Laird Brothers to S. Price Edwards, collector of H. M. Customs, Liverpool.
Sir: Referring to the several communications we have had with you respecting the trial trip of the iron-clad steamer El Tousson, now in course of completion in the great float, and the decision come to on or about the 21st September last [Page 409] to postpone the trial trip until the work on board was in a more advanced state towards completion, we now beg to inform you that the work is now in such a state of porgress as to make it desirable to have a trial trip to test the working of the machinery, and we therefore shall be glad to know whether, with the information her Majesty’s government have been able to obtain since the date of our former letter, they still consider that the precautions of having a force of seamen and marines on board are necessary to protect our property.
We propose that the trial trip shall take place about the end of this week or the beginning of the week after—say some day between the 22d and 29th instant—and that it should not extend beyond what is considered the limits of the port, or within sight of the light-ship.
No circumstances have come to our knowledge to induce us to apprehend any attempt to take forcible possession of the vessel on her trial trip; and after the fullest inquiry, we are satisfied that if any such project ever existed in the port of Liverpool, the real facts of the case would have been discovered before this, and the parties implicated placed under such surveillance as to render the execution of their design impossible.
We remain, sir, your most obedient servant,
S. Price Edwards, Esq.