and ask permission, as a matter of favour and courtesy, to remain where you are till you can accomplish the business which brought you back to Prussia. If you will put yourself on the ground here indicated, and respectfully ask to be permitted to remain in the country for the completion of the lawful objects which brought you here, I should hope that such permission might still be granted to you. I regret very much the inconvenient position in which you find yourself, and am very desirous of being of service to you by the information and advice which I give you, Yours, &c. Mr. Von de Sandt. (Extract.) D. D. BARNARD. No. 5.-Mr. Barnard to Mr. Webster. Berlin, July 29, 1851. I HAVE the honour to inclose to you copies of correspondence, as follows: A letter from Mr. Bates to me, of the 19th July, with the inclosure, being a letter from a Mr. Brand, claiming to be an American citizen, and who is imprisoned at Coblentz; my letter to Mr. Bates, of the 22nd July, on this subject; a letter from Mr. Bates to me, of the 25th July, referring, in the conclusion, to the case of Mr. Brand, but chiefly relating to the detention of Mr. Thomas N. Dale, an American citizen at Aix-la-Chapelle, on the old ground of the want of a Prussian visa to his passport; my answer to Mr. Bates, of the 28th instant; and my note to the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the question of passports, of the same date. My letter to Mr. Bates, last referred to, together with my note to the Minister, will show what action I have taken in regard to the difficulty which it seems is still sometimes made by an overzealous police about American passports. I have the strongest assurances that steps shall be taken to correct the evil. In regard to the case of Mr. Brand, it will be seen by Mr. Bates's letter of the 25th instant that he had, up to that day, received no further information from Mr. Brand, and that he had written to the legal officer of the King, at Coblentz, on the subject. In a personal interview which I had yesterday with Mr. Le Coq, the Under-Secretary of State (the Minister being absent), I presented the case of Mr. Brand to his notice, as far as I had information on the subject, with an earnest, though friendly, appeal in behalf of this person, if it should appear that he was an American citizen and had not been guilty of any real crime. I was met, on the part of Mr. Le Coq, with the most friendly assurances. I have handed him a copy of Mr. Brand's letter. I have great confidence that if Mr. Brand is not at once released from his confinement by the local authorities at Mr. Bates's instance, he will be released as soon as the Government here can inform itself of the facts, provided the case is one which may admit of its favourable interposition. Whatever facts or information may be received from Mr. Bates will be promptly laid before the Minister. My desire being first of all to procure this man's release, if that be possible, and knowing very well how a formal correspondence (at least, it would be so here), tends to defeat the object where one wishes to reach a particular object in the shortest time, I have purposely avoided that course in this case. In the end a correspondence may be resorted to, if the case, when all the facts shall be disclosed, seems to require it, whether the man be released or not. Hon. D. Webster. SIR, D. D. BARNARD. (Inclosure 1.)-Mr. Bates to Mr. Barnard. Aix-la-Chapelle, July 19, 1851. I HAVE just received the letter from Coblentz, a copy of which is inclosed herein. I have replied, acknowledging its receipt, and requesting the writer to send me his passport, if possible, and to state when he first went to The United States, how long he remained there, and when and where he was naturalized. If he turns out to be an "American citizen," what shall I do in the matter? D. D. Barnard, Esq. J. C. BATES. (Inclosure 2.)-Mr. Brand to Mr. Bates. natu (Translation.) Coblentz, July 16, 1851. On the 16th April, last year, I took from the authorities of New York a passport, and also an authenticated of copy my ralization certificate. On the next day, the 17th, I sailed from New York, and in 51 days came by sailing vessel to London. There I stopped a while; made a visit on business to Ireland, thence back to England, where I remained some months; and then, partly on business, partly on family matters, travelled to Germany Nearly 5 weeks I was in the neighbourhood around Coblentz, and on the third day of my being here, at 11 o'clock at night, I was sought at my dwelling by a police serjeant, asking for my papers, which I showed him, the which he could not read, being written in English, so he took me with him to the guard-house. travelling bag, Arrived here, all my effects were examined, one 15 dollars, 4 rings, and some body linen besides, taken, whilst the rest which I had gathered in my travels I had forwarded to Liverpool. The day after the arrest I was carried before the police authorities for examination. I asked what was my offence. The official answered me I had been guilty of the offence of sending off emigrants, which is forbidden by law there. Thereupon I denounced this as the grossest untruth, and moreover called for proof; so I was remanded to confinement, and after 3 days taken before the public prosecutor, when not a word was said about the before-mentioned offence, but a commitment was made out for a term of 8 days, with a remark that vagrancy was charged; and in this way was I robbed of my liberty, despite of my papers and passport. In no respect have I been shown to be an offender or culprit, as has now been said. I assert that I cannot understand the reason of this proceeding against me, and I make humble petition to your Excellency as guardian and upholder of our laws, promptly to effect my liberation from this disagreeable situation, and not only help me to the recovery of my lost liberty, but to follow up all the state of facts, and especially on the foundation of the American laws, which must protect me as a citizen of The United States in a foreign country, to take all proper steps in my behalf. In the hope of early aid, I subscribe myself, &c. J. C. Bates, Esq. (Extract.) J. W. ED. BRAND. (Inclosure 3.)