Mr. Seward to Mr. Burnley.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, January 14, 1865. SIR: I have the honor to state, for the information of the proper authorities of her Majesty's government, that a reliable representation has been made to this department to the effect that the men of the late piratical steamer Florida, who went to Europe after the seizure of that vessel, have been ordered to rendezvous at Calais immediately, to join the pirate Shenandoah, lately called the Sea King; that the Shenandoah will be found in the neighborhood of Bermuda; that the men will go to that place, and be put on board by a blockade runner; and that the Shenandoah has only forty-three men on board, of whom not more that ten are sailors.

I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your obedient

servant,

J. HUME BURNLEY, Esq., &c., &c., &c.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

Mr. Seward to Mr. Burnley.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, January 16, 1865.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 3d instant, communicating to me a copy of the instructions of the 3d ultimo, addressed to the governor general of Canada by her Majesty's secretary of state for the colonial department, in regard to the extradition of the St. Albans felons, and informing me that the proceedings of Viscount Monck throughout the whole of the unfortunate occurrences growing out of their depredations have been approved by her Majesty's government. Thanking you for the information thus imparted, I have the honor to inform you that it will be taken into consideration. I have the honor to be, with the highest regard, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

J. HUME BURNLEY, Esq., &c., &c., &c.

Mr. Burnley to Mr. Seward.

WASHINGTON, January 17, 1865.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 14th instant, and to inform you, in reply, that copies of it shall be forwarded to her Majesty's government and to the lieutenant governor of Bermuda.

I have the honer to be, with the highest respect, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, &c., &c., &c.

J. HUME BURNLEY.

Mr. Burnley to Mr. Seward.

WASHINGTON, January 17, 1865.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 14th instant, and to inform you, in reply, that copies of it shall be forwarded to her Majesty's government and to the lieutenant governor of Bermuda.

I have the honor to be, with the highest respect, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, &c., &c., &c.

J. HUME BURNLEY.

Mr. Seward to Mr. Burnley.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, January 18, 1865. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 10th instant, informing me, at the instance of Earl Russell, that the answer of this government in regard to the case of Hardcastle was entirely unsatisfactory to that of her Majesty's, and that her Majesty's government reserve and do not abandon their claim to compensation for the death of that person. In reply, I have the honor to inform you that it will receive my attention. Accept, sir, a renewed assurance of my high consideration.

J. HUME BURNLEY, Esq., &c., &c., &c.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

Mr. Seward to Mr. Burnley.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

:

Washington, January 18, 1865.

SIR Referring to your note of the 9th ultimo, requesting, at the instance of the owners of the Labuan, information concerning the progress made in the trial of the case, I have the honor to inform you, in reply, that in a letter of the 14th ultimo the United States district attorney states that he has made every effort to procure a speedy and final disposition of the whole matter by the court upon the testimony already on file, and that the attorneys representing the charterers of the Labuan, whose claim for damages is much larger than that of the owners of the vessel itself, have not co-operated with him to that end, and that the proceedings were delayed for their convenience.

I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your obedient servant,

J HUME BURNLEY, &c., &c., &c.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

Mr. Seward to Mr. Burnley.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, January 19, 1865.

My DEAR SIR: I give you, herewith, for your information, a copy of a despatch which, on the 16th instant, I addressed to Mr. Adams at London.* Believe me to be, my dear sir, very faithfully yours,

J. HUME BURNLEY, Esq., &c., &c., &c.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

Mr. Seward to Mr. Burnley.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, January 19, 1865.

SIR Referring to your note of the 6th ultimo, and to previous correspondence between her Majesty's legation and this department, relative to the alleged improper detention of the crew of the Night Hawk in prison, I have the honor

* See despatch No. 1237 to Mr. Adams current series.

DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE.

49

to inform you that the Secretary of the Navy, in a letter of the 17th instant, states that orders for the release of the officers of the Night Hawk were given on the 14th instant.

I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your obedient

servant,

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

J. HUME BURNLEY, Esq., &c., &c., &c.

Mr. Seward to Mr. Burnley.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, January 19, 1865.

SIR: Referring to your note of the 13th instant, in which you propose that the James Douglas may be brought to New York and there regularly appraised and a settlement made with the owners, I have the honor to enclose, in reply, a copy of a letter of the 31st ultimo from the Secretary of the Navy.

I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient

servant,

J. Hume BurnLEY, Esq., &c., &c., &c.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

Mr. Welles to Mr. Seward.

NAVY DEPARTMENT, December 31, 1864.

SIR: I have had the honor to receive your letter of the 28th instant, enclosing a copy of a note from J. Hume Burnley, esquire, in relation to the schooner James Douglas. The department has neither asserted any claims to the vessel in question, nor is aware that it has incurred any liability in relation to it. It came accidentally into the possession of officers of the navy, having been found abandoned at sea. The question of salvage is entirely between the individual salvors and the owner or owners. If the navy has had the use of the vessel, it has had the trouble and expense of taking care of it; but it declines to incur the expense of having the vessel towed to New York. It would be pleased, under the circumstances, to have the vessel taken off its hands as early as practicable, and can assume no responsibility for its safe-keeping.

I am, respectfully, your obedient servant,

GIDEON WELLES,

Secretary of the Navy.

Mr. Burnley to Mr. Seward.

WASHINGTON, January 20, 1865.

