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fore, requested me to forward to you the enclosed resolution,* which I shall be obliged to you to communicate to the government of the United States if you should see no objection to this

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SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 19th instant, informing me, at the instance of Earl Russell, that the labors of the fishery commission would probably be completed by the 1st of March, 1866, the time of the termination of the reciprocity treaty, and that the climate and circumstances have heretofore prevented the commissioners from prosecuting the work with that despatch which they would have desired. In reply, I have the honor to inform you that the department is aware of the difficulties which have existed, and it feels assured, by the statement of Mr. Howe, that he will employ every opportunity to accomplish the end for which the commission was organized. I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your obedient servant,

W. HUNTER, Acting Secretary.

HOG. SIR FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE, &c., &c., &c.

Mr. Hunter to Sir F. Bruce.

DEPARTMENT of State,

Washington, May 31, 1865.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 19th instant, which is accompanied by the following documents, originating upon the assassination of President Lincoln, and the attempt upon the lives of the Hon. William H. Seward and Mr. Frederick W. Seward:

1. Address from the ministers comprising the annual conference of the Methodist Episcopal church in Canada; transmitted 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, with a copy of the governor's message to both houses.

3. A letter and minute of resolutions from the council of the borough of Liverpool, England, presented by the mayor of that city.

I shall, with much satisfaction, cause these resolutions, so expressive of the sympathy and regard of her Majesty's subjects, to be forwarded to their respective destinations, and I must avail myself of your kind intervention for the conveyance to the honored sources from which they respectively came the grateful acknowledgments of this government.

I have the honor to be, with high consideration, sir, your obedient servant, W. HUNTER, Acting Secretary.

Hon. SIR FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE, Sr., &c., &c.

Mr. Hunter to Sir F. Bruce.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, May 31, 1865.

SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 19th instant, transmitting a resolution which was adopted at a meeting of the inhabitants of

See Appendix, separate volume.

the borough of Sheffield on the 1st instant, and presided over by the mayor of that city, expressive of their condemnation of the assassination of the late President, and of their sympathy with the government and people of the United States in this great national bereavement.

I will thank you, with the permission of her Majesty's government, to convey to the inhabitants of the borough of Sheffield, through their chief magistrate, the high appreciation in which their manifestations of sympathy and good will on this sad occasion are held by this government and people.

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., fr.

Sir F. Bruce to Mr. Hunter.

WASHINGTON, June 1, 1865.

SIR: At the request of the mayor of Southport, Lancashire, England, I have the honor to forward to you, for the United States government and for Mrs. Lincoln, copies of resolutions* passed at a public meeting of the inhabitants of that town, expressive of the deep regret and indignation which the recent lamentable events in the United States have occasioned.

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 F. Bruce to Mr. Hunter.

WASHINGTON, June 1, 1865.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 29th ultimo, enclosing copy of a communication from the Attorney General's office, relative to a scheme alleged to be on foot in Brooklyn for invading Canada and Mexico, and to thank the government of the United States for the inquiry ordered, without delay, into the proceedings complained of.

I have directed her Britannic Majesty's consul at New York to furnish Mr. Silliman with such information as he possesses in the premises.

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 F. Bruce to Mr. Hunter.

WASHINGTON, June 1, 1865.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 30th ultimo, informing me that the cases of E. W. Pratt and Robert Green, late of the "City of Richmond," will receive the early attention of the State Department.

Her Majesty's consul at New York has forwarded to me the enclosed duly authenticated affidavits of the chief engineer, boatswain, and four others of the crew of the above vessel, in support of Mr. Pratt's assertion that he objected to the alteration of the ship's course after passing Nahant.

I beg that due consideration will be given to the statements in these affidavits,

*See Appendix, separate volume.

and I shall be much obliged to you if you will return them to me when they are no longer required, as well as the shipping articles enclosed in my note of the 17th ultimo, and the discharges of Pratt and Green, which, as I am informed, are now in the hands of the United States government, and which the prisoners are desirous of having restored to them.

I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,

Hon. W. HUNTER, &c, &c., &c.

