tle with us, I presume Mr. North will commence proceedings as soon as you leave. I do not think of anything else at present. If you wish to write to me, address to Davison's care; and if not here, he will forward it to me. I should not advise sending the money to Bache direct, but by draft or some other way. You have, my dear Jorss, my sincere wishes for a pleasant, safe, and prosperous voyage, a successful issue from these difficulties at Nassau, and a speedy return to your dear wife and friends. Should you visit the south, I need only commend you to Root's care; in him you will find a friend and brother. God bless you, and keep you in health and prosperity is the wish of

Your attached friend,

BEACH.

This agreement, made this thirteenth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, between Messieurs Frederick Henry Jorss and Frederick North, of the one part, and John N. Beach, of London, in England, on behalf of himself severally, as well as on behalf of his partner, Sydney Root, who carry on business together, copartnerships under the firm of Beach & Root, in the city of Charleston, in the Confederate States of America, as merchants of the other part, whereby the said Jorss & North and Beach & Root, for the considerations herein set forth, contract and agree with each other, as hereinafter appears:

1. That the said Beach & Root shall, on the signing of this agreement, pay to the said Jorss & North the sum of three thousand pounds, either in cash or by acceptances, which acceptances are to be approved by the said Jorss & North.

2. That on receiving the said sum of three thousand pounds, as hereinbefore stated, the said Jorss & North shall, with all practicable expedition, engage a ship and freight the same with such goods as the said John N. Beach shall direct, and which ship shall be chartered to convey such goods to the said city of Charleston.

3. That the said Jorss & North shall insure the said ship and cargo for the city of Charleston, or any other port of the said southern States of America, in such an amount as the said Jorss & North may think proper; the said Jorss & North advancing the insurance premium, freightage money for goods, and all other expenses in and about the execution of this agreement, and all matters herein contained or relating hereto.

4. That the said Jorss & North shall appoint such party or parties as they may think proper, to take charge of the said goods and act as supercargo thereof, and that all such goods shall remain the property of the said Jorss & North till they shall have been reimbursed all money out of pocket in relation to this agreement and the matters herein contained. Such amount to be fixed by the receipts in their possession of moneys paid by them on account hereof, or accounts claimed from them and admitted by them to be due in respect hereof and the matters herein contained.

5. That the said John N. Beach hereby undertakes, on behalf of himself and his said partner, that within one fortnight after his said partner, Sydney Root, shall have been apprised of the arrival of the said ship in any southern port as aforesaid, that the said Sydney Root, acting on behalf of himself and the said John N. Beach, shall remit to the said Jorss & North, in such manner as shall be satisfactory to William North the younger, of Leeds, who will go out with such ship as supercargo of the goods, such an amount as will cover the said Jorss & North all outlays by them, of whatever kind, in relation to the execution and carrying out of this agreement, and which amount shall be conclusively fixed at such total sum as the said William North the younger shall

produce invoices and accounts for, whether paid or owing by the said Jorss & North, bearing the signature of the said Jorss & North. Should the said Sydney Root neglect to remit such amount to Jorss & North, as before stated, within the said fourteen days, the said William North the younger shall be at liberty to dispose of the cargo as he thinks fit; the proceeds of which disposition shall be for the benefit or loss of both the said parties hereto, in the same manner as though the said Sydney Root had complied with and performed that condition.

6. That after the arrival of the ship and payment of the invoices and accounts thereof and expenses relating to this agreement, as lastly before expressed, the said Sydney Root and William North the younger shall sell jointly the cargo as equal partners; the said William North the younger acting for and on behalf of and as the attorney of the said Jorss & North.

7. That in case of capture or loss of the said ship and cargo, or other prevention of their reaching their destination, as before expressed, the said Jorss & North shall, out of the insurance to be effected, as before expressed, and which insurance it is intended shall be a protection against risks of war as well as of the sea, refund to the said Beach & Root, as they or one of them may direct, the said sum of three thousand pounds, only retaining for themselves the balance of such insurance money, it being intended and hereby agreed that the said Beach & Root shall not be interested in, liable for, or entitled to participate in such goods until their arrival in a southern port, as herein before expressed, or in the port of Nassau or any other intermediate port, as next hereinafter mentioned.

