Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the First Session Thirty-ninth Congress
Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams
Sir: The capture of numerous United States whaling vessels in the waters northwest of this hemisphere by the Shenandoah has naturally excited in this country generally, and particularly among the worthy persons more directly interested, [Page 458] great dissatisfaction. The antecedents of the captor, her course from her departure from England, and particularly the aid and comfort extended to her at Melbourne, Australia, where prior to her recent career above adverted to she was last heard of, warrant us in regarding her as substantially a British vessel, for whose acts her Majesty’s government may lawfully and justly be held accountable. You will, consequently, address a note to this effect to Earl Russell, if you should not already have done so pursuant to my general instructions. Mr. Dudley, the consul at Liverpool, who is familiar with the subject, will furnish you with any facts of which you may not be aware relative to her history, at least before she left England, and the accompanying copy of a despatch of the 23d of February last to this department, from the United States consul at Melbourne, furnishes full details in regard to the proceedings of the Shenandoah at that place.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Charles Francis Adams, Esq., &c., &c., &c.
Mr. Blanchard to Mr. Seward
Sir: It is my painful duty to inform you that an armed steamship, flying the flag of the so-styled Confederate States, now called Shenandoah, but in reality the British vessel Sea King, entered this port on the 25th January, 1865, at about eight o’clock p.m., and that said vessel was allowed to repair, to go upon a dry dock, to coal, and that she was allowed to depart at about 7 a. m. on the 18th of February, 1865, notwithstanding my continued protests.
* * * * * * * * * * *
On the 25th of January the telegraph announced that a steamship, supposed to be the Royal Standard, from Liverpool, fifty-two days out, was in sight. Late in the evening rumors were in circulation to the effect that the vessel seen was a confederate war-ship, called the Shenandoah.
On the morning of the 26th I learned from the papers that the confederate ship Shenandoah had anchored in the port about dark the day before.
On coming to the consulate on the morning of the 26th of January, 1865, I found there the following named persons, all of the late American bark Delphine, burnt at sea on the 29th of December, 1864, and all claiming to be prisoners of war to the confederate steamship Shenandoah, and on parole not to communicate anything to the detriment of the confederate cause or that would lead to the capture of said ship, viz: William Green Nichols, master; E. T. Jones, first mate; E. P. Nichols, second mate; E. T. Lingo, steward; William Scott, carpenter; Charles Henning, Frederick Lindborg, and William Edstrom, seamen.
Being anxious to get a description of the vessel and her armament to send off in the mail, just then closing, I used every endeavor to procure it from the above persons, and at near one o’clock succeeded in getting enough information to enable me to send such description of said vessel to Mr. Adams, and also to our consul at Hong Kong, with a view of having a cruiser put on her track as soon as possible, which despatches I sent on board the mail steamer then in the bay, the mail having closed at Melbourne, a copy of which is herewith enclosed, (No. 1.)
While I was taking Captain Nichols’s testimony, which is enclosed, (No. 2,) I received a despatch from the commissioner of trade and customs at 3.30 p. m., informing me that an application had been made to land certain prisoners from the confederate steamer Shenandoah, and wanting to know, for the information of the governor, whether I, as consul for the United States, would take care of and provide for them if landed. A copy of the despatch is herewith enclosed, (No. 3.)
The November mail from Europe, which arrived here about the middle of January, brought the news that the Sea King had left England with the intention of being converted into a war-vessel to cruise against our commerce. As soon as I had reason to believe that the Shenandoah and Sea King were one and the same ship, and that she had not entered any port since leaving England, I took the position towards the authorities here that she was not entitled to the rights of a belligerent as contemplated in her Majesty’s neutrality proclamation, and that she could, not change her nationality at sea. I therefore, in answer to the despatch of the commissioner of trade and customs, sent an answer direct to Sir Charles Darling, the governor, then at the government house, Toorak, about five miles off, a copy of which (No. 4) is herewith enclosed, and which was delivered and receipted for at 6.45 p. m. the same day.
[Page 459]On the 27th of January I continued the examination of the men from the Delphine, several of whom told me that all the captured men who had been induced to join said vessel had done so either after imprisonment and punishment, or to avoid it through threats, andthat they believed they would all leave if I would protect them from arrest. I informed the men that I would protect all persons that had shipped under such circumstances from captured American vessels, and directed said men, if any such were seen ashore by them, to in form them of my determination, and direct them to me or come with them. I did this with the view of liberating the men, of reducing her crew, which was mostly made up of such impressed men, and of obtaining information that the men I then had would not give on account of their parole.
I also sent to the governor an argumentative despatch, again protesting against said Sea King, (Shenandoah,) and maintaining that said vessel was in violation of her Majesty’s proclamation, a copy of which is herewith enclosed, (No. 5. )
On the 28th I received a despatch from C. J. Tyler, for private secretary, informing me that my despatches of the 26th and 27th of January had been referred by the governor to his legal advisers, and that his excellency the governor would acquaint me with his decision after he had received the advice of the attorney general, a copy of which is herewith enclosed, (No. 6.)
After receiving the above, I forwarded to the governor a despatch of same date, stating that evidence was daily accumulating in my office in support of the several protests I had sent him, and calling his attention to special reasons why said vessel should not receive the treatment of a belligerent, and protesting against the aid and comfort and refuge now being extended to said vessel, a copy of which is herewith enclosed, (No. 7. )
Being under the impression that the governor of New South Wales was still governor general of all the Australian colonies, I sent to Mr. Leavenworth, our consul at Sydney, a despatch, a copy of which (No. 8) is herewith enclosed, enclosing therein copies of the correspondence with the authorities here, and urging him, if my impressions in regard to the governor generalship were correct, to lodge protests in support of mine with the governor general there. I find I was mistaken; the governors are independent of each other.
On the 30th of January I received a despatch dated Private Secretary’s Office, January 30, informing me that his excellency the governor had received my communications of the 26th, 27 th, and 28th of January, and advised with the Crown law officers thereon, and that “his excellency the governor has come to the decision that, whatever may be the previous history of the Shenandoah, the government of this colony is bound to treat her as a ship-of-war belonging to a belligerent power,” a copy of which is herewith enclosed, (No. 9.)
I immediately entered a protest in the name of the United States against the decision of the government of Victoria, a copy of which is herewith enclosed, (No. 10.)
After receiving this decision of the governor, thus closing all arguments and hopes as to the vessel being stopped in her career by the governor, I consulted with several American merchants here, and decided to try to indict her in the admiralty court. With this view I employed Messrs. Duffett, Grant & Woolcott, solicitors, who became acquainted with sundry affidavits and witnesses at my command.
On the 1st of February a debate arose in the colonial legislature respecting the Sea King, (Shenandoah,) in which the chief secretary seemed to think there was no proof of said vessel being the Sea King. My solicitors considered there was abundant evidence, and that it should be laid before the Crown law officers, which I authorized them to do. I therefore accompanied Mr. Duffett, of the said firm, to the Crown law officers, where he left the affidavits of Messrs. L. L. Nichols, (No. 11,) William Bruce, (No. 12,) and John H. Colby, (No. 13. ) The minister of justice and the attorney general were absent, and the above affidavits were left with the chief clerk, Mr. Chomley.
On the 3d of February Mr. Duffett, of the above firm, wrote to the attorney general as per enclosure No. 14.
On the 4th of February I was informed, as per enclosures Nos. 15 and 16, that on Monday, February 6, the law officers would be glad to see me in relation to said vessel. At the appointed time, in company with Mr. Duffett, and supported by Mr. J. B. Swasey, a loyal American merchant of this city, I repaired to the offices named, where the case of the Sea King (Shenandoah) was discussed with the minister of justice and the attorney general. During the interview I requested Mr. Duffett to read the affidavit of George Silvester, late a seaman on the Laurel, and fireman on the Sea King, (Shenandoah,) (No. 17,) and Mr. Duffett left with the attorney general the affidavits of Edward S. Jones, (No. 18,) James Ford, (No. 19,) George R. Brackett, (No. 20,) Charles Bolin, (No. 21,) John Sandali, (No. 22,) William Scott, (No. 23,) Frederick Lindborg, (No. 24,) and he withdrew the declaration of Mr. L. L. Nichols, (No. 11,) left on the 2d of February, and substituted for it an affidavit of the same person, (No. 25.) After much discussion, both these gentlemen seemed to admit that the Sea King (Shenandoah) would be liable to seizure and condemnation if found in British waters; but would not admit that she was liable to seizure here, unless she violated the neutrality proclamation while in this port, and if she did they would take immediate action against her.
Finding that I could not proceed in the admiralty court, I continued to take what evidence I could get and forward it to the governor; and on the 9th of February I addressed to him a [Page 460] despatch, in which I sent a list of the affidavits left at the Crown law offices, a copy o which (No. 26) is herewith enclosed.
On the 10th of February, 1865, I sent to the governor a despatch enclosing the affidavit of John Williams, showing that persons were concealed on hoard said vessel, and others on duty on board, and wearing the uniform, which persons had come on said vessel in this port, a copy of which is herewith enclosed, (No. 27. )
On the 11th of February I received a despatch from the Crown law officers, informing me that said John Williams may attend on Monday, the 13th, at the Crown solicitor’s office, a copy of which is herewith enclosed, (No. 28.)
On Monday, the 13th, I induced Mr. Samuel P. Lord, a loyal American merchant here, to accompany said John Williams and Walter J. Madden, who had given like testimony before me, to the Crown solicitor, to see that the testimony of said persons were properly taken. Just after his departure from the consulate with the above-named witnesses, two other sailors, named F. C. Behucke and Hermann Wicke, who said they left the Shenandoah only the day before, came to the consulate and gave substantially the same evidence. I immediately sent them with my clerk, Mr. Gage, to the Crown solicitor’s office to support the charge of those already there. I then sent the governor a despatch, enclosing the testimony of John Williams, (No. 29,) Walter J. Madden, (No. 30,) and Thomas Jackson, (No.31,) a seaman on board the Laurel, and fireman on board the Sea King, (Shenandoah,) in support of my protests, a copy of which is herewith enclosed, (No. 32. J
At about 5 o’clock p. m. on the 13th an officer of the police, accompanied by a clerk from the Crown law offices, came to this consulate to obtain a witness to go on board said Shenandoah to identify the persons who had shipped in this port on board said vessel. I declined to let any of them go on board said vessel unless he would return them to this consulate, as I apprehended they might be seized as deserters, informing him that they were all impressed from American vessels. He gave me such a promise, and selected Walter J. Madden, who left this consulate in his charge.
On the 14th I received a despatch from the governor’s private secretary, informing me that my despatches of the 10th and 13th were received, and had engaged and continued to engage the earnest attention of the colonial government, a copy of which despatch is herewith enclosed, (No. 33.)
On the same day I sent a despatch to the governor, (No. 34,) enclosing the affidavits of F. C. Behucke, (No. 36, ) and Hermann Wicke, (No. 35, ) these being the two men I had sent the day before to the Crown solicitor, and whose affidavits I took after their return.
On the 14th of February Walter J. Madden returned, and informed me that the police were not allowed to search the ship the day before, and that two policemen went on board this morning and returned without making any arrests, and that he was dismissed for the present. He also informed me that the Shenandoah was then on the patent slip undergoing repairs.
On the evening of the 14th the town was full of rumors about the seizure of said vessel. About 5 o’clock I proceeded to Sandridge to ascertain if said seizure was made. Sandridge is opposite Williamstown, where the said vessel was, and in direct communication by a steam ferry-boat, and distant about three miles. While at Sandridge I was informed by a master of an English ship, who was boarded by the Shenandoah previous to her arrival here, and whose name I do not remember, that he was on board the Shenandoah an hour previous, drinking with the wardroom officers, when Captain Waddell came in with a printed paper in his hand and informed them that the ship had been seized; that he left, coming through the police then around said vessel, by giving his name and occupation.
On the morning of the 15th of February it was reported in the papers that the Shenandoah had been seized by the authorities; that four persons endeavoring to escape from said vessel were arrested; amongst them was one “Charley,” who had been named by all the witnesses as being on board and wearing the uniform of said vessel.
With a view of getting the governor to reconsider his decision as alluded to above, (No. 9, ) and in answer to the arguments used by the Crown law officers at the interview I had with them before referred to, I forwarded to his excellency a despatch, a copy of which is herewith enclosed, (No. 37.)
I received the same day a notice from the police department informing me of the arrest of four men, and desiring the attendance of some person to identify them, a copy of which is enclosed, (No. 38. )
I sent the four men who had given the information to identify the arrested men, who returned the same day, stating that “Charley “was among them, and that the others were also some of the persons referred to in their affidavits as being on board, and that their names were remembered when seen. These men also informed me that the prisoners were remanded, and that they were to appear the next day against them at the Williamstown police court. A few hours after I heard that the ship was released.
In the evening, during the session of Parliament, the chief secretary announced that the government had issued no warrant, and that there had been no search; “that a warrant had been only issued, for the arrest of one of their subjects, and that, being satisfied, they ought not to proceed to extremities in this matter.” Permission was then given to the workmen
launch the ship, which had been forbidden. [Page 461] On the 16th of February I had the men to attend at the police court in Williamstown, as required, as witnesses. Two of the prisoners were committed, one released on the ground that he was not a British subject, and the other remanded till next day.
While crossing the bay to the trial at Williamstown on the 16th, I saw the Shenandoah taking in coal from a ship alongside, and Mr. McFarlane, emigration officer, a fellow-passenger, informed me that she was taking in two hundred tons of Scotch coal, in addition to the amount she brought here.
On the 17th of February I forwarded to the governor a despatch calling his attention to the fact that the Shenandoah was a full-rigged sailing vessel, steam being only auxiliary, and to the amount of coal she had upon her arrival here, and the quantity X learned she was taking on board in this port, a copy of which (No. 39) is herewith enclosed The same day I learned that the remanded prisoner was also committed, and the four men held as witnesses, to appear at the March term of the court.
On the 17th I forwarded a despatch to the governor, calling his attention to the affidavits heretofore forwarded him, showing that some ten to twenty persons had been shipped no board said vessel while in this harbor; also notifying him that I had forwarded to the attorney general the solemn declaration of Michael Cashmore, (No. 40, ) a highly respectable citizen, to the same purport, and that I had also left with the attorney general a solemn declaration of J. B. Sydserff, (No. 41,) in relation to the sale of “prize” chronometers in this port by the officers of said vessel, and protesting against the vessel being allowed to leave this port with said persons on board, a copy of which (No. 42) is herewith enclosed.
On the evening of the 17th of February Andrew Forbes came to the consulate with the information that several persons were then on the wharf ready to go on board a vessel to join the Sea King (Shenandoah) beyond the jurisdiction of this port; that one of said persons, named James Evans, had told him. Deeming the information important, and that no time. was to be lost, I, in company with Mr. S. P. Lord, who was then in the consulate, took said Forbes with us to the Crown law offices to lodge the information, and was met by the Crown solicitor coming out. Upon my application to take the information, he, in an offensive manner, positively declined, saying he wanted his dinner; that there were plenty of magistrates in town; that it was none of his business. He informed me that the attorney general and minister of justice were in Parliament, then in session. I then proceeded to the detective police office, and there was informed that if the affidavit of the man was taken before a county magistrate they would execute his warrant. I then went to Parliament House and called out Mr. Higginbotham, the attorney general, who said that if I would go to Mr. Sturt, he would take the affidavit. I then went with the witness to Mr. Sturt, more than a mile off, who declined to take it, and who said the water police were the proper authorities to act. The water police are at Williamstown, across the bay, and about four miles from Mr. Sturt’s. I then took the testimony, which is No. 43, at my office, and despatched it by Mr. Lord to the attorney general, and started with the witness to Williamstown. When the witness found he had to go among his acquaintances he was afraid of bodily harm, and refused to proceed.
During the night several persons endeavored to find me to give information of the shipment of men for said vessel. One Bobbins, a master stevedore, found me at 11 o’clock p. m., and informed me that boat-loads of men with their luggage were leaving the wharf at Sandridge and going directly on board said vessel, and that the ordinary police boats were not to be seen on the bay. I informed said Bobbins that Mr. Sturt, police magistrate, told me the water police were the proper persons to lodge any information with, and that he, as a good subject, was bound to inform them of any violation of law that came under his notice, which he promised to do.
On the morning of the 18th of February, at about 7 o’clock a. m., the said Shenandoah left her anchorage and proceeded to sea unmolested.
I forwarded to the governor the affidavit of said Forbes, (No. 43, ) enclosed in a despatch, a copy of which is annexed, (No. 44.)
On this day I received a reply from the private secretary, dated the 17th of February, relating to the supply of coal, a copy of which (No. 45) is herewith enclosed.
I learned that the Shenandoah was inquiring for a pilot acquainted with the Australian waters, and I despatched to the vice-consul at Hobart Town information to that effect, a copy of which is herewith enclosed, (No. 46.)
On the 18th of February the aforementioned Mr. Bobbins called at the consulate and in formed me that six boat-loads of men left the wharves with their luggage during the previous night, and that they were taken on board said vessel through the propeller hoist-hole. When asked to give his affidavit, he said as the officials, would take no notice of it he would only injure his business by so doing, and he declined. He stated that about seventy men went on board said vessel on the night of the 17th of February, and that some of them took and used his boat to go in.
Captain Sears, of the American bark Mustang, was on the wharf watching, who informs me that he saw several boat-loads of men with luggage go to said vessel while lying in the bay, and that he also saw said Bobbins go to the police.
On the 20th I received a despatch from the private secretary of the governor, dated same [Page 462] day, in answer to my despatch of the 15th of February, a copy of which (No. 47) is herewith enclosed.
On the 20th I requested, in writing, Mr. S. P. Lord to give me an account of my interview with the Crown solicitor, referred to above. I enclose herewith a copy of said request, (No. 48, ) as well as his answer thereto, (No. 49. )
On the 22d I received a despatch from the private secretary’s office, dated the 21st of February, in reply to my complaint of the 18th of February, alluded to above, a copy of which is herewith enclosed, (No. 50.)
In recapitulating the above, I leave the documents to speak for themselves, convinced that they will meet with the interpretation they deserve.
It will be for you to consider whether the Sea King (Shenandoah) was hastily and illegally recognized as a war vessel of a belligerent power, (coming as she did, armed, from one British port to another, with the marks of her identity still upon her,) and allowed to depart again to renew her depredations on the commerce of a power friendly to Great Britain. It will be for you to consider whether the shipment of arms and ammunition in Liverpool on board the Laurel to be put on board the Sea King on the high seas, as borne out by the affidavits, of Silvester and Jackson, is in accordance with international law and treaty obligations, and her Majesty’s neutrality proclamation.
The department will not fail to perceive that with the sworn testimony of four persons before the authorities here, to the effect that some ten to twenty persons were shipped in this harbor on board said vessel, and were rationed from her stores, and a part of them, at least, on duty on board in uniform, said vessel was nevertheless allowed to depart.
The attention of the départaient is especially called to the interview alluded to above, at page 9, with the Crown law officers, to the effect, that if the said ship was found violating the neutrality proclamation in this port, they would take immediate action against her.
A despatch from the Crown law officers above referred to, and No. 28, alludes to supporting a charge against certain persons and officers of the Shenandoah. The police examinations took place as stated, on the 16th and 17th February instant, at which three men were committed for trial; and yet, at the very time these commitments were being made, the officers who thus violated the neutrality of this port were on board the ship within a mile of the said court unmolested, and the ship was allowed to take in the additional quantity of coal mentioned hereinbefore. A printed report of the investigations of the persons referred to, cut from the Melbourne Argus, is herewith enclosed, (No. 51.)
These commitments do not seem to have stimulated the authorities to any vigilance in regard to the said ship, otherwise boat-loads of men could not have joined her on the night of the 17th-18th instant, as stated above, and confirmed by the extracts taken from the three Melbourne daily papers of the 20th instant, herewith enclosed, and numbered 52.
What motives may have prompted the authorities, with evidence in their possession as to the shipment of large numbers of persons on board said vessel, substantiated by the capture and commitment of some escaping from said ship, to allow the said vessel to continue to enjoy the privileges of neutrality in coaling, provisioning, and departing, with the affidavits and information lodged and not fully satisfied, I am at a loss to conceive. Was it not shown and proved that the neutrality was violated ? And yet she was allowed her own way unmolested, thus enabling her to renew her violations of neutrality on a larger scale.
There are eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear, and I fear that this port is endowed with such a portion of them as may be required to suit the occasion; for in what other way can my unsuccessful attempts to obtain the assistance of the authorities on the evening of the 17th instant be explained ?
The immunities I enjoyed on this occasion, as United States consul, were of a peculiar nature. Instead of being assisted by the authorities, I was only baffled, and taught how certain proceedings could not be instituted.
I send by this mail a file of the Melbourne Argus, Age, and Herald, the three daily papers of this city, during the time of the stay of the Shenandoah in this port, a careful examination of which will be necessary to obtain a complete view of what transpired in this place in relation to said ship and her officers. I also send the Melbourne pictorial papers, giving a picture of said vessel and some of the scenes on board of her.
I herewith enclose, in No. 53, extracts cut from said papers in support of some of my statements, which I deem essential to be read in connexion with this despatch, for fear he papers sent by mail may not arrive in time, among which will be found the correspondence between the officials here and the officers of said vessel.
I also forwarded to the governor of the colony affidavits of Edward P. Nichols, second mate of late bark Delphine, (No. 54,) of E. T. Lingo, steward on board late bark Delphine, (No. 55, ) and of Mary Lingo, (No. 56, ) stewardess on late bark Delphine,
I close by informing the department that James Francis Maguire, late United States consul here, as far as I could see and learn, acted as counsel for the vessel and her officers. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
[Enclosure No. 1.]
Sir: The mail to Europe being about to leave, I hasten to inform you that a confederate steamer named Shenandoah has made her appearance in this port this morning. I beg to enclose extracts of papers.
Some prisoners on board who are now being liberated, and now in the consulate, give the following details respecting her:
She was the original Sea King; sailed from London on the 8th October, 1864, and received ammunition from a ship named Laurel, at sea. Part of the name Sea King is still visible, and I shall obtain of these particular letters a photograph. She is represented to have been built at Glasgow, and water-buckets, spoons, forks, &c, are marked Sea King; she is a wooden ship with iron frame, but not plated. Her armament is eight guns, viz: four 8-inch shell guns, two on each side, unrifled; weight of guns about 2 tons 15 cwt.; guns bear numbers 11,522, 11,523, 14,524, 11,525; these guns are not breech-loaders. Two rifled guns, about 5-inch bore, one on each side. Two ordinary 12-pounders, the original ship’s guns.
She has the appearance of an ordinary merchant ship, with long, full poop, a large bright wheel-house, oval sky-lights on the poop; she has one telescope funnel; the mizen-topmast and topgallant staysail both hoist from the mainmast head; she is wire-rigged.
The officers on board declare that it would not be safe to fire a broadside. It is the general impression that she is not a formidable vessel. She is leaky, and requires two hours’ pumping out. The crew consist of seventy-nine, all told.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. Charles F. Adams, United States Minister, London.
(Copy of the above also sent to United States consul at Hong Kong.)
[Enclosure No. 2. ]
PROTEST.
I, the undersigned, William Green Nichols, of Searsport, United States, formerly Captain of bark Delphine, of Bangor, Maine, United States, do hereby solemnly declare on oath, that said bark was of 705 tons register; that on the 12th October, 1864, she sailed from Gravesend, England, under my command, with a crew of fifteen and two passengers, (wife and child; ) that said bark was bound for Akyab with cargo of machinery, and that until 29th December, 1864, nothing unusual occurred; that on said 29th December last, latitude south 39° 20, longitude east 69°, I was fallen in with by a ship showing English colors for about half an hour while approaching; I showed American colors in reply. The ship, on approaching, proved to be a steamer, with a telescope funnel, under sail: she fired a blank shot, upon which I immediately hove to, she hoisting the confederate flag after firing the gun; that immediately after the gun was fired the confederate flag was hoisted on said steamer, and on my ship, Delphine, being boarded, I was taken, with my mate and ship’s papers, on board said steamer called Shenandoah; that on examining said papers the captain of the aforesaid steamer, James J. Waddell, declared the ship under my command as a prize; granted to me permission to remove the wardrobe of self and family, (‘consisting of wife and child, ) but allowed me to take nothing else; that the crew were allowed the same privileges with the exception of their bed; that I, my wife and child, as well as mate; were taken on board said steamer as prisoners, but paroled; whereas such part of crew as would not join the steamer were put in irons; that above-named ship Delphine was then ransacked and set on fire by crew of said steamer; that I declared to the captain of said steamer the value of the ship Delphine as being about £3,500, (three thousand five hundred pounds sterling;) that outfits, loss of freight and wages, which amount to about £3,000, (three thousand pounds, ) were not included in above amount; that immediately on being taken on board I was paroled, and on 23d instant a new parole was demanded from me, in order to enable me to be released on reaching land; that to-day, the 26th January, 1865, I was released in Hobson’s bay under parole, which enjoins upon me not to give any information which might tend to the injury of the said steamer, or to the detriment of the so-called confederate cause; that, not for want of loyalty towards the United States, but in consequence of wishing not to violate said parole, I decline divulging anything as to her armament, &c; that the knives, forks, spoons, &c, in the use of the said steamer bore the mark Sea King, and I heard the captain say that she was formerly the Sea King; that he with officers took charge of her at Madeira, or the Isle of Deserta, and sailed with an original crew of (17) seventeen men.
WM. G. NICHOLS, Late Master of Bark Delphine, of Bangor.
Melbourne, January 26, 1865.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this twenty-sixth day of January, 1865.
WM. BLANCHAED, Consul.
[Page 464]When making the statement as to the value of the ship, I thought that, on account of having British property on board, he might bond the ship and let her go, and I wished to have the bond as small as possible, not that I consider the amount above mentioned the value of the ship; neither did I include my private property on board, nor the property of the officers and crew.
WM. G. NICHOLS, Late Master of Bark Delphine.
[Enclosure No. 3.]
Sir: I am desired by his excellency the governor to inform you that an application has been made to land certain prisoners from the confederate steamer Shenandoah now in this port, and I am to request that you will be good enough to inform me, for the information of Sir Charles Darling, whether you are willing to undertake to receive and provide for, on behalf of the government which you represent, the prisoners above referred to.
I am to request the favor of an early reply to this communication.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Wm. Blanchard, Esq., Consul for the United States of America.
(Received and receipted for at 3.30 p. m., January 26, 1865.)
[Enclosure No. 4.]
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a despatch from the honorable the commissioner of trade and customs, dated to-day, (D. 63,59,) and in reply beg leave to acquaint your excellency that, previous to its reaching me, at half past three o’clock p. m., I had made provision for the master, crew, and passengers, already landed, of the United States bark Delphine, (the persons presumed to be referred to in said despatch,) burnt at sea by a piratical vessel called the Shenandoah, ex-Sea King.
I avail myself of this opportunity to call upon your excellency to cause the said Shenandoah, alias Sea King, to be seized for piratical acts, she not coming within her Majesty’s neutrality proclamation—never having entered a port of the so-styled Confederate States of America for the purposes of naturalization, and consequently not entitled to belligerent rights. The table service, plate, &c., on board said vessel bear the mark Sea King, and the captain should bring evidence to entitle him to belligerent rights.
I therefore protest against any aid or comfort being extended to said piratical vessel in any of the ports of this colony.
I have the honor to be, your excellency’s most obedient servant,
His Excellency Sir Charles Darling, K. C. B., &c, Governor of Colony of Victoria.
(Delivered and receipted for at 6.45 p. m., January 26, 1865, at Toorak, governor’s residence. )
[Enclosure No. 5. ]
Sir: The undersigned, consul of the United States of America at the port of Melbourne, begs, most respectfully, to call the attention of your excellency to the armed cruiser (referred to in his note of yesterday) now at anchor in Hobson’s bay, and reported to be a vessel of the so-styled Confederate States of America.
It must be evident to your excellency that, notoriously, all the presumptions of fact and law are against the probabilities of the legal character of the vessel in question, and it is not necessary for the undersigned to more than suggest to your excellency the ease with which any lawless rover of the seas may assume any character designed to effect his purposes.
When, in this case, the actual circumstances are duly considered, having reference, on the [Page 465] one hand, to the present condition of the so-styled Confederate States of America, and on the other to the frequent violations in her Majesty’s ports of the laws of neutrality, especially of the well-known facts proclaimed respecting this very vessel before her arrival, there would scarcely seem to remain a doubt as to her real character here, for the first time appearing in her new pretended nationality, coming from nowhere, bringing in no prizes, destroying, without adjudication and without necessity, all property seized, regardless of ownership; leaving, inhumanly and against the law of nations, large numbers of captives upon a desert island; having in all parts of her, and in the remains of half-erased letters, numberless indicia of her genuine nationality. The undersigned will not doubt, that not only in the interest of justice and the safety of universal commerce on the seas, but also in vindication of the honor and dignity of her Majesty’s government, too long contemptuously disregarded by those who, seeking asylum under it, only abuse an honorable hospitality to violate its laws and insult its sovereignty, your excellency will give so much weight, and no more, to a bit of bunting and a shred of gold lace, as they deserve. That your excellency will well assure yourself that those presumptuously lawless men, audaciously entering this port upon pretences of necessity, always so easily made, but really that information may be got and new enterprises hence successfully executed, be really what they claim, and truly entitled to the immunities secured to belligerents; that the commissions, if any, exhibited, be genuine; the bearers thereof the persons authorized to bear them; their documents, if any, showing the character of the vessel worthy of credence, and the acts committed such as ought to receive the favorable countenance of a great and magnanimous power; in fine, whether the crew and vessel are lawfully entitled to the privileges accorded, under the laws and by virtue of her Majesty’s proclamation, to a real belligerent; or whether, on the contrary, the crew be not amenable to punishment and the vessel to seizure.
And never doubting the anxious desire of your excellency to maintain a strict neutrality, the undersigned feels assured that he will not be misunderstood nor his conduct be deemed too officious when the peculiar facts of this present case are duly considered. Now, for the first time, action by this government in the nature of a precedent is to be established respecting the status to be accorded to a vessel, here first appearing and claiming a warlike character, suddenly, without notice, under circumstances of the gravest suspicion. The undersigned will fee pardoned if the gravity of the case, in his opinion, makes him feel it to be his duty to urge upon your excellency the greatest caution; that not upon mere assertion of so-called officers, but after the severest scrutiny, it should be determined if this vessel and crew are entitled to the rights of belligerency, or whether the vessel should not be detained until the facts can be duly investigated.
Wherefore, the undersigned, relying upon the vigilance of your excellency, in a case of so much and so pressing importance, protests against the said vessel called the Shenandoah, alias Sea King, her so-styled officers and crew; that from evidence already taken by him, as well as from facts patent, and notorious to all, the legal presumptions are, in this case, against any just claim to the rights of a belligerent; and that in the interests of justice, commerce, the comity of nations and impartial observance. of her Majesty’s proclamation of neutrality and of imperial law, this important right, here now, under new and peculiar circumstances, in the case of this vessel first sought to be established, be most rigidly examined, lest, under flimsy pretences of necessity, the ports and coasts of her Majesty’s dominions be unguardedly thrown open to afford lawless and unauthorized marauders cover and bases for new and piratical enterprises against the citizens of a friendly power, their lives and property; and not only so, enterprises fraught with danger to the interests of her Majesty’s subjects, and in direct encouragement of the most audacious violations of the laws of humanity and of nations; lest, finally, new claims and additional and serious complications unfortunately arise between her Majesty’s government and the government of the United States.
I have the honor to be, your excellency’s most obedient servant,
His Excellency Sir Charles Darling, K. C. B., &c, Governor of the Colony of Victoria
[Enclosure No. 6.]
Sir: I am directed by his excellency the governor to acquaint you that your letter of the 27th instant was immediately referred by his excellency for the consideration and opinion of the legal advisers of his government, and that the same course has been pursued with your letter of yesterday’s date, protesting against the claim to the rights of a belligerent of the vessel now lying in Hobson’s bay, called the Shenandoah. His excellency will not fail to acquaint you with his decision after he shall have received the advice of the attorney general.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
The Consul for the United States of America
[Enclosure No. 7.]
Sir: I am in receipt ox a communication from C. J. Tyler, esq., your excellency’s aide-de-camp, dated to-day, informing me that your excellency has submitted my despatches of the 26th and 27th January, instant, to the consideration of your legal advisers, and that your excellency’s decision, when made, will be forwarded to me.
Evidence being daily accumulating in this office in support of the reasons for the protests I had the honor to forward to your excellency, I now beg leave to call your attention specially to the following:
1. That the Sea King, alias Shenandoah, now in this port and assuming to be a war vessel, is a British-built ship, and cleared from a British port as a merchantman, legally entering no port until her arrival here, where she assumes to be a war vessel of the so-styled Confederate States; that any transfer of said vessel at sea is in violation of the law of nations, and does not change her nationality.
2. That inasmuch as her Majesty’s neutrality proclamation prohibits her subjects from supplying or furnishing any war material or ship to either belligerent, this vessel, having an origin as above, is not entitled to the privileges accorded to the belligerents by said proclamation.
3. That being a British-built merchant ship, she cannot be converted into a war vessel upon the high seas, of the so-styled Confederate. States, but only by proceeding to and sailing in such character from one of the ports of the so-styled confederacy.
4. That it is an established law that vessels are to be considered as under the flag of the nation where built until legally transferred to another flag.
5. That said vessel sailed as an English merchant ship from an English port, and cannot, until legally transferred, be considered a man-of-war.
6. That, not being legally a man-of-war, she is but a lawless pirate, dishonoring the flag under, which her status, is to be established and under which she decoys her victims.
7. That her armament came also from Great Britain, in English vessels, (the Laurel and Sea King, now Shenandoah, ) both of which cleared Under British seal, or, if without it, in violation of established law.