To all to whom these presents shall come:

FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE.

[Enclosure.]

I, William Webb Venn, of the city of London, notary public by royal authority, duly admitted and sworn, undersigned, do hereby certify and attest that on the date of the date hereof, within my public office, William W. Venn, notary public, personally came and ap peared William Stone, Jeremiah Coglan, Charles Bishop, James Foster, William Grey, and David Williams, the six deponents named and described in the affidavit hereunto annexed, under my official seal, who did then and there, upon my administering to them respectively oath on the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God, solemnly and sincerely swear to be true the several matters and things mentioned and set forth in the said annexed affidavit.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my notarial firm and said official seal,

[SEAL.] to serve and avail where needful. London, the 10th of May. In fidem. WILLIAM W. VENN, Notary Public.

CONSULATE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AT LONDON, I, Joshua Nunn, deputy consul of the United States of America for London and the dependencies thereof, do hereby make known and certify to all whom it may concern, that William Webb Venn, who hath signed the annexed certificate, is a notary public, duly admitted and sworn, and practicing in the city of London aforesaid, and that to all acts by him so done full faith and credit are and ought to be given in judicature and thereout.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, affixed the seal of the consulate of the United States at London aforesaid, this 11th day of May, in the year of our [SEAL.] Lord 1865, and in the 89th year of the independence of the said United States.

JOSHUA NUNN.

We, the undersigned, William Stone, late chief engineer of the steamship City of Richmond and now residing at 6 Arthurs street, Burdett road, Limehouse, in the county of Middlesex, in England; Jeremiah Cogblan, late boatswain of the said steamship City of Richmond, and now residing at No. 3 Craven Cottage, Woodham street, Barking road, in the said county of Middlesex; Charles Bishop, late quartermaster of the said steamship City of Richmond, and now residing at No. 3 Craven Cottages aforesaid; William Grey, late quartermaster of the said steamship City of Richmond, and now residing at No. 41 Evan street aforesaid, jointly and severally make oath and say, that we severally signed articles to join. the said steamship City of Richmond to take said ship to Bermuda, or to one of the other West India islands; and we hereby severally further say, and declare that we were not acquainted, nor, to the best of our knowledge, information, or belief, was Mr. Ernest Pratt, the first mate of the said steamship City of Richmond, acquainted with the intentions of the -owners or captain of the said ship in reference to any alteration of the said ship to Bermuda,. or to any other of the West India islands; and we further jointly and severally make oath and say that we were totally ignorant of the nature of the cargo on board of the said steamship City of Richmond; and we further jointly and severally declare that when at sea the first mate, Mr. Ernest Pratt, protested to Captain Scott, the captain of the said steamship, against the alteration that he ordered and directed to be made of the course of the said steamship, but that he, the said Ernest Pratt, as well as the several above-named deponents, were compelled to obey the orders of the said Captain Scott.

WILLIAM STONE,

JEREMIAH COGBLAM.

CHARLES BISHOP.

JAMES FOSTER.

WILLIAM GREY.

DAVID WILLIAMS,

Sworn by the above-named deponents, William Stone, Jeremiah Cogblan, Charles Bishop, James Foster, William Grey, and David Williams, at my public office, in the city of London, this 10th day of May, 1865, before me.

WILLIAM W. VENN, Notary Public.

Mr. Hunter to Sir F. Bruce.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, June 2, 1865.

SIR: I have the honor to enclose a copy of a letter of the 31st ultimo from Major General Dix, and of a statement made by Frederick Buckstorf and Matilda Swan in regard to an infamous attempt to introduce into New York and other northern cities the dangerous, contagious disease known as yellow fever. The proceedings already adopted in Bermuda for the punishment of some of the parties implicated in this diabolical scheme, and the requirements of common humanity so fully recognized by all British communities, render it hardly necessary for me to point out to you the expediency of your communicating with the authorities of Bermuda on the subject, with a view to their adoption of such measures as will subject all the guilty parties to the severest punishment which can be lawfully applied to them.

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.

Major General Dix to Mr. Seward.