8. That should the said William North the younger find or consider it in his absolute discretion advisable to effect sales of the said goods or cargo at an intermediate port, the said Beach & Root shall participate in the profits thereof as though they were sold in a southern port, according to the terms hereinbefore stated; the said William North the younger, out of the proceeds of such sale or sales, retaining for the said Jorss & North all moneys payable by them or liabilities of them, fixed in the manner hereinbefore mentioned.

9. That should there be a loss to the said Jorss & North, on the close of the execution of this agreement, in the sending out of goods, as hereinbefore named, the said Beach & Root shall pay to the said Jorss & North one-half of such loss, and which loss shall be taken to be settled between both the said parties hereto, at such sum as the said William North the younger shall declare to be the difference between the sums paid by or liabilities of the said Jorss and North in respect of the matters in this agreement contained, as shall be evidenced by the invoices and accounts produced by the said Jorss & North, as hereinbefore mentioned, and the account sales of the said goods, comprising the cargo of the said ship.

10. If the said William North the younger and Sydney Root, after the sale of the said cargo, and completing of the agreement hereinbefore contained, shall think it desirable to reload the ship with cotton for the return journey to England, they shall be at liberty to do so in such manner as they shall think fit, and the clear profits arising from such cargo of cotton (and which cotton shall be paid for equally by the said William North the younger, on behalf of the said Jorss & North, and Sydney Root, on behalf of Beach & Root, out of the proceeds of the outward cargo) shall be divided equally between the said parties hereto.

11. That until the final completion hereof, and sale and realizations of the said outward cargo, the said Beach & Root shall have no claim on the said Jorss & North for the said sum of three thousand pounds, or any part thereof, but which said sum shall be credited and allowed to the said Beach & Root

in all accounts between the parties hereto, according to the spirit of this agree ment. As witness our hands and seals.

H. F. JORSS.

Signed, scaled, and delivered by the within named Henry Frederic Jorss, in the presence of

WILLIAM KAPPELL,

Merchant, No. 2 Lower Mosley strect, Manchester. EDWARD HUTER,

Bookkeeper, No. 2 Lower Mosley strect, Manchester.

JOHN N. BEACH.

Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within named John N. Beach, in the presence of

WILLIAM KAPPELL,

Merchant, No. 2 Lower Mosley street, Manchester. EDWARD HUTER,

Bookkeeper, No. 2 Lower Mosley street, Manchester.

FREDERICK NORTH.

Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within named Frederick North, in presence of

DAVID BOOTH, Clerk, Leeds.

JOHN NORTH, Solicitor, Leeds.

Mr. Seward to Mr. Stuart.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, August 20, 1862.

SIR: In the matter of the seizure in New Orleans of certain sugars made by the order of Major General Butler, and claimed by certain Greek, English, and other foreign merchants, I have the honor to state that the same, under the authority of the President, was investigated by the Hon. Reverdy Johnson during his recent mission to New Orleans, and that he has reported to this department that the sugars should be returned. This report having been approved by the President, directions will be given to the major general and to commanding officers of the United States at New Orleans to release the sugars to the claimants. A copy of so much of Mr. Johnson's report as relates to the transaction is herewith enclosed for your information.

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

Hon. WILLIAM STUART, &c., &c., &c.

Mr. Reverdy Johnson to Mr. Seward.

[Extract.]

WASHINGTON, August 19, 1862.

The sugars seized by order of Major General Butler, and claimed by certain Greek, British, and other foreign merchants

I. The largest quantity is claimed by Messrs. Covass & Negroponte, Greek nerchants, residents of New Orleans.

The fact of their purchase of the sugars is not only fully proved, but was not contested. Their right to them, therefore, in the absence of other evidence, cannot be questioned. The seizure was made on the ground that the purpose of the claimants was, in some way or other, to assist the rebel government. Of this, however, there was no proof. The purchase of each parcel was shown to have been made in the customary mode, and to have been paid for in the customary mode. The bills drawn on Europe by the claimants, as was their uniform practice, placed in the hands of their bill brokers for sale-the price only being fixed by the house-were by the brokers sold, proceeds at first deposited in bank to their own credit, and the net amount of sales, less commission, paid to the claimants by the broker's check.

