Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
Lord Clarendon to Mr. Adams.
Foreign Office, London,
January 19, 1866.
Sir: Her Majesty’s government having
had under their consideration in communication with the proper law
advisers of the Crown, your letter of the 28th ultimo and its
enclosures, respecting the case of the Shenandoah, I have now the
honor to state to you that these papers contain the first evidence
which has been submitted to her Majesty’s government, bearing on the
alleged piracy of Captain Waddell, and on the alleged breach of the
foreign enlistment
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act on
the part of persons forming part of the crew of the Shenandoah, when
she arrived at Liverpool.
With respect to the charge of piracy, Temple, who shipped on board
the Sea King, according to his affidavit, as an ordinary seaman in
the port of London, in October, 1864, certainly states that on some
day of June last, Captain Waddell was told by the captain and crew
of a vessel which he had captured, that General Lee had surrendered,
and that the war was over. It does not appear that this statement of
the captain and crew, if actually heard by Temple, was at the time
confirmed by anything written or printed, such as newspapers,
letters, &c., and the truth of Temple’s statement may be greatly
doubted from the entire silence of the master of the William C. Nye,
it is to be observed, as appears from the protest of which a copy
was forwarded by you to Lord Russel, on the 21st of October last,
was captured on the 26th of June. Captain Waddell continued to make
prizes after this; but after the receipt of the next information,
the date of which is not given, further than that it was before the
6th of July, Temple does not assert that any further prizes were
made. The next date which he gives is the 2d of August, when Captain
Waddell made further inquiries of the Barracouta, an English vessel,
and upon receiving from her confirmation of the intelligence,
determined to sail to England.
Her Majesty’s government are advised that upon this evidence there
would not be such a reasonable probability of obtaining a conviction
on the charge of piracy as to warrant a prosecution. Temple’s
statement as to the first communication of the cessation of the war
to Captain Waddell would probably be contradicted by witnesses on
Captain Waddell’s behalf; but even if it were uncontradicted, the
jury might well doubt whether Captain Waddell really believed the
information, or what he may reasonably have regarded as highly
improbable, until it was subsequently confirmed, and if he did not
believe it, the guilty knowledge necessary to his conviction would
not be established.
With respect to the nationality of some of the crew of the
Shenandoah, her Majesty’s government think that the statements of
Temple, although he does not show what means he has of knowing that
any of the persons described as British subjects in his list are
natural-born subjects of her Majesty, are such as to make further
inquiries necessary. Endeavors will, therefore, be made to ascertain
the present residence or whereabouts of those whom he describes to
be British subjects, and to ascertain what further proof can be
obtained on this subject. Mrs. Marshall cannot give evidence against
her husband, but other evidence against him may possibly be
obtained.
Prosecutions under the second section of the foreign enlistment act
will be instituted against any British subject, as to whom Temple’s
evidence can be confirmed by trustworthy testimony.
With respect to that part of your letter which refers to two
eighteen-pounder guns being mounted on the deck of the Shenandoah
when she left England, her Majesty’s government have to observe,
that if this were true, it would be immaterial, inasmuch as you do
not assert that either you or her Majesty’s government had
information of it. And further, that, the total silence of all
witnesses in the case of the Queen vs.
Corbett, who had been examined by the United States consul on the
subject of these guns, throws some doubt, to say the least, on this
part of Temple’s story. Independently of which, it is clear that the
general armament and equipment of the Shenandoah, with the necessary
munitions of war, were provided by the Laurel, and there is nothing
to render it probable that without such equipments, and in the state
in which she left this country, the Shenandoah, even if she carried
the two guns alleged, was in the condition of an armed vessel,
capable of committing hostilities against the United States.
Among other statements in the depositions of Temple, which appear to
require notice, are some relating to the conduct of the governor and
officers of the government at Melbourne, in Victoria.
Copies of your letter and its enclosures have accordingly been sent
to the Colonial Office for inquiry as to the conduct of the
authorities at Melbourne, as well as to the Home Office, with a view
to prosecutions being instituted under the foreign enlistment act,
if sufficient evidence can be obtained to warrant proceedings being
taken against any parties.
I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your
most obedient, humble servant,
Charles Francis Adams, Esq., &c., &c., &c.
Mr. Adams to Earl Clarendon.
Legation of the United
States, London,
January 24, 1866.
My Lord: I have the honor to acknowledge
the reception of your lordship’s note of the 19th instant touching
the evidence furnished in my letter of the 28th of December to
certain facts connected with the cruise of the steamer Shenandoah.
Whatever may be the weight attached to that evidence in a court of
law, I have no reason to presume that, after the experience
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of preceding trials under
the enlistment act, my government would desire to be understood as
furnishing it in the expectation of such use. The present object is,
if possible, to establish the truth, so far as it may be obtained
from the best sources, and to place it on record in a permanent
form. Fully believing that this may prove of eminent use to a
comprehension of the precise nature of the obligations of neutral
nations hereafter, I shall be happy to receive, myself, as well as
furnish to your lordship, any further elucidation of the actual
facts attending this extraordinary case that may appear, and that
without any regard to the bearing which it may be supposed to have
on any particular view of the questions thought to be involved.
I pray your lordship to accept, &c., &c., &c.,
Right Honorable the Earl of Clarendon,
&c., &c., &c.
