DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 



381 



directly employed by the insurgents in the 

 United States of America, or residents of Great 

 Britain, notoriously in sympathy with, and 

 giving aid and comfort to them on this side of 

 the water." 



On the 8th of April, Earl Russell replied to 

 Adams, enclosing a report from the Lords 

 Commissioners of her Majesty's treasury, which 

 states that the Oreto was registered on the 3d 

 of March in the name of John Henry Thomas, 

 of Liverpool, as sole owner, that she cleared 

 on the following day for Palermo and Jamaica 

 in ballast, but did not sail until the 22d, having 

 a crew of fifty-two men, all British with the 

 exception of three or four, one of whom was 

 an American. She had no gunpowder, nor 

 even a signal gun, and no colors save Mar- 

 ryatt's code of signals and a British ensign, nor 

 any goods on board excepting the stores enu- 

 merated in an accompanying copy of her vic- 

 tualling bill. 



On the 15th of April, a conference took place 

 between Mr. Adams and Earl Russell. Its close 

 is thus stated by the former : 



In the case of the Oreto, upon which I had addressed 

 a note to him, he had directed an investigation to be 

 made, and the authorities at Liverpool had reported 

 fiat there was no ground for doubting the legality o 

 her voyage. 



I replied that this was exactly what gave such un- 

 pleasant impressions to us in America. The Oreto, by 

 the very paper furnished from the custom-house, was 

 shown to be laden with a hundred and seventy tons of 

 arms, and to have persons called troops on board, des- 

 tined for Palermo and Jamaica. The very statement 

 of the case was enough to show what was really in- 

 tended. The fact of her true destination was notorious 

 all over Liverpool. Xo commercial people were blind 

 to it. And the course taken by her Majesty's officers 

 in declaring ignorance only led to an inference most 

 unfavorable to all idea of their neutrality in the strug- 

 gle. It was just such action as this that was making 

 the difficulties of our Government in the way of giving 

 the facilities to the supply of cotton, which they hoped 

 to furnish in a short time if the whole control of means 

 to put an end to the contest was left to them. 



His lordship concluded by a polite expression of re- 

 gret at these circumstances, at the same time that he 

 could not see how the Government could change its 

 position. 



The assertion of Mr. Adams relative to troops 

 &c. is not sustained by the copy of the paper 

 from the custom house contained in this volume 

 of documents. The only part referring to 

 troops and guns is as follows: 



'Men. 52; passengers or troops, : guns, 



; 178 tons." 



Again, on the 26th of June, Mr. Seward writes 

 to Mr. Adams that a gunboat called the Oreto, 

 built in England for the service of the insur- 

 gents, with ports and bolts for twenty guns, 

 and other equipments, arrived at Nassau ; and 

 that the United States Consul, on the basis of 

 the facts relative to her, made a protest upon 

 the subject and she was seized by the authori- 

 ties. She was, however, released soon after, on 

 the arrival at Nassau of Capt. Semmes, late of the 



ident to protest against, as it seemed to be par- 

 ticularly at variance with her Majesty's proc- 

 lamation of neutrality and to ask the consid- 

 eration of her Majesty's Government upon the 

 proceeding as one calculated to alarm the Gov- 

 ernment and people of the United States. The 

 subject was duly brought to the notice of Earl 

 Russell, who, on the 29th of August, replied 

 that the Oreto had been seized at Nassau, and 

 was to be tried before the admiralty court for 

 a breach of the foreign enlistment act. This 

 was accompanied by the statements of the col- 

 lector, surveyor and inspector of the port of 

 Liverpool, and the affidavit of the pilot, that 

 the vessel, when she went to sea, had no muni- 

 tions of war in her, that is guns, carriages, 

 shot, shell, or powder. 



No further reference is made to the Oreto in 

 this correspondence, but the 290, or Alabama, 

 is introduced as a more formidable object. On 

 the 23d of June, Mr. Adams writes to Earl Rus- 

 sell, saying: '! am now under the painful 

 necessity of apprising your lordship that a new 

 and still more powerful war steamer is nearly 

 ready for departure from the port of Liverpool 

 on the same errand as the Oreto. This vessel 

 has been built and launched from the dockyard 

 of persons, one of whom is now sitting as a 

 member of the House of Commons, and is 

 fitting out for the especial and manifest object 

 of carrying on hostilities by sea." Accompa- 

 nying this was a letter from the United States 

 Consul at Liverpool in confirmation of there 

 and other statements. 



The subject was immediately referred to the 

 Lords Commissioners of her Majesty's treasury, 

 who, on the 1st of July, report that the fitting 

 out of the vessel had not escaped the notice of 

 the revenue officers, but that as yet nothing 

 had transpired concerning her which had ap- 

 peared to demand a special report. The vessel 

 was intended for a ship of war, reported to be 

 built for a foreign government, but as yet had 

 neither guns nor carriages on board, and the 

 builders did not appear disposed to reply to 

 any questions respecting the destination of the 

 vessel after she left Liverpool. Their solicitor, 

 however, reported his opinion that there was 

 not at that time sufficient ground to warrant 

 the detention of the vessel, or any interference 

 by the department. The Consul at Liverpool 

 was then instructed by Mr. Adams to lay his 

 evidence before the Commissioners. At the 

 same time, he called Capt. Craven, in command 

 of the U. S. gunboat Tuscarora, to Southamp- 

 ton. To Capt. Craven was given all the informa- 

 tion respecting the objects and destination of 

 the 290 in possession of Mr. Adams, who 

 advised him to take such measures as might 

 in his opinion be effective to intercept her on 

 her way out. 



Meanwhile evidence was procured of the 

 character and objects of the vessel by the U. S. 



Sumter, and was about to start on a privateer- Consul at Liverpool, which, in the opinion of a 

 ing cruise. This release by the authorities of Queen's solicitor, was sufficient to justify the 

 Nassau, Mr. Seward was instructed by the Pres- collector of the port in seizing the vessel", and 



