The Sumter landed eight of her prisoners here in a destitute condition; but a contribution has been raised here for their benefit, sufficient to supply their immediate wants, and I will take care that they are provided for until an opportunity offers to ship them to the States. The Sumter remained here till the 5th instant, and was allowed to supply herself with coals and other necessary outfits. The British flag was hoisted on the government flag-staff for her arrival, and the officers of the British war-vessel Cadmus appeared to be on amicable terms with those of the Sumter. The merchant who supplied the Sumter with coals did it with the consent and approval of our attorneygeneral. Being a loyal American, I consider it my duty to send you these informations, as there has been no consul of our nation in this island for many months. I am, &c., FRANCIS BERNARD. Earl Russell to Mr. Adams.1 FOREIGN OFFICE, October 4, 1861. The undersigned, Her Majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs, has had the honor to receive a complaint from Mr. Adams, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States at this court, against the authorities of the Island of Trinidad for a violation of Her Majesty's proclamation of neutrality, by giving aid and encouragement to the insurgents of the United States. It appears, from the accounts received at the Colonial Office and at the Admiralty, that a vessel bearing a secession flag entered the port of Trinidad on the 30th of July last. Captain Hillyar, of Her Majesty's ship Cadmus, having sent a boat to ascertain her nationality, the commanding officer showed a commission signed by Mr. Jefferson Davis, calling himself the President of the so-styled Confederate States. The Sumter, which was the vessel in question, was allowed to stay six days at Trinidad, and to supply herself with coals and provisions; and the attorney-general of the island perceived no illegality in these proceedings. The law officers of the Crown have reported that the conduct of the governor was in conformity to Her Majesty's proclamation. No mention is made by the governor of his hoisting the British flag on the government flag-staff; and if he did so, it was probably in order to show the national character of the island, and not in acknowledgment of the arrival of the Sumter. There does not appear, therefore, any reason to believe that her Majesty's proclamation of neutrality has been violated by the governor of Trinidad, or by the commanding officer of Her Majesty's ship Cadmus. The undersigned, &c. RUSSELL. The Government of the United States instructed Mr. Adams to in form the government of Great Britain "that the President deeply regrets that Lord Russell is altogether unable to give to our complaint a satisfactory solution." The reason alleged for this expression of dissatisfaction was the same which had been previously rejected by the government of the Netherlands; namely, that the Sumter was a piratical vessel, and that her officers and crew were pirates, and that they ought to be treated as such in foreign ports and waters. Further communications on the subject subsequently passed between the two governments. These communications are stated in the subjoined dispatches, addressed respectively by Her Britannic Majesty's minister at Washington to Her Majesty's secretary of state for foreign affairs, and by the minister of the United States in London to the Secretary of State of the United States: Lord Lyons to Earl Russell. WASHINGTON, November 4, 1861. MY LORD: Mr. Seward spoke to me, the day before yesterday, respecting the admission of the confederate vessel Sumter into British and Dutch ports. With regard to the Dutch government, Mr. Seward said that he had been obliged to 'Appendix, vol. ii, p. 5. [15] cause very serious remonstrances to be addressed to them, but that he had now been informed that they had given orders that the Southern privateers should not be allowed to remain more than twenty-four hours in a Dutch port. It was true, he said, that it had been declared that these orders had not been issued in deference to the representations of the United States Government, but this was immaterial; so long as the privateers were excluded in practice, he did not care to inquire on what ground that was done. Mr. Seward then mentioned the reception of the Sumter at Trinidad, and alluded to your lordship's note to Mr. Adams of the 4th of October, on the subject. He said he had been obliged to send immediately instructions to Mr. Adams with regard to that note. He did not tell me the nature of those instructions, but he spoke to me of the affair in a tone of complaint, and dwelt especially on the length of time during which the Sumter had been allowed to remain at Trinidad, and on the supplies which she had obtained there. He said that France and, he thought, all the other powers of Europe, refused to allow privaters to remain for more than twenty-four hours in their ports. He could hardly conceive that England wished to stand alone as the only power which admitted the enemies of the United States without restriction into its harbors. He supposed that the matter could hardly have been presented in this light to Her Majesty's government. I observed to Mr. Seward that I supposed that in this matter each power had looked back to precedents, and taken the course which had been usual with it on similar occasions in former times. In one point the English rule was, I said, more stringent than that of France and many other powers, for armed vessels were not allowed to carry their prizes into British ports for any time, however short. Mr. Seward did not pursue the conversation. He merely said that he had wished to mention the matter to me in the hope that I might do something toward getting it satisfactorily settled. I have, &c., (Signed) LYONS. Lord Lyons to Earl