8. That, as such, she has committed great depredations upon ships belonging to citizens of the United States, making her liable to seizure and detention and the crew guilty of piracy.
I cannot close this without further protesting, in behalf of my government, against the aid and comfort and refuge now being extended to the so-styled confederate cruiser Shenandoah in this port.
I have the honor to be your excellency’s most obedient servant,
His Excellency Sir Charles Darling, K, C. B., &c.,&c., Governor of Victoria.
[Enclosure No. 8.]
Dear Colleague:. You have been acquainted, by telegraph, of the appearance of a ship (screw steamer) assuming the name Shenandoah, and claiming the rights of belligerency from Victorian authorities.
I have forwarded to the governor, Sir Charles Darling, two despatches respecting it, and I beg to enclose copies of documents that have been exchanged between the authorities here and the consulate, viz:
1. Despatch of commissioner of trade and customs respecting prisoriers to be provided for.
2. Reply to the above and protest against granting any rights of belligerency.
3. Despatch argumentative aiming to prove that belligerent rights cannot be accorded.
4. Acknowledgment of receipt of above despatches 2 and 3, showing that protests are under consideration.
Her Majesty’s government being represented in Sydney by a governor who is at the same time governor general of all Australian colonies and commander of all Australian waters, thus overruling all other governors of her Majesty’s government in these dominions, I re spectfully suggest to you the propriety and necessity of lodging a solemn protest in support of my protests here, showing such reasons as you deem expedient to induce his excellency to issue orders in all colonies to seize said vessel as a pirate, and in no way to grant to her bel ligerent rights.
In stating that your governor is governor general, I have no authority just now at hand (being in haste and mail closing) to see that I am really correct, and it is therefore for you to decide whether my intentions can be carried out.
[Page 467]You are thus acquainted with all the facts relating to this piratical craft and to the grounds I have taken against her, and I rely upon your hearty and vigorous o-operation.
I have the honor to be, dear sir and colleague, yours, respectfully,
E. Leavenworth, Esq.,United States Consul, Sydney,
[Enclosure No. 9. ]
Sir: I am directed by his excellency the governor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 28th instant, and to acquaint you that, having fully considered the representations contained in that communication and in your previous letters of the 26th and 27th instant, and advised with the Crown law officers thereon, his excellency has come to the decision that, whatever may be the previous history of the Shenandoah, the government of this colony is bound to treat her as a ship-of-war belonging to a belligerent power.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,
C. J. TYLER, for Private Secretary,
[Enclosure No. 10.]
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a despatch, signed “C. J. Tylor, for the private secretary,” dated “Private Secretary’s Office, January 30, 1865,” informing me that after fall consideration of my several despatches, dated, respectively, the 26th, 27th, and 28th instant, and after advice of the Crown law officers, your excellency has come to the decision that, whatever.may be the previous history of the Shenandoah, the government of this colony is bound to treat her as a ship-of-war belonging to a belligerent power.
As consul of and on behalf and by authority of the United States of America, I hereby solemnly protest against the decision of the government of Victoria, as communicated to me in the above-mentioned despatch. And I further protest, as consul aforesaid, against the government of Victoria allowing the said piratical craft Shenandoah, alias Sea King, to depart from this port, thus enabling her to renew her depredations upon shipping belonging to the citizens of the United States of America. And I hereby notify your excellency that the United States government will claim indemnity for the damages already done to its shipping by said vessel, and also which may hereafter be committed by said vessel Shenandoah, alias Sea King, upon the shipping of the United States of America, if allowed to depart from this port; that the said vessel is nothing more than a pirate, which the nation whose vessels she robs and destroys has a right to pursue, capture, or destroy in any port or harbor in the world.
I have the honor to be, six, your most obedient servant,
His Excellency Sir Charles Darling, K. C. B., &c., Governor of Victoria,
[Enclosure No. 11.]
Testimony of Lillius L. Nichols,
I, the undersigned, Lillias L. Nichols, wife of William Green Nichols, late master of the bark Delphine, on board of which I was a passenger, do solemnly declare:
I was taken prisoner, together with my husband, and conveyed on board the Shenandoah, and have been kept on board until the vessel reached Hobson’s bay, where I was at liberty to leave. While on board I noticed that the plate in use was engraven “Sea King,” and I have frequently been told by the captain and others on board that the vessel was formerly the Sea King, which sailed from London in October, having on board the first lieutenant of the Shenandoah, I was also told by Mr. Bullock, the sailing master, that the Laurel conveyed Captain Waddell and the other officers from England to the rendezvous with the Sea King, off Madeira. I was also told by the captain that the armament which is now on board the Shenandoah was brought out from England in the hold of the Laurel, packed in boxes
Subscribed before me on this first day of February, 1865.
WM. BLANCHARD, United States Consul,
[Enclosure No. 12.]
Testimony of William Bruce.
I, William Bruce, at present of the city of Melbourne, in the colony of Victoria, make oath and say:
1. That I am a naturalized citizen of the United States of America, and reside at No. 316 Broadway, Williamsburg, New York State. On or about the 3d day of October, 1864, I shipped on. board the bark Helena, Captain Staples, then lying in Newport dock, in the county of Monmouth, in that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called Wales, as cook and steward.
2. That on or about the 4th day of October, in the year aforesaid, the said bark sailed from Newport aforesaid to Buenos Ayres, in the republic of Buenos Ayres, South America, laden with a cargo of railway iron and other sundries, under the command of the said Captain Staples.
3. That the said bark Helena was an American ship, belonging to Searsport, Maine, United States of America.
4. That no incidents of importance occurred in the said voyage until, on or about the 29th day of October, 1864, when the said bark was within three days’ sail of Madeira, a sail was descried astern by me, and I reported the fact to Captain Staples, and about two hours afterwards I was enabled, with my naked eye, to see that she was a steamer flying English colors.
5. That on the following day the same steamer, at about half past one o’clock in the afternoon, under steam and flying the English flag, came on our lee quarter, and on the said bark displaying the colors of the United States of America, the said steamer fired a blank shot towards the said bark and hoisted the flag of the so-called Confederate States of America.
6. That the said bark was thereupon hove to, and a boat left the said steamer with eight persons therein, including three persons who represented themselves as officers of the said steamer, who came on board the said bark and ordered the said Captain Staples and the chief officer, Mr. Peterson, in my hearing, to take the papers of the said bark with them and go on board the said steamer, and to look sharp, because another sail was in sight, and that they, the said captain and chief officer, were prisoners of war, and that the said bark was a prize to the confederate ship Shenandoah. And thereupon the said Captain Staples and Chief Officer Peterson left the said bark in the said boat in charge of one Hunt, the master’s mate on board the said steamer called the Shenandoah, and proceeded on board the said steamer, two others, namely, ——Bulloclr, sailing-master, and —— Mason, passed midshipman, representing themselves as of the aforesaid ranks on board the said steamer called the Shenandoah, remaining on board the said bark, and ordered the crew of the said bark to lower away the sails, which they did; and after the expiration of about half an hour the said Captain Staples and chief officer left the said steamer in the said boat, under the charge of the said Hunt, accompanied by another boat with about eight persons, (among whom was the carpenter of the said steamer Shenandoah, who told me his name was O’Shea, and that he was a citizen of New York, United States of America, ) and came on board the said bark, and the said Bullock gave orders to the crew of the said bark to pack up their clothes and go on board of the Shenandoah, meaning the said steamer, and told me to take all my cooking gear on board the said steamer.
7. That, in pursuance of the said order, the said crew and myself went on board the said steamer in one of her boats, (the said Captain Staples and Chief Officer Peterson having been previously sent on board,) and in getting on board the said steamer were ordered to give up our clothes, which we did.
8. That after going on board the said steamer, I and Louis Monrose and Peter Monrose, two of the crew of the said bark, were ordered by the said Bullock again to go on board the said bark and break open the stores of the said bark, which we did; and the said stores, and also some slop clothes and the said bark’s instruments, were put on board the said steamer; and the said O’Shea, the carpenter of the said steamer, ordered the said Louis and Peter Monrose to assist him in scuttling the said bark, and I saw the said parties go down the hold, taking augers with them, and make holes in the said bark with said augers, and after they had done so, I and the said Louis Monrose and Peter Monrose were ordered to leave the said bark and go on board the said steamer; and when I got to the gangway of the said steamer I was asked by the paymaster of the said steamer, one Smith, in the presence of the said Captain Staples, if I would join the said steamer Shenandoah as ship’s cook, and he told me that one of my shipmates had already joined, and that it would be better for me to join, and I thereupon told him that I would not join, as I wished to go to Moulmein to see my mother, to which he replied, “Pity you were not in your mother’s arms;” and about half an hour after I had been on board the said steamer I saw the said bark sink,;and on that night I was put in irons, and on the following day, namely, on or about the 31st day of October, 1864, the captain of the said steamer Shenandoah, one Waddell, said to me, “You might as well make up your mind to join,” to which I replied that I had no idea of joining; and the said Waddell thereupon said to me that if I would join he would put me, in ten months’ time, wherever I wanted, and I again refused to join, when the said Waddell said, “You will be sorry for it.”
9. That on or about the 1st day of November, 1864, one Whittle, the first lieutenant of the said steamer, said to me, “Have you made tip your mine to join ?” To which I replied that [Page 469] I had not, and he thereupon said, “You will be sorry for it, and you will be put in irons at night and made work all day;” and in consequence of my again refusing to join I was sent to work in the galley with the wardroom cook of the said steamer, and at night was put in irons.
10. That on or about the 3d day of November 1864, I was ordered to continue assisting the wardroom cook, and continued assisting him until on or about the said 10th day of November, 1864, each night being put in irons; and on or about the said 10th November I was called by the said Whittle aft, and he then said to me, “Steward, you might as well join; it will be better for you.” And I thereupon, in consequence of being ironed every night, made work during the day, and pushed about and abused by the crew and officers, consented to join, and subscribed a document agreeing to serve as wardroom steward; and I acted as wardroom steward on board the said steamer thereafter until the 1st day of January, 1865, when, in consequence of being sick, I was let off duty, and remained off duty until the said steamer Shenandoah arrived in Hobson’s bay on the 25th day of January, and on the 28th January; 1865, I left the said steamer and placed myself under the protection of the consul of the United States of America at Melbourne.
11. That during the time I was on board the said steamer Shenandoah I was told by the wardroom cook, one Marlon, a native of the Isle of Man, that he shipped on board the Laurel steamer from the Sailors’ Home, Liverpool, to go to Nassau, and that when he came to a bay at the back of Madeira, where the Laurel went to look for the steamer Sea King, and after three days looking for her the Sea King arrived and made signals to the Laurel, and the two steamers came together, and, with the help of some fishermen, the ammunition was put on board the Sea King from the Laurel, and that the Sea King then went to the back of Destan island, and the Laurel went to the front of the island and was chased by a vessel-of-war of the United States of America, and the Sea King sailed away in another direction, and that her name was then changed to Shenandoah, That I heard the fireman of the said steamer Shenandoah, one Jackson, a native of Liverpool, say that he came out in the Laurel, together with Simpson, a native of Ireland; William ———, a native of Birkenhead; Jim, the wardroom boy, a native of Liverpool; boy Jones, steerage steward, a native of London; SouWester,” fireman, a native of London; also another man, a native of London, called “Cock ney,” to join the steamer Shenandoah; and all the said parties, at different times, told me that they left Liverpool to join the ship Sea King.
12. That one Guy, the gunner of the said steamer Shenandoah, and a native of Plymouth, or somewhere in the west of England, told the mate of the schooner Lizzie M. Stacey, taken as a prize, in my presence, that he shipped at London in the steamer Laurel to come out and join the steamer Sea King.
13. That among the officers and crew of the Shenandoah are the following persons, viz: O’Brien, head engineer; ———, third engineer, Jem, ——— the fourth engineer; Simson, sailmaker; Jem ———, boatswain’s mate; Crawford, gunner’s mate; Bullock, sailing-master, whom I have heard, at different times, remark “that we did not do so (referring, at different times, to the working of the guns) on board the Alabama.”
14. That the said Simson told me he was on board the Alabama at the time of her engagement with the Kearsarge, United States ship-of-war, and that he was a paroled prisoner.
15. That at the time I first was taken on board the Shenandoah I saw the bell of the said steamer marked or cut with the words “Sea King,” and also the stanchions had the words “Sea King” cut on them, and the words were subsequently filed out of the bell and scraped off the stanchions, and the table services and cloths of the said steamer were marked with the words “Sea King” up to the time I left her in Hobson’s bay, as aforesaid.
16. That after I was taken on board the said steamer Shenandoah, the following vessels were captured, namely: the Charter Oak, on or about the 5th day of November, 1864; the schooner Lizzie M. Stacey, bark De Godfrey, brig Susan, ship Kate Prince, bark Edward, and bark Delphine, and all the said vessels, with th exception of ‘the Kate Prince, were either burnt or sunk.
17. That a number of persons taken as prisoners, amounting, in all, to twenty-five were, on or about the 12th day of December, 1864, landed by the said steamer Shenandoah at Tris tan d’ Acunha, an island in the Atlantic ocean, and there left by the said steamer.
WILLIAM BRUCE.
Sworn at the city of Melbourne, in the colony of Victoria, this 7th day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, before me.
[Enclosure No. 13.]
Testimony of John H. Colby,
I, John H. Colby, of Liberty, Maine, United States of America, do solemnly declare and say, that I shipped in Boston, Massachusetts, on board the schooner Lizzie M. Stacey, bound for Honolulu, and sailed in said vessel on the 4th day of October, 1864. That on. or about the, [Page 470] 13th. day of November, 1864, the said schooner was hove to by a blank shot from a steamship under both steam and sails; that I with the rest of the crew was ordered to pack up my things immediately and go on board said steam-vessel by order of a person in uniform, who I afterwards found was acting as second lieutenant of said steam-vessel; said lieutenant said that I was a prisoner of the Confederate States; that I with the rest of the crew of said schooner was then put on board of said steam-vessel; that I asked said officer, before leaving the schooner, what was the name of said war vessel; that said officer replied, “name unknown;” that upon being taken on board of said steamer, I was put in irons for the night, and the next morning released, and they tried to force me to work, but I resisted. The first Lieutenant then ordered me to be triced up by the thumbs, and by these and other coercive measures I was in time compelled to join the vessel in order to relieve myself from tortures and punishments.
That I saw the name Sea King upon the bell, the wheel, the buckets, &c.; the name upon the wheel was afterwards ground out, I turning the grind-stone for that purpose; that the bell was taken by a person acting as carpenter’s mate to the engine-room, and the name was there filed out. That if the bell and wheel were now examined, it would be clearly evident that a name on each had thus been erased. That I served on board said vessel until her arrival in Hobson’s bay, on the 25th January, 1865; that I came ashore on liberty on Monday, the 30th January, 1865. That while on board I learned the said vessel was called the Shenandoah.
JOHN H. COLBY.
Subscribed in duplicate before me, this second day of February, 1865.
[Enclosure No. 14.]
Sir: On Monday, the 2d instant, I attended at your chambers with Mr. Blanchard, the American consul, and left certain depositions (which he had caused to be taken) with your secretary, Mr. Chomley, for your perusal, with the view to establish that the Shenandoah is in fact the Sea King, &c.
Mr. Blanchard considered it to be his duty to place the depositions above referred to in your hands, so as to enable the government to take such steps in the matter as they may think necessary.>
Mr. Blanchard has instructed me to state that he will, on hearing from you, be happy to attend you with the further evidence he has obtained in this matter.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
The Hon. Attorney General,
[Enclosure No. 15.]
Sir: I am directed by the attorney general to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 3d instant, and to inform you that he has received and read the depositions in reference to the Shenandoah, and if Mr. Blanchard desires to see him, he will be glad to receive him on Monday next, at twelve o’clock noon, at these offices.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Joseph G. Duffett, 83 Collins Street West, Melbourne.
[Enclosure No. 16.]
Dear Sir: The attorney general has written me, stating that he will be happy to see you on Monday next, at 12 o’clock at the Crown law offices
Yours faithfully
William Blanchard Esq.
[Enclosure No. 17.]
Testimony of George Silvester
I, George Silvester, at present of the city of Melbourne, in the colony of Victoria, able sea. unan, make oath and say:
1. That I am a native of London, England.
2. That on the fifth day of October, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, I signed articles as a seaman to proceed to Nassau or the Gulf of Mexico in the steamer Laurel, and on the following day I went on board the said steamer Latirei, then lying in the dock at Liverpool, and on the same day the’ said steamer Laurel went into the river Mersey, and while there I saw several cases on board as cargo which I subsequently saw opened.
3. That on the eighth day of October, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, at about three o’clock in the afternoon, (the said steamer Laurel then being in the Mersey,) I assisted in taking on board fifty-seven barrels of gunpowder, which was stowed in the said steamer Laurel, and after the said gunpowder was put on board, a steam-tug came alongside bringing with her all the officers and some of the crew that were on board of the steamship Shenandoah at the time of her arrival in Hobson’s bay, (except the first lieutenant,) who then came on board the said steamer Laurel as passengers; and the same night two steam-tugs came alongside the said steamer Laurel, and from them were put on board her a number of large cases, which. I saw subsequently opened, and also shot and shell.
4. That I assisted in stowing the gunpowder put on board as aforesaid, and then saw several cases on board the said steamer Laurel, which I believe were put on board in dock, and which I subsequently saw opened on the Sea King steamer off Madeira and cannon taken out of them.
5. That on the ninth day of October, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, the said steamer Laurel sailed from the Mersey, and on the fourteenth of the said month arrived at Madeira, where she took in coal and remained there for three days, when on or about the eighteenth of the said month a steamer came in and signalized the Laurel.
6. That the said steamer Laurel hove her anchor and followed the said steamer, at the same time signalizing to stand in for, as I recollect, Funchal, which the said steamer did, and at about three o’clock in the afternoon the said steamer and the Laurel steamer were alongside each other, and I then saw that the said steamer was a steamer called the Sea King.
7. That at this time both vessels were flying the English flag, and the Sea King anchored and the Laurel fastened to her, and both hauled down their flags, and Waddell and all the officers brought out in the Laurel steamer went on board the said steamer Sea King and took charge of her, and the Laurel’s cargo was then transferred to the said Sea King steamer, the last of which was put onboard on the morning of the nineteenth day of October, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, the crew having worked, all night, when the confed-, erate flag was hoisted on board the said Sea King steamer, and the said Waddell (who now commands the Shenandoah) then asked the original crew of the said Sea King to enlist for a cruise on board the Sea King, (the captain who brought out the said steamer Sea King having, as soon as the Laurel’s cargo was transferred, gone on board the Laurel, ) which they refused to do with the exception of four, namely, Martin, storekeeper, Hutchinson, engineer, W. Clark, coal-passer, Jones, engineers’ steward, who enlisted with the said Waddell, and went on board the said steamer Sea King; and the said Waddell also enlisted several from among the crew of the steamer Laurel, and to such as joined paid them fifteen pounds sterling as bounty, and agreed to give them (the sailors) six pounds sterling per month for wages independent of prize money.
8. T hat the said Waddell said in my hearing “that he was going to wage war with the federals,” and subsequently proceeded to sea, the crew of the Sea King who did not join being put on board the Laurel.
9. That I saw the words Sea King en the buckets of the said steamer Sea King, on the life-buoys, on two bells, on boats, on the wheel and stanchions, and on the harness casks, when I joined her as aforesaid, and I heard that the said steamer Sea King was to be called the Shenandoah, and at different times on the cruise the said words Sea King were painted over on the boats and were erased at different times from the said other parts.
10. That the steamship Shenandoah, now in Hobson’s bay, Victoria, is the steamer Sea King I joined as aforesaid.
11. That the bolts now used for fastening the guns of the Shenandoah were brought out by and transferred from the Laurel steamer to the Sea King.
12. That the said cases put on board the Laurel steamer, and by her transferred to the Sea King, steamer off Madeira, as aforesaid, were afterwards opened on board the Sea King steamer, at this time called the Shenandoah, and cannon taken out therefrom, also carriages, upon which they were mounted and put on deck of the said steamer Shenandoah, and are now there, and from others of the said cases shot and shell were taken and stored,on board of the said steamer Shenandoah.
13. That the said gunpowder brought out by the Laurel steamer was put on board the Sea King steamer, afterwards called the Shenandoah as aforesaid.
14. That on the said cruise we fell in, on the twenty-ninth day of October, one thousand [Page 472] eight hundred and sixty-four, with the bark Alina, (with railway iron,) which was seuttled and afterwards with the schooner Charter Oak, which was burnt; the bark De Godfrey, which was also burnt; the brig Susan, which was scuttled; the ship Kate Prince, which was bonded; the bark Adelaide, which was bonded; the schooner Lizzie M. Stacey, which was burnt; the whaling vessel Edward, which was burnt; and the bark Delphine, which was burnt.
15.That at the time the Sea King was left by the Laurel, her whole crew, including officers, numbered twenty-three.
16.That the several seamen who joined the Shenandoah from prizes did so in order to avoid nishment.
17.That I am a naturalized citizen of the United States of America.
18.That when I first went on board the Sea King steamer from the Laurel, there were two guns then on board of her mounted, which were guns throwing about a sixteen-pound shot, and with these guns all the captures made by the Shenandoah were made.
19.That the said two guns were not brought out in the Laurel.
GEORGE SILVESTER.
Sworn at the city of Melbourne, in the colony of Victoria, this sixth day of February 1865, before me.
[Enclosure No. 18.]
Testimony of Edward S. Jones
I, Edward S. Jones, at present of the city of Melbourne, in the colony of Victoria, officer, do solemnly and sincerely declare that I am a native of Gloucester, Essex county, Massachusetts, United States; that on the first of October, 1864, I engaged as chief officer of the United States bark Delphine, of Bangor, Maine, then lying in the Victoria dock, London; that on the 12th October, 1864, said bark sailed for Akyab, with machinery on board, and that up to the twenty-ninth December, 1864, nothing unusual occurred; that on the 29th December a sail was descried, about ten a. m., ahead, and that, coming up with her by about three o’clock in the afternoon of the same day, I saw above alluded to vessel flying the English flag, when the bark Delphine continued her usual course, showing the United States flag. The vessel in question then hauled down her flag and hauled to wind, as we supposed to speak us. She had no suspicious pennant about her, but I was then able to see that she was a steamer. Said vessel subsequently hoisted the confederate flag and fired a blank shot, whereupon the Delphine hove to. A boat from said vessel, with five men and two officers, named Bullock and Minor, all well armed, boarded the bark Delphine. Bullock spoke to Captain Nichols. The captain took ship’s papers, and at the request of said Bullock Captain Nichols went oh board said vessel, where I was requested by said Bullock to accompany him. The boat of said vessel transferred us from Delphine on board the said vessel, which we were told was the Shenandoah. Captain Nichols was ordered in the cabin, whereas I stopped on deck. Soon afterwards Captain Nichols came from cabin and told me the captain of Shenandoah had condemned his vessel, (Delphine, ) and that the said captain ordered him to proceed on board her in order to bring off his (Captain Nichols’s) wife and child, as well as clothing. The first lieutenant of the said Shenandoah, Mr. Whittle, told me he had orders from his captain not to allow me to proceed again on board bark Delphine. Captain Nichols soon afterwards arrived on board the Shenandoah accompanied by his wife and child, and they brought also their clothes. Upon Captain Nichols’s return to the Shenandoah I was allowed to go to the bark Delphine, and, immediately on my reaching her, Bullock asked me to assist in setting fire to her, which I positively refused. The crew of said Shenandoah removed several boatloads of stores, in which the crew of the Delphine were made to assist. At about ten o’clock in the evening I left the Delphine and saw her set on fire by Bullock and a man Simpson. I did not see her sink. The paymaster of the Shenandoah told me was a prisoner of war, and made me sign a parole. That whilst on board of the Shenandoah I noticed three boats, all buckets, all life-buoys, and many knives and forks, bore the mark “Sea King;” and I was told by Mr. Bullock, sailing-master, Colton, master’s mate, Hutchinson, third engineer, Minor, master’s mate, and the carpenter, O’Shea, that the Sea King was her name previous to being changed into Shenandoah. I have heard repeatedly all the officers say, with the exception of Mr. Whittle, that they came out from Liverpool in the Laurel to join the ship— meaning the Sea King, of London. I heard said officers also say that the guns and ammunition came out in the Laurel, and that it was a prearranged plan to meet the Sea King and proceed on a cruise. I also heard said officers state that the guns on the Shenandoah, as well as the ammunition, were transshipped from the Laurel on the Shenandoah off Madeira. I also heard them say that the Laurel awaited the Sea King at Madeira for some days, and that on the Sea King rounding a certain point she was cheered by the crew and passengers [Page 473] of the Laurel; that the two ships signalled to each other, and that the Sea King, without coming to anchor, proceeded out again to sea and was soon afterwards followed by the Laurel. I heard Mr. Hunt, master’s mate, say that the Sea King was bought in London for the confederate government, for a sum, to the best of my recollection, of £45,000, (say forty-five thousand pounds.) I heard third engineer say that he shipped in her in London for Bombay. The carpenter of the Shenandoah, Mr. O’Shea, told me that when he went on board of the Shenandoah she had no bolts to lash the guns, but that the bolts now serving, and which were made for that purpose, came with the Laurel from Liverpool, and that he fixed them. The reason I was not confined was because the captain was in hopes that I would join his ship. The first day of my stay in the Shenandoah the first officer, one Whittle, wanted to put me in irons, whereupon Captain Waddell told him not to do so, as I might probably volunteer to become one of the ship, as he liked my broad shoulders. I was frequently offered to join the ship, and promised seventy-five dollars a month, payable in gold, if I did so. That two days before arriving in Hobson’s bay I had again to sign, in duress, a parole, and, on reaching Melbourne, placed myself under the protection of the United States consulate.
EDWARD S. JONES, First Mate late Bark Delphine.
Subscribed and sworn to, in duplicate, before me, this sixth day of February, 1865, as wit ness my hand and seal of office.’
[seal.]
[Enclosure No. 19.]
Testimony of James Ford.
I, the undersigned, James Ford, of New York, United States of America, now residing in Melbourne, hereby declare that during the month of June, 1864, I shipped on board the United States brig Susan, at Philadelphia, as a seaman, and remained on board her up to the time of her capture by the so-called confederate steamer Shenandoah; that said ship Susan sailed on 26th September, 1864, from Cardiff, bound for Rio Grande, under Captain Hanson; that nothing unusual occurred on said ship until the 10th of November, when we sighted a sail ahead of us at about half-past three o’clock a. m., making an eastward course. At about half-past five o’clock same day I was told by one of the crew below that the vessel we sighted before was running up astern, I then went on deck and saw said ship running towards us, flying the English flag; thereupon the captain gave orders to hoist our flag; after which the said vessel fired a blank shot and hoisted the confederate flag. Not heaving to immediately, a second blank shot was fired,; whereupon the said ship Susan hove to. A boat with five men arrived, with two officers named Chew and Brown, boarded us and took the captain and first mate on board the Shenandoah, one officer accompanying them, whereas the other took possession and command of the said vessel Susan. The same boat, accompanied by another, again came to the said ship Susan, with about ten men, armed. They lowered the boat of the said ship Susan and ordered the crew to put their clothing, allowing only one bag per man, on board said boat. The crew from, the Shenandoah then took such stores from the Susan as they thought most desirable, and made crew of the Susan give assistance in taking stores off. I was asked on board the Susan to join the crew of Shenandoah, which I declined. The crew from the Shenandoah then scuttled ship Susan, as I heard them knocking off planks in the hold. I, with others, then went on board Shenandoah, and was again asked by officers and crew to join the ship, Which I did, being unwell at the time. I then signed the articles for a cruise. The mate and second mate, who would not join, were put in irons, whereas the captain was left at liberty. When on board the Shenandoah I noticed that two twelve-pounder guns, the bell, the wheel, and some buckets bore the mark “Sea King,” and on the bow I noticed the letters ING. That whilst sailing I was told byWarren, boat swain’s mate, to assist in taking down the bell, which I did, and it was taken in the engineer’s room. Subsequently I noticed said bell hung up, but the name Sea King erased, and the marks of files or some instrument of that description were visible when I landed. The name Sea King was also erased or taken off from the guns and wheel, all of which bear marks to that effect. That I overheard frequent conversations to the effect that the Laurel and Sea King met at Madeira—arriving to a prearranged plan—the former having ammunition, arms, and officers and crew on board for the latter. I cannot swear to the parties who I overheard telling above. That out of a crew of about fifty sailors (officers excluded) no. more than four to six born or naturalized Americans were on board, the majority of the others being of British origin; that the above four to six born or naturalized Americans were captured prisoners, and, in preference to torture, enlisted; but that the original crew of sailors is of entirely foreign descent; that about twenty-eight men were landed on the island Tristan da Cunha; that whilst I was on board the Shenandoah she captured ship Kate Prince, bark Adelaide’, schooner Lizzie M. Stacey, bark Edward, and bark Delphine, and in all instances she proceeded in the same way, viz: in signalling to any ship she first hoisted the English flag. Upon being replied by the United States flag, she invariably lowered it, approached [Page 474] the decoyed prey, hoisted a confederate flag, and fired a gun to make the ship heave to. That on arriving in Hobson’s bay, I desired to get rid of my impressment and placed myself un-, der the protection of the United States consul.
JAMES FORD.
Melbourne, February, 1865.
Subscribed and sworn to, in duplicate, before me, this 2d day of February, 1865, as witness my hand and seal of office.
[SEAL.]
[Enclosure No. 20.]
Testimony of George R. Brackets
I, George R. Brackett, at present of the city of Melbourne, in the colony of “Victoria, able seaman, do solemnly and sincerely declare: That I am a native of Rocklane, Maine, in the United States of America. That on the fifth day of October, 1864, I shipped at Boston on board the bark De Godfrey of Boston, United States of America, whereof Hallett was captain, for a voyage to Valparaiso. That on the sixth day of October, 1864, the said bark, under the command of the said Hallett, proceeded on her voyage to Valparaiso, laden with a cargo of general merchandise, and no particular incident took place on the said voyage until about eight o’clock in the morning of the 7th November, 1864, when we sighted a sail astern, which continued to gain on the said bark, and about two o’clock, when I was at the wheel of the said bark, I saw that the sail was a steamer and that she was getting up steam, and about half past three o’clock in the afternoon I saw the said steamer hoist the English flag, and about ten minutes to four o’clock in the said afternoon the captain of the said bark De Godfrey gave orders to the mate, Mr. Taylor, to hoist the flag of the United States of America,” which was done, and the said steamer thereupon hauled down the English flag and hoisted the flag of the so-called Confederate States and fired a blank shot towards the said bark; and in pursuance of an order given by the captain of the said bark, she was hove to, and the said steamer lowered a boat containing three, persons, viz: Bullock, sailing-master, Scales, fifth lieutenant, Hunt, midshipman, who represented themselves of the aforesaid ranks on board the said steamer, and five men who, being well armed, came on board said bark, and the said Bullock said to the said Captain Hallett and the mate, Mr. Taylor, in my hearing, “Take your papers and go on board Shenandoah; you are prisoners of war and your vessel is a prize to the confederate steamship Shenandoah;” and the said Captain Hallett and the said Mr. Taylor were then taken on board the said steamer by the said Scales and five men, the said Bullock and Hunt remaining on board the said bark and gave orders to the crew to clew up the sails, which was done. That in about half an hour the said Captain Hallett and mate, Mr. Taylor, left the said steamer in charge of the said Mr. Scales in the said boat containing five men, accompanied by another boat containing seven persons, all armed, and all the said parties came on board the said bark, and the said Bullock then gave orders to the crew of the said bark to break open the stores and put them in a boat together with our clothing and to go on board of the Shenandoah, which we did; and on getting on board the said steamer, I saw a fire break out in the said bark, which continued burning until about half past eleven o’clock that night; all sight was lost, the said steamer after the said, fire broke out having steamed away. That on my proceeding on board the said steamer aforesaid, Whittles, who said he was first lieutenant of the said steamer Shenandoah, asked me to join the said steamer, which I refused to do; and he then said to me “You will fare worse,” to which I made no reply, and was then ordered to the other side of the deck, where I went, and afterwards the said Whittle, Bullock.,and Grimble (second lieutenant on board the said steamer) came over, and the said Whittle then asked the rest of the crew of the said bark who were with me, and myself, if we were going to sign, to which we all replied no; and the said Bullock then said, “Don’t you calculate to sign ?” to which we all replied again no; and then the said Whittle said, “I will give you two and a half hours to make up your minds, and if you don’t sign then I will put you in double irons and put you in the fire-room before the furnace on the coals every night, and I will keep you four months if you don’t sign, and make you work every day.” That at the expiration of the said two and a half hours. Bullock came to us and asked if we had made up our minds to sign, and, in reply, I declined again, but eventually, on his holding out threats of punishment, I and John Davy, William West, Walter Madden, and George Flood, being the crew of the said bark, consented to and did sign, agreeing to serve as seamen on board the said steamer Shenandoah for six months. That when I went on board the said steamer I saw the bell was marked or cut with the words Sea King, and about fourteen days afterwards I was ordered by Howard, the boatswain of the said steamer, to assist in taking down the bell, which was taken down, and three days subsequently I was ordered to assist inputting it back in its place, and I noticed that the said words Sea King were taken off; and I was also, about two days before, ordered to scrape off the said harness cask the said words Sea King, which I did, and also subsequently [Page 475] saw that the said words Sea King were erased from the guns, two twelve-pounders. That I also noticed a brass plate on the said steamer, fixed between the two cabin doors, marked or cut with the words “built by A. S. Stephens & Sons, Glasgow,” and that the after part of the main hatch combings was marked or cut with the figures and word “790 tons,” also the year the said steamer was built, which I now forget. That while I was on board the said steamer the said Bullock; Smith, paymaster of the said steamer; the said Howard; Crawford, gunner’s mate; Simson, cockswain of the captain’s gig of said steamer, and Bowman, chief boatswain’s mate, at different times told me they were on board the Alabama. steamer, (sunk some time since by the Kearsarge, United States vessel-of-war, ) and that they were sunk in her. That while I was on board the said steamer the following vessels were captured, viz: the brig Susan, ship Kate Prince, bark Adelaide, schooner Lizzie M. Stacy, bark Edward, and the bark Delphine, and all the said vessels except’ the Kate Prince and the bark Adelaide were burned or sunk. That Waddell is captain of the said steamer Shenandoah, and with the exception of the officers of the said steamer, during the whole time I was on board, out of about thirty-five making the crew of the said steamer, there were only four Americans on board—all the rest of the crew being English, Irish, Dutch, Swedes and Norwegians. That on the said steamer arriving in Hobson’s bay, Victoria,.I got liberty to go on shore, and on getting on shore, placed myself under the protection of the consul of the United States of America
GEORGE R. BRACKETT.
