Sir F. Bruce to Mr. Seward.

BRITISH LEGATION, Washington, D. C., July 31, 1865.

Sir Frederick Bruce presents his compliments to Mr. Seward, and begs to forward to him herewith, for presentation to the government of the United States, the resolutions* passed by the grand division of the Sons of Temperance of Montreal, Canada East, expressive of their feelings upon the death of the late President of the United States.

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD,

Secretary of State, Washington. '

Mr. Hunter to Sir F. Bruce.

The Acting Secretary of State presents his compliments to Sir Frederick Bruce, and has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of his note of the 31st ultimo, and addressed to Mr. Seward, transmitting, for presentation to the government of the United States, the resolutions passed by the grand division of the Sons of Temperance of Montreal, Canada East, expressive of their feelings upon the assassination of the late President Lincoln.

The Acting Secretary of State begs Sir Frederick Bruce to convey to that body the high appreciation entertained by the government and people of the United States for these manifestations of sympathy and good will. DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, August 2, 1865.

Sir F. Bruce to Mr. Seward.

WASHINGTON, August 7, 1865.

SIR: It has been reported to her Majesty's government that the captain of the United States corvette St. Mary has forcibly removed from on board a British merchant ship a seaman who had deserted from his ship.

of

I am directed to inquire whether you are in possession this occurrence which I can communicate to my government.

any information of

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

FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE.

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, &c., &c., &c.

Mr. Seward to Sir F. Bruce.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE.

Washington, August 7, 1865.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 7th instant, in which you ask whether this department is in possession of any information regarding the alleged forcible removal, by the captain of the United States corvette St. Mary's, of a seaman from on board a British merchant vessel, who it is stated had deserted from the St. Mary's. In reply, I have the honor to acquaint you that, attention having previously been called to the sub

*See Appendix, separate volume.

ject by the United States minister in Peru, inquiry in regard to it was made of the Secretary of the Navy, a copy of whose answer is herewith enclosed. I have the honor to be, with high consideration, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

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

Mr. Welles to Mr. Hunter.

NAVY DEPARTMENT,

Washington, August 3, 1865.

SIR: I have had the honor to receive your letter of the 26th instant, enclosing a copy of a despatch from the United States minister in Peru "relative to the forcible abduction, by Commodore Colvocoresses, of the United States sloop-of-war St. Mary's," of a deserter from his vessel, from the English ship Star of Hope.

The department has no hesitation in disapproving the conduct of Commodore Colvocoresses in the matter referred to, and I enclose herewith a copy of a letter addressed to that officer on the subject.

Although the department deems the course pursued by Commodore Colvocoresses in a high degree censurable, there does not appear to be an entire absence of palliating circumstances in the case.

It is evident, beyond question, that the man was an American citizen and a deserter from a United States ship-of-war; that the master of the merchant vessel was determined to harbor and employ the deserter, knowing him to be such; that the British vice-consul, Mr. Dartnell, after ascertaining the facts of the case, readily assented to his surrender, but was unable to enforce this decision; and that Commodore Colvocoresses, not being well versed in public law, was thus naturally led to infer that in doing himself what the vice-consul would promptly have done for him had he possessed the necessary power, he committed nothing more than a nominal aggression. Neither of them appears to have had sufficient capacity to comprehend that, in the manner of arriving at substantial justice in this case, an important principle was overlooked; a principle which this government has so often, in other days, had occasion most strenuously to contend for, and would still be among the last to disregard.

Very respectfully, &c.,

Hon. WILLIAM HUNTER,

GIDEON WELLES,

Secretary of the Navy.

Acting Secretary of State.

Mr. Welles to Commodore Colvocoresses.

NAVY DEPARTMENT, July 31, 1865.

SIR: The department has received your communication of the 10th and 29th ultimo, in relation to the forcible removal by you of a seaman from a British merchant vessel at the Chincha Islands. A letter on the same subject has also been received from the Department of State submitting, for the consideration of this department, a copy of a despatch from the United States minister at Lima.

Your course in the matter referred to is disapproved. The want of intelligence and judg ment which you have manifested has placed the department in the unpleasant position of being constrained to disavow your proceedings, and tender such apology for them as the facts of the case furnish, and which it is hoped will be received as satisfactory.

An officer occupying your position in the service should be better informed and educated, and better versed in the history of his country than to be required to be taught now the meaning of the word "impressment.' You should have known that while this government has always and at all hazards exacted the respect due to its flag abroad, it has always as faithfully respected the flag of every other nation, weak or powerful; and it can no more countenance your forcible intrusion on board the merchant vessel of a friendly nation than it could submit quietly to a similar proceeding on the part of a foreign naval commander with regard to an American vessel.

