structions from Earl Russell, the foreign office, or the American minister, as they were American subjects. This evening, as on the previous one, I succeeded in pacifying the crew by reasoning with them. On the following morning (November the 8th) the crew were getting riotous, and determined to remain on board no longer-eight or ten had already deserted. I therefore, in a letter to you, explained the excited state the crew were in, and that I had heard from one or two of the officers their determination to leave the vessel that evening at all risks; I should therefore be compelled to let them escape, or else detain them by force. The answer I received from you was that I was to act up to your orders, and the crew were to remain on board, but that you hoped soon to have instructions from London. I would call your attention to the excited state of the crew by their conduct in attempting to desert, many of them jumping on board the steamer and trying to conceal themselves when you came to muster and examine them, on which occasion I accompanied you into the cabin and heard you question Captain Waddell as to whether he believed any of his crew to be British subjects; he replied in the negative, and stated that he had shipped them all at sea. On your questioning the officers they also made the same statement. The first lieutenant mustered the crew from a book of his own-the only list found on board-and you stopped and questioned the men as they passed before you. Each one stated that he belonged to one or other of the States of America. The personal baggage of the officers and crew was examined by the custom-house officers, to prevent any American property being taken on shore. On the evening of the 9th of November, you again came on board the Shenandoah, and met the American consul in the cabin of a tug he had hired to bring him alongside. He then promised to send an officer to take charge of her, as a captured confederate cruiser, on behalf of the American government. On the 10th of November Captain Freeman came on board and took charge, under orders from the American consul, and in compliance with your memorandum I handed the vessel and stores over to him. On my leaving the Shenandoah Captain Freeman hoisted the American ensign and pendant, and proclaimed her a man-of-war. During the time I was on board I received no information, nor could I obtain any evidence, that any of the crew were British subjects. Had I done so, I should have arrested them, and immediately communicated with you for further instructions. I have, &c., &c., SIR: I have the honor to inform you, in reply to your despatch No. 8, of the 20th January, that I saw the officer commanding the Shenandoah upon only one occasion. That occasion was the celebration of divine service in the church which I attend habitually. I did not know who the stranger was until I received information on the subject. After the conclusion of the service he called to pay his respects to me at my office in Melbourne. I had not arrived at the office, and he left his card. He did not repeat his visit, and I have never exchanged a syllable orally with that gentleman. After this statement, I need scarcely say that I was not entertained, either publicly or privately, by him on board his vessel, and that he was not entertained in any way by me. I am certain that none of my ministers either offered to, or received from, him any attention. Captain Waddell and his officers were, I am aware, entertained at a dinner party at the Melbourne Club. This dinner was not given by the club, but by certain members of that association. I believe that some persons in the service of the civil government were among the hosts on this occasion. The entertainment, however, was a private one. Some of the officers of the Shenandoah proceeded to Ballarat, I believe, upon invitation to attend a subscription ball. They were most enthusiastically received at that place, as they were by the commercial body of Melbourne generally. The gentleman whose name is represented by a blank in Mr. Temple's statement was no doubt a southern citizen who had been the American consul in Melbourne. If any functionary answering to the description of the English government engineer visited the Shenandoah, I am sure it was for the purpose of inspecting the progress of the work, and informing the government of the prospect of being relieved of the presence of the vessel. It is quite possible, of course, that he made suggestions by which he thought that this object would be more speedily accomplished; but my impression is that the person alluded to is the engineer or shipwright who was employed by Captain Waddell, under the permission to repair which he received from me. MY LORD: I have had the honor to receive your note of the 6th instant, together with the papers to which it refers, touching certain points raised in the course of the cruise of the vessel known as the Shenandoah. I have read the evidence thus presented with great care, but I regret to say without materially changing my conviction of the substantial correctness of the propositions which it became my painful duty to advance. The attempt made to break down the character of the principal witness, Temple, appears to me more successful than the invalidation of the chief facts stated by him, corroborated as they are by much incidental testimony, which has since that time come to my knowledge. But as it seems to me likely to serve no useful purpose to either of the two governments or nations, to prosecute investigations into these painful details of a most unfortunate period to their harmonious relations, I shall pray your lordship's permission to transmit, without further comment, copies of these papers to my government, which will, I doubt not, give to them the respectful consideration due to the source from which they immediately come. I pray your lordship to accept; &c., &c., CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. Right Honorable the Earl of CLARENDON, &c., &c., &c. No. 1779.] Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, June 9, 1866. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of the 25th of May, which relates to the case of Colonel Burke, who is now held in prison in Ireland. You inform me that her Majesty's government decline to release him, and assign as a reason the fact that he is believed to be deeply implicated in the Fenian plot. You also inform me that this is one of the only two cases in which her Majesty's government have declined to surrender United States citizens at our request. At this distance it seems to me that the danger of an attempt at revolution in Ireland has already passed. I think that the British nation will be satisfied by intelligence of recent events on this side of the Atlantic that all danger of disturbance in Ireland from this quarter has also passed. Under these circumstances you will be expected to suggest to Lord Clarendon the expediency of the exercise of clemency to the extent, at least, of releasing all of the American citizens, native or naturalized, who are in confinement, upon the condition of their returning to the United States. While such a proceeding on the part of the British government would seem to be an entirely safe one, it cannot be doubted that it would have a tranquillizing effect here. I am, sir, your obedient servant, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Esq., &c., &c., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. No. 1780.] Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, June 12, 1866. SIR: I transmit to you for your information a copy of a note* which, on the 11th instant, I addressed to Sir Frederick Bruce, upon the subject of the recent Fenian expedition into Canada. A copy of the President's proclamation of the 6th instant, relating to the aforenamed movement, is also enclosed. I am, sir, your obedient servant, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Esq., &c., &c., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. [June 6, 1866.-Warning good citizens against taking part in or aiding a military expedition in preparation against colonies of British North America, &c., &c.] BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Whereas it has become known to me that certain evil-disposed persons have, within the territory and jurisdiction of the United States, begun and set on foot and have provided and prepared, and are still engaged in providing and preparing, means for a military expedition and enterprise, which expedition and enterprise is to be carried on from the territory and jurisdied tion of the United States against colonies, districts, and people of British North America, withinthe dominions of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with which said colonies, districts and people, and kingdom the United States are at peace; And whereas the proceedings aforesaid constitute a high misdemeanor, forbidden by the laws of the United States as well as by the law of nations: Now, therefore, for the purpose of preventing the carrying on of the unlawful expedition and enterprise aforesaid from the territory and jurisdiction of the United States and, to maintain the public peace, as well as the national honor, and enforce cbedience and respect to the laws of the United States, I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, do admonish and warn all good citizens of the United States against taking part in or in anywise aiding, countenancing, or abetting said unlawful proceedings; and I do exhort all judges, magistrates, marshals, and officers in the service of the United States to employ all their lawful authority and power to prevent and defeat the aforesaid unlawful proceedings, and to arrest and bring to justice all persons who may be engaged therein. And, pursuant to the act of Congress in such case made and provided, I do furthermore anthorize and empower Major General George G. Meade, commander of the military division of the Atlantic, to employ the land and naval forces of the United States, and the militia thereof, to arrest and prevent the setting on foot and carrying on the expedition and enterprise aforesaid. