Lord Lyons to Mr. Seward.
Sir: Her Majesty’s government have not failed to consider with attention the note which you did me the honor to address to me on the 7th February last with regard to the case of Mr. John J. Shaver, but they have not found it possible to modify their opinion as to the injustice of the incarceration of Mr. Shaver, and as to his claim for compensation.
It is admitted in your note that Mr. Shaver is a British subject, and her Majesty’s government must still maintain that, at the time of his arrest, his legal domicil was in Canada. It is alleged, however, that Mr. Shaver was resident in the United States, and being reasonably suspected of treasonable practices, was properly imprisoned; but her Majesty’s government think that it may be assumed, from the fact and circumstances of his release, that the suspicions entertained against him were ill founded. I had the honor, in my note of the 3d January, to state to you the reasons which had led her Majesty’s government to regard the evidence of Thompson, upon which those suspicions were based, as unworthy of credit. But it is urged in your note that the occupation of Mr. Shaver, though in itself lawful, was such as, if he had been so minded, would have enabled him to be guilty of treason. It seems, however, to her Majesty’s government that the conclusion that he was guilty of treason is very distinct from these premises.
In your note it seems to be inferred, from the deposition of Noyes, that Mr. Shaver was preparing to visit some part of the southern States, without a proper passport from the United States authorities, and without the consent of those [Page 573] authorities; but her Majesty’s government observes that this does not appear from parts of the deposition cited in the note.
The other deposition—that of Albert Davis—is, in the opinion of her Majesty’s government, open to the gravest suspicion. They remark that himself was, or, on his own showing, professed to be, an active agent of the so-called confederates, and that the language which he puts into Mr. Shaver’s mouth is incredible, and bears upon it the stamp of a fabrication to suit the wishes of those who examined him; and they consider that, at all events, his uncorroborated evidence is not to be relied on.
Her Majesty’s government observes, further, that Mr. Shaver has had no opportunity of confronting either Noyes or Davis; that it does not appear that their statements constituted the original ground of his arrest; and that full copies of their depositions are not even now given.
As regards the trunks, apart from what Mr. Shaver himself says as to their containing railway tickets, there appears to her Majesty’s government to be no evidence whatever. It seems, indeed, that from the averment that the trunks were heavy when going south, and light when coming north, the conclusion is drawn that they must have contained treasonable correspondence, but her Majesty’s government observes that the affidavits upon which this statement is made appear to be lost.
It is, in the opinion of her Majesty’s government, clear that no conviction could have been obtained in any court of justice on such evidence as this, and it is, in their opinion, equally clear that it was altogether insufficient to justify Mr. Shaver’s arrest and imprisonment.
On the whole, therefore, her Majesty’s government still consider that Mr. Shaver is entitled to compensation at the hands of the government of the United States, and they have accordingly directed me to inform you that such is their opinion.
I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, &c,