the borough of Liverpool, on receipt of the news of the assassination of the President of the United States, and of the attempts on the lives of the honorable William H. Seward and Mr. Frederick Seward. I beg you to be so good as to cause these letters to be conveyed to their respective destinations I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, Hon. WILLIAM HUNTER, &c., &c., &c. FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE. [For enclosures see Appendix, separate volume.] Sir F. Bruce to Mr. Hunter. WASHINGTON, May 17, 1865. SIR With reference to Mr. Seward's note of the 7th of April, relative to the case of E. W. Pratt and Robert Green, late of the city of Richmond, now imprisoned in New York, I have the honor to inquire whether any answer has been received at the State Department to the letter which Mr. Seward addressed to the United States consul at Nassau, in regard to the indorsements alleged to have been made by him upon the discharge papers of these men. I have likewise the honor to enclose a certified copy of the shipping articles of the "City of Richmond," showing the nature of the voyage for which Mr. Pratt engaged. These two men have now been in prison for about two months, and I should be very glad to learn that they may be set at liberty on condition of immediately leaving this country and prosecuting their voyage to England. Requesting you to return the shipping articles to me, I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, Hon. WILLIAM HUNTER, &c., &c., &c. FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE. Mr. Hunter to Sir F. Bruce. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, May 17, 1865. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 16th instant, and its accompaniments, relative to the case of the J. L. Gerity, and to beg that you will cause to be conveyed to the governor of the Bahamas my thanks for these documents, which I shall take pleasure in forwarding to the persons indicated. I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your obedient servant, W. HUNTER, Acting Secretary. Hon. SIR FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE, &c., &c., &c. Sir F. Bruce to Mr. Hunter. WASHINGTON, May 18, 1865. SIR: I have the honor to transmit to you a copy of a despatch from his excellency the lieutenant governor of New Brunswick, enclosing extracts from the speech with which his excellency lately opened the session of the provincial legislature, and from the addresses received in reply from the legislative council and house of assembly. I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, Hon. WILLIAM HUNTER, &c., &c., &c. FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE. FREDERICTON, May 11, 1865. SIR: I have the honor to 'transmit to you copies of a paragraph from the speech with which I lately opened the session of the provincial legislature, and of the corresponding paragraphs of the addresses which I have received in reply from the legislative council and house of assembly. Should you consider it right so to do, I should feel much gratified were you to convey to the United States government the assurance (though an almost needless one) that deep sympathy and profound indignation have been universally excited in this province by the atrocious act recently perpetrated at Washington. Hon. SIR F. BRUCE, &c., &c., &c. ARTHUR H. GORDON. [Extract from speech.] The civil war which has so long raged in the neighboring republic appears to be drawing towards a close. The restoration of peace will no doubt be hailed by you with a lively satisfaction, both as putting an end to the further effusion of blood, and as re-opening to commerce channels which have since the commencement of the war been closed. [Extract from address in reply to the speech.] The prospect of a speedy restoration of peace in the neighboring republic is hailed with satisfaction by the people of this province. We assure your excellency that the assassination of the President has excited feelings of profound indignation throughout this province, and our sympathies are enlisted on behalf of that great and kindred people. Sir F. Bruce to Mr. Hunter. WASHINGTON, May 18, 1865. SIR: I have the honor to transmit to you copies of a despatch, and of its enclosures, which I have received from her Majesty's consul at Boston, relative to a tax of thirty cents a ton which is being levied upon British vessels at the ports within his consulate, the measurement being, as it appears, taken under the old system, whereby the British register tonnage is increased nearly one-third. I beg that you will have the goodness to submit these documents to the proper authorities, and I trust that, in accordance with the suggestion of her Majesty's consul, the additional tax which appears to have been unduly levied upon British vessels since the 1st April may be remitted, and that, in future, the tax in question will be assessed upon the tonnage borne upon the registers of the British vessels. I have the honor to be, with high consideration, sir, your most obedient humble servant, Hon. WILLIAM HUNTER, &c., &c., &c. FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE. Mr. Lousada to Sir F. Bruce. HER BRITANNIC MAJESTY'S CONSULATE, SIR: I beg to bring to your notice, with a view to obtain redress, the practice of the United States custom-house at the ports within this consulate with regard to the taxes imposed on British vessels; a tax being levied of thirty cents a ton, and the measurement being taken under the old system, whereby the British registrar tonnage is increased nearly one-third, causing the greatest dissatisfaction. The enclosed correspondence with the collector at this port will explain the matter more fully; and as the "tort" is persisted in, to the cost and detriment of our shipping, I now report it, in order that it may be brought more authoritatively to the notice of the authorities at Washington, should you think proper. I have, &c., Hon. SIR FREDERICK BRUCE, G. C. B., &c., &c., &c. F. LOUSADA, Her Britannic Majesty's Consul. Mr. Lousada to Mr. Goodrich. HER MAJESTY'S CONSULATE, SIR: I beg to submit to you that the several British vessels which have entered at this port since the 1st of April have been forced to pay thirty cents per ton duty, calculated on the old American system of tonnage, which, as you are aware, increases the number of tons by about twenty-five per cent. Application was made on the subject to Washington, and the assistant treasurer, under date of January 20, 1865, replied that "1. The tonnage tax of ten cents a ton (now raised to thirty cents) attaches, on entry of the vessel, upon