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the city of Washington, this sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, and of the independence of the United States the ninetieth. [SEAL.] ANDREW JOHNSON. SIR: I have to acknowledge the reception of despatches from the department numbered from 1764 to 1771, inclusive. The public attention has been this week absorbed in the observation of the * For this enclosure see correspondence with the British legation. movements in the German states. The failure of the conference has been followed by notes of a more and more hostile tone, until the termination of diplomatic relations between Austria and Prussia has removed the last obstruction to a rupture. Meanwhile, both parties are restrained from commencing hostilities by a fear of the effect of it upon the still wavering policy of the smaller German states acting through the forms of the Diet. This hesitation, however, can last but a short time longer. The slightest accident may put an end to it at any moment. The declaration made by the Emperor of the French, and read in the French chamber, is susceptible of many constructions, but, if taken in connection with the speech at Auxerre, it seems to me to indicate distinctly enough the expectations generated by the crisis. If the treaties of 1815, which last settled the balance of Europe, are to be obliterated, it is clear that a war can only terminate by the substitution of some other general plan. It is at that point that the Emperor expects to step in with conditions for the advantage of France, made contingent upon any and every acquisition, which success in the war may secure to either of the contending powers. It only remains to be seen how Great Britain, with her new theory of nonintervention, can peacefully counteract this policy, so as to preserve her relative station in Europe. Entertaining no hearty confidence in the French Emperor, she is yet compelled in a degree to rely on his professions as a justification for her own course of abstention. Hence it is not at all unlikely that she may be in the end suddenly brought, as in the case of Savoy, to the recognition of a new cession of territory as an accomplished fact, from sheer inability to resort to any course of measures in season to obstruct it. The spectacle of the developments of this great movement can scarcely fail to be interesting. But as you have accurate sources of information from its great centres, I shall confine myself to the duty of considering the subject from time to time, only so far as it may bear upon the situation of this people, and through them indirectly upon the interests of our own. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward. No. 1218.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: In connection with your despatches No. 1766, of the 21st, and 1769, of the 29th of May, it may be as well for me briefly to report to you the precise state in which the subject of the people claiming to be Americans who are imprisoned in Ireland now stands. In consequence of the conversation I last had with Lord Clarendon, as reported in my No. 1210, of the 1st of June, his lordship sent me, with a confidential private note, the reports which he had procured from the lord lieutenant of Ireland, touching the treatment of all these cases. The substance of it was to the effect that the invidious discrimination in the right of access to the two classes of prisoners, native and naturalized, had been waived; that those who were natives, and such of the naturalized as did not appear to have been seriously implicated in the conspiracy were in process of liberation, under conditions of departure from the island, and lastly, that only those whom there was very strong reason to believe deeply implicated in the plot, and who had been sent out for the purpose of taking an active share in leading the contemplated military op erations, were to be retained in confinement. Among these were specifically designated Burke, Mykins, Gleeson, Kirwan, and other officers in the late war in America, about whom I have been desired by you to make representations. But since this report was sent, it appears from a report of Mr. West that his liberty had been offered to the last named, Kirwan, and refused by him with indignation on account of the condition of departure under guard. Under the circumstances, I am compelled to confess my belief that most, if not all, of these parties have been, in fact, sent here with a view to the execution of the military part of the Fenian project. But a small proportion of the whole number have been able to prove their naturalization. The native Americans, so far as I know, have been released, including James Smith, the person to whom your despatch No. 1753, of the 1st May, relates. I shall continue to do all in my power to relieve all those persons who seem to be entitled to claim assistance, either as native or naturalized citizens, even though some of the latter may not by their action furnish very good grounds for intercession in their behalf. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. No. 1788.] Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, June 16, 1866. SIR: I will thank you to bring to the attention of her Majesty's government the case of Mr. Thomas E. Blackwell, who it is alleged is imprisoned in Clonmel jail, Tipperary, Ireland, on suspicion of sympathizing with Fenianism, and to request that he may be released, if upon investigation it is ascertained that there is not sufficient reason for his detention. SIR: I will thank you to bring to the attention of her Majesty's government the enclosed copy of a representation made by a number of gentlemen of Hart, ford, Connecticut, in regard to the case of Thomas J. Hynes, who, it appearsis improperly imprisoned in Ireland by the British officers. The necessity of this application may be removed by the release of Mr. Hynes anterior to the date of this despatch, but if this be not the case you may request information concerning the reasons which warrant a continued detention. I am, sir, your obedient servant, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Esq., &c., &c., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. |