350 



DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 



elusion of your letter you state that the Government of 

 the United States are not disposed to act dogmatically, 

 or in a spirit of litigation ; that they desire to maintain 

 amity as well as peace; that they fully comprehend 

 how unavoidably reciprocal grievances must grow up 

 from the divergence of the policy of the two countries 

 in regard to the present insurrection. You add further, 

 that the United States frankly confess themselves un- 

 willing to regard the present hour as the most favor- 

 able to a calm and candid examination by either party 

 of the facts or principles involved in cases like the one 

 now in question. With this declaration her Majesty's 

 Government may well be content to await the time 

 when a calm and candid examination of the facts and 

 principles involved in the case of the Alabama may, in 

 the opinion of the Government of the United States, 

 usefully be undertaken. 



In the meantime I must request you to believe that 

 the principle contended for by her Majesty's Govern- 

 ment is not that of commissioning, equipping, and 

 manning vessels in our ports to cruise against either 

 of the belligerent parties a principle which was so 

 justly and unequivocally condemned by the President 

 of the United States in 1793, as recorded by Mr. Jeffer- 

 son in his letter to Mr. Hammond of the' 5th of May 

 of that year. But the British Government must de- 

 cline to be responsible for the acts of parties who fit out 

 a seeming merchant ship, send her to a port or to wa- 

 ters far from the jurisdiction of British courts, and there 

 commission, equip, and man her as a vessel of war. 



Her Majesty s Government fear that if an admitted 

 principle were thus made elastic to suit a particular 

 case, tne trade of ship-building, in which our people 

 excel, and which is to great numbers of them a source 

 of honest livelihood, would be seriously embarrassed 

 and impeded. I may add, that it appears strange 

 that, notwithstanding the large and powerful naval 

 force possessed by the Government of the United 

 States, no efficient measures have been taken by the 

 Government to capture the Alabama. 



On our part I must declare that to perform the duties 

 of neutrals fairly and impartially, and at the same time 

 to maintain the spirit of British law, and protect the 

 lawful industry of the Queen's subjects, is the object 

 of her Majesty's Government, and they trust that the 

 Government of the United States will recognize their 

 earnest desire to preserve, in the difficult circumstances 

 of the present time, the relations of amity between the 

 two nations. 



I have the honor to be, with the highest considera- 

 tion, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, 



RUSSELL. 



CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Esq., &.c., &c. 



This concludes the correspondence daring 

 the year on the important subject of claims 

 against the British Government, arising out of 

 the destruction done hy the Alabama. 



"While this correspondence was going on, 

 Mr. Adams was informed that other vessels, 

 some of which were ironclads, were in process 

 of construction in British ports, and intended 

 for the use of the Confederate naval service. 

 These facts were represented to Earl Russell, 

 and a correspondence ensued, which resulted in 

 a determination on the part of the British Gov- 

 ernment to detain all such vessels, until it was 

 satisfactorily shown that they were not intended 

 for hostile purposes against the United States. 

 The first of the vessels thus detained was called 

 the Alexandra. This case became a subject of 

 investigation in the English courts, and the fol- 

 lowing is a report of the proceedings : 

 Cote of the Alexandra. 



Mr. Adams, on the 26th of March, called the 

 attention of the foreign office of the British 



Government to the allegations that certain ves- 

 sels in preparation at Liverpool were designed 

 to carry on hostilities a/ ainst the United States. 

 In his communication of that date to Lord Rus- 

 sell, he transmitted a copy of an extract of a 

 letter from Mr. Dudley, the U. S. consul at 

 Liverpool. This letter of Mr. Dudley under 

 date of March 24th. gives information of the 

 launch, at Liverpool, of an iron screw steamer 

 called the Phantom, and the arrival of a 

 steamer called the Southerner, with the opin- 

 ion that they were both intended to be used as 

 privateers. The proper departments of the 

 English Government were requested to make 

 immediate inquiries on the subject, as Earl 

 Russell informed Mr. Adarns on March 27th. 

 On the 28th he writes to Mr. Adams that 

 the mayor of Liverpool is instructed to report 

 whether any evidence on oath can be procured 

 showing that the vessels, or either of them, 

 were being equipped, fitted out or armed with 

 intent to commit hostilities against the United 

 States, in order to proceedings being taken un- 

 der the Foreign Enlistment Act. On the 30th of 

 March the equipment of another steamer called 

 the Alexandra, at Liverpool, was brought to 

 the notice of Earl Russell, and an investigation 

 into the circumstances of the equipment led to 

 her seizure in the first part of April, and the 

 determination hy the English law officers to 

 proceed in the first instance against the vessel 

 and not against the persons engaged in fitting 

 her out. An information was filed by the At- 

 torney General on behalf of her Majesty against 

 twelve persons (including the builders of the 

 ship), alleging the forfeiture of the vessel Alex- 

 andra, which had been seized while lying in 

 the Toxteth dock, Liverpool, by desire of the 

 Government, by a custom-house officer named 

 Morgan, under the powers contained in the 7th 

 section of the Foreign Enlistment Act, 59th G. 

 III. chapter 69. The ship in question was 

 built by Messrs. Miller & Sons, and as soon as 

 launched was taken into the Toxteth dock, 

 where the defendants proceeded to fit her with 

 engines and a screw propeller. The defendants 

 having made an affidavit that the ship was 

 their property, they were allowed to enter an 

 appearance and defend their claim. The pres- 

 ent proceedings involve whether, under all the 

 circumstances, the step taken by the crown was 

 justifiable, and the defendants amenable to the 

 law under the section above referred to. The 

 information contains 98 counts, and is framed 

 upon the above section of the statute; and 

 charges in different forms that the vessel was 

 equipped, furnished, and fitted out with intent 

 to employ her in the service of the Confederate 

 States to cruise against the United States. To 

 these counts the claimants pleaded that the said 

 ship or vessel, furniture, tackle, and apparel did 

 not, nor did any or either of them, or any part 

 thereof, become nor is the same or any or 

 either of them, or any part thereof, forfeited 

 for the several supposed causes, in the said in- 

 formation mentioned, or for any or either of 





