[Enclosure.] X. Y. to Mr. Gibbons. "MAY 13, 1865. "SIR; Yours of the 10th instant received. With respect to the business mentioned therein, I should be glad to learn what are the steps to be taken to connect myself with the enterprise you mention. I should be glad to know if the ultimate destination of the force you intend to raise is really decided upon, as I have my own preference in the matter, but anyhow desire a little more active occupation than I have at present. "Please address as before, X. Y., box 75, Brooklyn post office. "G. W. GIBBONS." [Enclosure.] [From Brooklyn Daily Union, May 8, 1865.] "Annexation of Mexico and British America to the United States. "All in favor of this project, and those wishing to interest themselves in this matter, will please address Geo. W. Gibbons, box 44, Brooklyn post office." [Enclosure.] Mr. Gibbons to X. Y. "NEW YORK, May 16, 1865. "DEAR SIR: Yours of the 13th received, and, in answer, would say that it is the intention of the party to which I am the leader pro tem. to declare war against Great Britain by invading the Canadas. I have 3,000 men now enlisted. "Respectfully, GEO. W. GIBBONS, "Box 44, Brooklyn Post Office." Mr. Hunter to Sir F. Bruce. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, May 19, 1865. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 18th instant, transmitting a copy of a despatch from his excellency the lieutenant governor of New Brunswick, enclosing extracts from the speech with which he lately opened the session of the provincial legislature, and from the addresses received in reply from the legislative council and house of assembly in regard to the restoration of peace in this country, and to the assassination of President Lincoln. I have the honor to assure you, in reply, and to request you so to inform his excellency the lieutenant governor, that the expressions of good will and sympathy contained in these papers are highly appreciated by the government. and people of the United States. I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your obedient SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 17th instant, transmitting, at the request of the mayor of Liverpool, England, letters addressed to Mrs. Lincoln and Mrs. Seward, containing copies of a resolution which was passed at a public meeting of the citizens of the borough of Liverpool on receipt of the news of the assassination of the late President of the United States, and of the attempts on the lives of the honorable William H. Seward and Mr. Frederick Seward. In reply, I have the honor to state that the letters have been forwarded to their respective destinations. I have the honor to be, with high 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 20, 1865. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, containing information from unofficial sources on the proceedings of the ram Stonewall, and on the course said to have been adopted with respect to a schooner captured by the insurgents and carried to one of the British islands, of which the name is not given. The despatch further repeats the substance of the proclamation issued by the President on the 10th of May, and expresses a hope that I may feel myself authorized to instruct or request the officers of her Majesty's colonies adjacent to the United States to refuse to receive vessels flying the flag of the insurgents. I submitted the above despatch, as previously the President's proclamation, by the first opportunity, to the consideration of her Majesty's government. With reference to the power lodged in the governors of her Majesty's colonies to close a port against a vessel bearing a particular flag, I wish to observe that though a certain discretion may be vested in a governor in dealing with a purely colonial question, the case assumes a very different aspect where the question is one of international rights, the solution of which rests within the power of the imperial government alone, and in which he acts under positive instructions. In the position I occupy I can only submit to him the view of the government of the United States, with such information as may enable the governor to form an accurate opinion of the condition of affairs in this country. This I have done to the governor of the Bahamas, and without presuming to express what course, under his instructions, the governor may consider himself at liberty to pursue, I feel convinced that within the limits of his power Governor Rawson will act in the spirit which is prescribed by the duties of good neighborhood, and by an earnest desire to afford no just cause of complaint to the government of a friendly nation. I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, Hon. W. HUNTER, &., &c., &c. FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE. Mr. Hunter to Sir F. Bruce. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, May 25, 1865. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 19th instant, and its accompaniments, communicating to me the intelligence of an expedition reported to be organizing in Brooklyn and New York, for the pur 11 D C * pose of annexing Canada and Mexico to the United States, and to inform you that I have transmitted a copy thereof to the Attorney General, whose early attention has been invited to the matter. 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. Mr. Hunter to Sir F. Bruce. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, May 26, 1865. SIR: I will be very much obliged by your having the genuineness of my signature on the certificate appended to the enclosed papers relating to the Chesapeake case duly authenticated under the seal of your legation, and the papers returned to this department at your earliest convenience. 