It does not appear that in this instance, or in any other, the claimants knew who were the purchasers of their bill, or with what purpose they were purchased. The suspicion that there existed, after the rebellion, as was suggested to me, "an association of Greek merchants residing in New Orleans, London, and Havana, or elsewhere, formed for the purpose of or actually carrying on the enterprise of selling foreign exchange for confederate money, with the view of transferring abroad the credit of the Confederate States to be converted into bullion for the purchase of arms and munitions of war," is wholly without support. And as to these claimants there is proof as positive and demonstrative as there could be in such a case that the fact was otherwise. They sold their bills and invested proceeds, from time to time, in the produce of the country, for sale here or shipment abroad. There is not a scintilla of evidence that they ever belonged to such an association, if there was one, (of which, however, there is no proof,) but, on the contrary, their conduct in negotiating their bills, as exhibited in the many depositions annexed, is absolutely inconsistent with such a connexion. The seizure by the major general was evidently made under a misapprehension. His conduct in this particular, as in those of the $800,000 and $716,196, is to be referred to the patriotic zeal which governs him, to the circumstances encircling his command at the time so well calculated to awaken suspicion, and to an ardent desire to punish, to the extent of his supposed power, all who had contributed, or were contributing, to the aid of a rebellion the most unjustifiable and wicked that insane or bad men were ever engaged in.

I am, therefore, clearly in the opinion that the sugars should be released. They have already lost much in quantity by leakage, and the sooner the return is made, the better, I beg to suggest, will it be for the cause of individual justice and the honor of the government.

*

I have the honor to be, with high regard, your obedient servant,

REVERDY JOHNSON.

Mr. Seward to Mr. Stuart.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, August 20, 1862.

SIR: Having informally understood from you that British subjects who had merely declared their intention to become citizens of the United States had expressed apprehensions that they might be drafted into the militia under the late requisition of the War Department, I have the honor to acquaint you, for their information, that none but citizens are liable to militia duty in this country, and that this department has never regarded an alien who may have merely declared his intention to become a citizen as entitled to a passport, and, consequently,

has always withheld from persons of that character any such certificate of citizenship.

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

Hon. WILLIAM STUART, &c., &c., &c.

Mr. F. W. Seward to Mr. Stuart.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, September 1, 1862.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 30th ultimo, enclosing a copy of Earl Russell's despatch to you of the 28th of July last, which you read to the Secretary of State on the 16th of last month, and to be, with high consideration, sir, your obedient servant,

F. W. SEWARD, Acting Secretary.

Hon. Wм. STUART, &c., &c., &c.

Mr. Stuart to Mr. Seward.

WASHINGTON, September 2, 1862.

SIR: A complaint having been made by Messrs. Murphy & Twining, of Halifax, to Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Milne, and referred by the latter to her Majesty's government, respecting the manner in which United States cruisers are exercising their belligerent right of search, I have been instructed to repre sent the matter to the United States government, and to request that an inquiry may be instituted relative to the conduct of the United States officers in the cases of the Annette and Dart, mentioned in the letter of Messrs. Murphy & Twining, of which I do myself the honor to enclose you a copy herewith. I have the honor to be, with high consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant,

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

WILLIAM STUART.

Messrs. Murphy and Twining to Admiral Milne.

HALIFAX, N. S., July 10, 1862.

SIR: We take the liberty of addressing you, as the naval commanding officer on this station, to call your attention to the following circumstances: Our brigantine, the Annette, Curtis, master, of this port, on her late voyage from Matanzas to Halifax, with a cargo of sugar, was on the evening of the 20th ultime, coming through the gulf of Florida, lat. 25° 44′ N., long. 79° 58', chased by a steamer showing United States colors, hailed, ordered to heave-to, and boarded by an officer of the said steamer, who demanded ship's papers, and after exami nation and defacing them by remarks, allowed Captain Curtis to proceed on his voyage, after considerable detention.

The steamer, by indorsation on the brig's register, was the United States steamer Rhode Island.