380 



DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 



addressed a letter to Earl Russell stating the 

 disbelief of the President that these proceed- 

 ings had been sanctioned by her Majesty's Gov- 

 ernment, but if they had been, he requested 

 such action in the proper quarter as might lead 

 to a rectification of the error. 



On the 25th of March, Earl Russell replied 

 that coal had arrived at Nassau in the-schooners 

 Stetson and Perry, which could hardly be de- 

 scribed as a deposit of coal existing at Nassau, 

 although it was doubtless the coal referred to. 

 On the arrival of the Stetson, the coal appeared 

 by the vessel's papers to have been shipped by 

 the Navy Department. The governor there- 

 fore gave directions that the coal should be ad- 

 mitted to an entry and landing, but that the 

 United States Consul should be informed that 

 it could not be permitted to be used in any 

 manner which might involve a breach of the 

 Queen's proclamation of the 13th of May, 1861, 

 and particularly that the coaling at Nassau of 

 vessels of war of either of the belligerent 

 powers could not be allowed without the ex- 

 press sanction of her Majesty's Government 

 having been first obtained. Meantime the 

 Perry arrived, laden with coal. On the llth 

 of Dec. the U. S. war steamer Flambeau ar- 

 rived, and on the next day the American Con- 

 sul applied for permission to land the cargo of 

 the Stetson, as she was leaking badly, or to dis- 

 charge a part of it on board the Flambeau. 

 Permission was given to him to land the 

 coal, but not to tranship it to the Flambeau. 

 The coal was not however landed. The Consul 

 then complained that the Confederate vessel 

 Theodora had been supplied with coal by a 

 merchant, to which the governor, in reply, said, 

 that the Theodora was a merchant vessel trad- 

 ing to the port at Nassau, and that being pro- 

 pelled by steam, it was necessary, to enable her 

 to pursue her occupation as a trader , that she 

 should be supplied with coal. The furnishing 

 this necessary article, therefore, for her use by 

 a merchant in the way of trade, was perfectly 

 lawful, and could not be construed into a breach 

 of neutrality. On the other hand, the Flam- 

 beau was avowedly an armed vessel in the ser- 

 vice of the Federal Government. To supply 

 her with coal might facilitate her belligerent 

 operations, and this would constitute an infrac- 

 tion of the neutrality prescribed by the Queen's 

 proclamation. The object of the authorities at 

 Nassau was to preserve a strict neutrality, and 

 her Majesty's Government could not therefore 

 withhold from the governor the approval to 

 which he was entitled for the course which he 

 had pursued. 



It was also pointed out that the cases of the 

 James Adger and the Nashville at Southamp- 

 ton were not parallel cases. Those vessels 

 were some thousands of miles distant from 

 their respective homes, and to them, conse- 

 quently, coal was an article of real necessity ; 

 whereas the Flambeau was within a very short 

 distance of the ports of her own nation, Key 

 West, for instance, where her necessities could 



readily be supplied. The application of the 

 United States Consul was not founded on the 

 necessities of the Flambeau, but on the alleged 

 necessities of the Stetson. The view taken of 

 this decision is thus stated by Mr. Seward in 

 a despatch to Mr. Adams, dated April 16 : " The 

 approval of the British Government of the pro- 

 ceedings of the governor of Nassau is regarded 

 by the President as unfriendly toward a power 

 that extends unrestricted hospitalities to the 

 naval as well as the mercantile marine of Great 

 Britain in its ports and harbors. The griev- 

 ance is not sensibly alleviated by the fact that 

 the Government of her Majesty are able to rec- 

 oncile it with a proclamation issued by her 

 Majesty in May last, conceding the rights of a 

 belligerent to the insurgents in arms against 

 the United States. The explanation obliges us 

 to renew the declaration this Government has 

 so often made, that it regards the proclamation 

 itself as unnecessary, unfriendly, and injurious." 



The next subject of interest related to the 

 preparation of the steam gunboat Oreto, which 

 has subsequently appeared as a cruiser of the 

 Confederate navy. On the 18th of February, 

 Mr. Adams writes to Earl Russell that he had 

 been informed of the preparation at Liverpool 

 of an armed steamer, evidently intended for 

 hostile operations on the ocean. In reply, 

 Earl Russell stated that the commissioners of 

 the customs at Liverpool reported that she was 

 built for certain parties in Liverpool, and in- 

 tended for the use of Thomas, Brothers, of 

 Palermo, one of whom had frequently visited the 

 vessel during the process of building that she 

 had taken nothing on board but coal and bal- 

 last that she was not fitted for the reception 

 of guns ; nor were the builders aware that she 

 was to be supplied with guns whilst she remain- 

 ed in England, and the collector at Liverpool 

 stated that he had every reason to believe that 

 the vessel was for the Italian Government 

 also that special directions had been given to 

 the officers at Liverpool to watch the move- 

 ments of the vessel. Mr. Adams subsequently 

 writes to Mr. Seward "the nominal destina- 

 tion of the Oreto to Sicily is the only advan- 

 tage which appears to have been derived from 

 my attempt to procure the interference of the 

 Government to stop her departure." 



On the 25th of March, Mr. Adams writes 

 again to Earl Russell, enclosing a letter from 

 the American Consul at Liverpool, stating cer- 

 tain facts relative to the Oreto. Mr. Adams 

 says: "It is with great reluctance that I am 

 driven to the conviction that the representations 

 made to your lordship of the purposes and des- 

 tination of that vessel were delusive, and that 

 though at first it may have been intended for 

 service in Sicily, yet that such an intention has 

 been long since abandoned in fact, and the pre- 

 tence has been held up only the better to con- 

 ceal the true object of the parties engaged. 

 That object is to make war on the United 

 States. All the persons thus far known to be 

 most connected with the undertaking are either 