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 26, 1865. Sir F. Bruce presents his compliments to Mr. Hunter, and begs to return to him the documents relative to the Chesapeake, which were enclosed in Mr. Hunter's note of this day's date; the signature of Mr. Hunter having been duly certified by Sir F. Bruce. Sir F. Bruce to Mr. Hunter. WASHINGTON, May 27, 1865. SIR: I have the honor to transmit to you a copy of a resolution* which has been forwarded to me from the Grand Lodge of Freemasons of Ireland, and which was passed at their last monthly meeting, with reference to the recent assassination of President Lincoln. I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE. Hon. W. HUNTER, &c., &c., &c. Mr. Hunter to Sir F. Bruce. DEPARTMENT of State, Washington, May 27, 1865. SIR: I have the honor to invite your attention to the enclosed copy of a despatch of the 9th instant from William T. Minor, esquire, the consul general * See Appendix, separate volume. of the United States at Havana, relative to a suspected slave-trading enterprise in which the Margarita Quintero, Elornea master, is suspected of being about to engage. I have put the United States attorney at New York upon his guard, with a view to proper proceedings should the vessel touch at New York, and the Secretary of the Navy has also been placed in possession of the facts given in the despatch. I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your obedient ser vant, W. HUNTER, Acting Secretary. Hon. SIR FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE, &c., &c., &. Mr. Minor to Mr. Hunter. CONSULATE GENERAL OF THE UNITED States of AMERICA, SIR: A steamer under Mexican colors, and named Margarita Quintero, Elornea master, arrived at Matanzas, from Vera Cruz, on the 29th ultimo, and sailed again on the 1st instant. I am informed that she is the property of Don Julian Zulueta and Captain Eugenio Vinas, both notorious slave traders, and was fitted out at Vera Cruz for the African traffic in slaves. She came to Matanzas for orders, bringing on board Don Teburcio Audia, a partner of Zulueta, being cleared for New York, but some doubts are entertained that she has gone to New York. Audia will be the supercargo on the African voyage. It is possible, however, that she has actually visited New York to complete her outfit. Bonds were given at the customhouse in Vera Cruz. The above information has been obtained from a source which I consider reliable. Unfortunately it was communicated to me only last evening. I have the honor to be, sir, with much respect, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM HUNTER, Consul General. Acting Secretary of State, Washington. Mr. Hunter to Sir F. Bruce. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, May 29, 1865. MY DEAR SIR FREDERICK: I find, on turning to our files, that on the 22d instant instructions were addressed to Mr. Adams, in which he was requested to impart to Earl Russell the sense entertained by the government and people of the United States of the manifestations of sympathy and condolence conveyed to us in the despatches addressed by Earl Russell to you on the 28th of April and 6th instant, respectively. Believe me to be, my dear sir, very faithfully yours, W. HUNTER, Acting Secretary. Hon. SIR FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE, &c., &c., &c. Mr. Hunter to Sir F. Bruce. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, May 29, 1865. SIR Referring to your communication of the 19th instant, relating to a scheme supposed to be on foot in Brooklyn, N. Y., to annex Canada and Mexico to the United States, I have now the honor to enclose a copy of a communication of this date, on the subject, from the Attorney General's office. 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. Mr. Ashton to Mr. Hunter. ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE; SIR: I have the honor to enclose you herewith a copy of a letter addressed under the in struction of the attorney general to the United States attorney for the eastern district of New York, relative to the subject-matter of the communication of Sir Frederick Bruce to your de partment, dated the 19th instant. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. W. HUNTER, Acting Secretary of State. J. HUBLEY ASHTON, Mr. Ashton to Mr. Silliman. ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE, SIR: I transmit you herewith a copy of a letter from Sir Frederick Bruce to the Acting Secretary of State, and by him referred to this office, giving certain information tending perhaps to show, in the language of the British minister, "an alleged project which has been set on foot in Brooklyn, New York, to annex Canada and Mexico to the United States." This information may lead you to make further inquiry on the subject of the supposed organization; and should you find that any parties within your district have brought or may bring themselves within the provisions of the statutes of the United States for the preservation of our neutrality, the attorney general confidently expects that you will institute against them prosecutions under these statutes. You will please communicate the contents of this letter and the enclosures to the marshal of your district, and if necessary also to the attorney of the United States for the southern district of New York. SIR: I have the honor to transmit to you a copy of a despatch which I have received from the governor of Newfoundland, enclosing a resolution of the executive council of that colony with reference to the assassination of President Lincoln. 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. SIR: The intimate commercial intercourse and cordial relations which have existed between this colony and the people of the United States have caused the intelligence of the assassination of President Lincoln to be received with deep concern and indignation by the community, and a very general desire has been manifested to convey the expression of their sympathy on this lamentable occasion to the government of the United States. As the colonial legislature is not at this time in session, the executive council have, there |