Subscribed and sworn to, in duplicate, before me this 3d day of February, 1865, as. witness my hand and seal of orfice.
[seal.]
[Enclosure No. 21.]
Testimony of Charles Bollen.
I, Charles Bollen, of Stockholm, Sweden, do solemnly declare: That I shipped on board bark Delphine, in London, for a voyage to Akyab, on the 5th October, 1864, and we sailed on 9th of same month. That on the 29th of December, 1864, we were captured by an armed vessel called the Shenandoah, and taken on board, kept in irons ten days, when I consented to work; I signed a parole before proceeding to do so, and on our arrival in Hobson’s bay was released, and placed myself under the protection of the American consul at the port of Melbourne. That while on board one of the men told me he left the steamer Laurel off Madeira and joined her; at that time she was the Sea King.
CARL BOLIN.
Subscribed and sworn to, in duplicate, before me this 4th day of February, 1865, as witness my hand and seal of office.
[seal.]
[Enclosure No. 22.]
Testimony of John Sandall.
I, John Sandali, of Stockholm, Sweden, hereby solemnly declare: That on the 5th October, 1864, signed articles for a voyage on board bark Delphine, ih London, to proceed on a voyage to Akyab, and sailed in her on the 9th October; nothing unusual occurred until the 29th December, when she was captured by an armed vessel called Shenandoah. On taking.us on board they kept me in irons ten days, after which I consented to go to work rather than be kept in irons. I remained on board working with the crew until her arrival in Hobson’s bay, when I was released, and placed myself under the protection of the Amer ican consul. That while on board I had conversations with some of the men who told me she was the Sea King, and that they joined her off Madeira, sailing in the Laurel from Liv erpool to do so; I also noticed the letters ING. on her headboard, also a spoon marked Sea King.
JOHN SANDALL.
Subscribed and sworn to, in duplicate, before me this 4th day of February, 1865, as witness my hand and seal of office.
[seal.]
[Enclosure No. 23. ]
Testimony of William Scott,
I, William Scott, of Gothenburg, Sweden, but now residing in Melbourne, Australia do solemnly declare: That on the 5th October, 1864, I, signed articles to proceed on a voyage to Akyab, in bark Delphine, as carpenter, and on the 9th October we sailed from the port of London. That nothing unusual took place until the 29th December following, when we were captured by an armed vessel, at first showing the English ensign; after firing a gun she displayed a flag of the so-called Confederate States of America. That I with rest of crew were taken on board of said vessel called the Shenandoah and asked to join, which I refused to do; I was then placed in irons and told I would be kept there for three or four months unless I would work for them; at the end often days I consented to work, and was released on signing a parole, and remained on board until her arrival in Hobson’s bay, when I was released, and placed myself under the protection of the American consul at this port. That during my stay on board I noticed the letters ING. on part of her headboard, also a spoon marked Sea King, and saw that the buckets had had a name scraped off them.
WILLIAM SCOTT.
Subscribed and sworn to, in duplicate, before me this 4th day of February, 1865, as witness my hand and seal of office.
[seal.]
[Enclosure No. 24.]
Testimony of Frederick Lindborg.
I, Frederick Lindborg, of Sweden, but now residing in Melbourne, Australia, do solemnly declare and say: That I shipped on the 5th October, 1864, on board the bark Delphine, as a seaman, in London, bound to Akyab; nothing unusual occurred until the 29th December, 1864; that on the said 29th of December a sail was sighted about nine o’clock in the morning, which we gradually neared. That when about three miles distant she hoisted the English flag, the American flag was then hoisted on our vessel; upon seeing which, the strange vessel lowered the English flag, fired a blank shot, and raised the confederate flag; our ves sel was then hove to. That our vessel was then boarded, the captain, and mate taken to the other vessel, and after bringing the captain back our vessel was declared to be a prize. That after packing up our clothes I, with the rest of the crew, was taken on board said vessel, which proved to be a steamer, and was there asked by some of the crew to join her, but I refused to do so. That they then ironed ‘me and put me among the sheep. That I was told by the carpenter’s, mate that the vessel’s name was Shenandoah. That at the end of ten days I consented to work in preference to being kept in irons; I was then released and signed a parole. That I worked with the crew until our, arrival in Hobson’s bay. That on the 26th January, 1865, I was released from imprisonment, came ashore, and went to the United States consulate for protection and assistance.
FREDERICK LINDBORG.
Subscribed and sworn to, in duplicate, before me, this fourth day of February, 1865, as witness my hand and seal of office.
[seal.]
[Enclosure No. 25.]
Testimony of Lillias L. Nichols
I, Lillias Lewene Nichols, at present of the city of Melbourne, in the colony of Victoria, wife of William Green Nichols, master mariner, make oath and say—
1. That on the twenty-ninth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, I was on board the bark Delphine, belonging to Bangor, Maine, United States of America, in company with my husband, the above-mentioned William Green Nichols, under whose, command the said bark then was; and about three o’clock in the afternoon of that day, the said bark was hove to, in consequence of a blank shot fired towards her by a steamship called the Shenandoah, flying the flag of the so-called Confederate States of America, and was subsequently boarded by —— Bullock, the sailing-master of the said steamer, who told my said husband and his chief officer, Mr. Jones, that they and the said bark were a prize to the Confedera e States of America, and ordered them to go on board the said steamer; [Page 477] and in pursuanee of the said order, my said husband and the said chief officer went on board, and subsequently returned to the said bark, and I was taken on board the said steamer, as also my husband, his officers and crew, and about eleven o’clock that night the said bark was burnt.
2. That on my getting on board the said steamer, one Waddell, the captain of the said steamer, said to me, “Welcome on board the Shenandoah;” and while I was on board the said steamer, I was treated with kindness and consideration by the said Captain Waddell.
3. That while I was on board the said steamer, I frequently was in conversation with the said Waddell, who frequently told me that he came out in the Laurel steamer from Liverpool to a place off Madeira, and that the Laurel arrived there three days before the Sea King, and was waiting three days for the Sea King; and on the Sea King appearing, they cheered her; and that the said steamer Shenandoah was formerly the Sea King, and was ‘built at Glasgow; and that the Laurel and Sea King steamer met off Madeira, and that the guns and ammunition then on board the steamer Shenandoah were brought out by the said steamer Laurel, packed in boxes.
4. That the said Waddell told me, while I was on board the said steamer, that he left his wife in England; and that on leaving England, he told her that he was going on a cruise, and that she would most likely hear a great many things to his detriment, but not to believe them; and the said Waddell also told me that he picked up his officers, some in Paris, some in London, and some in Liverpool; and that some were recommended by Semmes, of the Alabama steamer, (lately sunk by the Kearsarge, United States ship-of-war; ) and that his cruise was to burn and destroy everything flying the federal flag.
5. That the said Waddell told me that Whittle, the first lieutenant of the said steamer, came out in the Sea King steamer; and the said Whittle also told me that he came out in the Sea King to a place off Madeira; and that when they arrived, they were cheered by the people on board the Laurel steamer on coming round the point.
6. That the said steamer Shenandoah arrived in Hobson’s bay on the twenty-fifth day of January, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five; and two days previous to her arrival, the paymaster, one Smith, called me to read a paper document, which I did, and found it was a parole not to bear arms or to do anything to the detriment of the confederate cause; and I then told the said Smith that I was not a prisoner of war, and that Captain Waddell had frequently told me so; and the said Smith told me I must sign it to get released; and, in reply, I told the said Smith that I did not consider it binding, and that if any questions were asked of me I would answer them; and he then said, “It is a mere matter of form, and was the only way for me to obtain my release;” and on the said representation, “that it was the only way for me to obtain my release,” I signed the said paper document, protesting, as I was then under duress.
7. That I am a native of Searsport, Maine, United States of America.
LILLIAS LEWENE NICHOLS.
Subscribed and sworn to, “in duplicate, before me, this third day of February, 1865, as witness my hand and seal of office.
[seal.]
[Enclosure No. 26.]
Sir: I have the honor to inform your excellency, that I have already left at the Crown law offices, by my attorneys, Messrs. Duffett, Grant, and Woolcott, at different times, the affidavits of the following persons in relation to the Sea King, alias Shenandoah; all of which affidavits go to show the real character of said vessel, and are in support of the several protests I have the honor to forward to your excellency, and which protests I now reiterate.
List of affidavits left at the Crown law offices on February 2, 1865.
Mrs. L. L. Nichols, wife of W. G. Nichols, master of bark Delphine, and passenger thereon; William Bruce, steward, bark Alina; John H Colby, seaman, Lizzie M. Stacey,
Left on February 6, 1865.
Edward S. Jones, chief officer, Delphine; James Ford, seaman, Susan; Geo. R, Brackett, seaman, De Godfrey; Charles Bollen, seaman, Delphine; John Sandali, seaman, Delphine; William Scott, carpenter, Delphine; Frederick Lindborg, seaman, Delphine; George Silvester, late a seaman on the Laurel and fireman on the Sea King, alias Shenandoah.
I have the honor to be your excellency’s most obedient servant,
[seal.]
His Excellency Sir Charles Darling, K. C. B., &c, Governor of Victoria.
[Enclosure No. 27.]
Sir: I most respectfully beg leave to call your excellency’s attention to that part of the enclosed affidavit of John Williams, taken before me this day, late cook on board the Shenandoah, alias Sea King, relative to the shipment of men on board said Shenandoah in this port.
I have the honor to be your excellency’s most obedient servant,
[seal.]
WILLIAM BLANCHARD, Consul of the united States of America
His Excellency Sir Charles Darling, K. C.B., &c.,Governor of Victoria,
Copy of affidavit enclosed in the above,
I, John Williams, of Boston, Massachusetts, do make oath and say, that I was taken from the bark De Godfrey, the seventh day of November, 1864, as a prisoner, and put on board the steamship Shenandoah, now in Hobson’s bay; that I served as cook under compulsion and punishment on board said Shenandoah, from the day of my capture until Monday, the sixth day of February, 1865; that on Monday last I swam ashore to obtain the protection of the United States consul; that when I left the said Shenandoah, on Monday last, there were, fifteen or twenty men concealed in different parts of said ship, who came on board since said Shenandoah arrived in Hobson’s bay, and said, men told me they came on board said Shenandoah to join ship; that I cooked for said concealed men for several days before I left; that three other men, in the uniform of the crew of the Shenandoah, are at work on board said Shenandoah—two of them in the galley, and one of them in the engine-room; that said three other men in uniform joined said Shenandoah in this port; that I can point out all the men who have joined said Shanandoah in this port.
JOHN WILLIAMS
Subscribed and sworn to, in triplicate, before me, this tenth day of February, 1865, as witness my hand and seal of office.
[seal.]
[Enclosure No. 28.]
Sir: I am directed by the law offices of the Crown to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of yesterday’s date, addressed to his excellency the governor, and containing an affidavit of one John Williams, relative to the shipment of men on board the Shenandoah in this port. In reply, I am to inform you that the above-named John Williams may attend on Monday morning next, at the office of the Crown solicitor; and if he can give evidence sufficient to support a charge of misdemeanor against any of the persons concealed on board the Shenandoah, or against any of the officers of that ship, proceedings will be taken immediately
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
The Consul for the United States of North America.
[Enclosure No. 29.]
Testimony of John Williams,
I, John Williams, of No. 6 Richmond Street, Boston, Massachusetts, do declare on oath, that I shipped on board the bark De Godfrey, Captain Halleck, and sailed in said bark from Boston, on the 6th of October, 1864; that nothing unusual occurred until the 7th of November, 1864, when a vessel under steam and sail, flying the English ensign, ran down to us, lowered the English flag and hoisted the confederate flag, which I knew, fired a cannon for said bark to heave to, which said bark did; that a boat from said steamer, containing two officers and six men, all armed, came alongside; both officers came on board said bark and ordered the captain and first mate to go on board said steam-vessel and take the bark’s papers with them; that the captain and mate, as ordered, did go; that one of the said armed officers took charge of the bark in the captain’s absence; that when Captain Halleck returned, he was allowed to take only part of his clothing; that we were all then ordered on board the said steam-vessel; that before I had reached the steam-vessel I saw the bark I [Page 479] had left on fire, and I watched her until the mainmast went over the side; that after I got on board, I was ordered to go into the cabin and work, and all hands called to splice main brace; that the next day the captain of said steamer, Mr. Waddell, said I had better join the ship, as it would be better for me; that as colored people were the cause of the war, if I did not join, it would go hard with me; that said Waddell said he wanted to get all the colored persons he could; that I offered to work, but refused to join ship; that he then said he would put me in the coal-hole for six months; that he then offered me a month’s advance, (£6,) which I refused, because I am a loyal citizen, and have served my time in the navy of the United States; that I was in the Congress when she was sunk in Hampton roads, and had with me my discharge from the Minnesota; that I have been triced up by the thumbs seven times for Upholding my country; that I have been triced up after, my work was done, from 6 o’clock p. m. until 9 o’clock p.’m.; that I told Mr. Whittle that I was forced to join said Shenandoah, and if the Minnesota was here she would blow this vessel out of the water; he then ordered me to be triced up by the thumbs, which was done by the master-at-arms; that I continued to work on board said vessel until her arrival in the port of Melbourne and until Monday night last, when I swam ashore to find the United States consul; that when I firstwent on board the said steamship, I saw that her articles read Shenandoah, but all parts of the vessel were marked “Sea King,” of Glasgow; that two twelve-pounder guns were marked Sea King, with a crown, and the letters P. D., one on each side of the crown, and the said guns were so marked when I left the said Shenandoah on Monday last; that the cooking stove that I used while on board was marked Sea King, of Glasgow; that the said stove was on board on Monday last; that Captain Waddell told me he would get me a better stove as soon as the vessel went in the slip; that the bell, sideboard, wheel, and a brass plate on the cabin door, were all marked Sea King when I first went on board said Shenandoah; that in all the captures made by said Shenandoah since I have been on board, the guns marked Sea King, and having a crown and letters P. D. as before described, were used to bring the vessels to; that no other cannon have been fired since I came on board.
JOHN WILLIAMS.
Subscribed and sworn to, in duplicate, this 11th.day of February, before me, as witness my hand and seal of office.
[seal.]
[Enclosure No. 30.]
Testimony of Walter J. Madden.
I, Walter J. Madden, of Boston, Massachusetts, do declare on oath, that I sailed from Boston, Massachusetts, in the bark DeGodfrey,Captain Halleck, on October 6, 1864, bound to Valaparaiso; that on the seventh of November, 1864, the said bark Was captured by a steamer, which I afterwards learned was called Shenandoah, said steamer first showing the English ensign, and after we showed our colors she then hoisted the confederate flag; that I was then ordered on board the said Shenandoah; that after I got on board I was told that if I would not join said Shenandoah I would be put in irons and in the coal-hole until I did join, or until said vessel arrived at a port to land me, which might be several months; that being sick at the time, and in order to avoid punishment, I consented to join her for six months, against which shipment I now protest; that when I came on board said Shenandoah I saw the aprons on two quarter-deck cannons marked “Sea King,” which words “Sea King” were, about one month afterwards, erased; that the bell forwards was also marked with the words “Sea King,” which words were erased; that I served on board said Shenandoah as captain of the hold; that all the stores on board said vessel down to her kelson are marked “Sea King,” except those taken from the vessels captured after I came on board said Shenandoah; that the letters ING cut in the head-board, which is broken off said ship Shenandoah and painted over, were still visible when I left the vessel on the seventh of February, 1865, in the port of Melbourne; that when I left the vessel on the seventh instant there were men hid in the forecastle of said ship and two working in the galley, all of whom came on board of said vessel since her arrival in this port; that the officers pretend they do not know that said men are so hid; that the guns on the quarter-deck marked “Sea King,” when I came on board, were the only guns on board the said Shenandoah that were used to make prizes; that on the occasion of the capture of the Delphine, one of the rifled guns of said vessel was cleared away for use, but the vessel hove to without a shot from said rifled gun.
WALTER JAMES MADDEN.
Subscribed and sworn to in duplicate before me this ninth day of February, 1865, as witness my hand and seal of office.
[seal.]
WILLIAM BLANCHARD,United States Consul, Melbourne,
[Enclosure No. 31.]
Testimony of Thomas Jackson,
I, Thomas Jackson, at present of the city of Melbourne, in the colony of Victoria, able, sea man, make oath and say:.
1. That I am a native of Yorkshire, England, and between three and four months ago I shipped at Liverpool, on board the Laurel steamer of Liverpool, to proceed on a voyage to the Gulf of Mexico, and was shipped and taken on board the said steamer Laurel by ——— Allen, chief engineer of Fraser & Co., of Liverpool, while under the influence of drink; and the day after I was taken on board the said steamer a number of boxes were hoisted on board the said steamer Laurel from two tug boats, while the Laurel was in the Mersey, and I assisted in putting the said boxes on board, and on the following day the Laurel proceeded on her said voyage, or supposed voyage.
2. That after the expiration of about five days from the said steamer leaving Liverpool on the said supposed voyage, she anchored at Madeira and took in coal, and waited at anchor there for about three days, when a steamer signalized the said steamer Laurel from outside, and the said steamer Laurel then weighed anchor and proceeded to the back of the island and waited for the aforesaid steamer, which came alongside, and I then saw the words Sea King “on her bows.
3. That thè cargo brought out in the said steamer Laurel was then transferred to the said steamship Sea King, such cargo being packed in boxes, and was put on board the Laurel at Liverpool while I was on board, and which I assisted in putting on board as aforesaid, and the said steamer Sea King immediately proceeded on her voyage, and hoisted the flag of the so-called Confederate States of America, and the people on board the Laurel gave the Sea King three cheers, and the Laurel then proceeded, as I believe, to Nassau.
4. That I shipped on board the said steamship Sea King at Madeira as fireman, being engaged by Whittle, (who is now the first lieutenant of the steamship called the Shenandoah, ) having first been well supplied with rum to drink by the said Whittle and ———— Bullock, the sailing-master.
5. That about two days after leaving Maderia in the said steamer Sea King, the said words Sea King” were painted over, and the said Whittle, after the said cargo was put on board from the said steamer Laurel, and about a day after the said steamer Sea King left Madeira, read his commission to the crew’, and told me that I was supposed to be a southern man, and the name of the said steamship Sea King was, in the future, to be Shenandoah, and thereupon, from that time afterwards, the said steamer Sea King was called Shenandoah.
6. That in about a month or six weeks after leaving Madeira in the said steamer Sea King, (at this time called the Shenandoah,) the bell of the said steamer bearing the words “Sea King,” engraven thereon, was brought to me by ——Guy, the gunner of the said steamer Shenandoah, who told me to help file the said words “Sea King” out of the said bell, which I did, assisted by Martin, the storekeeper of the said steamer, and the next day the said Martin took the said bell back to one of the men, and I afterwards saw the said bell on the topgallant forecastle, and the said bell was on board the said steamer Shenandoah when I left her in Hobson’s bay, Victoria.
7. That all the officers on board the said steamship Shenandoah, with the exception of the first lieutenant, came from Liverpool in the said steamship Laurel, and went on board the said steamer Sea King at the back of Madeira, as aforesaid.
8. That the said cargo put on board the said steamer at the back of Madeira from the Lau-rei, packed in boxes as aforesaid, was afterwards opened, and consisted of cannon, carriages, shot, and shell, and also powder, and the said cannon were afterwards mounted on board the said steamer Sea King, now Shenandoah.
9. That about two days before the said steamer Shenandoah arrived in Hobson’s bay the said words “Sea King “were still visible on the bows of the said steamer, the Shenandoah, and. the said Whittle told some of the crew to paint over the bows of the said steamer again, which they did, and painted a white streak round her stern block.
10.That about six weeks after leaving Madeira, as aforesaid, some plates with the words “Sea King “engraved or cut therein, affixed between the cabin doors and other places on the said steamship, then called the Shenandoah, were unscrewed by the carpenter (O’Shea) and thrown overboard.
11. That I have sailed eight or nine years backwards and forwards from the United States of America, and have a protection as a United States citizen, which is now, together with: all my clothes, on board the said steamer Shenandoah.
12. That the said Sea King had on board of her when I joined her from the said Laurel, near Madeira, two mounted cannon, and that the said two mounted cannon did not come out in the said Laurel; that the said two mounted cannon were the only cannon used to make captures or prizes with while I was on board said Shenandoah; that the cannon taken from the said Laurel have never been fired since they were put on board the said Shenandoah, and [Page 481] I left the said Shenandoah on the twenty-seventh day of January, 1865, at the port of Melbourne.
his
THOMAS × JACKSON.
mark.
Witness:
J. B. SWASEY.
S. Gage.
Subscribed and sworn to, in duplicate, (first reading the above oath to Thomas Jackson in the presence of J. B. Swasey and Simeon Gage, who witnessed also his mark,) before me this eighth day of February, 1865, as witness my hand and seal of office.
[seal.]
[Enclosure No. 32.]
Sir: I have the honor to forward to your excellency, enclosed herewith, the affidavits of three persons, taken before me, in relation to the Sea King, alias Shenandoah, which affidavits go to show the real character of said vessel, and are in support of the several, protests I have had the honor to forward to you.
1. John Williams, late a prisoner from the American bark DeGodfrey, and an impressed cook on board the said Sea King, alias Shenandoah.
2. Walter J. Madden, late a prisoner from same bark, and captain of the hold on board said Sea King, alias Shenandoah.
3. Thomas Jackson, late a seaman on board the steamer Laurel, and fireman on board the Sea King, alias Shenandoah.
I have the honor to be your excellency’s obedient servant,
[seal.]
His Excellency Sir Charles Darling, K. C. B., &c, Governor of Victoria.
[Enclosure No. 33.]
Sir: In acknowledging the receipt of your letter of this date, I am directed by his excellency to acquaint you that the matter to which it more particularly refers, and which was first brought under his notice in your letter of the 10th instant, has engaged, and continues to engage, the earnest attention of the colonial government.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
William Blanchard, Esq.
[Enclosure No. 34.]
Sir: I have the honor to forward to your excellency, enclosed herewith, the affidavits of F. C. Behucke and Hermann Wicke, late prisoners from the American bark Alina, and impressed sailors on board the Sea King, alias Shenandoah, taken before me this day, which affidavits are in support of my protests, and also tend to show a continued violation of law by persons on board said vessel.
I have the honor to be your excellency’s most obedient servant,
[seal.]
His Excellency Sir Charles Darling, K. C. B., &c, Governor of Victoria.
[Enclosure No. 35.]
Testimony of Hermann Wicke.
I, the undersigned, Hermann Wicke, now of the city of Melbourne, hereby solemnly declare and make oath: That I am a native of Posthause district, Achem, kingdom of Hanover, Germany. That I shipped as ship’s boy on the 5th of October, 1864, at Newport, England, on board the American bark Alina; that on the 6th of October the Alina sailed from Newport for Buenos Ayres, and that up to the 29th of October nothing unusual occurred; that on the 29th of October, at about 10 a. m., a steamship, with steam up and under full sail, was descried coming towards the bark Alina, and in nearing about two miles the English ensign was hoisted on said steamer, whereupon the bark Alina hoisted the United States colors; that about one o’clock on the same day, when within a distance of three-quarters of a mile, the said steamer fired a blank shot, lowered the English flag and hoisted the flag of the Confederate States of America; that the bark Alina thereupon hove to and was boarded by a boat from said steamer, manned with five sailors and two officers, who were all fully armed with revolvers; that the captain and mate were ordered on board the steamer, whereas the crew were required to remove such stores from the Alina, with two boats from the Alina and two from the steamer, as were pointed out by an officer of the steamer who was left on board; that the crew were informed that the ship was a prize of the Confederate States of America, and that each of the crew would be allowed to take one bag of clothing on board the steamer; that I went, with others, on board the steamer, on the bell of which I saw the name Sea King, which subsequently was erased. I Was told the name of said steamer was Shenandoah. Captain Waddell, of the steamer Shenandoah, asked me to join ship. I was intimidated, and, not understanding English properly then, I replied yes to everything I was told and asked. I signed, being afraid that by not doing so I might lose my life. That I served on board the Shenandoah as coal trimmer, and on the passage to Melbourne eight ships were captured by the Shenandoah, for the heaving to of which two ordinary ship’s guns aft alone were used; I never saw any of the two rifled guns or of the four 68-pounders used or fired. That William Clark, also a coal trimmer on board the Shenandoah, told me she sailed from London as the Sea King, and that he shipped in London on board the Sea King; that the said W. Clark was still on board on the 12th instant when I left the Shenandoah; that since her arrival in Hobson’s bay I did the work of firemen’s mess cook, consisting of bringing to and fetching from the cooking galley the food for the firemen and cleaning tables, &c. That the rations in Hobson’s bay are served by the master-at-arms, (I believe named Reed,) who gives the rations to Quartermaster Vickings, and this latter brings the rations to the galley to be cooked by the cook, known by the name of “Charley;” that said cook, Charley, was not on board the Shenandoah on her arrival in the bay; he went on board since her arrival, and he told me he would join the ship as cook; that he dared not do it in the port, but that he would do it when proceeding outwards; that I also saw said cook take rations to a number of men who were concealed in the forecastle, who went on board since her arrival in Hobson’s bay. That on Saturday, 11th February, 1865, when working and cleaning the Shenandoah, three boys, who came on board the Shenandoah since her arrival in this port, assisted in painting between decks, whereas the number of men so concealed (as mentioned above) worked on deck; that the said men, so concealed, in number about ten, received rations cooked in the same cooking apparatus and served in the same way as the regular crew on board; they eat out of the ship’s plates in the forecastle, such as were used by the prisoners while on the cruise; that they sleep on board, one part in the forecastle, the other part between decks. That the cook, Charley, and another which I could identify if seeing him again, wore sometimes the ship’s uniform. That on the 12th instant I left the Shenandoah en leave, and having joined her under intimidation, against which I hereby protest, I place myself now under the protection of the United States consul at Melbourne.
HERMANN WICKE.
Subscribed and sworn to, in duplicate, before me, this 14th day of February, 1865, as wit ness my hand and seal of office.
[seal.]
[Enclosure No. 36.]
Testimony of F. C. Behucke.
I, F. C. Behucke, of Lubec, in Germany, seaman, do declare on oath, that I shipped on board the American bark Alina, of Boston, at Newport, England, on the 5th of October, 1864, and sailed in said bark on the 6th of the same month, bound for Buenos Ayres; that nothing unusual occurred until the 29th of October, when a steamship neared us flying the English ensign, which was then lowered, another flag hoisted, and a blank shot fired to heave our [Page 483] bark to; that the said bark hove to and was boarded by armed men from said steamship; that said armed men ordered the crew to take one bag of clothes and go on board said steamship; that all the crew of said bark did as ordered; that when I went on board said steamship I found eight guns mounted, on two of which guns I saw the words Sea King; that her crew consisted of twenty-three officers aft; that in addition to the above officers there were one gunner, two gunner’s mates, four quartermasters, two cockswains, one boatswain, two boatswain’s mates, two carpenters, one sailmaker, four firemen, one storekeeper, two coal trimmers, one master-at-arms; that Sea King was also on the bell forward and harness cask; that on going on board said steamship I was asked to. join her, which I refused to do; that the master-at-arms was then called, who put me in irons and in the topgallant forecastle, along with the sheep and hens, where I was kept from Saturday, at three p. m., until Sunday night, at 11 p. m.; that to avoid such punishment, I consented to join said steamship, against which impressment I now protest; that after I came on board the steamship (which I heard called Shenandoah) she made eight captures, some of which were burnt, some sunk, and some bonded and let go; that I remained on board said steamship until Sunday, the 12th February, 1865, when I came on shore at Melbourne on liberty; that the only cannon fired while I was on board were the two guns that had Sea King marked on their aprons; that the said marks are not now on the said two guns; that all the prizes were hove to with said two guns; that before I left the said steamship I saw about ten men concealed in said Shenandoah. Some of said men told me they came on board to join. That several of the said men were at work with me on Saturday last, with the knowledge of the officers; that one of said men told me that he could not sign articles in this port, but was going to do so as soon as he got outside; that one man in the galley, who came on board at this port, wears the uniform and performs his daily duty in said uniform; that said man in the galley has been wearing the uniform for about eight or ten days; that I heard said man in the galley called Charley; that all the said men who came on board since we have arrived in Melbourne have been rationed from the said ship Shenandoah; that I have seen the master-at-arms serve out their provisions to Vicking; that after the provisions are cooked I have seen Quartermaster Vicking take it to them from the galley while concealed in the forecastle.
F. C. BEHUCKE.
Subscribed and sworn to, in duplicate, before me, this 14th day of February, 1865, as witness my hand and seal of office.
[seal.]
[Enclosure No. 37.]
Sir: Having already forwarded to your excellency various affidavits taken before me relative to the Sea King, alias Shenandoah, in support of the protests I have had the honor to make to you, I now respectfully offer to your consideration the following summary of facts derived from that testimony, with my view of the law applicable thereto.
In October last the Sea King cleared from England, ostensibly for Bombay, loaded with coals, and, further, equipped with guns, sails, stores, &c, for a long voyage, crew ample, and, besides the regular officers of such a vessel, a lieutenant in the so-called confederate service.
Proceeding upon her cruise, she, after a few days, by a preconcerted arrangement, falls in with the Laurel, also from England, and receives from her, upon the high seas, a further armament, munitions, &c, and the remainder of her officers. This being done, the Sea King hauls down the British flag and hoists that of the so-called confederacy, assumes a new name, and commences more active hostilities upon the commerce of the United States. Continuing her cruise, after the destruction of several vessels, she enters this port, the first one since clearing from England, and drops anchor in Hobson’s bay, flying the so-called confederate flag and styling herself the Shenandoah, a confederate vessel-of-war.
This voyage divides itself into two parts, yet all one cruise and one vessel—the former part rather a transport or storeship, still well capable of seizing unarmed vessels; the latter part rather an armed cruiser, yet with much to be done to renfler her really efficient. This vessel cleared from England really with the intent to be employed against the United States, and was equipped in England to that end. Immediately upon leaving she began the designed hostile cruise, equipped at the start, fully in some respects, (as with coals, two cannon, cordage, sails, extra propeller, &c, and an officer of the so-called Confederate States,) but rather as a storeship or transport, but in nearly all the cruise fully equipped to effect the intent with which she left England, and with that intent practically and repeatedly executed. [Page 484] This vessel, equipped in England with the intent as stated, the intent absolutely perfected in the hostile cruise, (still in progress, and only here interrupted to make it more effective hereafter,) now lies in reach of British law. Is she an offender against the law ?
This case differs in some respects from all the reported cases. A vessel has not been built for, nor (as we know) sold to, the so-called confederate government.
The difficulties which existed in the minds of two of the judges in the Alexandra case do not appear in this. The facts here bring this vessel within the condemnatory opinion of all the judges in that case. In that the charge of “transport of storeship” was stricken off, and the only remaining one was, substantially, “equipped with intent,” &c. The arrest was made too soon to make the intent quite sure; a new hull, with only two or three things argumentatively pointed at as consistent only with guilty design. The chief baron had committed himself by his direction to the jury in that case, and yet he only insisted (the transport charge not applying) upon some equipment which would render this vessel more or less effective in a hostile cruise. Baron Bramwell agreed, substantially, not going so far; whilst Barons Channell and Pigot found against the Alexandra.
The facts, then, in this case, condemn the Sea King (Shenandoah) upon the law even of the Alexandra case, as laid down by all the judges. Here we find a “fitting out,” an “equipment” of a vessel with “intent” to be employed asa “transport or storeship” and to cruise or commit hostilities against a friendly power. The “intent,” the “fitting out,” formed, done, in England; the vessels, in complement of the intent, actually fitted out and equipped, sailed from England, first, rather as a “storeship or transport “to furnish a more warlike cruiser with guns, coals, cordage, sails, &c, for a long cruise; and second, more fully equipped and officered, with a new name, destroying the commerce of the United States; the original equipment, thus augmented, done in complement of the same design, and as part, thereof. The original and more complete subsequent equipment, all one act in complement of the one intent and one purpose, began in England and perfected there to a certain and sufficient, but afterwards to a more complete extent, even yet not fully perfected, and here designed to be accomplished. Thus, then, “the intent to be employed,” &c, is actually carried out, and the offence, in all its parts of purpose and execution, repeatedly committed; and now from this port, and with increased power, sought to be further repeated.
The law applicable to this offence extends to all parts of her Majesty’s dominions. Her Majesty’s officers of customs, &c, are duly armed with power to enforce it against the offending vessel.
Proceedings may be in personam, or in rem, or in both.