I am, respectfully, your obedient servant,

GIDEON WELLES,

Secretary of the Navy.

Commanding United States ship St. Mary's.

Commander GEO. M. COLVOCORESSES,

Sir F. Bruce to Mr. Seward.

[Extract.]

WASHINGTON, August 9, 1865.

SIR With reference to your note of the 2d of June, relative to a scheme to introduce yellow fever into New York and other northern cities, I have the honor to state that I forwarded the same with its enclosures to the lieutenant governor of Bermuda.

I now enclose a copy of a communication from the lieutenant governor, embodying the conclusion arrived at by the attorney general of Bermuda after an inquiry based on the statement made by Matilda Swan and Frederick Buxtorf.

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

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

FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE.

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, &c., &c.. &c.

Lieutenant Governor Hamleg to Sir F. Bruce.

BERMUDA, August 1, 1865.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your excellency's letter of the 3d of June, with enclosure received by you from the Acting Secretary of State of the United States, relative to an infamous attempt to introduce yellow fever into New York and other northern cities, and to inform you, in reply, that on receipt of the papers I immediately placed them in the hands of the attorney general of the colony, with instructions to inquire searchingly into the matter, and to take such action as the result of the inquiry might warrant for bringing to justice persons implicated by evidence.

I enclose a copy of his report on the subject, which shows that no evidence, capable of sustaining a charge under the above head, appears to be forthcoming against the barber Rainey, or any other person in Bermuda.

I have, &c.,

W. G. HAMLEY, Lieut. Governor and Commander-in-Chief.

Hon. SIR FREderick Bruce, G. C. B.

Attorney General Gray to Lieutenant Governor Hamley.

HAMILTON, BERMUDA, July 18, 1865.

SIR: I have the honor to return your excellency the documents named in the margin, re lating to certain statements made by Frederick Buxtorf and Matilda Swan, before the police authorities in the city of New York, on the 29th of May last, concerning the alleged complicity of one Rainey, a barber at St. George's, in the nefarious plot attributed to Dr. Blackburn, of attempting to introduce yellow fever into certain cities in the United States.

Matilda Swan left Bermuda with Frederick Buxtorf for New York, while her husband was lying in jail awaiting his sentence, Buxtorf's testimony having contributed to place him in that predicament. Buxtorf and Swan's wife arrived in New York on the 25th of May, and on the 29th of the same month Mrs. Swan stated that a few days before leaving Bermuda, while boarding at the Telford hotel, she heard the cook, a negro woman, say to a Mrs. Emery that if she, the cook, had been called, she would have exposed the whole matter, and that a man named Rainey, a colored barber, was the man whom Dr. Blackburn had employed to take the trunks of infected clothing to New York.

In compliance with your instructions I have investigated this matter, and I have now to inform your excellency that, as far as I can learn, there is no truth in Matilda Swan's state

ment.

The cook at Mrs. Telford's tavern or hotel is named Maria Astwood. On my inquiring of her what she knew about the circumstances, she assured me that she knew nothing whatever about them, except what she had heard from Matilda Swan and Frederick Buxtorf when they were boarding in the house, and from conversations between those two persons and

others about the time when Matilda Swan's husband was under trial. On my inquiring whether she knew anything about Rainey, she said she knew nothing about him except from hearing his name mentioned by Mrs. Swan and others.

I asked Maria Astwood as to any conversation having passed between her and Mrs. Emery, when Mrs. Swan was staying at Mrs. Telford's, relating to these matters.

She replied that there was plenty of conversation on the subject, and Mrs. Emery (who was a witness on Swan's trial) was sometimes at Mrs. Telford's about the time of the trial, but she herself had said nothing to Mrs. Emery about Rainey, as she knew nothing about him. She remembered, however, having heard a woman named Sarah Williams, formerly a cook at the Hamilton hotel, have some talk with Mrs. Emery one day at Mrs. Telford's hotel, about the man Rainey, but not to the effect stated by Matilda Swan on the 29th May at New York.

From Maria Astwood's frank and unembarrassed manner of expressing herself, I concluded that she was telling the plain truth, and from what I have heard and seen, I apprehend that, if a question of veracity should be raised between her and Matilda Swan, no jury in Bermuda would hesitate to credit the former.

Pursuing the inquiry I next called on Sarah Williams, and from her I heard that she had never made any such statement as that imputed by Mrs. Swan to the cook at Mrs. Telford's hotel, nor had any such statement been made in her hearing. She lived at the Hamilton hotel when Rainey was sent for to take charge of the barber's shop, and subsequently when he took charge of the bar.

