Mr. Dayton to Mr. Seward
Sir: I have recently had interviews with Mr. Drouyn de l’Huys in reference to the two iron-clad vessels now being built at Birkenhead, near Liverpool, by the Messrs. Laird for the rebels of the south, as was believed. Our consul at Liverpool was induced to think that by virtue of a sham sale to a Frenchman named Bravay they were about to get out the vessels, or one of them, as French property, and under the French flag, to be handed over, when clear of British jurisdiction, to the confederates, their true owners. Lord Palmerston said, too, in the House of Commons, that he was informed that the French government, through its consul at Liverpool, claimed one of these iron-clads. I at once appealed to Mr. Drouyn de l’Huys to prevent what I believed intended a fraudulent use of the French flag. He promised me to attend to the subject promptly. But he said he knew Mr. Bravay, and was aware of the fact that the Pacha of Egypt, with whom Bravay had much to do, had authorized him or his company to buy ships for him, the Pacha, either in France or England. In a subsequent interview Mr. Drouyn de l’Huys told me he had made all necessary inquiries, and that neither the Emperor, the minister of marine, the minister of finance, nor the French consul at Liverpool knew anything of any claim to such vessel or vessels on the part of the French government; and that a statement to that effect by Lord Palmerston, as reported in the London Times, must have been made on erroneous information. I then endeavored to impress on Mr. Drouyn de l’Huys he great importance of preventing the sailing of these vessels, as French vessels, from a British port, by any neglect of the French consul there, or any fraudulent contrivance or management on the part of French citizens. He said if I would supply him with papers or evidence indicating the real ownership and purpose of these iron-clads, he would have some grounds to act upon, and would see that the French consul at Liverpool was properly on his guard. I therefore had full copies made of the letter of our consul at Liverpool, and all [Page 763] the affidavits he had supplied to the British government on this subject, and enclosed them to the department of foreign affairs here.
Last night I received from Mr. Drouyn de l’Huys a letter in reply, a translation of which is herewith enclosed. If the statements by Mr. Bravay, referred to in the letter, be true, that he has bought these iron-clads for the Pacha of Egypt, and they are delivered, we will have made an important escape, not from the iron-clads only, but from what is, in my judgment, still more important, from further questions with England on this point for the present.
The French government has in this matter acted openly, and will, so far as can be now seen.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
His Excellency William H. Seward, &c., &c., &c.