SIR: I have the honor to enclose copy of a despatch from the lieutenant governor of New Brunswick on the subject of the new passport regulations, to which I invite your attention. A glance at the map of New Brunswick will enable you the better to appreciate the remarks of Mr. Gordon.

I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, &c., &c., &c.

J. HUME BURNLEY.

50

DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE.

Mr. Gordon to Mr. Burnley.

FREDERICTON, N. B., January 12, 1865. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt to-day of your despatch of the 4th instant, relative to the intention of the United States government to require from travellers entering that country passports furnished by competent authority and countersigned by a diplomatic or consular agent of the United States.

I have to request that you will have the goodness to ask the Secretary of State of the United States what course it is intended to follow with respect to persons living at considerable distances from the residence of any consular agents of the United States. For instance, it is my intention to establish an agency for passports at the town of Woodstock. Is it intended that any person residing in Woodstock, and desirous of visiting the neighboring town of Moulton, in the United States, should, after providing himself with my passport, proceed, in the first instance, to St. John (a journey, including the return to Woodstock, of three or four hundred miles) to obtain the visa of the United States consul, in order to enable him to cross the frontier? This is by no means an idle question, for the intercourse between the towns referred to is considerable, and the same may be said with regard to other points on the frontier. It would seem reasonable that in such cases, by an arrangement not unusual in Europe, an officer of the United States at the town first reached after crossing the frontier might be permitted to give the requisite visa.

But without suggesting the steps which the United States government may think proper to take in consequence, it is right that I should state that the strict requirement of the counter signature of the consul at St. John to every passport issued by me will practically put an end to the intercourse at present happily prevailing between the citizens of the two States along the boundary lines-a result which I should greatly deplore, and which would, I doubt not, also be regretted by the United States government.

I have, &c.,

J. H. BURNLEY, Esq., &c., &c., &c.

Mr. Seward to Mr. Burnley.

ARTHUR H. GORDON.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, January 21, 1865.

SIR: I have the honor to acquaint you, for the information of the Canadian authorities, that it has been represented to this department, from a credible source, that enemies of the United States lurking in Canada are preparing to make a formidable incursion into the territory of the United States for the purpose of committing depredations at Burlington, in Vermont, and White Hall, in New York, while Lake Champlain shall remain frozen over, and to destroy the shipping in the harbors of those ports; that their plans are matured, and that the reason they have not already attempted their execution was the re-arrest of the St. Albans felons, which induced them to postpone the movement until the decision of the court in the case of those felons can be ascertained.

I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your obedient

servant,

J. HUME BURNLEY, Esq., Sc., &c., &c.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

:

Mr. Seward to Mr. Burnley.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, January 23, 1865.

SIR Information, which is believed to be reliable, has reached this department to the effect that a plan has been formed for the piratical seizure of American steamships plying between various ports on the Pacific coast of this continent; that it is proposed to effect this nefarious design by means of small but swift iron steamers armed with one gun; that they will be concealed in some of

DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE.

51

the many small bays and inlets abounding on the coast from the Gulf of Fonseca to San José, in Costa Rica; that two of these vessels are now on the way, or have arrived at St. Thomas from England in pieces; that they will be put together at St. Thomas or at Georgetown, Demerara, run down the coast, around Cape Horn, with the ostensible intention of plying around the Chincha islands; that the officers and prize crew will sail from New York to Havana, reporting there to Mr. Charles Helm, thence to St. Thomas, where a person named Andrews manages affairs, or did formerly. At a concerted time they will proceed to the Pacific shore of Costa Rica to meet the vessels and enter upon their piratical career. I will thank you to inform her Majesty's government of these proceedings, and to notify the authorities of Demerara and of other British colonies in that quarter of these projected violations of British neutrality, in order that prompt measures may be adopted for their prevention.

I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your obedient ser

vant.

J. HUME BURNLEY, Esq., &c., &c., sc.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

Mr Burnley to Mr. Seward.

WASHINGTON, January 23, 1865.

SIR: Of the vast amounts of cotton captured by General Sherman at Savannah, I am told that some ten thousand bales are the bona fide property of British subjects residing there and in England.

Mr. Sergeant, a medical gentleman resident at Savannah, called upon me yesterday and consulted with me upon the subject, placing in my hands various papers, which he had been deputed to hand over to me, of one of which I enclose a copy, as representing the actual state of the case. Mr. Sergeant informed me that the federal authorities contemplated Sending the whole of this cotton to New York for sale, the proceeds to be remitted to the United States treasury, and the owners to establish their claims before the courts.

As it appears to have been purchased during the year 1860 and 1861, and was intended for shipment for England upon the reopening of commerce, now happily not far distant, I would hope that pending an investigation of the claims it may be allowed to remain stored in Savannah, as the federal government have now a firm hold on the place, and there can be no question of its recapture, considering the important federal successes recently achieved

To the end, however, of establishing the rightful claims of the owners, I would propose to despatch an agent there, with the sanction of yourself, who would be deputed to place himself in communication with any authorized agent of the United States government, in order that it may be clearly and satisfactorily proved that such cotton belongs to bona fide neutral British merchants.

It is of the very utmost importance that this vast amount of cotton, if shown to be British property, and acquired in a legitimate way, should not be lost to its original owners, under any circumstances; and in the interests of the British subjects concerned, I feel bound to protest beforehand against any acts which in the hurry of military preparations may tend to obliterate or invalidate any just claims upon the captured property.

Awaiting an answer at your earliest convenience, I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, J. HUME BURNLEY.

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, &c., &c., &c.