She was also there when Dr. Blackburn and Rainey went away to Halifax, and she had heard that Blackburn treated Rainey very kindly, and paid his passage to Halifax; but she had never heard or said that Dr. Blackburn hal employed Rainey to convey to the States any trunks or articles whatever.

Sarah Williams remembered having conversed with Mrs. Emery and other persons on this business at Mrs. Telford's, at a time when it was a general subject of conversation, namely, while Swan was on his trial.

Lastly I called on Mrs. Emery, and having called her attention to the time and place of the alleged conversation, I was informed by her that she had never heard Maria Astwood or Sarah Williams, or anybody else, say that Dr. Blackburn had employed Rainey to take trunks or other things to New York.

She had heard Sarah Williams say one day at Mrs. Telford's, while the trial was going on, that she (Williams) wondered how Rainey could have turned so much against Dr. Blackburn-referring to Rainey's testimony on the trial of Swan-as the doctor had been so kind to him.

This being the result of my investigation, I can have no hesitation in informing your excellency that it affords no ground whatever for suspecting Rainey of complicity in this plot, much less for preferring any charge against him

Rainey gave his evidence on Swan's trial with every truthfulness. Indeed, every one was struck with its neither haste nor hesitation, neither reticence nor zeal. but it certainly had all the external features of truth.

outward indication of sincerity and apparent reliability. He exhibited His story may not have been true,

On the other hand, neither Buxtorf, who was examined as a witness, nor Matilda Swan, who was not, would be likely, either from their antecedents or from their manner, or from what was generally understood to be their relation the one to the other, to command the respect or confidence of any Bermuda jury.

I should be exceedingly unwilling, after all I have seen and heard of both since Swan was first put upon his trial, to rest any charge of a criminal nature, far less an accusation of the very grave kind now under consideration, on such testimony as theirs.

In the New York Herald of the 6th June appeared a statement relative to Swan's trial, apparently based on information furnished by Frederick Buxtorf, so scandalously untrue that, if it could be traced home to him, I could never venture to ask a jury to believe him.

From information obtained here I conclude that Matilda Swan is equally untrustworthy, as I am credibly informed that her character for veracity is very much on a par with her reputation in other respects.

Your excellency is aware that no pains would be spared here to bring to condign punishment any and every offender found within our jurisdiction, who could be proved to have taken part in a scheme of such unexampled wickedness, as far as the law would reach the case. But it does not appear to me that we are in possession of any testimony whatever which would warrant our preferring any such charge against the man Rainey named in this correspondence. I am the more disinclined to believe Matilda Swan's statement, since hearing what Maria Astwood and Sarah Williams both assert to the contrary, inasmuch as the statement implies that, whichever of these women it was who made the remarks which Mrs. Swan imputes to the former, she was anxious when called on to expose the whole matter.

Now I am so far from finding either of them anxious or willing when called on to expose the matter as represented by Matilda Swan, that both of them unhesitatingly and perseveringly deny knowing anything about it, and I can see no reason why either of them should have been so anxious in May to expose what in July they solemnly declare they know nothing about.

My office is within a stone's throw of the spot where the conversation is represented to have been held; and what would have been easier than for either of the women to inform me that she could give material evidence, or what more natural than for Matilda Swan, who placed herself in communication with me on the business referred to, to let me know that there was so near me a witness so important?

SIR: As I had the honor to inform you in my reply of the 3d July, I transmitted a copy of your note of the 1st ultimo to her Majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs.

I have now received instructions to express to you the sense entertained by her Majesty's government of the friendly tone which characterizes that com

munication.

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

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, &c., &c., &c.

FREDERICK W. A. BRUCE.

Mr. Seward to Sir F. Bruce.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, August 9, 1865.

SIR: Referring to the previous correspondence which has passed between her Majesty's legation and this department, relative to the British schooner James Douglas, which vessel was picked up at sea by the United States steamer Monticello, and carried into the port of Beaufort, North Carolina, I now have the honor to transmit a copy of a report of the 28th ultimo upon the subject, made to the Secretary of the Navy by Lieutenant William C. West, commanding the naval station at Beaufort, from which it appears that instructions have been given to that officer by Admiral Porter to deliver the James Douglas to her owners, provided there shall be no demand for compensation for such use as may have been made of that vessel while remaining at the above-named port.

I have the honor to be, with high consideration, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

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

SIR: Referring to a communication from this department to the Secretary of State, December 31, 1864, I have the honor to enclose herewith a copy of a report from the officer at present in command of the naval station at Beaufort, North Carolina, in relation to the schooner James Douglas.

Lieutenant Commander West will be instructed to permit the owner, or his agent, to remove or dispose of the vessel.

I am, respectfully, your obedient servant,

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD,

GIDEON WELLES,

Secretary of the Navy.

Secretary of State.