The offence, though committed in one part of her Majesty’s dominions, may be punished in another part. From the nature of the misdemeanor, if it could be punished only in the place of the offence, the law would be nearly nugatory. Is it possible that an act declared to be unlawful, when done in any part of her Majesty’s dominions, can only be inquired into in the jurisdiction of the place of the offence? If a vessel be fitted out against the law, in Sydney, must the authorities at Melbourne refuse to move when the offender comes to this port? Are criminals escaping from England not liable to arrest here? The act authorizes, in the same terms, officers of excise, customs, and officers of her Majesty’s navy, in all parts of her Majesty’s dominions, to execute the law upon persons and things. Is it to be said that, although the offence has been committed, the offenders and vessel are to go without challenge in all parts of her Majesty’s dominions, except in the particular jurisdiction of the original offence? Upon what rule of law can such a strange doctrine be maintaineed, disregarding even the plain directions and most certain intentions of the act? For a crime inaugurated and continued is a perpetual offence; wrong from the beginning; wrong everywhere in the prosecution of the wrong; each new departure a new offence, with aggravation.
This vessel is not a legal cruiser of the so-styled confederacy. She is invested with no immunity, entitled to no consideration, by her false assumption. She is not to enjoy the advantages of her own wrong. Entering here, as everywhere in British ports, she is a wrongdoer, continuing and aggravating the original offence. Her entering here, intending to continue her illegal cruise, is, as against this jurisdiction, a new offence, which renders her amenable to the local jurisdiction.
Whether, then, we interpret the foreign enlistment act in the manner which its obvious intention almost absolutely requires, or in the manner suggested to me by the Crown law officers in a recent interview, in either case this vessel should be detained. For, if it be granted that the evidence presented would doubtless be sufficient to that end in England, then that evidence should be held sufficient to the same purpose here; because, upon the principle above referred to, this vessel, cruising into this port upon an illegal expedition against the United States and intending to continue that cruise, is an offender here; having gained no immunity by her pretended claim, she simply remains, by British law, an illegal and criminal rover of the sea, everywhere an offender against that law, and in every new port committing, as to the new jurisdiction, a new offence.
Your excellency will observe that in the foregoing I have confined myself to a view wholly taken from imperial law. I have urged nothing from a consideration of the law of nations, nor from the obligations of treaties. These, indeed, doubtless, her Majesty’s neutrality proclamation and the foreign enlistment act only illustrate and enforce. Nor can they be interpreted apart without manifest injustice.
[Page 485]In trust, therefore, that, upon further reflection, your excellency will reconsider your decision regarding this vessel, against which I have felt constrained to protest so earnestly,
I have the honor to be, your excellency’s most obedient servant,
[seal.]
His Excellency Sir Charles Darling, K. C. B., &c, Governor of Victoria.
[Enclosure No. 38.]
Sir: I have the honor to inform you that I arrested four men last night who were making their escape from the ship Shenandoah. They are now in the watch-house at Williamstown, and I shall feel obliged by your sending Madden, or some other person, who may possibly be able to identify them.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
William Blanchard, Esq., American Consul
[Enclosure No. 39.]
Sir: I received information yesterday from Mr. J. McFarlane, emigration officer, in reply to an inquiry, that the Shenandoah was taking in three hundred tons coal in addition to the quantity she had on board when she came into this port, which I learn was about four hun dred tons, from a ship then alongside of her in the bay.
The Shenandoah is a full-rigged sailing vessel—steam is only auxiliary with her; and I cannot believe your excellency is aware of the large amount of coal now being furnished said vessel.
I have the honor to be your excellency’s most obedient servant,
[seal]
His Excellency Sir Charles Darling, K. C. B.,&c. Governor of Victoria,
[Enclosure No. 40.]
Statement of Michael Cashmore.
I, Michael Cashmore, of Melbourne, do solemnly declare: That on or about the second day of this month (February) I went, in company with Mr. Lawrence Cohen, of the firm of Cohen Bros, of this city, on board the confederate steamship Shenandoah, lying in Hobson’s bay; that while walking in the between-decks I was hailed by name by a man in the uniform of the ship, who was sitting with other sailors taking soup. I recognized the man to be a late digger at Scarsdale. I asked him, “Halloo ! how came you here?” He said, “I joined them this morning.” I asked him if he thought it a better game than gold digging. He replied, “The pay is nothing to boast of; but there is a chance of making a good deal in the * shape of prize-money,” I said, it is a great change, and wondered how he would be able to stand it. He said, “it was nothing new, as he had been many years on board a British man-of-war.” I have known this man several years, and believe him to be a Cornishman. I do not know his name, but I can readily identify him. Mr. Lawrence Cohen was near me during this interview, and can no doubt confirm this my statement.
[seal]
[Enclosure No. 41. ]
Affidavit of John B. Sydserff.
I, John B. Sydserff, master of the brig Spee, of Melbourne, now in Hobson’s bay, do solemnly declare: That about fourteen days ago I went on board the Shenandoah with a view to purchase a chronometer; that I inquired if the commanding officer was on board, and if he had any chronometers for sale; that I was then directed to a person in the uniform of an officer, who said he had; that said officer gave me choice of five or six; that I selected one, “numbered 960, Fletcher, Pentonville, London,” for which I paid fifteen pounds sterling; that I paid the purchase-money to a person in the uniform of an officer of said Shenandoah in the cabin of said ship; that I have a bill and receipt, but not with me at present.
J. B. SYDSERFF.
Subscribed, in duplicate, before me, this fifteenth day of February, 1865, as witness my hand and seal of office.
[seal.]
[Enclosure No. 42.]
Sir: I beg leave to call your excellency’s attention to the affidavits of John Williams, Walter J. Madden, Hermann Wicke, and Charles Behucke, the four impressed seamen from the Shenandoah, heretofore forwarded to you, showing that there have been shipped some ten or twenty persons on board said Shenandoah while in this harbor.
I also forwarded yesterday to the honorable the attorney general a solemn declaration of Michael Cashmore, a highly respectable citizen of this place,, showing that some fifteen days ago he was hailed by name by a person in uniform on board said vessel; that said person who hailed him was a late digger at, Scarsdale, in this colony; that said person informed him he had joined that day, and that said person was taking his meals on board with the other sailors. Mr. Cashmore has informed me that neither of the four men who were arrested while escaping from said Shenandoah was the man who hailed him on board said ship.
I also left with the attorney generai a solemn declaration of John B. Sydserff, master of the beig Spee, of Melbourne, now lying in Hobson’s bay, showing the sale of chronometers by the officers of said vessel while in this port, said chronometers being “prize,” and the sale in violation of her Majesty’s proclamation.
I am compelled to protest against said vessel being allowed to depart with men furnished her in this port, whether the men are British subjects or others.
And I again protest against the aid and comfort now being extended said vessel in this port.’
I have the honor to be your excellency’s most obedient servant,
[seal.]
His Excellency Sir Charles Darling, K. C. B., Governor of Victoria,
[Enclosure No. 43.]
Testimony of Andrew Forbes.
I, Andrew Forbes, residing in Murphy’s Cottages, Sandridge, do. declare on oath: That at about 4 o’clock this day, while on the railway pier at Sandridge, I saw Thomas Evans, Robert Punning, Charles Bird, William Green, and little Sam, all inhabitants of Williamstown, most if not all of them British subjects, standing on the pier, dressed better than usual; that I said to Thomas Williams, “What are you all doing over here;.” that after some further conversation said Thomas Evans said, “I suppose I need not be frightened to tell you;” said Evans then told me that he was going on board the bark Maria Ross (then lying in the bay ready for sea) with the others in his company to join the Shenandoah when said Shenandoah got outside the Heads; that the boats from the Maria Ross were to come to take them on [Page 487] board at 5 o’clock. He also said that there were many more besides his party going the same way.
ANDREW FORBES.
February 17, 1865.
Subscribed and sworn to, in duplicate, before me, this 17th day of February, 1865, as wit ness my hand and seal of office.
[seal.]
WILLIAM BLANCHARD, United States Consul, Melbourne
[Enclosure No. 44. ]
Sir: I have the honor to enclose to your excellency the affidavit of Andrew Forbes, relative to the intending departure from this port of certain persons named therein to join the Sea King alias Shenandoah, in violation of her Majesty’s neutrality proclamation.
Mr. Forbes came to my office at about 5 o’clock p. m. yesterday. Seeing the necessity of immediate action in the matter, I took him at once to the Crown law offices to lay information before the Crown solicitor, where I had previously been directed in a communication from the office of the attorney general, of February 11, 1865, to take a witness.
It is with regret that I have to call your excellency’s attention to the fact that while there, in my official capacity, I was most grossly insulted, by language and manner, by Mr. Gurner, Crown solicitor, who positively refused to receive the information I was prepared to lay
before that department of the Crown. In consequence of which, I conceive the ends of justice have been defeated and the neutrality of this port violated.
It is hardly necessary to acquaint you that I deem it my duty to send to my government a copy of this despatch.
I have the honor to be your excellency’s most obedient servant,
[l. s.]
His Excellency Sir Charles Darling, K. C. B., &c, Governor of Victoria.
[Enclosure No. 45.]
Sir: I am desired by his excellency the governor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this date, and to acquaint you, in reply, that a ship-of-war of either belligerent is, under her majesty’s instructions, allowed to take in coal sufficient to carry such vessel to the nearest port of her own country, or to some nearer destination.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
[SEAL.]
William Blanchard, Esq., Consul for the United States.
[Enclosure No. 46.]
Dear Colleague: I have received reliable information that the Shenandoah, who has just left this port, is about to visit some of the quiet bays in your island. The officers of said vessel have been searching for a pilot who is acquainted with your coasts and bays. My opinion is, that she intends coming there with a view to complete her equipment, she having much yet to do to make her formidable. She cannot fight the guns she has on board. Be therefore on the alert.
Yours, respectfully,
D. McPherson, Jr., U. S. Vice-Consul, Hobart Town
[Enclosure No. 47.]
Sir: I am directed by his excellency the governor to acknowledge your letter of the 15th, and to inform you that his excellency is advised that it furnishes no ground for an alteration of the views respecting the presumed character of the ship Shenandoah, which have been already communicated to you.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
William Blanchard, Esq., United States Consul.
[Enclosure No. 48. ]
Sir: Will you please give me, in writing, an account of my interview, held in your presence, with the Crown solicitor, Mr. Gurner, on Friday last, and oblige, yours,
[l. s.]
Samuel P. Lord, Esq.
[Enclosure No. 49.]
Dear Sir: Yours of this date is received, requesting me to give you an account of an interview held in my presence between you and Mr. Gurner, Crown solicitor, on Friday last. In reply you must allow me to state the whole occurrences of the afternoon in connexion with the affair of shipping men for the Shenandoah, which were simply these: While in your office, about five o’clock p. m., a man came in out of breath, asking to see the United States consul, saying he had ran most of the way from Sandridge to report to you that there were a large number of men of his acquaintances that were about going on board the bark Maria Ross, (then lying in the bay ready to sail,) with the intention of shipping on board the Shenandoah, which vessel also was about leaving port. You stated that as the information was important and urgent, you would at once take the man to the Crown solicitor’s office, where you had previously been directed by the attorney general to take similar information. You at once took a conveyance and drove to the Crown law office. As we stopped at the gate we saw Mr. Gurner, with one of the employes of the office, coming down the yard from the door. He on seeing us turned partly around and gave in an undertone some direction to this employe, which I did not her. On our entering the gate Mr. Gurner and this employe stopped half way down the yard, and on our attempting to pass them to go into the building, was accosted by the clerk, who said there was no one in, or something to that effect. When I said we should then have to trouble Mr. Gurner, as the business was urgent, and introduced you as the United States consul to Mr. Gurner, the Crown solicitor, he, without noticing or acknowledging you, said very tartly that he was going to his dinner and could not be detained; when you replied, “I come as the representative of the United States with evidence to lay before you, the Crown’ solicitor, of a large number of men about violating the neutrality laws of the country;” at which he replied, in a sneering and most insulting manner, “I don’t care; I want my dinner, and I am going to have it; there are plenty of magistrates round town—go to them;” when I, seeing that you felt bitterly the insulting manner of Mr. Gurner, and wishing to spare you a continuation of it, said, “Let us then go and see the attorney general.” Mr. Gurner turned his back on us and walked off. When outside the gate and about a dozen paces down Collins street he turned and hallooed out, “My dinner, my dinner, Lord; that is what I want. “We left, and went first to the office of chief commissioner of police, and not finding either him or Mr. Lyttleton in, we drove to the houses of Parliament, and on sending your name to the attorney general, he at once came out and asked us into the side room. He patiently listened to all you had to say, and then suggested that if you would place the matter in the shape of an affidavit he would lay it before his colleagues; that a verbal statement was not sufficient for the government to proceed upon. We then left and drove to the office of the detective police and saw Mr. Nicholson, the chief, who heard the man’s statement in full, but as he could not act without a warrant, advised us to go to the police magistrate, Mr. Sturt, and get a warrant; then he would at once act upon it. Leaving there we went to the residence of Mr. Sturt, in Spencer street, who received you very politely, listened to what you had to say, examined the man, but stated that he could not take the responsibility of granting a warrant on the evidence of this man alone, and advised your going to Williamstown to Mr. Call, who perhaps would be in possession of corroborative testimony through the water police. We then left, and it being about half past seven, and you finding such a disinclination in any one to act in the matter, decided to take the deposition yourself and send it to the attorney general, leaving it to the government to take such [Page 489] action on it as it might deem proper. Going to your consulate, the deposition was taken and a copy enclosed to the attorney general, with a request for me to deliver it. I took it to the houses of Parliament, which I found closed, and it being then late, about nine, I decided it was too late to stop the shipment of the men, as we understood the vessel was to leave at five, and I went home and returned the letter to you on Saturday morning, Previous to going home, however, I again went to the detective office, saw Mr. Nicholson, and told him how you had been prevented from getting the evidence before the government in the shape they required it. He expressed his regret, but could not act in so important a matter without a warrant.
I have thus given you, as near as I can recollect, the occurrences as they took place at the time you mention, and, as I believe, nearly word for word as they were uttered.
I remain, dear sir, yours respectfully,
William Blanchard, Esq., United States Consul, Melbourne.
[Enclosure No. 50.]
Sir: I am desired by his excellency the governor to acquaint you that he received your letter of the 18th instant, in the afternoon of that day, Saturday, and that on Monday, the 20th, he caused it to be referred, through the honorable the attorney general, to the Crown so: licitor for any explanation he might wish to offer.
2. After stating that it was only in consequence of his accidentally returning to his office at half past five o’clock p. m., after it had been closed for the day, that the interview between you and himself occurred at all, Mr. Gurner states that he informed you that, not being a magistrate, he could not take an information, and adds that he was in a hurry to save a railway train, and therefore left more suddenly than he otherwise should have done; but he positively asserts that neither in manner or language did he insult you.
3. His excellency feels sure that the Crown solicitor’s tone and manner have been misapprehended, and confidently assures you that there was no intention on the part of that officer to fail in the respect due to your position as the consul of the United States of America.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,
William Blanchard, Esq.,Consul for the United States, &c., &c., &c.
[Enclosure No. 51.]
The Shenandoah affair.
The complications in which the confederate war steamer Shenandoah is involved have, it is true, been brought to an end, so far as practical interference with the vessel is concerned, but the political and moral questions have been by no means unravelled. Some correspondence which we print below will throw a little light on the affair, and perhaps enable our community to form an opinion for themselves as to the action taken by our local government. The main points in dispute can hardly be succinctly stated, but arrise in the course of the various considerations involved. But we must first give a history of what has not yet reached.our readers.
Wednesday morning, it will be remembered, found the ship still on the government slip, the manager of the slip refusing to obey the express instructions of her captain to have her launched, giving as his reason that he was ordered by the government not to let the launch proceed. The slip was then in the hands of police, whose instructions were to prevent its use for the launch of the Shenandoah “at all hazards.” On the previous evening Captain Waddell had received a letter from the commissioner of trade and customs for Victoria, inti-. mating that the facilities hitherto afforded the Shenandoah would be suspended on account of the alleged refusal by the commander to allow a magistrate’s warrant for the arrest of one “Charlie,” said to be on board, to be executed. To that letter the captain replied with another denying that the execution of the warrant had been refused, and stating that permission to the police to search the ship had been denied as contrary to the dignity of the confederate flag; that the vessel had been searched twice, and no “Charlie” found; -and that absolutely [Page 490] no one had been shipped in these waters; and finally, protesting against any obstruction which would cause the detention of the vessel. On Wednesday morning, then finding his vessel still fast on the cradle of the government slip, and that the government had taken measures to prevent its removal, Captain Waddell sent his second lieutenant to Mr. Francis with this letter:
“Confederate States Steamer Shenandoah, “February 15, 1865.
“Sir: I am informed by the manager of the slip, upon which the Confederate States steamer Shenandoah now rests, that the slip has been seized by authority from his excellency the govenor to prevent the launching of the Confederate States steamer Shenandoah, which, of necessity, is a seizure of the vessel under my command. I therefore respectfully beg to be informed if this seizure is known to his excellency the governor, and if it meets his approval.
“Very respectfully, &c,
“JAMES J. WADDELL, “Lieutenant Commanding, Confederate States Navy,
“Hon. the Commissioner oF Trade and Customs.”
At 2 p. m. the same day a proclamation (published in yesterday’s Argus) was made by his excellency the governor, revoking the “suspension of facilities” so far as the launch was concerned, and the following letter was addressed to Captain Waddell:
“Custom House, Melbourne, February 15, 1865,
“Sir: In acknowledging your letters of yesterday’s date, and also in reply to your communication of this morning, I am instructed by his excellency the governor to inform you that the lessee of the patent slip having reported that the safety of the ship Shenandoah may be endangered by her present position on the slip, the suspension of permission to British subjects to assist in launching the ship is withdrawn; while the further matters referred to in your letters are under consideration, and will be replied to with as little delay as possible.
“I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
“JAMES G. FRANCIS.
“J. J. Waddell, Esq., “Lieutenant Commanding Confederate States Steamer Shenandoah,”
Accordingly the vessel was launched and taken to a spot midway between Williamstown and Sandridge, where she now lies. At a late hour, after eleven o’clock that night, the following letter was received by the commander of the Shenandoah:
“Custom House, Melbourne, February 15, 1865.
“Sir: I am directed by his excellency the governor to further acknowledge your communications of the 14th and 15th instant, in which, alleging that the vessel under your command had been seized, you ask whether the seizure is known to his excellency the governor, and if it meets his approval.
“I am to inform you, in reply, that this government has not directed or authorized the seizure of the Shenandoah.
“The instructions to the police were to see that none of her Majesty’s subjects in this colony rendered any aid or assistance to, or performed any work in respect of, your vessel during the period of the suspension of the permission which was granted to you to repair and take in supplies, pending your reply to my letter of yesterday’s date, in regard to a British subject being on board your vessel, and having entered the service of the Confederate States in violation of the British statute known as the foreign enlistment act, and of the instructions issued by the governor for the maintenance of neutrality by her Majesty’s subjects. “In addition to evidence previously in possession of this government, it has been reported by the police that about ten o’clock last night four men, who had been in concealment on board the Shenandoah, left the ship, and were arrested immediately after so leaving by the water police.
“It appears from the statements of these men that they were on board your vessel both on Monday and Tuesday, the 13th and 14th instant, when their presence was denied by the commanding officer in charge, and by yourself subsequently, when you declared that there were * no persons on board this ship except those whose names are on our shipping articles.’ This assertion must necessarily have been made by you without having ascertained for, yourself by a search that such men were not on board, while at the time you refused permission to the officer charged with the execution of the warrant to carry it into effect.
“Referring to that portion of your communication of the 14th instant in which you inform his excellency the governor that the execution of the warrant was not refused, as no such person as the one therein specified was on board,’ I am in a position to state that one of the four men previously alluded to is ascertained to be the person named in the warrant.
[Page 491]“I am also to observe that while at the moment of the despatch of your letter it may be true that these men were not on board the Shenandoah, it is beyond question that they were on board at the time it was indited, your letter having been despatched at five minutes before ten o’clock.
“It thus appears plain, as a matter of fact, that the foreign enlistment act was in course of being evaded
“Nevertheless, as the only person for whose arrest a warrant was issued has been secured, and as you are now in a position to say, as commanding officer of the ship, and on behalf of your government, whose faith is pledged by the assurance, that there are no persons on board this ship except those whose names are on our shipping articles, and, that no one has been enlisted in the service of the Confederate States since my arrival in this port, his excellency the governor has been pleased to revoke the directions issued yesterday suspending permission to British subjects to aid and assist you in effecting the necessary repairs and taking in supplies.
“I am to add, it is expected you will exercise every despatch, so as to insure your departure by the day named in your first letter of yesterday, viz., Sunday next’.
“I have the’ honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
“JAS G. FRANCIS.
“J. J. Waddell, Esq., “Lieutenant Commanding Confederate States Steamer Shenandoah,”
It was too late to reply that night, but the next morning the following reply was forwarded to the government:
“Confederate States Steamer Shenandoah, “Hobson’s Bay, February 16, 1865.
“Sir: I am in receipt of your communication of yesterday’s date, and desire to convey, through you, to his excellency the governor my appreciation and thanks for his observance of the rights of belligerents; and further to assure his excellency the governor that every despatch is being made by me to get the Shenandoah to sea at the earliest possible moment.
“The four men alluded to in your communication are no part of this vessel’s complement of men; they were detected on board by the ship’s police after all strangers were reported out of the vessel, and they were ordered and seen out of the vessel by the ship’s police immediately on their discovery, which was after my letter had been despatched informing his excellency the governor that there were no such persons on board. Those men were here without my knowledge, and I have no doubt can be very properly called stowaways, and such they could have remained but for the vigilance of the ship’s, police, inasmuch as they were detected after the third search; but in no way can I be accused, in truth, of being cognizant of an evasion of the foreign enlistment act.
“In conclusion, sir, allow me to inform you that I consider the tone of your letter remarkably disrespectful and insulting to the government I have the honor to represent, and that I shall take an early opportunity of forwarding it to the Richmond government].
“Very respectfully, &c,
JAMES J. WADDELL, “Lieutenant Commanding, C. S, N.”
Hon. the Commissioner of Trades and Customs.
In consequence of the permission granted in Mr. Francis’s last letter, coaling was proceeded with, and yesterday over two hundred tons and a quantity of stores were put on boar d. Officers and men were all intensely busy, and coal-dust seemed to fill the atmosphere. It will take at least two days more to properly complete the stores, but yet it is not absolutely certain that Captain Waddell will wait for that.
Before quitting the subject, it will be well to give a few statements in respect to the aspect of affairs. It is evident, from Mr. Francis’s last letter, that the government claim to. have permitted the launch because “Charlie” had been taken, while Captain Waddell claims that such a course was forced on them by his threat to accept the detention of the vessel on the government slip as a seizure. This is certainly a moot point. Captain Waddell’s explanation of “Charlie’s “discovery is, to say the least, a highly natural one, especially as the fact of the arrest of the four men does not appear to have reached the Shenandoah, so jealously is she guarded, till Wednesday night. He says that a remark made by one of his men, and reported to him after it had gone through several hands, first aroused his suspicion that the two searches made had not been compítete. One of the men had been heard to say that he knew where a man was, and thereupon a third search was ordered, and the four men discovered. They were ordered ashore directly, Captain Waddell not thinking it worth while to hand them over to the police, seeing that the men were sent into the waterman’s boat under the nose of the water police, and that rows of armed constables flanked the vessel on ‘each side and patrolled on long platforms running within ten feet of the ship. In his last letter he has, in his opinion, closed his correspondence with the government, and to his friends he has asserted that in the whole course of his twenty-one years’ experience in the navy of his country he never knew of communications on these subjects between a vessel-of-war and [Page 492] anybody but the representative of the imperial government. It is not improbable that, had the communications been between the commander and his excellency, Mr. McCulloch would scarcely have ventured on his assertion to the legislative assembly, that a foreign vessel-of-war had been “ordered” to leave the port.
[Enclosure No. 52.]
The confederate cruiser Shenandoah left Hobson’s bay at about 6 a. m. on Saturday, and was seen during the afternoon outside the Heads by the schooners Sir Isaac Newton and Zephyr. She steamed up to the former, and hoisted an English ensign, which on being answered with a like flag she stood off again; when the Zephyr saw her at a later hour of the day she was hove to off Cape Schanck. Several rumors are afloat that the Shenandoah shipped or received on board somewhere about eighty men just prior to leaving. We have since been informed that she took away a large number, but not equal to that above stated.
[From the Argus of February 20, 1865.]
We may now speak of the confederate war steamer Shenandoah as something that has come and gone. With all the sympathy we may have had with her as the representative of those who are gallantly fighting against long odds, she, in the fulfilment of a warlike errand, was most unwelcome in our still peaceful port, and we are unfeignedly glad of her departure. She left before the time named to our local government by her commander when a demand was made that the period of her leaving should be fixed at as early a date as was possible; but Captain Waddell was anxious to be better than his word. Before the detention on the government patent slip he promised to be away, if possible, by Sunday, and by dint of working double tides, night and day, he managed to steam away shortly after daybreak on Saturday last. At first she started at half-speed, and fired a gun or so to give notice of her departure; but nothing followed, and we are informed that she passed Gellibrand’s Point at full speed, and was quickly out of sight. Her machinery was little more than patched up, for it was nearly imperative that the pinion nearest the screw-shaft should be renewed, but Messrs. Langlands &. Co. made “a good job” of their repairs, and the ship has consequently considerable speed. Our latest news of her represents her as having cleared the Heads at noon, steering southwest for about twenty miles, when she altered her course to south, and was lost sight of in thick mist at half past two p. m. Of the various ridiculous stories that are told of the circumstances that attended her departure, we shall only contradict one, viz., the reported arrival on board, at two on Saturday morning, of Captain Semmes, late of the Alabama, said to have arrived under a feigned name in the Great Britain. That remarkably enterprising and gallant commander is, we are informed by those most likely to know, by this time in the Confederate States; his health having been seriously impaired by the energy and zeal which characterized the performance of his mission, and the effects of his submersion after the engagement between the Alabama, C. S. N., and the Kearsarge, U. S. N. It is not to be denied, however, that during Friday night a large number of men found their way on board the Shenandoah, and did not return on shore again. It is not improbable yet that we shall have further news of the Shenandoah.
[From the Herald of February 20, 1865.]
The confederate ship Shenandoah, Captain Waddell, got up steam and left Hobson’s bay at 6 o’clock on Saturday morning. During her stay in port several repairs have been effected, and a quantity of provisions and coals have been shipped. There is no doubt that she has taken away with her several men from this colony; report says eighty, but that is probably an exaggeration. The neglect of the attorney general in not replying to Captain Waddell’s question as to the extent of the neutral limit has apparently absolved that commander from responsibility so far as carrying on hostile operations outside Port Phillip Heads is concerned, for according to our shipping report the Shenandoah steamed up to the schooner Sir Isaac Newton evidently with the intention of overhauling her had she happened to be a Yankee vessel.
[From the Age of February 20, 1865.]
The Shenandoah left Hobson’s bay at six o’clock on Saturday morning. It is currently reported that she shipped some eighty men just prior to leaving. At a late hour on Saturday she was hove to off Cape Schanck.
The police on Saturday received the following information relative to an attempt made to enlist men for the confederate service on board the confederate steamer Shenandoah. About half past four o’clock on Saturday afternoon a man, who gave his name and address as George Kennedy, 125 Flinders lane east, called at the police onice, in Russell street, and stated that, [Page 493] having seen an advertisement in the Argus, he called on the advertiser, “Powell,” with whom was another man, whose name he did not know. He remained in their company for several hours, during which time they supplied him with drink, and endeavored, by every kind of persuasion, to induce him to join the confederate service on board the Shenandoah, for which purpose they also conducted him to the wharf, and desisted from their efforts only when he openly stated his intention of reporting the matter to the authorities. Kennedy further stated that, when the men were using their endeavors to get him to join the Shenandoah, there were several other persons present who accepted their offers, and whom he now believes to be on board that vessel. A warrant has been issued by the Melbourne bench for the apprehension of the offenders.
[Enclosure No. 53. ]
A CONFEDERATE WAR STEAMER IN HOBSON’S BAY.
Considerable interest was manifested yesterday morning in the city by an announcemen posted at the telegraph office that the auxiliary screw steamer Royal Standard had been sig nailed off Cape Otway after an extraordinary run of fifty-two days from Liverpool. The news was speedily promulgated through the city, and the arrival of the vessel in Hobson’s bay was anxiously looked forward to. Late in the afternoon, when the steamer had arrived at Port Phillip Heads, a telegram was received by the chief secretary announcing that the steamer reported was not the Royal Standard, as supposed, but the confederate man-of-war Shenandoah, of eight guns. The vessel at once proceeded up the channel and anchored in the bay, at a few minutes before seven o’clock, flying the confederate flag. The intelligence that a vessel of the confederate navy had arrived in our waters was speedily made known, and several boats put off to the Shenandoah, but Captain Waddell, the commander, positively declined to allow any person to come on board until such time as he had communicated with the shore. As soon as possible Lieutenant Grimble, one of the officers, was despatched to Toorak, to wait upon his excellency the governor and request that the vessel might remain for a certain period in neutral waters, for the purpose of coaling and repairing her machinery. The Shenandoah is a steam-vessel of 1,160 tons, 240 horse-power, and carries eight large guns. She is commanded by Captain James Waddell, and the following is a list of her officers: Lieutenants W. C. Whittle, John Grimble, J. S. Lee, F. T. Chew, D. M. Scales; master, J. M. Bullock; chief engineer, M. O’Brien; surgeon, C.E. Lining; acting. paymaster, W. B. Smith; passed midshipmen, O. A. Brown and J. T. Mason; assistant surgeon, F. J. M’Nulty; assistant engineers, W. H. Codd, J. Hutchinson, E. Muggofeny; master’s mates, C. E. Hunt, J. F. Miner, L. Calbon; boatswain, G. Harwood; carpenter, J. O’Shea; gunner, J. L. Guy; sailmaker, Henry Alcatt; second carpenter, John Lynch. In addition to these officers she has a crew of seventy-five men. The Shenandoah has been at sea since the 15th of October last, and during that time she reports having captured and burnt no less than eleven federal merchantmen. The crew of the Shenandoah has been partly made up from the men on board the various prizes. The men are a fine and determined looking set of fellows. The uniform worn is a sort of yellowish gray, with a shoulder-strap of blue silk bearing a single star, surrounded by a thin gold cording. The cap is also gray, with a broad gold band. The Shenandoah, we believe, has been off the Australian coast for the last ten days, and on her arrival off the Otway yesterday she failed to run up any colors, as the captain did not wish to be reported by the vessels going out. We believe that under a recent proclamation the Shenandoah will not’ be allowed to remain in the port more than forty-eight hours.
[From the Argus of February 23, 1865. ]
Since October last the history of the Shenandoah has been an eventful one. There-is no doubt she is identical with the Chinese Clyde-built steam clipper Sea King, noted for her speed, and which, when she brought troops to Auckland last year, made one of the shortest trips on record. As far as we can gather, the transformation of an English merchant steamer into a Confederate States man-of-war took place thus: The Laurel—blockade runner—started from Liverpool with a cabin full of “likely-looking young men,” as the pilot called them, on the 8th of October last, and Friday, the 14th, saw her in Funchal bay, Madeira. The “passengers” did. not go on shore, and were believed by the Madeira folks to be “Polish emigrants.” Three days afterwards a large steamer, ship-rigged, steamed in and then out the harbor, the Laurel following to the east side of the island, both flying British colors. Here, it is said, the strange ship was purchased for £45,000, and the passengers and cargo of the Laurel transferred to her. The Laurel then went her way, and the strange steamer stood out to sea, none of the packages brought by the Laurel being broken. When beyond the [Page 494] neutral marine league from shore Captain Waddell summoned the men aft and read his com mission as commander of the confederate sloop-of-war Shenandoah, ordered to cruise and destroy the enemy’s commerce. At that time twenty-five men constituted the whole crew, a number which, deducting officers, left five men to each watch. To put his ship in order and arrange its armament were the first things’ Captain Waddeli set about doingf. Sailing by day and steaming by night, the ship, now called the Shenandoah, was taken to a quiet place in the “trades,” and then, comparatively secure from the enemy’s cruisers, men and officers set to work with a willing mind to get her into trim. This done, the Shenandoah entered into her functions, selecting for her cruising ground the track of vessels bound for the South American ports. Success attended her. Her plan was, when she crossed a vessel, to show English or French colors and fire a gun; after which, if the other proved to be a Yankee, she was taken and destroyed, and her captain and crew made prisoners. The following is a correct list of the vessels captured and destroyed by the Shenandoah:
Alina, bark, Staples, master, from Akyab to Buenos Ayres, cargo of railway iron. Scuttled 29th October, latitude 16° 47’ north, longitude 16° 43’ west.
Charter Oak, schooner, Gillman, master, from Boston for San Francisco, assorted cargo. Burnt 5th November, latitude 7° 38’ north, longitude 27° 49’ west.
D. Godfrey, bark, Hallet, master, from Boston to Valparaiso, assorted cargo. Burnt 7th November, latitude 6° 28’ north, longitude 27° 6’ west.
Susan, brig, Hansen, master, from New York to river Platte. Scuttled 10th November, latitude 4° 20’ north, longitude 26° 39’ west.
Kate Prince, for Bahia, neutral cargo, (coals.) Ship bonded 12th November.
Adelaide, bark, of Baltimore, to river Plate, neutral cargo. Ship bonded for $23,000.
Lizzie M. Stacey, schooner, New York to Sandwich Islands, assorted cargo. Burnt 1.3th November, latitude 1o 40’ north, longitude 28° 24 west.
Edward, whaling vessel. Burnt 4th December, latitude 37° 47’ south, longitude 12° 30’ west.
Delphine, bark, from London for Akyab. Burnt 29th December, latitude 29° 10’ south, longitude 69° east.
The larger portion of the sailors taken prisoners volunteered to join the Shenandoah, and were accepted; the remainder, all but a few, Were transshipped to other vessels met with on the high seas. The remnant were eight men, besides Captain Nichols, of the Delphine, and his wife and stewardess, who were brought hither. Unassisted, but unimpeded, they made their way out of the Shenandoah very shortly after the vessel’s arrival in Hobson’s bay, and before the pernrission to land them, for which application was made to the government, could be afforded.