-Mr. Barnard to Mr. Bates. Berlin, July 22, 1851. I HAVE also received your letter of July 19, with an inclosure in reference to the arrest and imprisonment at Coblentz of a person claiming to be an American citizen. If this man is really innocent of any offence, his arrest and imprisonment is a great outrage; and if he is an American citizen, as well as an innocent man, upon the facts being made known to me, I should deem it my duty to make it the subject of a grave complaint to the Government. But the first thing to be done is to get the man out of confinement, if that be possible. If you have received his passport and papers, you will know if he is a citizen of The United States. If you find he is so, I wish you would ask from the authorities at Coblentz for his immediate release from confinement, on the ground of his citizenship, and in case of refusal, that they would furnish you at once with the grounds of accusation against him, and of his imprisonment, in order that, being communicated to this legation, the matter may be laid before the Government at Berlin, or such action taken upon it as the case may seem to demand. If nothing is laid to this man's charge other than what is alleged in his letter, there is certainly very insufficient ground for his imprisonment. If he is an agent soliciting emigration, for purposes of his own, or in behalf of others in whose employ he may be, or if he be a vagabond, as he says they accuse him of being, these are hardly crimes for which he should be subjected to punishment by the Prussian authorities. They might send him out of their territories, if they think his stay here dangerous to the morals or the quiet of the country. I ardently hope you may be able to effect Mr. Brand's release, and that without any further reference of the matter to this Legation. J. C. Bates, Esq. (Extract.) D. D. BARNARD. (Inclosure 4.)-Mr. Bates to Mr. Barnard. Aix-la-Chapelle, July 25, 1851. YOUR letter of the 22nd instant was received yesterday. I have heard nothing from Mr. Brand, in reply to my letter, and this morning wrote to the Procureur du Roi at Coblentz, requesting him to send, for my inspection, Mr. Brand's passport and papers, that I might determine whether he was really a citizen of The United States. You shall be duly advised of the course of events. D. D. Barnard, Esq. (Extract.) No. 6.-Mr. Fay to Mr. Webster. J. C. BATES. Berlin, May 15, 1852. I HAVE to inclose another case growing out of the same question. Mr. Gustavus Behne addressed a note to Mr. Barnard, under date of April 10, 1852. Not distinguishable from a private letter, it followed him to Naples, whence I have just received it. Annexed is the copy of a note addressed by me to Baron Manteuffel, which, with its accompanying inclosure, states the case. Mr. Behne declares he was not born in Prussia at all. This may possibly procure for him a favourable reply. I have little hope of success in the application of Mr. Leopold. Hon. D. Webster. THEO. S. FAY. (Inclosure.)—Mr. Fay to Baron Manteuffel. M. LE BARON, Berlin, May 13, 1852. MR. GUSTAVUS A. E. BEHNE had addressed to Mr. Barnard a note, extracts from which I have the honour to inclose. He declares himself an American citizen, not born in Prussia at all. About July or August, 1840, he received a summons at Dusseldorf to enter the Prussian army, with the information that the Prussian Government regarded him as a Prussian subject because his father was a Prussian subject. Alarmed by an attempt to arrest him, he left for America, whence he returned last September. He is now living at Brussels, waiting the answer to his request for permission to remain some time in Prussia, without being called upon to satisfy the conscription. I have the honour to lay this case before your Excellency, with the certainty that, if no valid objections be found to exist, I shall be able to communicate a favourable reply. Baron von Manteuffel. SIR, I profit, &c. THEO. S. FAY. No. 7.-Mr. Barnard to Mr. Webster. Berlin, June 15, 1852. I HAVE the honour to inclose herewith a copy of a letter from the office of Foreign Affairs in answer to one from Mr. Fay in regard to the matter of Mr. Behne. This letter refers to another from the same office, in regard to the same matter, dated October 19, 1849, and which by mistake has not been brought to the notice of the Secretary of State at Washington at the time, for the reasons stated in a note appended to a copy thereof, which is now forwarded. I transmit also a copy of my letter to Mr. Behne, informing him of the unsuccessful result of his application. Hon. D. Webster. I have, &c. D. D. BARNARD. (Inclosure 1.)-Baron Schleinitz to Mr. Hannegan. (Translation.) Berlin, October 19, 1849. THE predecessor of Mr. Hannegan, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of North America, communicated, on the 23rd May last, to the King's Ministers a petition of Mr. Gustave Behne, citizen of The United States, residing at Dusseldorf, in which this person remonstrates against the injunction served on him to satisfy his military obligations to Prussia. A correspondence having been opened on this subject with the Ministry of the Interior, and through its intermediation with the competent provincial authorities, it is only now that the Undersigned finds himself in condition to apprise Mr. Hannegan of the result of the inquiries to which the remonstrance of Mr. Behne has given rise. The father of this individual, doctor in medicine, born at Nordhausen, in Prussia, the 25th April, 1799, had resided five consecutive years at Werninghausen, in the Duchy of Saxe-Gotha. Returning to his native city in 1831, he lived there till the month of May, 1840, where, abandoning his wife and two sons, he went off to the United States of North America, without having previously obtained an emigration licence. Of these two sons, one, Gustavus Edward |
