Mr. Adams to Mr.
Seward
No. 1039.]
Legation of the United States,
London:
September 7, 1865.
Sir: In connexion with your despatch, No. 1481,
of the 20th July, directing me to make a demand for the restoration of
the St. Mary’s to her owners, I have the honor to transmit copies of my
note to Lord Russell, of the 10th of August, and of his reply on the
16th of the same month.
I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
Mr. Adams to Earl Russell
Legation oF the United
States,
London,
August 10, 1865.
My Lord: From information received
officially by my government, there is reason to believe that the
person named John G. Braine—heretofore doubtless known to your
lordship in connexion with certain outrages on the steamers
Chesapeake and Roanoke, from the consequences of which he took
refuge in her Majesty’s colonial possessions—had once more made his
appearance off the port of Kingston, in the island of Jamaica, some
time in the month of June last in a schooner named the St. Mary’s,
and belonging to certain parties in the United States, which had
been seized by him and his coadjutors on the 1st of April previous,
at the mouth of the Patuxent river, on the Chesapeake bay. It
further appears that this vessel was ultimately carried into the
port of Anotta bay, on the north side of the island, where she now
remains abandoned by these parties. Braine is stated to have escaped
to some point on this side of the Atlantic.
Moreover, it is stated that a claim for the restoration of this
vessel has been made by the vice-consul of the United States upon
the governor of the island, for the benefit of the true owners, who
are citizens of the United States.
I have the honor to inform your lordship that I am instructed to
solicit an investigation of these allegations so far as they relate
to the attempt further to abuse the neutrality of her Majesty’s
territory, after all pretence of an insurgent authority had
disappeared in America. And should the facts prove to be as stated,
I am directed, respectfully, to demand that the vessel be restored
to its owners, as well as to suggest to your lordship the expediency
of giving the necessary powers to the colonial authorities of that
island to place her at the disposal of the vice-consul of the United
States at Kingston, with a view to that end.
I pray your lordship to accept the assurances of the highest
consideration with which I have the honor to be, my lord, your
lordship’s most obedient servant,
The Right Honorable Earl Russell, &c.
[Page 536]
Earl Russell to Mr. Adams
Foreign Office,
August 16, 1865.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of your letter of the 10th instant, relative to a schooner
named the St. Mary’s, which has been taken to Anotta bay, in the
island of Jamaica, and is claimed by the United States government on
behalf of the owners, and I have to inform you that the case of this
vessel has been referred to the land officers of the Crown.
I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,
Charles Francis Adams, Esq., &c.