* * * * * * * * * *
About this time, and in answer to a hint from the government respecting the need of an early departure, Captain Waddell addressed the government thus, in one of his letters:
“I am extremely anxious to get the Shenandoah to sea. The procrastination by the parties employed under his excellency the governor’s permission for the necessary repairs to this ship seems to me unnecessary; and if I appeal to his excellency the governor for further instructions to those employed to hurry up the work on this ship, I hope his excellency the governor will see in it the spirit of a law-abiding man, and one impatient to be about his country’s business.”
The government by their action appeared to admit the necessity of the delays, and not till twelve days after the ship had been in port, asked that a day should be named for her departure. Captain Waddell again replied that the delays were caused by the difficulty of getting the vessel on the slip, and the notorious effects of some severe gales, which once caused the Shenandoah to get adrift, and nearly occasioned very serious damage. These reasons were apparently admitted to be good, and eventually, on the 14th of February, Captain Waddell announced to Mr. Francis that he expected to get to sea by the Sunday following. Hitherto the only public expression of ill feeling emanated from Mr. Berry, a member of the lower house of legislature; In his place in the legislative assembly he called the attention of the government to the subject, stating that the Shenandoah, being in reality the Sea King, and an English vessel, should be seized under the neutrality proclamation. In reply the chief secretary pointed out that there was nothing which could be accepted as proof of the honor-able member’s assumption, and Mr. Berry received an Unmistakable snubbing at the hands of several other members of the house, including Mr. O’Shanassy, whose remark that Mr. Berry might as well have let the matter alone was cheered in all parts of the house.
* * * * * * * * * *
The instructions given to the police will be best described in the following telegram:
“Telegram from Mr. F. C. Standish, ehief commissioner, of Victoria police, to Mr. Beaver, police inspector, stationed at Williamstown.
“I have to direct that you communicate with Mr. Chambers, the lessee of the patent slip, that the governor in council has given directions that he and all other British subjects in this colony at once desist from rendering any aid or assistance, or perform any work, in re spect to said classed confederate ship Shenandoah, or in launching the same. You will a [Page 495] once proceed with the whole of the police at your disposal to the patent slip and prevent, at all risks, the launch of the said ship. Superintendent Lyttleton and fifty men, also fifty of the military, proceed at one to Williamstown, telegraphing anything that may occur direct to me.
“F. C. STANDISH.
“Tuesday, 14, 1865.”
The military--fifty men of the royal artillery—started, but were countermanded. When affairs were at this stage Captain Waddell received a letter from Mr. Francis, on behalf of the government, charging him with having refused permission to execute the warrant, and calling upon him to reconsider his determination, pending which the permission granted to repair and take supplies was suspended. Captain Waddell at once replied that the execution of the warrant had not been refused, but only permission to search the ship, whose deck represented the majesty of the flag that flew over it. He added, moreover, that the shipping articles had been exhibited to show that no one had shipped while the vessel was in port, and that he had ordered two commissioned officers to search the ship, but they had found no strangers. He concluded by entering, in the name of his government, his solemn protest against any obstruction that would cause the detention of his ship. The day’s proceedings were closed by the captain giving orders for the launch of his ship early next morning.
An episode occurred here that belongs to this narrative. Ata few minutes after nine p. m. on that evening, the police, who were stationed all round the vessel and within a very few yards of her, saw four men come down the gangway into a boat alongside. The water police close by followed this boat, which was rowed swiftly away, but the end was that the four men were arrested on shore and subsequently identified by some deserters as men whom they had seen concealed on board, one being the identical “Charlie.” Next day they were brought before a magistrate and remanded until the following day, Thursday.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday morning, Captain Waddell, finding that the launch of his ship, which was securely fast on the patent slip, was prevented by order of the government, wrote at once to Mr. Francis, declaring his vessel to be seized, and asking if the governor approved of this. At forty-five minutes past one o’clock, on the same day, the governor, by proclamation, revoked the prohibition of the launch, and a letter from Mr. Francis to Captain Waddell intimated that as it was reported that the safety of the ship was endangered by her position on the slip, the suspension of the permission to British subjects to assist in the launch was withdrawn. In consequence the ship was launched the same evening. Late at night Captain Waddell received the following communication:
“Custom House, Melbourne, February 15, 1865.
“Sir: I am directed by his excellency the governor to further acknowledge your communications of the 14th and 15th instant, in which, alleging that the vessel under your command had been seized, you ask whether the seizure is known to his excellency the governor, and if it meets his approval.
“lam to inform you, in reply, that this government has not directed or authorized the seizure of the Shenandoah.
“The instructions to the police were to see that none of her Majesty’s subjects in this colony rendered any aid or assistance to, Or performed any work in respect of, your vessel during the period of the suspension of the permission which was granted to you to repair and take in supplies, pending your reply to my letter of yesterday’s date, in regard to a British subject being on board your vessel, and having entered the service of the Confederate States, in violation of the British statute known as the foreign enlistment act, and of the instructions issued by the governor for the maintenance of neutrality by her Majesty’s subjects.
“In addition to evidence previously in possession of this government, it has been reported by the police that about ten o’clock last night four men, who had been in concealment on board the Shenandoah, left the ship, and were arrested immediately after so leaving by the water police.
“It appears from the statements of these men that they were on board your vessel both on Monday and Tuesday, the 13th and 14th instant, when their presence was denied by the commanding officer in charge, and by yourself subsequently, when you declared that there were no persons on board this ship except those whose names are on our shipping articles.’ This assertion must necessarily have been made by you without haying ascertained for yourself by a search that such men were not on board, while at the time you refused permission to the officer charged with the execution of the warrant to carry it into effect.
“Referring to that portion of your communication of the 14th instant, in which you inform his excellency the governor ‘that the execution of the warrant was not refused, as no such person as the one therein specified was on board,’ I am in a position to state that one of the our men previously alluded to is ascertained to be the person named in the warrant.
“I am also to observe that, while at the moment of the despatch of your letter it may be true that these men were not on board the Shenandoah, it. is beyond question that they were on board at the time It was indited, your letter having been despatched at five minutes before ten o’clock.
“It thus appears plain, as a matter of fact, that the foreign enlistment act was in course of being evaded.
[Page 496]“Nevertheless, as the only person for whose arrest a warrant was issued has been secured, and as you are now in a position to say, as commanding officer of the ship, and on behalf of your government, whose faith is pledged by the assurance, that there are no persons on board this ship except those whose names are on our shipping articles, and that no one has been enlisted in the service of the Confederate States since my arrival in this port,’ his excellency the governor has been pleased to revoke the directions issued yesterday, suspending permission to British subjects to aid and assist you in effecting the necessary repairs and taking in supplies.
“I am to add, it is expected you will exercise every despatch, so as to insure your departure by the day named in your first letter of yesterday—viz: Sunday next. “I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
“JAMES G. FRANCIS.
“J. J. Waddell, Esq., ”Lieutenant Commanding Confederate States Steamer Shenandoah.”
To this Captain Waddell replied next day by thanking his excellency the governor for his observance of the rights of belligerents, denying that the men arrested formed any part of his complement, but were stowaways, detected after a further search, and at once ordered over the side, and declaring that in no way could he be accused of an evasion of the foreign enlistment act. He ended thus, addressing himself to Mr. Francis:
In conclusion, sir, allow me to inform you that I consider the tone of your letter remarkably disrespectful and insulting to the government I have the honor to represent, and that I shall take an early opportunity of forwarding it to the Richmond government.”
This closed the correspondence between Captain Waddell and the government.
[Untitled]
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
Wednesday, February 22.
THE SEIZURE OF THE SHENANDOAH.—MR. HIGHETT’S MOTION.
Mr. Highett, pursuant to notice, moved that an address be presented to the governor, praying that his excellency would cause to be laid on the table of the house copies of any instructions received from the home government relative to the reception and treatment of ships-of-war of foreign nations visiting this port, more especially in relation to those of belligerent powers. He said that the correspondence which had recently taken place between the government and the commander of the Shenandoah had caused great excitement in the public mind. The majority of the public were of opinion that it should have taken place between the governor and the commander of that vessel. His motion would set that at rest.
Mr. Hull seconded the motion.
Mr. Hervey said that, beyond what had been published, any despatches were confidential, and his excellency would not, therefore, give them up. Under the circumstances, he hoped the honorable member would withdraw his motion.
Mr. Cole supported the motion.
Mr. Hull referred to the imbroglio that took place between Lieutenant Lowe, of the confederate tender to the Alabama, in Temple bay, and the governor at that port, and stated that the correspondence was carried on entirely between Lieutenant Lowe, although he was only a lieutenant and commanding a tender, and the governor.
Mr. Highett intimated that he would call for a division.
Mr. Hervey pointed out that there were certain despatches which the governor was not entitled to lay before the house, and that in the present case they were of that nature. The governor had acted in accordance with those instructions.
Mr. Highett said that his motion was merely for the presentation of an address to the governor, and it should be left to the governor to say whether he. would comply with it. His own impression was that the instructions were to correspond through the ministry, but he wanted to see that it was so.
Mr. Strachan thought that any instructions sent ought to be laid before Parliament. It seemed very extraordinary that in an important matter, when the correspondence had been carried on by the government and not by the governor, that it could be withheld. The government had not, in his opinion, come out with very flying colors in the matter. His opinion was that the governor should have carried on the correspondence.
Mr. Fraser opposed the views of the last speaker, and thought the house ought not to press the matter. The governor, through the commissioner of customs, had shown to the public at large what the instructions were, as would be seen from the correspondence. The government had acted under instructions from the governor. [Mr. Fawkner: “Who knows that?”] If the despatch was a private one they should not insist upon having it.
Mr. Fàwkner hoped that the honorable member would press it to a division. If the honorable [Page 497] member who had just sat down had seen all the correspondence and read it, he (Mr. Fawkner) had not.
Mr. Fraser said that he had read it in the public prints.
Mr. Fawkner said that a one-sided view was always taken by the public prints. He characterized the conduct of the government in seizing the ship while on the slip as cowardly and most unmanly. It was, moreover, a ship-of-war. It was like the case of the Florida. He maintained that the vessel was seized without rhyme or reason. It was quite possible that a few men were stowed away without the knowledge of the commander, and it had not been proved that the men had been employed, although they were charged with having enlisted. The government had compromised itself with the people at large.
Mr. Fellows pointed out the double capacity of the governor as a constitutional sovereign and an agent of the home government, and remarked upon the course taken by Sir Henry Barkly in laying upon the table certain papers, with the understanding that it was not conceded as a right or to be considered as a precedent. If to the motion the government returned the answer that it was inconvenient, as the papers were private and confidential, there was an end of the matter; but, referring to the correspondence, he thought a different construction was to be put upon it. He then quoted from the published correspondence to show that, as reference was not made expressly to the governor, that the government were understood to be authorized by the imperial government, and that, therefore, the instructions could be called for,
Mr. Hervey reminded the house that it was more an imperial than a colonial question. The governor owed a duty to the home government, and if he had done anything wrong, it was his particular duty to justify his action to that government. He only wished the government could produce the letters, as they were not desirous of keeping them back. The matter would come before Parliament at home, and the justification would have to be made in the proper quarter.
Mr. Fellows suggested that the honorable member might say that it did not contain any instructions to the local government.
The question was then put, and agreed to, on a division by 15 to 10.
MR. COLE’S MOTION.
Mr. Cole moved that copies be furnished of all correspondence between the government and the commander of the Shenandoah. He remarked that it was an important question, involving the neutrality of the port.
Mr. S. G. Henty seconded the motion.
Mr. Hervey said there was no correspondence between the government and the captain of the Shenandoah. The correspondence was on behalf of the governor, and written under his direction.
After some remarks from Mr. Hull,
Mr. Highett said: Do I understand that there has been no correspondence between the government and the Shenandoah ?
Mr. Hervey. None.
Mr. Highett said there appeared to be, and urged that the house was entitled to that which had taken place between the commissioner of trade and customs and the commander of the Shenandoah,
Mr. Mitchell asked whether the commissioner of customs held two positions—that of a minister and secretary to the governor?
Mr. Hervey said the governor selected the proper officer to sign the correspondence.
Mr. Fellows. Who, his private secretary ?
Mr. Hervey. No; any correspondence was by the order of his excellency.
Mr. Mttchell. Then it did not take place between any member of the government and the captain of the Shenandoah, but between the secretary of the governor and the captain of the Shenandoah.
Mr. Strachan. Did the governor indorse all the commissioner of customs wrote ?
Mr. Hervey. Yes.
Mr. Strachan. Then let us have it shown to be so.
Mr. Fellows. Under his hand and seal ?
Mr. Strachan believed there were two letters, and would like to know whether the government indorsed all that was written by Mr. Francis. He did not and could not believe it, and it would be only when it was produced to the house, indorsed by his excellency, that he would believe it.
[From the Argus of February 18, 1865.
I.
U. S. Steamer-of-war Shenandoah, Port Phillip, January 25, 1865.
Sir: I have the honor to announce to your excellency the arrival of the Confederate States steamer Shenandoah, under my command, in Port Phillip, this afternoon, and also to communicate that the steamer’s machinery requires repairs, and that I am in want of coal.
[Page 498]I desire your excellency to grant permission that I may make the necessary repairs and obtain the supply of coals to enable me to get to sea as quickly as possible.
I desire also your excellency’s permission to land my prisoners. I shall observe the neutrality.
I have the honor to be your obedient servant,
JAMES J. WADDELL, Lieutenant Commanding,
His Excellency Sir Charles Darling, K. C. B.,&c.
II.
Department of Trade and Customs, Melbourne, January 26, 1865.
Sir: I am directed by his excellency Sir Charles Darling to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 25th instant, acquainting his excellency with the arrival of the Confederate States steamer Shenandoah, under your command, at Port Philip, and intimating that the machinery of the steamer requires repairs, and that you are in want of coals.
In the communication under acknowledgment you request his excellency to grant permission to make the necessary repairs, and to obtain a supply of coals, and, further, to be allowed to land your prisoners.
In reply, I have received the instructions of Sir Charles Darling (sic.) to state that he is willing to allow the necessary repairs to the Shenandoah and the coaling of the vessel to be at once proceeded with, and that the necessary directions have been given accordingly.
I am at the same time to furnish for your information the accompanying extracts of orders issued by her Majesty’s government, and publicly notified in the government Gazette of this colony on the 17th March and 24th April, 1862, with respect to armed vessels, whether belonging to the United or Confederate States of North America, with which it is requisite for you to comply.
In conformity with the terms of the foregoing commands, I am to request that you will be good enough at your earliest convenience to intimate to me, for the information of his excellency, the nature and extent of your requirements as regards repairs and supplies, in order that Sir Charles Darling (sic.) may be enabled to judge of the time which it may be necessary for the vessel under your command to remain in this port.
With reference to your request regarding certain prisoners, his excellency desires to be furnished with a list of the prisoners in question, and any other information affecting them which you may be able to afford.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
JAMES G. FRANCIS, Commissioner of Trade and Customs,
The Lieut. Com’g C. S. Steamer-of-War Shenandoah, Hobson’s Bay.
The following are the extracts indicated and enclosed:
“You are aware of the determination of her Majesty’s government to maintain the strictest neutrality in the hostilities which are now being carried on between the United and Confederate States of North America. In order to cause that neutrality to be effectually respected throughout the Queen’s dominions, her Majesty has directed (in accordance with a long-established European practice) that no ship-of-war, privateer, or other armed vessel, belonging to either of the belligerents, which shall anchor in any British port, shall be allowed to quit her anchorage within twenty-four hours after any vessel belonging to the adverse beligerents, whether armed or unarmed, shall have left the same port.
“In order to give effect to her Majesty’s orders, I am to desire that, on the arrival of any such armed vessel in any port or roadstead within your government, you will notify this rule to her commander, and will inform him that, in case he should infringe it, his government will be held responsible by that of Great Britain for violating the neutrality of the British waters.”
III.
C. S. Steamer Shenandoah, January 28, 1865.
Sir: Upon the receipt of your communication of the 26th instant, in which permission was granted for the repairs necessary to the Shenandoah to be proceeded with, I sent for and engaged the services of Messrs. Langlands Brothers & Co., to examine the propeller and bracings under water, and to undertake the repairs, which was agreed to by the firm, informing them of the importance of haste, and importance to me their report would be, as his excellency desired to know the extent of injury done the vessel. I was promised a report, and have been asking each day for it, but none has been handed in yet, and as I conceived an idea that their report would be more satisfactory than any I could write for his excellency’s [Page 499] information, I have delayed, in accordance with the grace given me at my “earliest convenience,” to intimate to you the extent of damages. Every arrangement has been made for lifting the propeller clear of the ship, and a diver has examined the bracings under water today. From what I have seen of the propeller-shaft, and the verbal report of the diver on the bracings under water, I can state that the composition castings of the propeller-shaft are entirely gone, and the bracings under water in the same condition. So soon as Messrs. Langlands Brothers & Co. hand in their report, I shall enclose it to his excellency. The other repairs are progressing rapidly. I fear the damages will prove more serious than I anticipated them to be at first.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JAMES J. WADDELL, Lieutenant Commanding C. S. N.
The Hon. the Commissioner of Trade and Customs.
IV.
Custom House, Melbourne, January 30, 1865.
Sir: I am directed by his excellency the governor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the’ 28th instant, and of your memorandum of this day’s date, indorsed on a letter addressed to you by Messrs. Langlands Brothers and Co., a copy of which letter, with your subjoined memorandum, is returned herewith, and to inform you it will be necessary that a list of the supplies required for the immediate use of your vessel, together with one of the prisoners, &c., as I suggested in my previous communication, should be sent in for the guidance of his excellency, before four p. m. on the 31st instant.
I have it further in command to inform you that his excellency has appointed a board, consisting of Mr. Payne, inspector and secretary of the Steam Navigation Board; Mr. Elder, superintendent of the marine yard at this place, and Mr. Wilson, the government marine engineer, to go on board the Shenandoah and to examine and report whether that vessel is now in a fit state to proceed to sea, or what repairs are necessary.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
JAMES G. FRANCIS.
J. J. Waddell, Esq., Lieutenant Commanding Confederate States Steamer Shenandoae.
V.
Port Philip Foundry, Melbourne, January 30, 1865.
Sir: At your request we beg to report that it will, be absolutely necessary to put the Shenandoah on the government slip, as, after inspection by the diver, he reports that the lining of outer stern back is entirely gone, and will have to be replaced.
As to the time required (as three days will elapse before she is slipped) we will not be able to accomplish the repairs within ten days from date.
Yours, &c.
LANGLANDS BROS. & CO.
Captain Waddell, Confederate War Steamer Shenandoah.
Indorsement: Respectfully submitted to the honorable commissioner of trade and customs, with the request that it may be returned.
JAMES WADDELL, Lieutenant Commanding.
January 30, 1865.
VI.
Department of Trade and Customs, Melbourne, January 31, 1865.
Sir: By direction of his excellency the governor, I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt, this morning, of your letter, of yesterday’s date, stating the supplies required for the officers and crew of the vessel under your command, and informing me that the prisoners alluded to in your previous communication have left the Shenandoah without your knowledge, in shore boats, soon after your arrival.
I am desired by Sir Charles Darling (sic) to state that permission is conceded for you to ship on board the Shenandoah, in such quantities as may be reasonably necessary, the provisions and supplies enumerated in your communication under reply. I would therefore request that your purser, authorized in that behalf, will communicate with the collector of customs as to quantities and detailed particulars.
I am again to renew my request to be furnished with a list giving the number of and particulars (as far as possible) with respect to the prisoners who were brought to this port in the Shenandoah; and I may add that the number in this instance is understood to be small, [Page 500] yet action in this case may form a precedent for future guidance should such a question again arise, with, perhaps, a larger number of persons whom it may be desired to land in violation of municipal or other laws or regulations in force in this colony.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
JAMES G. FRANCIS, Commissioner of Trade and Customs,
J. J. Waddell, Esq., Lieut. Commanding Confederate States Steamer Shenandoah,
VII.
Confederate Steamer Shenandoah, Hobson’s Bay, February 1, 1865.
Sir: I have the honor to acknoweldge the receipt of your communication of yesterday’s date, and, in reply to that portion which has reference to supplies, &c., directions have been given the paymaster of the Shenendoah in accordance with your views.
I cheerfully furnish a list of those persons who were my prisoners on “the high seas,” at your request, for future guidance, and, at the same time, inform you that a list was furnished Mr. McFarlane, chief officer of her Majesty’s customs for Williamstown, as far back as the 25th or 26th ultimo, in official form. “Particulars” connected with the prisoners, brought into Port Philip are the following: They were captured serving in the American bark Delphine, which vessel I destroyed, and after reaching this port left this vessel of their own free will, without consulting the “regulations in force in this colony,” unmolested, unassisted, and not in any boat belonging to this vessel.
I am extremely anxious to get the Shenandoah to sea. The procrastination by the parties employed under his excellency the governor’s permission for the necessary repairs to this ship seems to me unnecessary; and if I appeal to his excellency the governor for further instructions to those employed to hurry up the work on this ship, I hope his excellency the governor will see in it the spirit of a law-abiding man, and one impatient to be about his country’s business.
Yesterday the commission of officers appointed by his excellency the governor for the examination of this vessel came on board; but I was absent from the ship, not having been informed by the honorable commissioner of trade and customs of the day set apart for that visit.
I have the honor to be, sir, respectfully, &c.,
JAS. J. WADDELL, Lieutenant Commanding, C. S. Navy.
The Hon. Commissioner of Trade and Customs.
VIII.
Department of Trade and Customs, Melbourne, February 1, 1865.
Sir: I am directed by his excellency the governor to acquaint you that he has received a progress report from the board appointed to examine the Shenandoah, and report whether that vessel is in a fit state to proceed to sea, or what repairs are necessary. From the tenor of this communication, it is evidently necessary that your ship should be placed on the patent slip for further examination and repairs, and I presume you will therefore proceed promptly with the necessary arrangements. For your information, I may state that the slip, termed the government patent slip in the communication to yourself from Messrs. Lang-lands Brothers & Co., is not in possession of or under the control of the authorities. It was originally built by this government, but for many years has been leased to various parties, and your arrangements must therefore be made with the present lessees.
By inadvertence you have omitted to enclose the list of prisoners to which you make reference in your communication of this date.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
JAS. G. FEANCIS, Commissioner of Trade and Customs.
J. J. Waddell, Esq., Lieut. Commanding C. S. Steamer Shenandoah.
IX.
Confederate States Steamer Shenandoah, February 1, 1865.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your communication of this day’s date, informing me of the character of the report made to his excellency the governor by the board of examiners; also, calling my attention to another list of prisoners, which you desire. I cheerfully furnish this the second list; and have the honor to be, sir, respectfuly, &c.,
JAMES J. WADDELL, Lieutenant Commanding, C, S. Navy,
The Hon. Commissioner of Trade and Customs.
[Page 501]X.
Department oF Trade and Customs, Melbourne, February 7, 1865.
Sir: I am instructed by his excellency Sir Charles Darling to acquaint you that, as the ship under your command, the Shenandoah, has already been twelve days in our port, with permission to lay in provisions or things necessary for the subsistence of her crew, and to effect the necessary repairs, it is desired by his excellency that you should now name the day Upon which you will be prepared to proceed to sea; and I am further directed to inform you that, after carefully considering the question of the position of Great Britain, as strictly neutral in the present contest, the use of appliances the property of this government cannot be granted, nor any assistance rendered by it, directly or indirectly, towards effecting the repairs of the Shenandoah.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant,
JAS. G. FRANCIS, Commissioner of Trade and Customs,
J. J. Waddell, Esq., Lieut. Com’g C. S. Steamer Shenandoah, Hobson’s Bay.
XI.
Confederate States Steamer Shenandoah, February 7, 1865.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your communication of this day’s date, and, in reply, for information desired for his excellency the governor, I have to write that I cannot name a day for proceeding to sea with this ship until she is taken on the slip, where the injury can be perfectly ascertained and the time estimated for its repair. The recent gales have prevented me from lightening the ship to the necessary draught preparatory to going on the slip, in which matter I have been guided by those who are in charge of the slip. I hope the weather will permit the engineer to take the Shenandoah on the slip tomorrow morning,
I am, sir, respectfully yours,
JAMES J. WADDELL, Lieutenant Commanding, C. S. Navy.
The Hon. Commissioner of Trade and Customs.
XII.
Department oF Trade and Customs, Melbourne, February 14, 1865.
Sir: Referring to my communication of the 7th instant, I am again directed by his excellency Sir Charles Darling to inquire whether you are now in a position to state more definitely when the Shenandoah will be in a position to proceed to sea; and if so, I shall be obliged by your informing me accordingly.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
JAMES G. FRANCIS, Commissioner of Trade and Customs.
J. J. Waddell, Esq., Lieut Commanding C. S. Str. Shenandoah, Hobson’s Bay.
XIII.
C. S. Steamer Shenandoah, February 14, 1865.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your communication of this day’s date, and, in reply, have the pleasure to inform you, for his excellency the governor’s information, that the superintendent of the slip and Messrs. Langlands Brothers & Co. inform me that the Shenandoah will be ready for launching to-morrow morning, the 15th instant, at four o’clock a. m.; and I think, without some unforeseen accident, I shall proceed to sea in her by Sunday, the 19th instant. I have yet to take in all my stores, coals, and swing the ship.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully yours, &c.,
JAMES J. WADDELL Lieutenant Commanding, C. S. Navy.
The Hon. Commissioner of Trade and Customs.
[Page 502]XIV.
Custom House, Melbourne, February 14, 1865.
Sir: I am directed by his excellency the governor to state that it has been reported to the government that you have refused to allow the execution on board the Shenandoah of a warrant issued upon sworn information, according to law, alleging that a British subject is on board that vessel who has entered the service of the Confederate States, in violation of the British statute known as the “foreign enlistment act;” that it is not consistent with the British law to accept any contrary declaration of facts, whatever respect be due to the person from whom it proceeds, as sufficient to justify the non-execution of such warrant; and that, moreover, it is conceived that this government has a right to expect that those who are receiving in our port the aid and assistance which they claim as a belligerent under the Queen’s proclamation, should not in any way oppose proceedings intended to enforce the maintenance of neutrality.
It will be apparent to you that the execution of the warrant is necessary, in order to enable the government to bring to justice those upon whose depositions the warrant was issued, if the statements in those depositions should prove false in fact.
In this view, you are appealed to to reconsider your determination; and pending further intimation from you, which you are requested to make with as little delay as possible, the permission granted you to repair and take supplies is suspended, and her Majesty’s subjects have been duly warned accordingly.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
JAMES G. FRANCIS.
J. J. Waddell, Esq., Lieut. Commanding C. S. Str. Shenandoah,
XV.
C. S. Steamer Shenandoah, February 14, 1865.
Sir: I am in the receipt of your letter of this date, in which you inform me that you have been directed by his excellency the governor to state, “that it has been reported to the government that I have refused to allow the execution on board the Shenandoah of a warrant issued upon sworn information, according te law, alleging that a British subject is on board this vessel who has entered the service of the Confederate States, in violation of the British statute known as the foreign enlistment act, and that it is not consistent with the British law to accept any contrary relation of facts, whatever respect be due to the person from whom it proceeds, as sufficient to justify the non-execution of such warrant.” I am then appealed to “to reconsider my determination,” and the letter concludes by informing me that, “pending a further intimation from me,” the permission granted to repair and take supplies is suspended.
I have to inform his excellency the governor that the execution of the warrant was not refused, as no such person as the one therein specified was on board, but permission to “search” this ship was refused. According to all the laws of nations, the deck of a vessel-of-war is considered to represent the majesty of the country whose flag she flies, and she is free from all executions, except for crimes actually committed on shore, when a demand must be made for the delivery of such person, and the execution of the warrant performed by the police of the ship. Our shipping articles have been shown to the superintendent of police. All strangers have been sent out of the ship, and two commissioned officers were ordered to. search if any such have been left on board. They have reported to me that, after making a thorough search, they can find no person on board except those who entered this port as part of the complement of men.
I therefore, as commander of the ship representing my government in British waters, have to inform his excellency that there are no persons on board this ship except those whose names are on my shipping articles, and that no one has been enlisted in the service of the Confederate States since my arrival in this port; nor have I in any way violated the neutrality of the port.
And I, in the name of the government of the Confederate States of America, hereby enter my solemn protest against any obstruction which may cause the detention of this ship in this port.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
JAMES J. WADDELL, Lieutenant Commanding, C. S. Navy.
The Honorable James G.Francis, Commissioner of Trade and Customs, Melbourne.
[Page 503]Telegram from Mr. F. C. Standish, chief commissioner of Victorian police, to Mr. Beaver, police inspector, stationed at Williamstown:
(Telegram for Mr. Beaver.)
I have to direct that you communicate with Mr. Chambers, the lessee of the patent slip, that the governor in council has given directions that he and all other British subjects in this colony at once desist from rendering any aid, assistance, or perform any work, in respect to the aforesaid confederate ship Shenandoah, or in launching the same. You will at once proceed with the whole of the police at your disposal to the patent slip, and prevent, at all risks, the launch of the said ship. Superintendent Lyttleton and fifty men, also fifty of the military, proceed at once to Williamstown, telegraphing anything that may occur direct to me.
F. C. STANDISH.
Tuesday 14, 1865.
XVI.
C. S. Steamer Shenandoah, February 15, 1865
Sir: I am informed by the manager of the slip upon which the Confederate States steamer Shenandoah now rests, that the slip has been seized by authority from his excellency the governor, to prevent the launching of the Confederate States steamer Shenandoah, which of necessity is a seizure of the vessel under my command. I therefore respectfully beg to be informed if this seizure is known to his excellency the governor, and if it meets his approval.
Very respectfully, &c.,
JAMES J. WADDELL, Lieutenant Commanding, C. S. Navy.
The Hon. Commissioner of Trade and Customs.
XVII.
Custom House, Melbourne, February 15, 1865.
Sir: In acknowledging your letters of yesterday’s date, and also in reply to your communication of this morning, I am instructed by his excellency the governor to inform you that the lessee of the patent slip having reported that the safety of the ship Shenandoah may be endangered by her present position on the slip, the suspension of permission to British subjects to assist in launching the ship is withdrawn; while the further matters referred to in your letters are under consideration, and will be replied to with as little delay as possible.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
JAMES G. FRANCIS.
J. J. WADDELL, Esq., Lieut. Commanding C. S. Str. Shenandoah.
XVIII.
Custom House, Melbourne, February 15, 1865.
Sir: I am directed by his excellency the governor to further acknowledge your communications of the 14th and 15th instant, in which, alleging that the vessel under your command had been seized, you ask whether the seizure is known to his excellency the governor, and if it meets his approval.
I am to inform you, in reply, that this government has not directed or authorized the seizure of the Shenandoah.
The instructions to the police were to see that none of her Majesty’s subjects in this colony rendered any aid, or assistance to, or performed any work in respect of, your vessel during the period of the suspension of the permission which was granted to you to repair and take in supplies, pending your reply to my letter of yesterday’s date, in regard to a British subject being on board your vessel, and having entered the service of the confederate States, in violation of the British statute known as the foreign enlistment act, and of the instructions issued by the governor for the maintenance of neutrality by her Majesty’s subjects.
In addition to evidence previously in possession of this government, it has been reported by the police that about ten o’clock last night four men, who had been in concealment on board the Shenandoah, left the ship, and were arrested immediately after so leaving by the water police.
It appears from the statements of these men, that they were on board your vessel both on Monday and Tuesday, the 13th and 14th instant, when their presence was denied by the commanding officer in charge, and by yourself subsequently, when you declared that there were “no persons on board this ship except those whose names are on our shipping articles.” This assertion must necessarily have been made by you without having ascertained for yourself by a search that such men were not on board, while at the time you refused permission to the officer charged with the execution of the warrant to carry it into effect.
[Page 504]Referring to that portion of your communication of the 14th instant, in which you inform his excellency the governor “that the execution of the warrant was not refused, as no such person as the one therein specified was on board,” I am in a position to state that one of the four men previously alluded to is ascertained to be the person named in the warrant.
I am also to observe that, while at the moment of the despatch of your letter it may be true that these men were not on board the Shenandoah, it is beyond question that they were on board at the time it was indited, your letter having been despatched at five minutes before ten o’clock.
It thus appears plain, as a matter of fact, that the foreign enlistment act was in course of being evaded.
Nevertheless, as the only person for whose arrest a warrant was issued has been secured, and as you are now in a position to say, as “commanding officer of the ship, and on behalf of your government, whose faith is pledged by the assurance, that there are no persons on board this ship except those whose names are on our shipping articles, and that no one has been enlisted in the service of the confederate States since my arrival in this port,” his excellency the governor has been pleased to revoke the directions issued yesterday, suspending permission to British subjects to aid and assist you in effecting the necessary repairs and taking in supplies.
I am to add, it is expected you will exercise every despatch, so as to insure your departure by the day named in your first letter of yesterday, viz., Sunday next.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
JAMES G. FRANCIS.
J. J. Waddell, Esq., Lieut. Commanding C. S. Steamer Shenandoah.
XIX.
C. S. Steamer Shenandoah, Hobson’s Bay, February 16, 1865.
Sir: I am in reeeipt of your communication of yesterday’s date, and desire to convey through you to his excellency the governor my appreciation and thanks for his observance of the rights of belligerents, and further to assure his excellency the governor that every despatch is being made by me to get the Shenandoah to sea at the earliest possible moment.
The four men alluded to in your communication are no part of this vessel’s complement of men; they were detected on board by the ship’s police after all strangers were reported out of the vessel, and they Were ordered and seen out of the vessel by the ship’s police immediately on their discovery, which was after my letter had been despatched informing his excellency the governor that there were no such persons on board. These men were here without my knowledge, and I have no doubt can be very properly called stowaways; and such they would have remained but for the vigilance of the ship’s police, inasmuch as they were detected after the third search; but in no way can I be accused, in truth, of being cognizant of an evasion of the foreign enlistment act.