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE EAST,
New York City, May 31, 1865.

SIR: The bearer, Frederick Buckstorf, from Bermuda, will deliver to you some papers showing that four trunks of clothing infected with yellow fever are now in this city, and that they were brought here by Rainey, a colored barber, now in Bermuda.

I have thought the matter of such urgent importance as to warrant my sending him to you, with a view to the adoption of such measures as may be necessary to secure this city from a great calamity, especially as the matter is beyond the reach of my own authorityRainey being in a foreign country.

Respectfully, yours,

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD,

Secretary of State.

JOHN A. DIX, Major General.

[Enclosure.]

OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE METROPOLITAN POLICE,
New York, May 29, 1865.

Statement of Frederick Buckstorf.

I reside at 172 Ludlow street, rear building. I arrived here on Thursday last from Ber muda, in the brig T. H. A. Pitt. I left Bermuda on the Thursday previous. One day before leaving, Mrs. Swan, the wife of E. C. Swan, who has been tried and sentenced in Bermuda for having in his possession clothing infected with yellow fever, told me that she had been told by certain parties, (one of them was the cook of the Hamilton Hotel, a negro woman,) that a negro barber named Joseph H. Rainey, who went with Dr. Blackburn last October to Halifax, and from there alone to New York, on his return from New York told the cook that he had taken charge of four trunks for Dr. Blackburn, containing infected clothing, and bottles containing black-vomit that had been collected by Dr. Blackburn; and that he, Joseph H. Rainey, had left the same in New York, where they were to be opened and exposed in June next. I also heard from several parties in Bermuda that Rainey had left Bermuda without means, and on his return he started a barber's shop; and it was known that he was possessed of funds. Mr. Allen, United States consul, told me that when Rainey applied to him for a passport for New York, he said he was going by the way of Halifax; that Mr. Allen thought at the time it was strange that he should take such an expensive route, as the fare was forty dollars to Halifax, and the fare was only twenty dollars to New York in a sailing-vessel.

F. BUCKSTORF.

[Enclosure.]

OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE MetropolITAN POLICE,
New York, May 29, 1865.

Statement of Matilda Swan.

I arrived here in New York on Thursday last in the brig T. A. C. Pitt, from Bermuda. My husband is Edward C. Swan; he was arrested in Bermuda some weeks since for having in his possession trunks of infected clothing; they were sent to his house by Dr. Blackburn. My husband has been tried, convicted, and was at the time of my leaving Bermuda awaiting his sentence. A few days before I left Bermuda, while I was boarding at the Talford hotel-I was standing at the kitchen door-I heard the cook, a negro woman, say to a Mrs. Emery, that if she, the cook, had been called on, she would have exposed the whole matter, and that a man named Rainey, a colored barber, was the man who Dr. Blackburn had employed to take four trunks of infected clothing to New York, and that they were in New York now, and she believed that they would certainly have the yellow fever in New York this summer, and that Dr. Blackburn had paid him to take the trunks to New York, and had started him in business in Bermuda, and had sent Rainey's family from Canada to Bermuda. MATILDA SWAN.

Mr. Hunter to Sir F. Bruce.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, June 2, 1865.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of yesterday, transmitting to this government and to Mrs. Lincoln copies of resolutions passed at a public meeting of the inhabitants of Southport, England, on the occasion of the lamentable events which have recently occurred in the United States. In reply I have the honor to state that the copy for Mrs. Lincoln will be forwarded to its destination, and on a future occasion the subject will receive further attention.

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.

Mr. Hunter to Sir F. Bruce.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, June 3, 1865.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 29th ultimo, communicating to me a copy of a despatch which you have received from the governor of Newfoundland, enclosing a resolution of the executive council of that colony called forth by the assassination of President Lincoln.

I beg you to acquaint his excellency the governor of Newfoundland that it has given this government profound gratification to receive the cordial expressions of condolence, sympathy, and friendship which are contained in the despatch and resolution adverted to, and it is not doubted that they will meet with a similar reception by the people, when they shall have been made public. 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.

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