Mr. Adams to Mr.
Seward.
No. 629.]
Legation of the United
States, London,
March 24, 1864.
Sir: In connexion with my despatches, No. 610,
of the 10th, and No. 623, of the 18th instant, both of them growing out
of the instructions contained in
[Page 399]
your No. 847, of the 17th of February, I now transmit a copy of Lord
Russell’s note of the 19th instant in reply.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward,
Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
Lord Russell to Mr. Adams.
Foreign Office,
March 19, 1864.
Sir: With reference to my note of the 10th
instant, I have the honor to inform you that her Majesty’s
government have called upon Mr. Butterfield, the British vice-consul
at Key West, to furnish a full report with regard to his proceedings
in the case of Mr. E. T. Rich, which formed the subject of your
letter of the 8th instant. With respect, however, to the proceedings
of Mr. Butterfield in the case of Mr. Ring, also alluded to in your
above-mentioned letter, I have the honor to inform you that Lord
Lyons has been instructed to state to Mr. Seward, with whom he has
been in communication on the subject, that, after careful
consideration of all the circumstances of the case, her Majesty’s
government are of opinion that Mr. Butterfield’s conduct in this
matter has been proper, and has not, in any respect, merited
animadversion.
I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your
most obedient, humble servant,
Charles Francis Adams, Esq., &c., &c., &c.
