade, or of carrying contraband to the
confederates.
It is the right of the belligerents to capture all vessels reasonably
suspected of either of these transgressions of international law,
and whenever any such case of capture is alleged, the case cannot be
withdrawn from the consideration of the prize court of the captor.
After the case has undergone investigation, it is the duty of the
prize court to restore any such prizes unlawfully made, with costs
and damages, and the proper time for the interference of her
Majesty’s government is, in general, when the prize courts have
refused redress for a capture which the evidence shows to have been
unjustifiable.
Her Majesty’s government cannot, upon ex parte
statements, deny the belligerents
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in this war the exercise of those rights
which, in all wars in which Great Britain has been concerned, she
had claimed herself to exercise.
I am, &c.,
The seizure of the Magicienne.
Mr. Samuel Baker, of Liverpool, the owner of the Magicienne, has
received the following despatch from the foreign office:
Foreign Office, April 3.
Gentlemen: I am directed by Earl Russell to
acquaint you, in reply to your letter of the 23d ult., that her
Majesty’s minister at Washington will be instructed to apply to the
government of the United States for full compensation to the parties
interested in the Magicienne.
I am, gentlemen, your obedient servant,
E. HAMMOND.
Messrs. Baker.
This vessel was seized on her voyage to Matamoras by a federal
cruiser, and was sent to Key West, where she was released.
Seizure of a Confederate gunboat in the Mersey.
Liverpool, Monday.
Considerable excitement was caused in this port to-day on the fact
becoming known that a gunboat, intended for the confederate
government, had been seized by the order of the government
authorities here. It had been well known for some weeks past that
one gunboat, if not more, was being fitted out in some of the minor
docks, and those employed about made no secret of the destination
for which they were intended. On the facts coming to the knowledge
of Mr. Dudley, the United States consul at Liverpool, he at once
communicated with the American minister in London, and the result
was that inquiries were at once instituted into the whole of the
proceedings bearing upon the building of the vessels seized. These
inquiries appear to have been so far successful that the British
government sent down orders to seize the vessel, and at an early
hour yesterday morning Mr. E. Morgan, one of the custom surveyors,
went on board the Alexandra, (that being, like “290,” the first
christening of the gunboat, as, no doubt, had she got clean off, she
would have undergone a re-christening,) and took possession of her.
The vessel was at once examined, and it was found that she was armed
with one very heavy gun; while another gun, unmounted, was
discovered on board. The Alexandra is a wooden screw-steamer of
about 120 tons, and a very fine model. She was built by Messrs.
Miller & Co., of the South-end, for Messrs. Frazer, Trenholm
& Co., of Liverpool, the “depositaries” in Liverpool (in
conjunction with Mr. James Spence) of the confederate government. At
the time the vessel was seized she was lying in the Toxteth dock, a
quiet, out-of-the-way place. An iron ship-building firm, near to the
builders of the Alexandra, have a large iron gunboat, of about 1,200
tons, on the stocks for the confederate government; but it is now
stated that our government
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has issued instructions to the officials here that in all cases
where there is the slightest suspicion that ships are being built
here other than for neutral powers, they are to seize such vessels,
and await the decisions of the legal authorities.
4.20 P. M.
Since writing the above, we have heard that, although there was every
appearance of fittings up for guns, there were actually no guns on
board the Alexandra. The vessel, however, is now in charge of
government officials, and no doubt the investigation which is to
take place will elucidate whether there were guns on board or not.
The excitement amongst the gentlemen of southern proclivities is
very great.