the tonnage expressed on the document under which she enters, and not upon any tonnage which may be subsequently ascertained. "2. In this respect foreign vessels differ in nowise from American. The tax is to be assessed upon the tonnage borne upon their registers." I trust, sir, if upon reference you find this opinion to be maintained, that you will consider it just and proper to remit the additional tax, unduly levied, upon British vessels which may have entered subsequently to the promulgation of the law. DEAR SIR: May I shortly expect an answer to my despatch to you of the 22d ultimo, relative to the measurement of British vessels ? I am, &c., Hon. J. Z. GOODRICH. F. LOUSADA, Mr. Goodrich to Mr. Lousada. CUSTOM HOUSE, COLLECTOR'S OFFICE, SIR: In reply to your letter of this date I beg leave to state, that no instructions from the department have as yet been received at this office, covering your inquiry. On receipt of same, will communicate with you. I am, &c., &c., F. LOUSADA, Esq., Her Britannic Majesty's Consul, Boston. J. Z. GOODRICH, Collector. Sir F. Bruce to Mr. Hunter. WASHINGTON, May 19, 1865. SIR: In accordance with instructions which I have received from her Majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs, I have the honor to transmit to you a resolution relative to the assassination of President Lincoln, which was unanimously adopted at a meeting of the inhabitants of the borough of Sheffield, Yorkshire, held on the 1st instant. I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, Hon. W. HUNTER, &c., &c., &c. FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE. [For the resolution above referred to see Appendix, separate volume.] Sir F. Bruce to Mr. Hunter. WASHINGTON, May 19, 1865. SIR: Her Majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs has forwarded to me a copy of a letter which he has received from Mr. J. Howe, stating that, when the fishery commission met last January in Boston, Mr. Hamlin and he arranged the work so as to enable them by March, 1866, (in the event of the termination of the reciprocity treaty at that time,) to finish whatever was progress, without embarrassment to either government. in Mr. Howe states that he had no doubt that they would be able to do this. He then quotes a letter which he has received from Mr. Hamlin, who writes as follows, on the 11th March: "I returned from Washington a short time since. I found that certain persons made representations to the State Department in relation to the delay of the commissioners under the reciprocity treaty in not finishing the work. In an interview with the department this was explained, and I think the department was satisfied." Mr. Howe concluded by declaring that there is no fair foundation for the imputation, if such there has been, that there has been unnecessary delay in forwarding the business of the commission; that his movements to the north have been controlled by the short seasons and by the co-operation of the admiral in command, and to the south by the disturbed state of the country in the near neighborhood of some of the rivers to be examined; that the southern coast will now be open, and that Sir James Hope has promised to enable him early in the summer to complete the examination of the coasts of Newfoundland. I have the honor to be, with high consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, Hon. WILLIAM HUNTER, &c., &c., &c. FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE. Sir F. Bruce to Mr. Hunter. WASHINGTON, May 19, 1865. SIR: I have the honor to transmit to you the following documents, which have been called forth by the recent assassination of President Lincoln and the attempts to take the lives of the Hon. William H. Seward and Mr. F. W. Seward : 1. Address from the ministers composing the Niagara annual conference of the Methodist Episcopal church in Canada; forwarded by the governor general of Canada. 2. A copy of a despatch from the governor of the Bahamas, forwarding resolutions of the legislative council and house of assembly of the colony, and a copy of the governor's message to the two houses. 3. A letter and a minute of resolutions from the council of the borough of Liverpool, England, for Mrs. Lincoln; forwarded by the mayor of Liverpool. I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, Hon. WILLIAM HUNTER, &c., &c., &c. FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE. [For enclosures see Appendix, separate volume.] Sir F. Bruce to Mr. Hunter. WASHINGTON, May 19, 1865. SIR: Her Majesty's consul at New York has brought to my notice an alleged project which has been set on foot in Brooklyn, New York, for an expedition to annex Canada and Mexico to the United States. An advertisement having been inserted in the Brooklyn Eagle relative to this project, an Englishman in New York city addressed a note of inquiry to Mr. Gibbons, the person whose name appears at the foot of the advertisement, and I have the honor to enclose copies of the correspondence which has passed between Mr. Gibbons and the Englishman, under the signature X. Y., and also of an advertisement in the Brooklyn Daily Union. I beg to call the serious attention of the United States government to this scheme, which would seem to be set on foot with a view to disturb the pacific relations existing between Great Britain and the United States, and to express my conviction that the United States government will lose no time in taking steps to stop this audacious proceeding, and enforce the law against the parties concerned in it. I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, Hon. W. HUNTER, &c., &c., &c. FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE. [Enclosure.] Mr. Archibald to Sir F. Bruce. X. Y. to Mr. Gibbons. BROOKLYN, May 8, 1865. "The writer would be glad to learn what is contemplated in the matter referred to by advertisement in the Brooklyn Eagle' of this date, and subscribed Geo. W. Gibbons.' "Any communications intended for the writer may be addressed X. Y. box 75, Brooklyn post office." [Enclosure.] Mr. Gibbons to X. Y. NEW YORK, May 10, 1865. "Your note of the 8th instant received, and, in answer, would say that it is my intention of raising at least 3,000 men out of this county to co-operate with a larger body, either to invade Mexico or British America. If we can gain the consent of the President of the United States to this enterprise we will do so. If not, we will go anyhow. 66 Respectfully, "GEO. W. GIBBONS, NOTE.-The reply is enclosed in an envelope with the stamp of R. II. Gibbons & Co., real estate agency, 446 Broome street, New York, and postmarked New York. E. M. A. |