In conclusion, sir, allow me to inform you that I consider the tone of your letter remarkably disrespectful and insulting to the government I have the honor to represent, and that I shall take an early opportunity of forwarding it to the Richmond government. Very respectfully, &c.,
JAMES J. WADDELL, Lieutenant Commanding, C. S. Navy.
The Hon. the Commissioner of Trade and Customs.
This closes the correspondence between Captain “Waddell and the government. But the following letter was despatched to Mr. Higinbotham:
XX.
C. S. Steamer Shenandoah, Hobson’s Bay, February 14, 1865.
Sir: Be pleased to inform me if the Crown claims the sea to be British waters three miles from the Port Philip Head lights, or from a straight line drawn from Port Lonsdale and Cape Schank ?
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, &c.,
JAMES J. WADDELL, Lieutenant Commanding, C. S. Navy.
The Honorable the Attorney General
Captain Waddell states that a reply, written and signed by a clerk, was brought to him by a messenger, of whom he knew nothing till a gentleman on board explained who he was; The document simply stated that no reasons for the communication of the information had been given. Captain Waddell handed the “reply” back to the messenger with the simple answer that it was not what he wanted, and that it had better be taken back, with his compliments.
[Page 505][From the Age of February 16, 1865.]
In the legislative council yesterday, the President being absent through illness, Dr. Wilkie, the, hairman of committees, took the chair at a quarter past four o’clock.
Mr. Fellows asked the commissioner of public works, without notice, what steps had been taken by the government with reference to an attempt to execute a magistrate’s warrant on board the Shenandoah. Mr. Hervey explained that a warrant had been granted upon information of certain persons having been shipped on board the Shenandoah contrary to the laws of neutrality, and that a police officer had been despatched with the warrant to search the ship. He was denied permission to execute the warrant, and the government determined to suspend the privileges which had been granted to the commander of the Shenandoah on his entering the port. Four persons who had been shipped in contravention of the neutrality laws had been captured by the police in attempting to escape, and were now in custody. The commander of the Shenandoah having stated, upon his honor as an officer and a gentleman, that, the ship having been cleared of strangers, there was now no person on board who was not there when the ship entered the port, the government had granted a resumption of the privileges they had suspended upon leave being refused to search the ship. On the motion of Mr. Fraser, twelve months’ leave of absence from the 1st of March was granted to the Honorable T. T. a’Beckett. The land act amendment bill was further considered in committee, Mr. James Henty acting as chairman. The bill was reported to the house, and the adoption of the report made an order of the day for Tuesday next. The house adjourned at seven minutes past five o’clock until Tuesday, the 21st instant.
Parliament oF Victoria, Legislative Council, Wednesday, February 15.
The clerk announced at a quarter past four o’clock that he had received a note from the president to the effect that he was prevented by illness from attending the sittings of the council that afternoon.
Dr. Wilkie, the chairman of committees, accordingly took the president’s chair and read the usual form of prayer.
THE SEIZURE OF THE SHENANDOAH.
Mr. Fellows rose to ask the commissioner of public works, without notice, whether the government had received any information with reference to an attempt to execute a magistrate’s warrant on board the Shenandoah, now on the patent slip at Williamstown, and if so, what steps they had taken in the matter. He apprehended, as far as the law of the matter went, that if any foreign merchant vessel visited these ports she owed a temporary allegiance to the laws of this country, and was subject, of course, to the jurisdiction of the colonial courts. An implied consent was given to a ship-of-war or armed vessel belonging to another country to enter these ports; and there was also an implied consent on the part of the power giving permission to enter the port, that a vessel of that character should not be subject to any jurisdiction of the courts of that power. This being the case, he wished to know what action the government had taken in the matter. He might remind the honorable member, with reference to the protection foreign vessels were entitled to claim, that it had been decided in the court of admiralty that a merchant vessel leaving a country and returning under commission from a foreign power, and being brought before the court by her former owners the latter were not in a position to recover because the ship was owned by a foreign power.
Mr. Hervey wished to know if he was desired to answer the whole question at once without notice.
Mr. Fellows. Merely whether the government have taken any steps to execute the warrant.
Mr. Hervey then stated that the government had received notification of an information having been laid before the police bench at Williamstown, to the effect that a certain individual had been shipped on board the Shenandoah contrary to the neutrality laws of this country in regard to the Confederate and Federal States of America. The commander of the Shenandoah, on entering these waters, had sought the protection of the colonial government; and certain facilities for repairs and obtaining supplies, such as a neutral power was justified in giving, had been granted at his request. He was informed that it was the intention of the government to observe strict neutrality, and he gave that pledge which would be expected from any person in his position, that he would strictly observe the laws of neutrality. Complaints, however, were made of a number of British seamen having joined the ship since she entered these waters, and proceedings were taken upon several depositions which had been made with regard to British subjects being on board the vessel. An officer of the police was* sent, with a warrant, on Monday, to arrest a man sworn to be in the ship. The commander of the vessel was not on board at the time, and the chief officer declined to permit the warrant to be executed until the captain returned. On Tuesday the same officer of police was despatched with a warrant, and the captain refused to allow it to be enforced. In all similar cases, when a warrant was sent on board a foreign vessel, it was usual for the authority to be [Page 506] recognized, and if the officer of police, in whose possession it was, was not asked to exercise It, it was executed by the police of the vessel, there being ship police on every vessel-of-war. In this case there was a positive refusal to permit the warrant to be executed at all. Numerous affidavits having been made that many persons had been induced to ship on board the Shenandoah, the government determined to suspend the privileges granted to the commander on condition of his observing the neutral laws, and in order that this direction should be properly carried out without violence, a body of police was sent down to Williamstown to see that none of her Majesty’s subjects infringed the order which had been issued on the subject. A communication was sent to the commander, explaining to him the circumstances under which the privileges previously granted him had been suspended. The police, under instructions to carry out the order, remained near the vessel all night, and about ten o’clock they observed several persons attempting to escape from the Shenandoah by means of a swift waterman’s boat. The water police pursued and captured the boat, which contained four persons, who proved in each instance to be men who had joined the Shenandoah since her arrival in these waters. Three were British subjects and one was not, but still it was necessary that the fourth individual should have obtained permission before shipping. A letter the captain of the Shenandoah wrote, in answer to the communication of the government, distinctly stated that when the officer of police visited his ship he had no individual on board who was not there when the vessel entered Victorian waters, but it was now known that several men who had shipped in Hobson’s bay had escaped, in addition to the four who were captured. The captain of the Shenandoah then wrote to say that, having cleared the ship of strangers, he was enabled to say, on his honor as an officer and a gentleman, that there was no person on board (as he had ascertained by the inspection of two commissioned officers appointed for the purpose) who was not there when the vessel came into port. Upon this statement, made on the strength of the ship having been cleared of strangers, the government had to-day authorized the resumption of the privileges formerly granted to the commander of the Shenandoah, reserving to itself, however, the decision upon certain points, which would all be made public when the measures which would be passed on the subject were brought forward.
Mr. Hull asked if the violation of the laws of neutrality would be followed up by any further proceedings.
Mr. Hervey replied that the men in custody were to be brought before the Williamstown bench on the following morning.
Mr. Fellows. Under what authority was the permission for carrying out repairs suspended ?
Mr. Hervey. Upon the authority of the representative of her Majesty, of course.
* * * * * * * * * * *
Mr. M’Culloch, in reply to a question by Mr. O’Shanassy, made a lengthened statement, which will be found in another column, as to the steps that had been taken by the government with respect to the Shenandoah.
In reply to Mr. O’Shanassy, Mr. M’Cuolloch stated that it would be unadvisable to lay on the table of the house the correspondence between the government and the commander of the confederate war ship Shenandoah at the present time. He, however, explained the action taken by the government relative to the breach of the foreign enlistment act said to have been committed.
[Untitled]
A large crowd assembled in front of the Theatre Royal last night in expectation of seeing the officers of the Shenandoah, who, according to the bills, were to patronize the performances. However, following the dictates of good taste, confederate officers arrived at the theatre singly, and thus avoided the chance of a popular demonstration. There was no attempt on the part of the audience inside to exhibit their sympathies pro or con, and the dramatic and other entertainments on the stage were sufficiently attractive to absorb their attention throughout the night.
Legislative assembly.
The Speaker took the chair at half-past four o’clock.
THE POLICE FORCE.
Mr. M’Culloch, in reply to Mr. Crews, stated that it was the intention of the government to introduce a bill to amend the law relating to the police force, and also to provide For an allowance for members retiring therefrom.
[Page 507]THE CONFEDERATE SHIP SHENANDOAH.
Mr. Berry called the attention of the honorable the chief secretary to the infringement of the neutrality proclamation by a vessel styled the Shenandoah, now in Hobson’s bay; and asked whether the government intended to take steps to confiscate the vessel, and to punish the officers for a misdemeanor, in accordance with the provisions of the said proclamation. He thought that it could not be denied that unmistakable evidence existed that this vessel was the Sea King, which cleared out from London for Bombay with a cargo of coals. In a Manchester paper of the 19th November, there was an article alluding to the Shenandoah as the Sea King, and containing a statement from the persons who went out in her. He had also seen a deposition made by one of the prisoners since the arrival of the vessel in the bay, from which it appeared that there was no mistake as to the former name of the vessel. Under the Queen’s proclamation, if this vessel had returned to an English port, after destroying vessels at sea, without touching at any confederate port, she would have been seized, and he saw no difference because this country was a little further off. There was abundance of evidence forthcoming for the facts to be placed prominently and unmistakably before the government.
Mr. M’Culloch, in reply to the honorable member, stated that the question mooted was a most important one, and must be dealt with in a most cautious manner. A statement had been made that the vessel was the Sea King, but there was no proof of that beyond a mere newspaper report which had been quoted by the honorable member. No proof had been, brought forward by the honorable member at all, and even if such had been the case it was questionable whether the government could deal with the ship as a pirate. [Hear, hear.] The government had given great attention to this question, and in addition to having the proclamation before them they were also in receipt of confidential despatches from the home government, in which a case of a similar description was mentioned. The government having this information before them, and having well weighed the matter, would not feel justified in treating this vessel as a pirate. [Hear, hear.] While the terms of the neutrality proclamation would be strictly adhered to, the vessel would be allowed to take in provisions for the proper maintenance of the crew, and effect the necessary repairs. But the government could not do anything further in the matter. [Hear, hear.]
Mr. Berry wished to read the deposition of a lady prisoner. [“No, no.”]
Mr. Higinbotham objected. If the honorable member had any information to give, this was not the place to furnish it; besides which, it was only an ex parte statement.
Mr. O’Shanassy agreed that the British government was the proper authority to deal with this subject, and reminded the house that nothing more had been done with the Shenandoah than had been done by the neutral powers of Europe in the case of other confederate vessels.
Mr. Lalor was under the impression that the governor, as the representative of her Majesty, had the power to deal with foreign vessels.
The subject was then dropped.
In the legislative assembly, yesterday, Mr. Berry called attention to the presence of the confederate ship Shenandoah in Hobson’s bay, and asked whether, as an infringement of the neutrality law had clearly taken place, the government intended to take any steps toward the confiscation of the vessel. Mr. M’Culloch, in reply, stated that the honorable member had offered no proof of any infringement. In addition to the Queen’s proclamation to guide them, the government had received private despatches from home which had reference to a similar case. While the neutrality law would be strictly adhered to, the Shenandoah would be permitted to remain in Hobson’s bay until the necessary repairs had been effected, and the captain had taken in the coals and provisions which were absolutely required. This statement was received with cheers from all sides of the house.
[Untitled]
In the legislative assembly, yesterday, the Speaker took the chair at half-past four o’clock.
A petition was presented from the miners, storekeepers and others resident in Raywood in favor of the tariff. In reply to Mr. Crews, Mr. M’Culloch stated that lit was the intention of the government to bring in a bill to amend the law relating to the police force, and that the 24th clause of the present act had been repealed. Mr. Berry asked Mr. M’Culloch whether the government intended to take any action with regard to the ship Shenandoah, now at anchor in Hobson’s bay, which ship, he stated, was the Sea King, reported to have been wrecked, but now sailing under another name. This statement he proposed to prove by means of a letter received by him from a lady, which showed this to be the identical vessel. He asked, further, whether it was intended to confiscate the Shenandoah and to punish her officers for a misdemeanor in accordance with the provisions of the neutrality proclamation. Mr. M’Culloch stated the government had had the matter under their consideration; and, besides having the neutrality proclamation before them, had also had a private despatch from [Page 508] the imperial government, stating what had been done in a similar case, and that it had been found that they could not treat the Shenandoah as a pirate, and had not the power to interfere, but were bound to allow her to provision, and to effect such necessary repairs as were required to render her seaworthy.
THE SHENANDOAH.
Mr. Berry called the attention of the honorable the chief secretary to the infringement of. the neutrality proclamation by a vessel styled the Shenandoah, now in Hobson’s bay; and asked whether the government intended to take steps to confiscate the vessel and to punish the officers for a misdemeanor, in accordance with the provisions of the said proclamation. In doing so, he remarked that the action of the government or of the people of this colony in respect to a vessel of the kind referred to might lead to complications between the mother country and a country with which she was on friendly relations. He did not wish to interfere in any way as between the belligerents, but he looked at the matter solely from an English point of view; and, looking at it in that light, he considered that the neutrality proclamation had been invaded.
The Speaker informed the honorable member that, in asking a question, he was not allowed to state his opinions, but must confine himself to a statement of facts.
Mr. Berry said he believed it would not be denied that the evidence was quite clear that the vessel now in the bay was the Sea King. [A voice: No.] An honorable member said there was no evidence. Now he maintained that there was abundance of evidence. The Sea King, with a cargo of coals, sailed from London for Bombay, on the 8th of October last. All that had been heard of that vessel since, that he was aware of, was by a report in an English paper that reached this colony some time back, and in a letter in a Manchester paper, written by one of the men who left London in the Sea King, and returned home. In that letter, it was stated that the confederate cruiser Shenandoah was the Sea King, and that the men who formed her crew went out in the Laurel. During the last few days, since the vessel was in port, it was a matter of common report, and had been stated in the newspapers, that she was the Sea King. But he had had placed before him stronger evidence. He had seen the depositions of one of the prisoners, who said that during the passage the captain and officers stated that the vessel was the Sea King, and that the chief officer went out in her from London, while the captain went in the Laurel, in which vessel the armament for the Shenandoah was conveyed out to Madeira packed in boxes. That being the case, and as the vessel had never been in a port in any other country, she would, had she returned to a British port, have been seized and condemned. He maintained that there was no difference in respect to the way she should be dealt with, because she had arrived in a distant Port. The government of the colony was as much bound to carry out the neutrality laws ere as they would be within the bounds of the mother country. He thought there * was sufficient evidence to demand that an inquiry should be made as to how a British vessel clearing out From a British port had entered on the piratical course of destroying vessels at sea, many of which were loaded with English cargo, owned by English merchants. The second section of the proclamation to which he had referred stated that not only was it a misdemeanor to fit out, arm and send a vessel to sea, but also that the vessel should be liable to confiscation by any officer of competent jurisdiction in her Majesty’s dominions. If this vessel was proved to be the Sea King—and he held there was abundant evidence that she was—she ought to be confiscated, leaving out of the question altogether the parties who might be indictable for a misdemeanor. His only object in calling the attention of the chief secretary to this matter was that the facts might be brought prominently and unmistakably under the notice of the government, who, he took it, were as strictly anxious to enforce the spirit of the proclamation as the home government could be. At the commencement of the war there was considerable looseness in the conduct of the home government, but there had been no looseness lately. The honorable the chief secretary would bear in mind that the “rams,” fitted out by Mr. Laird, were seized by the government; and that, as they were informed by the last mail, a number of persons were seized in Liverpool under the first clause of the proclamation which was directed to the prevention of enlistment. That showed that the British government were now strictly enforcing the provisions of the neutrality proclamation, and that should be an additional reason for attention being given to it here. He believed that,* for all the vessels that had been destroyed by the Shenandoah, the federal government would, at some future time, claim compensation. That vessel, so far as they could judge, had no authority from the confederate government to act as she was doing. If this vessel was the Sea King, and if she sailed on a voyage to Bombay and was seized against the will of her owners and converted into a pirate, she ought to be taken possession of for the owner; and, if she was so converted with the consent of her owners, then she ought to be confiscated under the second clause of the neutrality proclamation. At any rate, he thought there was abundant evidence to require a scrutiny to be made as to this vessel.
Mr. M’Culloch admitted that this was a most important question, and one that ought to be dealt with in a very cautious manner. He thought that, under all the circumstances, it would not be well for this legislature to enter on a discussion of the various matters that [Page 509] would be brought forward, and allegations affecting this vessel, as those might be made the subject of inquiry by the imperial parliament. [Cheers’] It was said by the honorable member for Collingwood, that this vessel was the Sea King. But what proof was there of that ? [Cheers.] All the evidence they had was a newspaper report and a letter in a Manchester paper. The honorable member had not brought forward any other evidence than that. Still he said there was proof. It was said there were the letters “ing” on her side, which led to the belief that she was the Sea King. But was that proof? [Cheers.] Although,, however, there was proof that this vessel was the Sea King, he questioned whether this government could deal with this ship as a pirate. [Cheers.] During the last week the government had given a considerable amount of attention to this question, desiring to carry out strictly the rules with reference to such vessels; and with that view they had had under consideration, not only the neutrality proclamation, but also despatches from the imperial government regarding such cases. They had also had brought before them a case exactly similar to the case of this vessel. All the circumstances were exactly similar to those of this case. The government having considered this case, and well weighed it, had come to the conclusion that they would not be justified in treating this vessel as a pirate; but they would insist upon strict neutrality being observed, and the vessel would only be allowed to remain in port so long as was necessary for her to take in what was necessary for the support of her crew, and to have such repairs effected as were required to enable her again safely to go to sea. [Cheers.] The government felt they could not go any further in this matter. [Cheers.]
Mr. Berry stated that as the honorable the chief secretary had denied that there was sufficient proof that this was the Sea King, he would like to make the matter complete by reading a deposition that was made that day, in his presence, by one of the prisoners she brought here.
Mr. Higinbotham said he must object to the course taken by the honorable member. [Cheers.] If the honorable member had evidence he could submit to the government that was not the proper place to bring it forward. [Cheers.] He would beg leave to suggest that the honorable member should not read documents in the house that ought to be laid only before the government
Mr. O’Shanassy thought that the colonial government was not the proper authority to deal with this matter. He concurred in what had been stated by the honorable the attorney general, that ex parte statements, taken by any party, should not be read in that house. They ought to deal with the utmost impartiality in this matter, which was the best way to secure the countenance, so far as they could, of the friendly relations between the mother country and the federal government. The Alabama, when she visited Cherbourg, was allowed to remain there for some time, and get supplies and repairs; and the Florida was allowed to lie in the port of Brest for three or four months. They could not do better, in his opinion, than follow the example of a nation that had had so much experience in those matters. He thought the honorable member might well now let the matter drop.
Mr. Lalor considered that it was wrong to discuss the matter in that house at all. His excellency, he considered, alone, had full power to deal with the matter. It was wrong to bring the matter forward here and compel persons to take different sides. If the honorable member were to do so, he ought to give notice of motion, so that the question might be fairly discussed.
The subject then dropped.
[Untitled]
A discussion, arising out of the presence in Victorian waters of the confederate war steamer Shenandoah, took place in the legislative assembly yesterday. Mr. Berry, who initiated the discussion, called attention to the Queen’s proclamation of May, 1861, declaring that the arming and sending out of vessels, with the view of handing them over, by sale or otherwise, to a belligerent, was a misdemeanor, and that the vessel was liable to confiscation by any officer having competent jurisdiction in any port of her Majesty’s dominions. There was abundant evidence (said Mr. Berry) that the vessel now in Hobson’s bay was the Sea King, which cleared from London about the 8th of October for Bombay, with a cargo of coals; and that she had destroyed vessels at sea, some of them being loaded with cargo belonging to British subjects. He held that there should be as great an observance of neutrality laws here as in any other part of the British empire; and he begged to ask whether the government intended to take steps to confiscate the Shenandoah, and to punish the officers for a misdemeanor. The chief secretary observed that, beyond reports and rumors, there was no proof that the confederate vessel was formerly the Sea King. At the same time the government were fully alive to the importance of the subject. During the last week they had given considerable attention to the question; and they had arrived at the conclusion that, on the information before them, they would not be justified in treating the Shenandoah as a pirate. It would, however, be the duty of the government to see that strict neutrality was maintained, and with that view the vessel would be allowed to remain in port only so long as would be actually necessary for victualling and repairs.
[Page 510]Wednesday, February 1
The speaker took the chair at half past four o’clock.
* * * * * * * * * * *
THE CONFEDERATE WAR STEAMER SHENANDOAH.
Mr. Berry, in rising to call the attention of the government to this subject, would briefly state the object he had in view. That object was simply that no act of the government or people of this colony should tend to complicate the relations of the mother country with a friendly nation. He did not wish to enter into the question of the rights of either of the two belligerents at all, but only to deal with the question from an English point of view—[“Oh, oh”.] —and to see whether the proclamation made by her Majesty in 1861 had not been grossly violated in the matter of a vessel now lying in Hobson’s bay.
The Speaker called the honorable member to order. In putting a question no honorable member was allowed to state an opinion or to go beyond the mere facts of the case. [Hear, hear.] Otherwise there was no knowing what discussion might not ensue.
Mr. Berry intended strictly to confine himself to a mere statement of facts. He believed it would not be denied that evidence existed in this city that clearly and unmistakably showed the real name of this vessel to be the Sea King, because on that fact he founded nearly the whole of his remarks.
An honorable Member. There is no such evidence.
Mr. Berry continued to say that the Sea King was a vessel which sailed from London about the 8th. October last, bound for Bombay, with a cargo of coals, and all that was heard of her since, that he was aware of, was a report which reached this country in an English paper, some time back. He had found it in a Manchester paper of November 19th last, which alluded to her under the title of “the confederate cruiser Shenandoah, late Sea King.” The paper stated:
“We received a letter yesterday from part of the crew of the Sea King, who, returned to England in the African steamer Calabar. The men state that the Seà King is now called the Shenandoah.”
So the paper went on to allude to the men who came back after having gone out in the Laurel, and this was an important part of the facts of the case. In addition to that, he believed that within the last few days, since this vessel had arrived in Hobson’s bay, it had become a matter of public report—never denied, and stated in the public newspapers—that she was without doubt the Sea King. Besides, he had had placed personally before him still stronger evidence that such, was the case. He had seen the depositions of prisoners taken out of different vessels, who stated that it was openly admitted on board, both by the captain and officers, that the original name of this particular vessel was the Sea King. In fact, the first lieutenant of the Shenandoah came out in the Sea King, while the captain and the rest of the officers came out in the Laurel, and then joined the first vessel at the island of Madeira-The armament of the Sea King was, it seemed, brought out by the Laurel, packed in boxes,, and so put on board. The position he took up was, that under the proclamation of neutrality by her Majesty, had the Shenandoah returned to any English port after having destroyed other vessels, she would have been instantly seized and condemned, and he could see no reason why, because she had gone a much greater distance, and arrived at a colony of the British empire, that she should be treated differently. The colony was a part of the British empire, and the government were bound to carry out the neutrality laws as if we were within the bounds of the mother country herself. It was not necessary to state any further facts on this part of her case. At all events sufficient evidence had been given to cause inquiry as to how it was that a British vessel, sailing for a peaceful voyage to Bombay, and having subsequently gone into another port, suddenly appeared in another part of the British empire after having destroyed many vessels at sea, some of them loaded with English cargo and owned by Englishmen. If that were the case it would not be necessary for him to read any portion of the proclamation on the strength of which he had now spoken. It was no doubt well known to the government that by the second section it was not only made a misdemeanor to arm or fit out such vessels,, but also to send ships out to sea with a view of handing them over, by sale or otherwise, to either of the belligerents. Such persons were not only made subject to punishment, but their ships were liable. to confiscation by any officer having competent jurisdiction within the British dominions. He had stated the fact without reference to individuals. If this vessel were proved to be the Sea King—and there was abundant evidence for the government that she was—he wished to inquire why the confiscation of the vessel was not carried out under the neutrality proclamation, leaving out of the question who were the parties or their representatives indictable for misdemeanor. He doubted if he need go further. The only object he could possibly have was that the facts should be prominently and unmistakably brought under the notice of the government. He took it that they would be anxious to enforce the spirit of this proclamation the same as at home. [Mr. Francis. “Hear, hear.”] He would, however, point out that whatever might have been the looseness of the construction of this proclamation in the earlier stages of the war, there was no such looseness on the part of the English government now. The honorable [Page 511] chief secretary would bear in mind that the rams fitted out in Laird’s yards were, stopped . by the British government, and, on the other side, the last mail brought news that certain passengers and emigrants from Liverpool to North America were also stopped under the first clause of this proclamation, which prevented enlistment for either of the belligerents. The fact of the British government enforcing this proclamation so strictly supplied important additional reasons why every attention and care should be given to the subject here. It must be within the knowledge and memory of the honorable chief secretary that all the vessels destroyed on such a cruise as that of the vessel now in Hobson’s bay would at some future time be claimed by the American government from the British government. Here was this vessel. She had touched at no port, and no one could tell whether or not she had authority from the confederate government because there was no authority here to test the validity of a con federate commission. It must be clear to any mind that the parties in possession of this vessel were on the horns of a dilemma. If she were the Sea King——
The Speaker. The honorable member is not in order.
Mr. Berry would only say that if she were the Sea King, on her voyage to Bombay, as the declaration stated, she might have been seized against the will of her owners, and so converted into a pirate. If so, she was subject to be dealt with as having been taken against the will of her owners. If she could not be dealt with as a pirate, the owners were on the other horn of the dilemma, inasmuch as she had committed a breach of the second clause of the proclamation to which he had alluded, and should be on that ground confiscated by the government. Having brought this matter forward, he should conclude by saying that he was quite sure there was abundance of evidence to prove that the vessel in question was the Sea King, and ask the honorable chief secretary, pursuant to notice, whether the government intended to take steps to confiscate this vessel and to punish the officers for a misdemeanor in accordance with the provisions of the proclamation alluded to ?
Mr. M’Culloch, in reply, had no hesitation in saying that this question was a most important one, and should be dealt with in a most cautious manner. [Hear, hear.] Under all the circumstances of the case it would be well if, at this present time, the house did not go as fully into che discussion of the various matters and alleged facts respecting this ship as would be required in the imperial Parliament. The honorable member had stated that this vessel was the Sea King, but what proof had he? [Cries of “Hear, hear,” from all parts of the house.] There were the newspaper reports and a letter addressed to a newspaper in ManChester that the Shenandoah was the Sea King, but the honorable member had not brought forward one single particle of proof to substantiate anything that went beyond that. [Hear, hear.] He said reports were going abroad in this city, and he (Mr. M’Culloch) had heard it stated that the remains of the words “Sea King” were to be seen on the sides of the ship, but was that any evidence of the transfer which it was said had taken place ? [Hear, hear.] And even if such were the case, it was a question if the government could deal with the ship as a pirate. [“Hear, hear,” and cheers.] The government had done a great deal in discussing this question. For the last week they had given a considerable amount of attention to it, desiring to observe as strictly as possible the rules laid down for the guidance of this and all other colonial governments. In dealing with this vessel they had not only to consider the terms of the proclamation referred to, but also the confidential instructions from the home government; and, moreover, they had had brought before them the case of a vessel in exactly the same position as the Shenandoah. All the circumstances which occurred with regard to this other vessel were in the possession of the government and would be weighed in connexion with the present matter, but he believed the government would not be at all justified intreating this vessel as a pirate. [Cheers.] While insisting as a matter of course that strict neutrality should be maintained as far as possible, he would observe that the vessel had only been allowed to remain in port so long as was necessary for taking on board the supplies necessary for the support of her crew and to complete repairs which were necessary to allow the ship to go to sea. Beyond this the government would not move in the matter. [“Hear, hear,” and cheers;]
Mr. Berry, before the discussion closed, wished to say that he had omitted a good deal of what might be brought forward, being in expectation that his statement would not have been denied. He would like, to make his case complete, to read, for the information of the chief secretary, a deposition given in his presence that day by one of the passengers, a lady, taken by this vessel. [Cries of “order,” and “no, no.” J If the matter was of the importance stated, any information given to the government ought to be freely availed of by them. It was only a short deposition, and would not take long to read.
Mr. Higinbotham objected to the course now taken. This was not the proper place or time [cheers] for the honorable member to read a document that might, perhaps, provoke discussion as to its value and effect. If it was considered at all, it should be considered by the government in private.
Mr. O’Shanassy wished, on the point of order, to speak to the statement made that this vessel, was taken by force at sea, and against the consent of the owners.
Mr. Berry. I did not say so.
Mr. O’Shanassy would, however, point out that, in that case, the owners would have applied to the British government, who were the proper authorities, and not the colonial government. If this vessel were not taken by force, but sold, then the charge of piracy fell [Page 512] to the ground. He (Mr. O’Shanassy) concurred in what had fallen from the honorable attorney general, that an ex parte statement ought not to be received in that house. It was only fair to all parties that no favor should be shown either on one side or the other. What did the French government do in respect to the Alabama ? They gave her permission several times to refit, and the Florida remained in one of her ports for months. Why, then, should this colony refuse to do to a vessel that came here that which other powers were willing to do, and this with experience to guide them? The honorable member might as well have let this matter alone. [Cheers from all parts of the house.]
Mr. Lalor said it struck him that the house was wrong to discuss the matter. His excellency the governor was the representative of her Majesty, and he alone had full powers to deal with this matter. [Hear, hear.] He (Mr. Lalor) did not know the law of the case, but believed the governor alone could deal with a vessel belonging to a foreign power. He protested against a discussion which was unfair to all parties, and might compel honorable members to take sides. He hoped the matter would not be pressed further, unless full notice was given, and then both sides could be heard. At the same time, he might mention that he took a view altogether opposed to that of the honorable member for Collingwood. [Cheers.]
The matter then dropped.
A pirate in the bay.
Sir: Immense excitement is said to be caused in Melbourne by the arrival in our waters of a vessel said to be a confederate cruiser named the Shenandoah. If this craft had simply been a confederate, built, manned, and supplied by southerners, and engaged alone in southern interests, little or no notice would have been taken of her; but virtuous indignation arises in the breast of every honest Englishman at the fact of her being an English vessel, armed, (her guns are stamped with the Crown, ) equipped, and manned by British subjects, sailing under false colors and assuming a false name, {vide name on her stern, ) and he feels humiliated and ashamed to confess that they are really his countrymen. Her own officers confess to her being British-built, and that she has never been in any other than a British port. Can she show any other than British register; any clearance but British ? Are they engaged in southern interests ? Would the position of the confederacy be enhanced by one single act of theirs ? I say emphatically no; not if they destroyed every federal ship now floating in these seas. It would and will affect the poorer classes of this colony more than the northern States. It will cause a rise to take place in the already high price of flour, and strengthen the monopoly of the corn trade. Why does she not protect the blockade runners, obtaining glory where it is only to be found, if they are at all interested in the south? No, sir, that is no part of their profession. If I judge rightly, a ball-room would suit those gentlemen far better; and yet, forsooth, they are admired. But I ask what is there to recommend these piratical gentlemen ? Is it foppishness? Courage it cannot be. To wit, Captain Semmes, when in Cherbourg, had boarding-pikes and cutlasses ground, saying he should engage the Kearsarge at close quarters, and, if possible, board her. On the contrary, he kept at a distance, and, when the Alabama succumbed, he was content to lie in the bottom of the Deerhound’s boat, and allow himself and his courage to be hid under an old sail. This is the gallant, the brave, &c. Little can be said in praise of these men. On the contrary, sir, I maintain that no truly honest, courageous man would so degrade himself by sailing under false colors and destroying unarmed helpless merchantmen. Now, sir, I ask, is it right because, by an extreme stretch of a loophole in our international law, such a vessel is allowed to float, that a system of buccaneering like this should for one moment be countenanced ? If so, where is it to stop ? Private property on the high seas ought and must be respected; and if our laws are at fault the sooner they are amended the better, and the right denied of such a vessel to enter a neutral port. Sir, they are pirates in every sense of the word—freebooters if you like— appropriating to their own use other men’s goods, and destroying that which they cannot. As such let them be regarded; let no sympathy be shown them, and, while we cannot alter the law, let us treat them with that indifference which their inglorious occupation deserves. In following such a course of action every man will prove himself the same as your humble servant,
The Editor OF the Age.
[Untitled]
The Shenandoah is a clipper-built screw steamer of 709 tons, exclusive of the space occupied by the engines, and of about 250-horse power. She was built on the Clyde, which has become famous for turning out blockade runners, and does not appear likely to do discredit to the shipwrights of Glasgow. A wooden ship, with iron frame, and iron masts and yares, [Page 513] she was no doubt built for the work in which she is now engaged, and for which she is admirably adapted. Seen from the pier; the Shenandoah presents only the appearance of a smart, trimly set boat, evidently a swift sailer; but there is nothing rakish about the craft, nor anything that would rouse suspicion as to the pacific nature of her intentions were she to steam unheralded among the shipping of any port. The disguise could hardly have been more complete or effectual. As the vessel consumes her own smoke, it is not discoverable at a distance that she has steam power; and she might easily be taken for a merchantman, as indeed she has been by many a captured federal ship. The only point likely to attract attention is her length, 320 feet, her breadth being only, 32 feet; for the iron rigging would probably not be noticed at any distance. The crew numbers 75, all hands told; rather a small complement for so large a vessel, especially when the adventurous work she has undertaken is considered. Her armament is also small, but is capable of being increased at any time, should circumstances demand it. The steamer carries eight large guns; four rifled Whitworths, carrying 40-pound solid shot and 32-pound shell; and four guns, carrying 68-pound solid shot and 56-pound shell. The guns, all new, are magnificently mounted, and are also in excellent order. The Whitworths are calculated to hit at a distance of three miles, and are capable of being’ elevated eleven degrees. The vessel, however, is confessedly equipped for capturing merchantmen, and not for contending with federal men-of-war. A single glance is sufficient to show that she is built for speed, and the burnished appearance of her copper bottom shows that she has not idled on the way. At half speed she makes nine knots an hour, and it is evidently her policy, in cases of difficulty, to trust more to her heels than her armament. The ship is a new one, and this, we are informed, is her second cruise, which probably means her second voyage, as the present must be the only cruise in which she has appeared in the character of a belligerent under the same name. When once on deck the merchantman apptorance, presented on a distant view, vanishes.
The Confederate cruiser Shenandoah.
In yesterday’s publication we gave all the particulars then obtainable respecting the confederate war steamer Shenandoah, which arrived in Hobson’s bay on Wednesday afternoon. A personal visit to the vessel yesterday has enabled us to largely increase our stock of information on the subject, and the result of our inquiries we now place before our readers. Previously, however, we direct their attention to the two accompanying paragraphs, the contents of which throw a light on the history of this new successor of the Alabama. They, are from the Home News and the Index, and although apparently referring to different vessels, really have reference to the same, for it now appears that the Sea King of the Home News is the Shenandoah of the Index. The first-named journal in its publication of the 26th of November says:
“A few weeks ago, the departure from Liverpool took place of a steamer called the Laurel, with about one hundred men on board, many of whom had served with Captain Semmes. It was also asserted that Captain Semmes was himself on board. A despatch lately received in Liverpool from Madeira is to the effect that the Laurel had been lying in Funchal bay for several days previous to the 17th of October, and early on the morning of that day she steamed out to sea and met a large screw steamer (understood to be the new Alabama,) on board of which were transferred the crew of the Laurel and cargo, consisting of guns, ammunition, &c. The screw steamer then made for the direction of Bermuda. [The name of the latter vessel is said to be the Sea King, 1.200 tons, which recently cleared out of the East India dock for Bombay, but whose real destination was Medeira. It is alleged that she has since run on a rock, and it is feared will become a total wreck.”]
The Index, ajournai published in London, in the interest of the southern confederacy, has the following in its issue of the 19th of the same month:
“A new confederate cruiser.—We have much pleasure in being able to state that, almost at the same time when the Florida was treacherously seized in Bahia harbor, the confederate flag was hoisted on a new cruiser at least the equal of the Florida in armament, speed, and general efficiency. The Shenandoah starts upon her career with every prospect of emulating the fame of her predecessors. She is Commanded by Lieutenant Waddell, confederate States navy, and a gallant staff of officers. Having received her crew and armament—everything, in fact, that constitutes her a belligerent vessel—on the high seas, far beyond any neutral jurisdiction, there can fortunately be no pretence of accusing her of any violation of municipal laws or international obligations. It is evident that federal commerce is balked of the expected reward of the the murderous outrage in Bahia; for already the telegraph has advised us of the doings of no less than three confederate cruisers, the Tallahassee, the Chickamauga, and the Olustee, all of which have recently issued from their own ports and are busy at work avenging the Florida’s fate. To this formidable list of ubiquitous enemies the New York. Chamber of Commerce must now add a fourth; and confederate sympathisers, paraphrasing the familiar ‘Le roi est mort—vive le roil may exultingly exclaim, ‘The Florida is gone—long live the Shenandoah!’”
[Page 514][FROM OUR OWN REPORTER.]
The arrival of a vessel-of-war belonging to the Confederate States of America in Hobson’s bay caused no little excitement in the city yesterday, and the object of the stranger’s visit was actively canvassed on every side. We mentioned yesterday that Captain Waddell, the commander of the Shenandoah, immediately on his arrival despatched one of his officers to Toorak to report that the vessel had entered the bay, and that, under the royal proclamation of neutrality, he requested permission to remain in these waters for a short period for the purposes of coaling, provisioning, and effecting certain necessary repairs to the machinery. As a matter of courtesy, until his excellency’s reply was received to the request, the captain declined to allow any person to visit his ship, neither would he permit any communication with the shore. The numerous boating parties which hovered around the ship yesterday morning were politeiy informed of this determination, and they were forced to content themselves with sailing round the vessel, and scrutinizing her exterior. In the meanwhile a meeting of the executive council was called, and the desire of Captain Waddell was fully discussed. According to international maritime law, as expressed in a despatch from Earl Russell, the secretary of state for foreign affairs, and dated 31st of January, 1862, published in the government gazette on the 24th of April in the same year, it is laid down that vessels of war belonging to a belligerent power are not allowed to enter a neutral port unless they require supplies, coal, &c., or need repairs, and they must comply with the following conditions: They must take in their necessary supplies as soon as they can, as much coal only as will enable them to get to the nearest port in their own country or to the next port of destination, and then leave the neutral port of refuge as soon as possible. Captain Waddell was in want of coals and provisions, and required a new band to the propeller shaft of the screw. Under these circumstances the requested permission was granted, but it was not until between three and four o’clock in the day that the intention was made known on board. The excitement which prevailed in town was. very great and the desire to get on board was heightened by the belief which was pretty generally entertained, that the renowned Captain Semmes, of Sumter and Alabama celebrity, was on board, if not actually in command. We can, however, give the assurance that the gallant officer mentioned is not in the ship, but that some of the officers and five or six of the men who served with him in his voyages in both the Sumter and Alabama are now serving with Captain Waddell in the Shenandoah. From early morning the crowd of persons who proceeded by the Hobson’s Bay railway to Sandridge was very large. Many contented themselves with an observation of the vessel from the end of the pier. The white flag with the thirteen stars placed diagonally in one corner, with the old battle-flag at thefore, being easily discernible from the peak, afforded a clear indication of the whereabouts of the confederate cruiser. Others, notwithstanding the warning conveyed to them that they would not be permitted to set foot on the decks until the intentions of the government were made known, nevertheless cruised around the vessel and endeavored by personal observation to ascertain whether she was not identical with the Sea King, of which information had already been received. These observers were rewarded for their pains in ascertaining some clue to the apparent mystery by the partial obliteration of the three remaining letters of the last word of the former name on the trail board. However, Captain Waddell finding how anxious the people of Melbourne were to inspect his ship, air length permitted visitors to come on board. On this announcement being made known, hundreds of persons availed themselves of the accorded privilege. Every licensed boat was made available for the service, and two or three steamers crowded with passengers plied between the Simdridge pier and the war vessel in the bay. The visitors were most courteously received by the officers, who afforded any information requested of them, and on the departure of each successive party the welcome they had received was ‘ acknowledged by three cheers. A tolerably stiff breeze was blowing in from the south, and a small whale boat in rounding to at the stern of the vessel was caught by the wind and capsized. A lady and two gentlemen who were in the boat were thrown into the water. Some alarm was created by this unlooked-for catastrophe. The lady clung to the edge of the boat most courageously, and the whole three were speedily rescued without suffering any-, thing further than a rather unpleasant immersion.
The Shenandoah has brought eleven prisoners to this port, including Mrs. Nichols, the wife of Captain Nichols, and the stewardess of the Delphine, last captured. They all went on shore yesterday morning. At sea the prisoners were kept in irons at night, except those on parole. No complaint as to treatment received on board has been made by any of the prisoners. The officers of the confederate ship visited the city yesterday, and inspected the different public places, including the legislative assembly.
The Shenandoah, one of the latest adjuncts to the confederate navy, is a vessel of 1,160 tons English register, and about 1,400 American. She was built in the Clyde a short time ago, and having become the property of the confederate government, sailed from the East India docks for Madeira. Her appearance is that of a merchant clipper and were it not that the muzzles of four guns peered from the ports of her broadsides no one would ever think of taking her for a man-of-war. Her length and general build would at once indicate her as being a fast sailer, and we are informed that her average is thirteen knots; while under reefed [Page 515] canvas she has frequently gone at the speed of eleven knots. The upper deck of the Shenandoah presents no extraordinary features. Her armament consists of eight guns. Forward there are two 32-pounders, rifled Whitworths; amidships, four 68-pounders, smooth-bore; and aft, two small 12-pounders. The ‘tween-decks are very lofty, being about eight feet in height. The space is kept clear, -and, with the exception of a small table and two or three cushioned forms, nothing obstructs the centre of this deck. Even the hammocks of the crew are stowed out of reach, and all the furniture and effects visible are a few neat-looking trunks, which, from their appearance, seem to have been taken from some prize vessel. The cabin is the ordinary saloon of a merchant ship. The state-rooms, two good-sized apartments, are occupied by Captain Waddell. Nearly all the furniture they contain has been picked up on the cruise, a sofa from one prize, a chair from another, and so on with all the articles. The saloon is the wardroom for the officers, and their sleeping rooms are ranged on either side of the cabin. They, too, have been fitted up in the same manner as the commander’s.
Having said so much about the vessel, we now turn to the crew. The commissioned officers number about twenty, a very large proportion considering the smallness of the crew. The officers wear a gray uniform with gold facings, and Captain Waddell wears two gold bands around the sleeves, denoting his rank, after the fashion of the officers of the British navy Captain Waddell, whose personal appearance is highly prepossessing, is a thorough sailor. He has been twenty-three years in the American navy, and on the commencement of hostilities he proceeded to South Carolina, to fight for his State in the cause of the south. Among the number of her officers are three who have served in the Alabama, and were in her when she was sunk by the Kearsarge off Cherbourg. They are Mr. Bullock, the master; Mr. Smith, the paymaster, who was then captain’s clerk, and Mr. O’Brien, the engineer, then third assistant engineer. The crew are seventy-five in number, and comprise natives of nearly every country in Europe and one or two negroes, but the majority are British subjects. On ordinary, service they wear a rough, grayish-brown uniform dress. A very large number of the men have joined since leaving the port of departure, and have been captured in the prizes. They are a happy and apparently well-contented lot, express great confidence in their commander, and are well pleased with the service in which they are engaged.
We now proceed to give some account of the Shenandoah from the time of her setting out on her present cruise, some three months ago. On the 8th of October, 1864, a small party left Liverpool in a steamer called the Laurel, and on the 14th of the same month arrived at Funchal, the capital of the island of Madeira. There she was regarded as a thorough block-ade runner in the confederate service, but the men were not allowed to go on shore. Some short time previous to the arrival of the Laurel some Polish passengers had visited the island “and quitted forgetting the hotel accounts they left behind them, and the inhabitants were made to believe that the crew of the Laurel were men belonging to the same nation, sans argent, so that their presence on shore was not much cared about, at least by the hotel-keepers. On the 18th of October a vessel entered the harbor and steamed up to the east side close alongside the Laurel. This vessel was the steamer now in Hobson’s bay. She had arrived from London, having been purchased there for £45,000, and the crew, or part of them, of the small steamer, having been transferred on board the new purchase, she quitted the harbor, and, when tar beyond the jurisdiction of Portugal, the confederate flag was hoisted, and the vessel was christened the Shenandoah. Not a box had been opened up to this time, and now Captain Waddell found himself in command of a ship-of-war commissioned and equipped to deal destruction to the merchant service of the federal States. The, crew at this time only consisted of twenty-three officers and men, a very small complement indeed for a vessel of this size. After deducting the number required for the engineer’s department, stewards, &c., only ten remained for working the vessel, or five in a watch. At the outset all was confusion, but. the officers stripped off their jackets and assisted the men. The plan adopted was to steam by day and sail by night. Captain Waddell at once kept out in the ocean, always out of sight of land. On the 29th of October, in latitude 16° 47’ N., longitude 26° 43’ W., when the Shenandoah had only been out ten days, the word was passed that a vessel was in sight. The royals were set, and the cruiser bore down in chase with the English colors flying. The stranger hoisted the American flag, and a gun fired across his bows brought him to. The vessel, which was taken as a prize, proved to be the bark Alissa, Cap tain Staples, with a cargo of railway iron, bound for Buenos Ayres, and from thençe to Ak-yab for rice. The master and mate, with a crew often men, were transferred to the Shenandoah, and eight of the men immediately joined the confederate service. The cargo was valued at $38,000, and the bark, which was scuttled, at $50,000. The crew of the confederate had now. been increased to twenty-nine men before the mast, and the ship was consequently better worked. On the 5th of November, at daylight, in latitude 7° 38’ N., longitude 27° 49’ W., the cruiser got under steam and proceeded in chase of a schooner, which was reached at 7.30 a. m. She proved to be the Charter Oak, 400 tons, from Boston, bound to San Francisco, with an assorted cargo. The crew having been removed, she was burnt. The schooner was valued at $22,000. Captain Gilman, his wife, and her sister, were taken on board the cruiser. The last named was the widow of a corporal in the federal army who was killed at Harper’s Ferry. Captain Waddell gave her his own cabin, and the whole party were well treated. Private property was respected, but a sum of $200 was taken from Captain Gilman and given to his wife as a present from the confederate government, on the condition, which she promised to [Page 516] comply with, that she was not to give it to her husband. A quantity of preserved tomatoes (about 2,000 pounds weight) was taken, and the ship’s company have since been living upon tomatoes. On the 7th of November, two days afterwards, in latitude 6° 28’ N. and longitude 27° 6’ W,, the bark D. Godfrey, bound from Boston to Valparaiso, was fallen in with. Her cargo consisted of 400 barrels of beef. Her crew consisted of twelve men, nine of whom volunteered to join the southern service. The vessel was burnt and cargo destroyed. On the 9th of November a Danish brig was communicated with, and the master consented to take Captains Staples and Hallett, with the four mates and two men who had been captured, in consideration of receiving from Captain Waddell a chronometer, a barrel of beef and a barrel of bread. The prisoners were transferred, and the brig departed on her way to Rio Janeiro. On the 10th November, at daylight, in latitude 4° 20’ N. and longitude 26° 39’ W., the brig Susan, of New York, Captain Hansen, was captured, with a carge of Cardiff coal. She was scuttled, and two seamen and a boy were shipped. The master himself wanted to volunteer, but he was not pressed. When the Susan sank, at 10.30 a. m., she went down bow first, and the main truck sank while the stern was above the surface of the water. On the 12th November, in latitude 2° N. and longitude 28° W., the clipper ship Kate Prince, of Ports mouth, New Hampshire, was seen. She was observed in the evening from the masthead on the port beam, and the course of the Shenandoah was changed so as to cut her off. All the prisoners, some fifteen in number, were transferred to this vessel, which was bound to Bahia with 1,700 tons of coal. The cargo was sworn to be English, and Captain Waddell bonded the ship for $40,000. Captain Sibley, the master, in return sent to the cruiser two barrels of potatoes. On the same day and in the same latitude, the bark Adelaide, of Baltimore, bound to the river Plate, hove in sight. She had a neutral cargo on board, and the vessel was bonded for $23,000. On the day following, in latitude 1o 40’ N., longitude 28° 24’ W., the schooner Lizzie M. Stacey, of Boston, bound for Honolulu, Sandwich islands, with an as sorted cargo, was captured and burnt. Her crew, three in number, volunteered for the service. Among the number was a Baltimore negro named Charles, who, singularly enough, recognized another negro, named John, captured in the D. Godfrey. The two niggers had lodged in the same house, shipped in different vessels, and were afterwards captured by the same cruiser within a few days of each other. About this time Captain Waddell observed a vessel in distress, with her mainmast cut away. She would not make any signal, and although there were five vessels around she would not notice any of them. On the 24th of November the Shenandoah started in chase of the ship Rubens, of Stockholm, bound to the Cape of Good Hope, but did not succeed in coming up to her. This was in latitude 24° 44’ Slongitude 31° 28’ W. She also showed colors to an English ship on the same day. On the 4th December, in latitude 34° 47’ S., longitude 12° 30’ W., the whaling bark Edward was captured, and burnt after the stores had been removed. One seaman was shipped, but the remainder, consisting of Portuguese, were not pressed. They were afterwards landed, with other prisoners, at Tristan d’Acunha, on the 27th of December. Captain Waddell here bought some beef and sheep, and in return gave the inhabitants sixty days’ salt provisions. The last capture was made on the 29th of December, in latitude 39° 10’ S., longitude 69° E. the bark Delphine, Captain Nichols, bound for Akyab from London for a load of rice. She had on board about 300 tons of cargo. The vessel was burnt, and the crew, eight in number, were shipped on board the confederate. On one occasion the Shenandoah chased a steamer which was proceeding with all sails set. After going three or four miles, an impress sion was formed that she was a British man-of-war, and the chase was. at once abandoned. Since his arrival in port, Captain Waddell believes this vessel to have been her Majesty’s steamer Brisk, recently arrived at Sydney. The process of boarding was always looked for ward to by the officers and crew of the Shenandoah with the greatest interest. Everything worth having was first taken from the prizes, and the hatches, after being filled with straw and tar, were set alight.
Although the ordinary dress of the confederate service appears to be a dark brown, the men are habited in various costumes, as occasion requires. At one time the cruiser, “with stars and stripes flying, bore down upon a vessel, and in answer to the usual hail, announced herself as a federal man-of-war, but the stranger replied by hoisting Danish colors. Sunday has always been strictly kept on board, and on that day no manner of work further than that actually required for working the vessel has been accomplished. From the latitude of the cape the Shenandoah has come direct under sail to this coast without calling at any place. Captain Waddell requires to remain in this port a few days in order to repair the vessel’s machinery, and as an earnest of his intention Messrs. Langlands & Co. have been engaged to effect the necessary repairs. Captain Nichols, of the bark Delphine, states that when his ship was boarded the papers were examined, and, being found American, were taken possession of, with the nautical instrumenti and the provisions which were required, before the ship was burnt. The persons taken off consisted of the captain, eleven men, and a steward; also Mrs. Nichols and child.’ Several ships were hailed, but they all showed English colors. The papers of the Nimrod, formerly the Sancho Panza,, bound to Adelaide, were investigated. We understand there is a nephew of General Lee, Mr. Sydney Smith Lee, on board the confederate ship. In conclusion, we may mention that Captain Waddell has most courteously thrown his vessel open to the inspection of the public, and that steamers and small boats ply to and fro at all hours of the day.
[Page 517]MR. FELLOWS’S OPINION.
To the editor of the Age:
Sir: Mr. Fellows is, no doubt, a good special pleader and a sound itisi prius lawyer, but beyond this I cannot defer to his opinions. Common sense tells us that foreigners who come within our jurisdiction and receive the protection of our laws are bound by them; and, moreover, that the ship in which they come may not, whether a ship-of-war or not, be made a sanctuary for criminals. His opinion, however, seems to me as much opposed to law as to common sense. The foreign enlistment act (59 George III, c. 69) makes enlisting in a foreign service a misdemeanor, and “any ship” having on board such persons may be prevented from proceeding on her voyage. Mr. Fellows, in the genuine special pleading tone, argues that “any ship” does not include ships-of-war, because the act imposes a penalty on “the master;” so at least I understand him. There are certain rules of construction which, I think, he has forgotten., It is a maxim “Ubi lex est specialis et ratio ejus generalis, generaliter accipienda est.” If, to the application of the maxim in this case, he replies that it is only applicable to ships within the jurisdiction, I answer that all within the protection are necessarily within the jurisdiction of the law, whether men or property. Imfact, the right of search (an expression usually limited to the search of neutral vessels at sea) was fully discussed in 1812, and then recognized by Parliament, the only question reserved being whether the continued exercise of the right was expedient. If belligerents may search neutrals to ascertain if they are supplying the muniments of war, it follows that neutrals may search belligerents, if they have the power, to ascertain that they are not violating the laws of the country from which they are seeking temporary relief and protection. I may observe that the act also makes it a misdemeanor to augment the warlike force of any foreign armed vessel arriving in the country. How is such an augmentation of the warlike force of the vessel to be ascertained except by searching her ? and how is it to be rendered inoperative except by detaining her? This alone is sufficient to show that “any ship” was intended to include all ships, whether shipe-of-war or merchantmen. As I think that the government has acted with courage and wise decision in this matter, as well as in perfect conformity with law, I trouble you with this communication.
Seizure of the Shenandoah.
Great excitement prevailed in town yesterday relative to the alleged seizure of the Shenandoah by the Victorian government; and it was stated by many persons that the government had overstepped their powers in making such a seizure. It will be seen, however, that no seizure at all was made, and that the authorities merely restrained British subjects from assisting in repairing the vessel until the neutrality regulations had been observed. Taking up the narrative of events at the point reached in our yesterday’s issue, we may remark that the surmise was correct that an attempt would be made to launch the Shenandoah yesterday morning. At about a quarter to five a. m. the steam-tug Black Eagle was seen approaching the slip, and when within hailing distance was challenged by the sentries who were stationed on the piers on either side. The reply to the challenge was that the tug had been engaged to come at that hour for the purpose of towing out the Shenandoah. The master of the tug was forbidden to approach any nearer, and, after some parleying, he steamed out again.
At three o’clock yesterday afternoon Mr. Superintendent Lyttleton, who had been to Melbourne for instructions, returned to Williamstown, and, in accordance with an order which he had brought from the governor, withdrew the police who had been put in charge of the Shenandoah. A considerable number of people had crossed over from Sandridge in expectation of some sensational scene, but the affair passed off very quietly. The repairs of the vessel are now completed, and, when she has taken in some coal, she will be ready to proceed to sea.
From the ministerial explanation given below, and which was made in the house yesterday, it will be seen that four men—British subjects—were arrested on Tuesday evening, upon leaving the Shenandoah, and that one of these was the man Charlie, for whom the warrant had been issued. When arrested, they gave their names as James Davison, Frank lyn Glover, Mackenzi, and Walmsley. They were brought up before Mr. Call, P. M., this morning, and shortly examined; but, as Mr. Call had to attend the police court at Footscray, he adjourned the inquiry until the following morning.
[Page 518]THE MINISTERIAL STATEMENT IN THE ASSEMBLY.
As soon as the speaker had taken the chair in the legislative assembly yesterday,
Mr. O’Shanassy rose and said: Seeing the honorable the chief secretary in his place, I would wish to ask him, without notice, if he would be good enough to lay on the table a copy of the correspondence that has passed between the government and the commander of the confederate steamer Shenandoah since her arrival in this port.
Mr. M’Culloch said: I cannot at present consent to lay the correspondence on the table of the house, as it would be undesirable to do so. If the honorable member wishes information as to what has been done with the ship, I have no objection to make a general statement on the subject.
Mr. O’Shanassy: My reason for asking that the correspondence should be laid on the, table is that honorable members, and also the people of the country generally, should know exactly what has been done. In a general statement the information is not so correct; but I do not mean that it is intentionally so. If there are any reasons for withholding the correspondence, I would not press for it.
Mr. M’Culloch: This correspondence passed between his excellency the governor and the commander of the Shenandoah. It was not with the government. As honorable members are aware, this vessel arrived in the bay some three weeks, ago. The captain at once put himself in communication with his excellency, and asked that he might be permitted to have certain repairs made, and to obtain such supplies as were necessary to enable him again to put to sea. The government at once put themselves into a position to ascertain, from all despatches that had been received, and by giviug the fullest consideration to her Majesty’s proclamation, the course that should be pursued. The result was that Captain Waddell was informed that he would obtain liberty to make all necessary repairs to enable his vessel again to go to sea, and to take in necessary supplies of provisions. At the sanie time his attention was called to the necessity of his keeping within the striet terms of neutrality. Captain Waddell acknowledged the act of the government, stating, at the same time, that he would maintain a strict neutrality. Some time elapsed and nothing was done, in so far as few repairs were being executed on the ship. The government, in order to secure that a position of strict neutrality was maintained, appointed a board to inquire and report as to what repairs were necessary to render the vessel fit to go to sea; not that she should be so repaired as to make her better fitted as a war ship, or for the purpose for which she was fitted out, but that she should only be made fit to go to sea from this port. It was found that certain repairs were necessary, and that for the completion of those repairs the vessel would have to be taken on to the slip; and here I may remark that it has been stated that this is the government slip, but it is nothing of the kind. In one sense it is the government slip, but in another it is not, as it has been leased to a private individual. The ship has been on the slip for several days. Within the last two or three days information has been forwarded to the government to the effect that there were certain parties concealed on board the ship—Englishmen, who had gone on board since the vessel arrived in this port, and that with the view of joining the ship as seamen. Such being contrary to the provisions of the foreign enlistment act and the proclamation of her Majesty, the government found they could not shirk dealing with the matter; and, as the information was furnished on sworn affidavits, the government felt themselves obliged to take immediate steps to ascertain if the neutrality of the port had been violated, for, while the government was bound to observe strict neutrality towards the vessel, }her officers and crew, they were also bound to demand that Captain Waddell should, with equal strictness, observe the neutrality of the port. [Cheers.] Well, a warrant for the apprehension of an Englishman named Charley, a native of London, was issued by the William stown bench. The warrant was presented on Monday evening. The captain was not then on board, and so the warrant was presented to the first lieutenant. That officer refused to allow the inspector of police to go on board to ascertain if Charley was on board, at the same time, giving him distinctly to understand that there was no such person on board. Well, the government did not wish at that time to take decided steps, as the captain was not on board when the inspector first visited the ship. The inspector, however, was instructed to go on board again when the captain was there. He went next morning, (Tuesday morning,) and met the same reception from Captain Waddell, who stated, on his honor and faith as a gentleman and an officer, that there was no such person as Charley on board. Well, the government had so many distinct statements made to them by persons resident in Melbourne that there was such a person on board that they considered they were obliged and bound in duty, both to this colony and to the mother country, to take all proper steps to ascertain whether such was the case or not—whether this man was on board or not. The government having given a considerable amount of anxious attention to all the points on the subject—which may yet turn out to be a matter of very considerable importance—came to the conclusion that the governor should issue an order uncler the foreign enlistment act; and, looking to the strong proofs we had before us of the violation of the act, we felt bound to issue orders to all her Majesty’s subjects that they should refuse to continue the task of repairing the vessel, and should not give any aid in launching the ship till the government was satisfied that the documents that had been put in their hands, [Page 519] stating that there were Englishmen on board, were incorrect. At the same time a letter was sent to Captain Waddell, calling his attention to all the circumstances of the case, and asking him to reconsider his determination, pointing out to him that this was a violation of an act of the British Parliament by a British subject, and that he ought to put the government in position to ascertain whether that person had been guilty of violating the acts of this country. His attention was also called to this circumstance, that it was desirable, for his own sake, if those statements were false, that he should put the government in a position of being able to prove that they were false, and of bringing the parties to punishment for making such statements. This letter was delivered to Captain Waddell yesterday about six o’clock In the afternoon, and the messenger waited for an answer. At ten o’clock last evening a letter, in reply, was forwarded to the commissioner of trade and customs. And here he wished to point out that Captain Waddell kept the messenger waiting for four hours. [Hear, hear.] The letter, which was dated last night, was despatched by Captain Waddell at ten o’clock—at ten o’clock last night.” In this letter he again refuses to allow the warrant to be executed, or, rather, he states that he did not prevent the execution of the warrant because it was for a person named Charley, and there was no such person on board the ship. [Cries of Oh ! Oh !] He again repeated his statement that there were no parties on board the ship but those who were on board when she entered the bay, and stated at the same time that he had observed the strictest neutrality. This letter came into my possession at one o’clock in the morning, and at seven o’clock this morning I was informed that four men last night were detected leaving the vessel about ten o’clock at night, or about the time the document furnished to me was despatched. These men were in a waterman’s boat, and the water police endeavored to overtake them, but did not succeed in doing so until they arrived-at the Sandridge railway station. Well, on examination, we find that those parties were not on board when the ship came into the port, but joined here. [Cheers.] They were persons who ought not to have been allowed to join, and who ought not to have been concealed. [Cheers.] We have now discovered that one of those four persons who left the ship at ten o’clock last night, or about the time the letter was despatched, was the very man Charley for whom the warrant was issued. [Cheers.] I think the course the government has taken will justify us, not only in the estimation of the house, [cheers,] but I am sure it will be admitted that the government has taken the proper course to carry out and support the intention of the British Parliament in respect to the foreign enlistment act, [cheers,] and the intention of the proclamation of her Majesty with respect to the observance of neutrality. [Cheers.] There is no doubt that this man Charley, for whom the warrant was obtained, and of whom we were assured that he was not on board, was in the uniform of the ship-on various occasions, at all events. [Hear, hear.] Now, it appears to me and to the government that if anything can be a violation of strict neutrality, this is it. [Cheers.] My honorable colleague, the minister of justice, reminds me that we have not yet proved that this man Charley wore the uniform of the ship; but we have the statement of various parties that such was the case, and, as they are to be brought before the police court to-morrow morning, I have no doubt but further information will be received on the point. [Cheers.] In the mean time the government have obtained what they really desired to obtain in the first instance—that all the parties who joined the ship illegally should be removed from the vessel. [Cheers.] That having been clone, we have removed the suspension of leave to her Majesty’s subjects to carry out repairs, and to assist the vessel off the slip. [Hear, hear.] Captain Waddell will, of course, be ordered to remove from this port at the very earliest possible date. [Cheers.]
Mr. Levey. So far as I gather from the statement of the honorable the chief secretary, the government is not aware even now that all the persons who may have joined the ship here are out of her. [Hear, hear.] Captain Waddell, it seems, denied the authorities the right to search the ship for British subjects who were said to be on board in violation of British laws; and he further denied that the person for whom the warrant was issued was on board, while, as has been ascertained, the man was on board. I think that the fact of persons having left—persons whose presence on board was denied—affords good reason for believing there are other persons on board. [Hear, hear.]
Mr. M’Culloch. The particular warrant that was issued for this particular individual has been satisfied; and if further warrants are issued, for other persons who may be on board, the position of the government will be altered. It may be that there are other persons on board, but we have no information to that effect. I may state that it is the intention of the government to refer all the particulars of the case to the imperial government, and the various points in the case that have turned up. [Cheers.]
Mr. O’Shanassy. This is an important and somewhat novel case for us. The honorable the chief secretary states that the government issued a warrant for the apprehension of a particular person, and on the strength of that warrant it was sought to establish a right of search.
Mr. M’culloch. The government had not issued the warrant. The warrant was issued by a police magistrate at Williamstown, on sworn information. Neither was there any right of search claimed by the government, though Captain Waddell laid great stress upon that. Now, it was nothing of the kind. The warrant was simply for the apprehension of one of our own subjects who had committed a breach of our own laws. [Cheers.]
Mr. Berry. It appears to me that the captain of this vessel took advantage of the privieges [Page 520] of a neutral port, and bow was the government to see that the neutrality of the port was observed, as it was their duty to do, if the police were not allowed to execute a warrant, not against the ship or the captain of the ship, but against a British subject ? [Hear; hear.] As to the question of the right of search set up by the captain, it has nothing to do with the case, and seems to me to be a mere subterfuge. [Cheers.] It is the duty of the government to see that this vessel strictly observes the neutrality proclamation, even though they should have to go on board against the will of the captain or any of his officers ? For anything that can be known to the government, unless an examination is allowed, it might be that this vessel is now being fitted up both so as to increase her speed and render her more efficient ‘for war purposes. Now, I again ask, can that be ascertained without an examination? It may be that at the very last moment it will become the duty of the government to stop the vessel. [Hear, hear.] If the government cannot do so, then this neutrality proclamation simply affords additional facility for the vessel of a belligerent powder entering a neutral port to be better equipped for war purposes.
The matter then dropped.
Meeting at the Criterion.
A public meeting was yesterday convened, by unsigned placards, to be held at the Criterion hotel, Collins street, to “protest against the action of the government in seizing the Shenandoah.” The meeting was convened for half past three p. m., but shortly before that hour a written notification was placed outside the Criterion hotel, of which the following is a copy:
SHENANDOAH.
This vessel has been released by the government.
OPINION OF MR. T. H. FELLOWS.
Question. Have the government of this colony any right to search the Shenandoah for the alleged offender Charlie ?
Answer. I am of opinion that the government have not the powers which they claim. A ship-of-war, commissioned by a foreign government, is exempt from the jurisdiction of the courts of other countries.
There will therefore be no meeting.
A very large number of persons assembled outside the hotel and appeared very disatisfied with the conduct of the conveners of the meeting. After considerable delay, a number of persons entered the large room of the hotel, and Mr. George Robertson mounted a table and addressed the assemblage. He said he did not know who were the original promoters of that meeting; but he and other citizens came there to express their opinions on the action of the government. He thereupon moved that Mr. R. Kent take the chair.
Mr. Moton Moss seconded the resolution, which was carried.
Mr. Kent said that he was called upon quite unexpectedly. The original promoters of the meeting had deserted their post; still the citizens wished to express their opinion on the subject. He was not identified with either the north or the south; but the question which he submitted to the meeting was, had the government acted in accordance with the principles of international law? The government were bound to afford the Shenandoah opportunities for repairing damages, &c.; yet she had been seized, and he was surprised that on the previous evening not one honorable member of the assembly had put the question to the government why this step had been taken. He had no doubt that that question would be put that night, but meantime it was right for the citizens to express their opinions. The question involved large issues—nothing less than whether peace or war was to exist between England, her colonies, and the southern American confederacy. He concluded by inviting speakers to come forward and address the meeting.
After a short pause.
Mr. G. Robertson said he appeared in the cause of common sense. If no one was prepared to move a resolution in pursuance of the object for which the meeting was convened, he should, after the lapse of a few minutes, move that the meeting ‘adjourn.
A Voice. I propose that meantime we all adjourn for nobblers. [Laughter.]
Mr. Robertson. We can do that at any time, and not at your expense. [Laughter.]
Mr. Freame defended the conveners of the meeting, as the opinion of Mr. Fellows, and the release of the vessel removed the necessity for the meeting.
Considerable confusion ensued; the speaker was, met by cries of” bring forward your resolution,” and “you cannot excuse those who called the meeting and are not here.”
Mr. M’Kay declared that he had seen Mr. Langlands a few minutes prior to the meeting, and he had positively stated that the Shenandoah was not released.
Mr. Ferguson flatly contradicted Mr. M’Kay’s statement. [Page 521] Mr. Moton Moss’ here rose and “wanted to know” what was the use of Mr. Higinbotham, as a law officer of the Crown?
Mr. Philip Cohen then rose, and said that he was not in any way identified with the origination of that meeting, but he came to see what was going to be done; and now that a number of citizens had assembled, an expression of opinion should be made as to the action of the government in the seizure of the war ship Shenandoah. He would ask that meeting, if the Shenandoah had been a federal ship, would the government of this Colony have dared to lay a hand upon her? [Loud cries of no, no, and cheers.] No; they would have shaken in their shoes before daring such an attempt. Had the Shenandoah been a war steamer belonging to the smallest, the most trivial power of Europe, would the government have dared to touch her [A voice: Certainly not; but they seize a pirate.] He contended that she was not a pirate. She had been acknowledged by the government as a ship-of-war belonging to a belligerent power; and being such, the government had no right to lay hands upon her. [A voice: She is a British steamer, the Sea King, and not the Shenandoah.] He considered that when six or eight millions of men, descended from the Anglo-Saxon stock, unanimously demanded the right of self-government, they should be granted that right, and when a ship belonging to a confederation struggling for that right came into a neutral port, and was allowed to be placed on the slip for repairs, when she was, in fact, powerless, it was an act of cowardice in any government to seize her by force. [Prolonged cheers.]
Mr. Kuinlan, barrister-at-law, said he believed there was no resolution before the meeting; in order to get the proceedings into a business-like shape, he would submit a resolution— “That the proceeding of the government was ill-advised in seizing the Shenandoah, and likely to endanger our happy relations with a State which was likely to be very powerful.” He appeared before that meeting as the upholder and friend of all down-trodden nationalities— as the friend of those who strove to be free. He felt sure that the citizens of Melbourne were too well informed as to the casus belli between the north and the south to believe that it was a slave question. In order to disprove the assertions of those who held the view that the slave question was the cause of the war, he need only refer to the letters of the Times correspondent, and the writings of Mr. Spence. No, it was not a slave question; but rather a question of free trade versus protection. [A voice: So is the present meeting.] The action of the government was undoubtedly ill-advised, and in order to support this assertion, he would not rest on his own opinion, but referred to the greatest authorities on international law. It had been said that the Shenandoah had been seized for a breach of the foreign enlistment act. Now, in order to understand the question, it was necessary to point out the radical difference which existed between municipal and international law. The chief object of the latter was to deprive war of some of its horrors, to infuse the elements of Christianity and humanity into contests between nations. On the other hand, municipal laws were of local and civil application. The foreign enlistment act was a municipal act, which prohibited British subjects from enlisting in a. foreign service to fight the battles of foreign nations; but this did not justify the government in attempting to serve a civil search warrant on à ship-of-war. The government had no right, under the circumstances, to board and seize the ship. This was the opinion of Wheaton, one of the greatest authorities on international law. No civil power had jurisdiction over a man-of-war. It might be said that the southern States of America were not a nation; but he contended that their valor and unanimity entitled them to be considered an independent state de jure. On reviewing the history of the struggle between the American States and England, which resulted in the declaration of American independence, he contended that the south was justified in the course which it now adopted. Had the American States, in 1777, failed to establish their right to self-government, they would have been treated as rebele, and would have been liable to all the disabilities arising therefrom. But they were victorious. In like manner the southern States had, for four years, upheld the cause of down-trodden nationality, in the face of the greatest difficulties, and had proved that, de jure, they were a sovereign power. He believed that their efforts would be ultimately successful, just as the American States had secured their independence in 1777. Though the south was not recognized by the states of Europe as a sovereignty, that was not necessary to its existence as an independent state. In this assertion he was borne out by the authorities on international law, from the days of Cicero downwards. [Oh, oh, and laughter.] They might cry “oh, oh,” but he would inform those who did so that Cicero wrote a work entitled “De Republica.” He held that the south was not only a sovereignty de jure, but also defacto. He was glad to learn that the opinion of the Hon. Mr. Fellows was averse to the action taken by the government. In conclusion, he said that he regarded the course adopted by the government as likely to interfere with our happy relations with what was likely to become a great and glorious nation. [Cheers and confusion.]
Dr. Rowe seconded the resolution. He considered that the government had been guilty of a breach of the rules of ordinary hospitality. When the ship first arrived the captain had applied to the governor for permission, before even he allowed aman to go on shore. Certain facilities were given her for repairing; but it was not till she was on the slip, in a defence-, less state—[cheers]—that it was resolved to seize her. In fact, we had seized a guest whom we had invited to our table. Nothing could surpass this violation of law—not even the seizure of the Florida. He regarded the question as a colonist, and urged that the south was now engaged in a struggle in which this colony, or the Australian cplonies, might some of [Page 522] these days be involved. [Cries of no, no.] He said yes, for the war was simply in support of a demand for the rights of self-government. As to the rumors about stowaways, he bad it from Captain Waddell himself that up to the time of his ship being placed on the slip-when she was defenceless—he caused a strict search to be made; but once upon the slip, it was very easy for men to be surreptitiously placed on board. [A voice: A federal dodge.]
After much confusion and some irregular remarks from various speakers, the resolution was read, in an amended form, as follows: “That the course adopted by the government in seizing the Shenandoah was ill-advised, and likely to be subversive of our friendly relations with neighboring neutral states.”
Sir:. M’Kay, amidst loud expressions of disapproval, moved, as an amendment, “That this meeting approves of the steps taken by the government in detaining the Shenandoah until a full investigation has been instituted.” He contended that the original motion condemned the government without reason. The vessel was not the Shenandoah at all; it was the Sea King, built on the Clyde; and the southerners had, in his opinion, no more right to send out such privateers than John Mitchell would have had. [Confusion.] The men who carried on the Irish rebellion had just as good a right as these southerners had.
Mr. P. Cohen said that he thought, it was highly improper for either northern or southern partisans to interfere at that meeting, as it was called for the purpose of giving British inhabitants an opportunity of protesting against the conduct of the government. [Hear, hear.]
The confusion which had been increasing throughout the meeting here reached its climax.
Mr. Herberson rose to address the meeting, and remarked that those who had preceded him had made a mistake in addressing the audience as “gentlemen.”
This uncomplimentary allusion was sufficient to insure the speaker being hissed down.
Mr. J. W. Randall next appeared on the table, and was met in the usual noisy manner. After gome prefatory remarks, he said that he had just returned from Williamstown, and had there been credibly informed that emissaries of the federal government had offered seamen of the Shenandoah sums varying from £50 to £100 to desert and inform against the captain. [Cries of name, name.] He strongly deprecated such proceedings, and objected to the course adopted by the government under the advice of the Crown law officers, Messrs. Michie and Higinbotham, who understood international law so little that they had to be set right by Mr. Fellows. In fact, the government knew as little of international law as they did about tariffs. He protested against the public being thus dragged through the dirt and made subjects of ridicule for the English press, at the instance of a government who had no right to act in the manner it had presumed to do. [Cheers.]
The amendment was then put and lost, and the motion was put and declared carried, amid loud cheers.
A vote of thanks to the chairman, and three cheers for the Shenandoah, brought to a close one of the most disorderly meetings which has ever been held in Melbourne.
The Shenandoah recruits.
At the Williamstown police court yesterday, four men, named James Davidson, alias Charley, Arthur Walmsley, William Mackenzie, and Franklin Glover, were brought up before Mr. Call, P. M., Mr. Hackett, P. M., and Mr. Mason, J. P., charged with a breach of the foreign enlistment act. The information in each case stated, “That being a natural-born subject of the Queen, you did unlawfully, knowingly, and without the leave or license of her said Majesty for that purpose had and obtained under the sign manual of her Majesty, or signified by order in council, or by proclamation of her Majesty, enter yourself and agree to enlist and enter yourself, to serve as a sailor, and to be employed and serve in and on board a certain vessel-of-war, fitted out, used, equipped, and intended to be used for warlike purposes in the service of a certain foreign power, province, or people, or part of a foreign power or people, exercising and assuming to exercise the powers of government, to wit, the Confederate States of America.”
The prisoners were thus described: Davidson as a native of Scotland, aged 22; Walms ley as an Englishman, aged 17; Mackenzie as an Eoglishman, aged 22; and Glover as an American, aged 24.
Mr. McDonnell, instructed by a clerk from the Crown law offices, appeared for the prosecution. The prisoners were undefended.
Mr. McDonnell asked for an adjournment, as he had only just been instructed, either for two hours or until the next day.,
The prisoners, however, said they were ready to go on.
The bench, therefore, thought it would be unfair to keep them in custody any longer than was necessary.
Eventually the case was adjourned for an hour.
On the court resuming, Mr. McDonnell said that the proceedings were instituted under act 59, George III, cap. 69, commonly known as the foreign enlistment act. He would [Page 523] prove that the prisoners went on board the Shenandoah in these waters, and within the jurisdiction of this colony, for the purpose of entering into the service of a belligerent state, with which this country was not at war. He would further prove that they were British-born subjects; that they were on board; that they were seen to get over the side of the vessel into a boat, come ashore, and that on reaching the shore they were apprehended; and further matters, in the way of conversation that then took place between them and the police who apprehended them. That would be sufficient to satisfy the requirements of the statute. A case was decided in the exchequer chambers at home in which the law was fully gone into, and although that was for equipping a vessel for war, the same act applied. The case was known as the “Alexandra” case. The point submitted for the adjudication of that court did not arise directly in the present instance, but the principle did incidentally. He was then proceeding to call evidence, when
Mr. Call asked whether it was proposed to make it a joint prosecution, and mentioned that in a superior court an indictment could not be filed against all together.
After some discussion, Mr. McDonnell elected to proceed. first against Davidson, alias Charley. The others were then removed, and the following evidence called:
Richard Wardle, watch-house keeper, said that on the 14th instant the prisoner was brought to the lock-up in company with three others. He gave the name of James Davidson, and said he was a native of Scotland. (The witness then read the entry which showed the prisoner was brought in at ten minutes past ‘ten o’clock at night; that he was a Protestant, and that he could read and write. )
John Williams deposed: I belong to the United States of America. I was taken from the bark De Godfrey, on which, I was employed, by the Shenandoah, on the 7th November, 1864. I entered on board the Shenandoah in the capacity of cook. (The witness was here asked as to the circumstances under which he joined the Shenandoah, but the bench ruled that it was unnecessary and also unadvisable to try and turn the proceedings into a sensation trial. ) I arrived here on the 23d January. I know the prisoner; he gave his name as Charles. He came on board two days after we arrived. He was employed as assistant cook to the wardroom officers. When he came on board he had on the clothes he now wears. While on board he wore the confederate uniform. I had a conversation with him while he was on board. I asked him where he belonged to. He said London. I asked him what ship he came by, and he said the Great Britain. He said he would like to ship on board the Shenandoah, and while we were talking, Sailing Master Bullock came into the galley where prisoner and I were. That was about a week after the prisoner came on board. Mr. Bullock asked prisoner what he wanted in the ship. He told him that he came to join the ship. Mr. Bullock told him to keep out of sight while the visitors were on board.
To Mr. Call: At that time the prisoner had on the ship’s uniform.
To Mr. McDonnell: When told to go out of sight, the prisoner went into the forecastle. Mr. Bullock told the master-at-arms to lock the forecastle door, and to allow no visitors in. The prisoner at that time was in the forecastle. I left the vessel on the 5th February. The prisoner was on board then.
To Mr. Call: Prisoner at that time was cooking. When the visitors went ashore he came out, and in the morning when they began to arrive he went into the forecastle again. He was let out at night to get his hammock on the berth-deck. He slept next me. I cooked the grub” for him, and sometimes took it to him myself. At meal times the master-at-arms unlocked the door, passed the “ grub” in, and then relocked the door.
John McDonnell. The prisoner got his uniform from Griffiths, a seaman. While on board the first lieutenant also spoke to the prisoner on several occasions. The prisoner wore his uniform when Lieutenant Whittle spoke to him, and was in the galley cooking.
To Mr. Call:. The lieutenant told him he dare not ship him while in port, but ordered him to keep out of sight, and said he would ship him when out of port.
Prisoner. Did I ever tell you my name ?
Witness. Yes, you did.
Prisones. When?
Witness. I called you Bill when in the galley, and you said, “My name is not Bill, it is Charley.”
Prisoner. Think again. You are mistaken.
Witness. You asked me for a razor to shave with, and I gave you one.
To Mr. Call. It was on the second day when the prisoner asked for a razor. Before that he had full whiskers. (The prisoner appeared in court with simply a moustache and chin tuft.) He said he wanted to disguise himself so that people would not know him. He then shaved himself as he now appears.
Walter J. Madden. I am a native of Boston. I was a seaman on board the bark De Godfrey. I was taken out of her on the 7th November, 1864, by the Shenandoah. I went from the De Godfrey and entered the Shenandoah as a seaman. After going on board I was rated as master of the hold. We arrived here on the 25th January.
To Mr. Call: This is the first port we touched at since I joined the Shenandoah.
To Mr. McDonnell: I know the prisoner. He first came on board a day or two after we arrived here. He worked in the galley, and he had on the ship’s uniform. I had some conversation with the prisoner. I asked him what, he was doing on board, and he said he came [Page 524] to join her if he could. Visitors were on board while I was there, and the prisoner was in the forecastle while they were there. The forecastle was locked while he was there by the master-at-arms. He got his dinner in the forecastle at twelve o’clock. Dinner used to be passed in to him in the forecastle. It was passed in by the cook’s mess-boy. I never saw Williams pass it in, but I have seen Quartermaster Wiggins do so.
To Mr. Call: It was passed in through the cable hole, which was large enough for a man to get through. There was a door to that hole which was not locked, although it could have been. It was kept shut.
To Mr. McDonnell: While visitors were on board the prisoner was locked up in the forecastle; after they left he used to come out in the evenings. We used to call him “Charley” on board. He slept in the fore hatch, and I slept aft. I left the vessel on the 6th; I think a week last Monday. When I left the vessel Charley was then on board. He usually wore the uniform “pants.” He wore them all the time he was on board. I have seen him wear the uniform cap sometimes.
To Mr. Hackett: It was a gray cap, with two red and one white stripes round it.
To Mr. McDonnell: I have seen the petty officers speaking to him, and he then had on the uniform. One was chief boatswain’s mate, and another the master-at-arms. I saw them speak to him every evening. I was not present when any order, was given to the prisoner by the officers. His general work was cooking in the galley.
The prisoner said he did not wish to ask any questions.
Witness (to Mr. Call:) There had been many workmen about the vessel, but none of them slept on board for the night. We had no hired labor for the galley. While the prisoner was in the forecastle, which was ordinarily used as a storeroom, there were other persons there besides those who had come in with the ship. The prisoner is the man concerning whom I laid an information the other day. The muster was twice called over while we were in port, and while I was on board, by the chief lieutenant, at about nine or ten o’clock in the morning. Every one who. was on the ship’s articles was mustered. The boatswain sung out, “all hands to quarters.” The men were mustered by their numbers at the guns. The carpenters and others were not called over; excepting for men at the guns, no roll was taken. The second lieutenant and the quartermaster went round to see after the others. On the first Sunday in every month all hands were mustered and the laws read out.
To Mr. Hackett: I do not belong to the ship now. I have come ashore, [laughter,] and am not going back.
Mr. McDonnell wished the witness to explain, but it was considered unnecessary.
Charles Btncker said: I am a native of Germany. I was taken from the bark Alina, on which I was a seaman, by the Shenandoah,’ on the 29th October. We were then at sea. I know the prisoner. I first saw him about twelve days ago, and five or six days after we arrived. I left the vessel last Sunday. From the time when I first saw him, until I left, he continued to be on board. I heard him called Charley.
To Mr. Call: He was acting as cook in the galley.
To Mr. McDonnell: He wore gray clothes; the uniform of the vessel. He wore gray trowsers and a gray cap, with two red stripes and a white one in the centre. I saw visitors come on board; while they were there Charley was in the forecastle. At dinner-time he was in the forecastle; he used to get his dinner there. He was locked up in the forecastle. He got his dinner from the mess cook’s boy. It was passed through the cable hole. I have seen the master-at-arms unlock the door. When the visitors went away, the prisoner went into the galley and was cooking.
To Mr. Call: He got out sometimes through the hole and sometimes he was let out. I have never seen him come out or go in. I have seen the master-at-arms lock the door.
To Mr. McDonnell: He slept in a hammock on the berth-deck.
To Mr. Call: I never saw; any of the officers talking to him while I was on board. Herman Vecher sworn:.
I am a native of Germany. I was onboard the Alina with the last witness in October last;, and was taken from her by the Shenandoah. I arrived here in the Shenandoah in January last. I know the prisoner. I saw him on board about seven or eight days after we arrived.: I left the vessel last Sunday, and until I left I saw him continually on board. He was in the galley as cook. He wore the uniform. I have seen him in the forecastle in the day time—after breakfast and during the dinner hour. He used to have his breakfast,in the forecastle. When visitors were on board he was in the forecastle. After they had gone I used to see him in the galley. He slept between decks in a hammock. I have spoken to him about the henandoah, and he told me he had joined her as cook. I have not heard the officers speak or give orders to him.
The prisoner said he did not Wish to ask any questions. Witness recalled:
While I was on board I never saw any officer go into the forecastle to see who was there.
To Mr. Call: The master-at-arms was the officer in charge of the forecastle.
Alexander Minto sworn:
I am a senior constable of water police stationed at Williamstown. I was in charge of the police-boat on the night of the 14th instant; shortly after 9 o’clock, at the patent slip on [Page 525] which the Shenandoah was, I saw a boat haul up to the gangway of the Shenandoah. One of the officers of the Shenandoah was standing at the gangway; he had his uniform on. I saw one of the boatmen, George Nicholls, go on board, and in a short time, a second or two, four men, James Davidson among them, came down to the boat. Another waterman, Clarke, remained in the boat. When I saw the four men go into the boat, I hauled alongside and spoke to them, Charley being present. I asked them who they were, and what they had been doing on board.
To Mr. Call: I think the officer at the gangway could have heard me.
To Mr. McDonnell: They said they had been working at day work on board. One of them had a bundle in his breast. I heard a call of George from the ship, which I took to be from the officer at the gangway, and immediately I saw Nicholls come and slide down into the boat. The boat then at once pulled ahead. I followed them, but lost sight of them on the water. I returned at once to the patent slip, and ran up to the railway station, and saw two of them on the platform. I searched and found the two others in the water-closet. Charley was one of the two that were walking on the railway platform. I went to them and asked them why they hurried away from the ship so quickly. They seemed to hesitate, and then said, “Oh! the Shenandoah you mean.” I think it was Charley who said that. They asked what I wanted, and spoke of the train having just started, and I told them there was another. I asked them to accompany me, and they did so. On the way I spoke to all of them. Charley said he was sorry he had to leave her; that he had sold everything he had to join the ship. I asked him what ship he had been in last, and he said he came out from London in the Indemnity. I took them to Mr. Lyttleton, superintendent of police.
The prisoner asked the witness no questions.
Thomas H. Lyttleton sworn:
I am a superintendent of police. On the morning of the 14th I went on board the Shenandoah, while she was on the patent slip. I saw Captain Waddell. I believe he is the captain of the vessel. I went on board to ask him to allow me to execute a warrant. (The witness was then asked as to his conversation with Captian Waddell, but the question was ruled to be inadmissible, although it was explained that the object was to prove the nationality. The bench said Mr. Lyttleton’s own conclusions could be taken.) I saw a flag on board, which I believe to belong to the Confederate States of America. I had with me the warrant produced, and I told him the purpose for which I went on board, but I was not allowed to effect it. I know the vessel to be commissioned by the Confederate States of America. The warrant was for the arrest of one Charley, but I was not allowed to execute it. I was a quarter of an hour on board. I am able to say she is a confederate States vessel.
To Mr. Call: I had bad a description of Charley, and saw him during that night. I recognized him, and had a conversation with him. He was brought to me by Senior Constable Minto, and I at once said, “I believe you are the very Charley I want.” He laughed, and said it was a great joke on board about Charley being wanted. He said he was not the man. He said he was cooking for the wardroom mess, and I said I thought he looked like a cook. I sent him to the lock-up with two constables. He said he had been a few days on board, and that he picked up his meals from among the men. He expressed disappointment at not being able to go.
The prisoner asked the witness no questions.
Mr. McDonnell stated that that was his case.
The court, then adjourned for half an hour, and on resuming—
Mr. McDonnell asked the bench to give their decision, as otherwise he should not be in a position to proceed with the other cases.
Mr. Call stated that the bench were prepared, to give their decision, and then asked the prisoner the ordinary questions.
The prisoner said that he had never given the name of Charley. The statement was false altogether, and they had perjured themselves who said so.
Mr. Call (addressing the prisoner.) The bench are of opinion that you have brought yourself within the act referred to, and have so served on board a vessel fitted out for warlike purposes. You are therefore committed to take your trial at the supreme court. Bail will be allowed, yourself in £50, and one surety in £50, or two in £25 each. He was then removed.
Franklin Glover was then placed in the dock.
Mr. McDonnell said that there was no evidence against him, and that the case would therefore be withdrawn. He was an American.
The bench then ordered his discharge, and he was set at liberty.
William Mackenzie was then brought forward
When the information was read over to him, he stated that he had nothing to say.
John Williams was then recalled:
He said: I first saw the prisoner on board on 29th of January. He wore citizen clothes— no uniform at all. When visitors were on board he was in the forecastle; when they left, he was out on deck. I never saw any of the officers speaking to him. I never had any conversation with him, and he never spoke to me more than to ask when the ship was going away. I said I did not know. I cooked the grub and sent it to the prisoner by the boy. [Page 526] I saw the forecastle door unlocked after supper, when the visitors had gone ashore, by the master-at-arms. After it was unlocked, I saw the prisoner come out on deck.
The prisoner said the forecastle door was open all day.
Witness (to the prisoner. ) You had been on board for three days without regular rations, when I went to Mr. Grimball, the second lieutenant, and asked what was to be done with you and the others in the forecastle, and he gave me directions to the master-at-arms to get rations and supply them to you in the forecastle, the same as the others. I got them cooked and supplied them to you in the forecastle.
To Mr. McDonnell; The prisoner slept in the berth deck.
The prisoner said he slept in the forecastle.
Witness (to Mr. Call). There were about twelve men in the forecastle who had come from the shore and wanted to join the ship. None of them arrived with the ship.
Walter J. Madden recalled, deposed:
About four or five days after I arrived in the Shenandoah I saw the prisoner on board. He was not engaged in anything. When I left on the 7th February he was then on board. He was in the forecastle, and his meals were carried in to him. When the visitors had gone he used to come out on deck in the evenings. He used to sleep in the berth deck. He spoke to me with reference to joining the ship. He said he had not been long going to sea, and that he would like to join as ordinary seaman. He said he came on board to join the vessel. I did not hear any orders given by any of the officers to him.
To the prisoner: It was the night she broke adrift that you remarked to me you had not been long going to sea, and that you would like to join as ordinary seaman.
Charles Bincker recalled, deposed:
I first saw the prisoner on board the Shenandoah about five days after we arrived here. He holystoned the deck on Saturday last. He wore his own clothes, and was on board when I left the vessel on Sunday last. He slept in the berth deck and had his meals in the forecastle, the door at the time being locked. I have seen the master-at-arms open the door while the prisoner was there, as he always was when visitors were on board. I had no conversation with him. I do not know who ordered him to holystone the deck.
Herman Vecker recalled, said:
The prisoner came on board about five days after we arrived here. He worked on deck with the holystones. For the first four or five days he was in my mess between decks, but after that he received his meals in the forecastle, where he was when visitors came on board. I do not know who told him to go to work. I did not have any conversation with him. When he first came on board there were no locks on the doors, but afterwards, when more men came, there were two locks. I have seen the quartermaster unlock the door and hand meals in to the prisoner.
The prisoner asked this witness no questions.
Alexander Minto was then recalled, and deposed to the arrest of the prisoner, in much the same terms as in the previous case. The prisoner said he had lately been in the hospital, and that he had taken six trips in the City of Hobart. He also said, “I am sorry I cannot go in her now: I should like to have gone in her.”
Richard Wardle the watch-house keeper, was then recalled to prove the entry made on the night of the prisoner’s arrest, from which it appeared he declared himself an Englishman.
Thomas H. Lyttleton, superintendent of police, repeated his former evidence.
That being the case for the Crown, the bench retired to consider their decision.
After a short absence they returned, and the prisoner was asked whether he had anything to say in his defence.
The prisoner said: All I can say is, that I was not aware that I was, breaking any law in going to join this vessel. I have been out of a ship for some time, and I thought I might as well try and get some employment as soon as possible.
Mr. Call. I do not think you are mending your case by making such statements.
Prisoner. I have nothing more to say.
Mr. Call (to Mr. McDonnell.) The suprema court is now sitting: is it contemplated that, the case shall now come on during these sittings ?
Mr. McDonnell. It is not so intended.
Mr. Call. Then we might commit them to the general sessions, as it would save time and not keep them in custody so long.
Some discussion then ensued as to whether such a course was permitted, and upon reference it appeared that it was not.
The prisoner was then committed to take his trial at the supreme court, the same bail as in the other case being allowed. He was then removed.
Arthur Walmsley was then brought forward. When the information was read over to him he denied that he went on board the Shenandoah for the purpose of joining her.
Mr. Superintendent Lyttleton deposed to having seen the prisoner on the night of the 14th instant; he said he had, been on board a few days.
Prisoner. I said I had been on board only one day.
[Page 527]Witness (to the bench.) I cannot recollect exactly what time he said.
Watch-house-keeper Wardle was recalled, and read the entry made when the prisoner was locked up, from which it appeared he described himself as an Englishman.
Charles Bincker recalled, deposed:
I first saw the prisoner on board the Shenandoah after we arrived here. He was painting between-decks on Saturday last. He took his meals with No. 2 mess. He was sometimes in the forecastle and sometimes on deck. He slept in the berth deck. He was on board when I left the vessel. I had no conversation with him. He wore his own clothes.
Herman Vecker recalled, deposed:
I first saw the prisoner on board on the 7th February; when I left the vessel on Sunday he was on board. He slept in the berth deck, and had his meals with No. 2 mess. I have seen him do work on board. I. asked him what he was doing on board the Shenandoah, and he said, “I will join as a seaman before the mast.” At that time he had been two days on board.
Prisoner. Look here, sir; if I was going to die this very minute, I never spoke to that man there, and if Fox were here he would prove it. I went on board simply to see Fox,. who came from the same town as I did.
Witness (to the bench.) Fox is a quarter gunner.-
Senior Constable Minto then repeated his evidence. The prisoner when arrested said he had gone on board on the day before to see a person who had come from the same town as himself.
That concluded the case.
Mr. Call asked the prisoner whether there were any witnesses that he could call, such as persons from Melbourne, who could say that he was on shore and not on board the ship.
The prisoned said that Captain Duncan Graham, of the Potomac lighter, could prove that he was living on board the lighter up to Tuesday morning. There were several other captains of lighters who could prove the same.
Mr. Call then, directed the police to obtain the names and addresses of such persons and to insure their attendance.
The prisoner was then remanded until 11 o’clock on the following day, that the evidence might be produced.
The coiai then rose.
[Untitled]
There was no meeting of the legislative assembly yesterday, owing to a quorum of members not being present.
The four men who were arrested in the attempt to escape from the Confederate States cruiser Shenandoah, on Tuesday night last, were brought up at the Williamstown police court yesterday, charged with infringing the foreign enlistment act by entering or agreeing to enlist themselves in the service of the Confederate States on board that vessel. The court was crowded during the whole day, and considerable interest was manifested is the proceedings. After some discussion it was resolved to take each case separately, and that of Davidson, alias Charley, to search for whom the warrant was issued, was first proceeded with. It was shown by several witnesses, who were until lately members of the crew of the Shenandoah, that the man was not seen on board until after the vessel arrived in these waters; that he was employed as cook except when visitors were on board, during which time he was locked up in the forecastle; that he had been told by the first lieutenant to keep out of sight ‘until the vessel was out of the port, when he should be enlisted, and that he had spoken to the witnesses of his desire to join the vessel. He was committed for trial at the next criminal sessions, as was also Mackenzie, who, when called on to speak in his own defence, added evidence to that previously given against him. Glover, who, when arrested, declared himself an American, was discharged, it being stated there was no evidence against him. Walmsley, a boy of about seventeen years of age, and against whom the case is somewhat slight, stands remanded until to-day, that he may call evidence to rebut some of the statements made by the witnesses for the prosecution.
The captain of the Shenandoah does not appear desirous of losing any time in taking his departure from this port. The crew were busily engaged during yesterday in taking in coal, and towards evening the sails were being uncovered. It is understood that the vessel will leave to-morrow.
[Enclosure No. 54.]
Testimony of Edward P. Nichols, 2d mate of the late bark Delphine:
I, Edward P. Nichols, do solemnly declare that I am a citizen of Searsport, Maine, and have sailed on board bark Delphine from the 23d day of March, 1861, up to the 29th day of [Page 528] December, 1864; that she sailed from Gravesend on the 12th October, 1864, bound to Akyab; that everything went on well until the 29th December, when we saw a ship on our lee bow, steering a little more to the southward than we were. As we came up with her she had every appearance of a merchant ship. After awhile she hoisted the English ensign, and we hoisted the American ensign. She being Very near in our course we ran across her stern, and, as we opened out to leeward, we saw her guns. She then fired a gun and hoisted the confederate flag, having hauled down the English flag a short time before; that we immediately hove to; that they then sent a boat to us with two officers and boat’s crew; that one officer went to Captain Nichols and asked him to show his papers; that after looking at the papers he sent the captain and first mate on board the steamer with the other officer, leaving an officer and one man on board armed with cutlass and revolvers; that Captain Nichols was brought back with orders to pack up his clothes, and all on board were ordered to do the same; that they took all cabin stores, liquors, charts, nautical books and instruments, and sent them on board of the steamer, with all hands that belonged to the Delphine; they then set fire to the Delphine, and that is the last I know of her; that after I got on board of the Shenandoah, as they said she was called, we were (the captain, mate, and myself) told to sign a parole not to bear arms or do anything against the confederate cause; that two days before we landed we had a second parole brought for us to sign, with an addition to the first, that we would give no information that we might have gained while on board, and were told that that meant if we knew where she was going to keep it quiet; but I will say this, and. not break the parole, that her life buoy had the name Sea King; that her knives, forks, spoons, all bore the name Sea King; that I heard the officers say she was out on this coast (Australia) last year with. troops; that I heard the officers say, when they heard the report that was in the papers stating that the Sea King ran on a rock and was lost, “A sharp man, that fellow; but she is not lost yet, for here she is, going into Melbourne under the name of Shenandoah.”
EDWARD P. NICHOLS, 2d Mate of late Bark Delphine.
Subscribed and sworn to before me in duplicate this 3d day of February, 1865, as witness, my hand and seal of office.
[SEAL.]
[Enclosure No. 55.]
Testimony of Edward T. Lingo.
I, Edward T. Lingo, of St. Louis, Missouri, do solemnly declare on oath that I shipped as steward, with my wife as stewardess, on the 1st day of October, 1864, on board the American bark Delphine, in London, England; that I saile in said capacity on board said bark from London on the 12th of October, 1864; that nothing unusual occurred until the 29th day of December, 1864, when we fell in with a steamship flying the English ensign. Said steamer fired a blank shot for us to heave to, at the same time lowering the English ensign and hoisting a confederate flag; that the said bark was then boarded by an officer in uniform from a boat from said steamer, the two officers of which boat were armed; that the said boarding officer, who I afterwards learned was named, Bullock, ordered Captain Nichols and the first mate to take all the ship’s papers and go on board said steamer; that Captain Nichols and the mate did so, said Bullock taking charge of said bark during their absence; that afterwards said Bullock ordered all hands to pack up and go on board said steamer, which order I and my wife and all hands obeyed; that after going on board said steamer I was told by Mr. Whittle, first lieutenant, that I could take my choice either to remain in the cabin of said steamer, wait on Mr. and Mrs. Nichols and others, or go in irons; that I then consented to serve as he said to avoid punishment; that I remained on board said steamer, serving as aforesaid, until the steamer arrived in the port of Melbourne, where I signed a parole, and was than allowed to come ashore.
E. T. LINGO.
Subscribed and sworn to in duplicate before me this 11th day of February, 1865, as witness my hand and seal of office.
[SEAL.]
[Enclosure No. 56.]
Testimony of Mary Lingo.
I, Mary Lingo, wife of Edward T. Lingo, of St. Louis, Missouri, and stewardess on board, late bark Delphine, do declare on oath that I shipped as stewardess on board the bark Delphine, in London, on the 1st October, 1864; that I sailed from London in the said bark about the 12th October, and that nothing unusual occurred until the 29th December, 1864, [Page 529] when the said bark was boarded by armed men from a steamer, and I, with the rest of the crew, was ordered on board said steamer by a person in uniform, who I afterwards learned was Mr. Bullock, an officer of the Confederate States of America; that upon going on board said steamer I learned first, from a boy called James on board, that said steamer was called Shenandoah, and that she sailed from London as Sea King; that I found Sea King on the plate and table-cloth; that I have now with me a knife marked “Sea King,” also a fork marked Sea King,” which I brought from said vessel when I left her in the port of Melbourne! on the 29th January, 1865, and which I now produce.
MARY LINGO.
Subscribed and sworn to in duplicate before me this 16th day of February, 1865, as witness my hand and seal of office.
[SEAL.]