Russell. WASHINGTON, November 9, 1861. MY LORD: With reference to my dispatch of the 4th instant, I have the honor to inform your lordship that this morning Mr. Seward spoke to me again on the subject of the admission of confederate vessels into British ports. He used very nearly the same language on this as on the former occasion. He seemed, however, to wish now to be understood as requesting me positively to suggest to Her Majesty's government to adopt the rule in this respect which had, he said, been adopted by all the other powers of Europe. He seemed to desire to make this suggestion through me, rather than in a more formal manner through the United States minister in London. I said to Mr. Seward that Great Britain had, I thought, been the first power to place any restriction upon the admission into her ports of the armed vessels of the belligerents in the present war; and that she had no doubt followed the precedents afforded by her own previous conduct in similar cases. I did not make any difficulty about conveying Mr. Seward's suggestion to your lordship, but I did not express any opinion as to the reception it would meet with. I have, &c., (Signed) LYONS. Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward. [Extract.] SIR: LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, a conference of Lord Russell for the purpose of talking over the substance of your communications to me in dispatches No. 136 and No. 137. It was appointed for yesterday at 3 o'clock, when I enjoyed an opportunity for full and frank conversation. * On the third point his lordship contested the fact as stated in the dispatch. He recapitulated what the government had done as regards the assistance said to have been rendered to privateers in the colonies. Supplies had been refused by the authorities in all cases. Whatever had been obtained had come from purchases of individuals. The only difference that he could find between the action of this government and that of other nations was that the stay of belligerent vessels was confined by the latter to twenty-four hours. As to that, he said that the omission to insert the same provision in the British orders was by no means owing to unfriendliness to the United States. On the contrary, it was thought that if a government vessel of theirs should put into any port, such as Malta, for example, to stay a short time, it had seemed to them churlish to issue a decree to limit it to a single day. He said he had taken some pains to make inquiries as to the action of other governments, and, so far as he could learn, he found it in other respects substantially the same. I have, &c., CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. With the view of preventing the recurrence of similar complaints in future, and also of preventing as far as might be the possibility of any abuse of the asylum granted in British ports (as in those of other neutral powers) to belligerent vessels, the British government on the 31st of January, 1862, issued the subjoined orders, to be observed in all the ports of the United Kingdom and those of Her Majesty's transmarine territories and possessions: [16] *The secretary of state for foreign affairs to the lords commissioners of the admiralty. FOREIGN OFFICE, January 31, 1862. MY LORDS: Her Majesty being fully determined to observe the duties of neutrality during the existing hostilities between the United States and the States calling thenselves "the Confederate States of America," and being, moreover, resolved to prevent, as far as possible, the use of Her Majesty's harbors, ports, and coasts, and the waters within Her Majesty's territorial jurisdiction, in aid of the warlike purposes of either belligerent, has commanded me to communicate to your lordships, for your guidance, the following rules, which are to be treated and enforced as Her Majesty's orders and directions. Her Majesty is pleased further to command that these rules shall be put in force in the United Kingdom and in the Channel Islands on aud after Thursday, the 6th day of February next, and in Her Majesty's territories and possessions beyond the seas six days after the day when the governor or other chief authority of each of such territories or possessions, respectively, shall have notified and published the same, stating in such notification that the said rules are to be obeyed by all persons within the same territories and possessions. I. During the continuance of the present hostilities between the Government of the United States of North America and the States calling themselves "the Confederate States of America," or until Her Majesty shall otherwise order, no ship of war or privateer belonging to either of the belligerents shall be permitted to enter or remain in the port of Nassau, or in any other port, roadstead, or waters of the Bahama Islands, except by special leave of the lieutenant governor of the Bahama Islands, or in case of stress of weather. If any such vessel should enter any such port, roadstead, or waters by special leave, or under stress of weather, the authorities of the place shall require her to put to sea as soon as possible, without permitting her to take in any supplies beyond what may be necessary for her immediate use. If, at the time when this order is first notified in the Bahama Islands, there shall be any such vessel already within any port, roadstead, or waters of those islands, the lieutenant governor shall give notice to such vessel to depart, and shall require her to put to sea, within such time as he shall, under the circumstances, consider proper and reasonable. If there, then, shall be ships of war or privateers belonging to both the said belligerents within the territorial jurisdiction of Her Majesty, in or near the same port, roadstead, or waters, the lieutenant governor shall fix the order of time in which such vessels shall depart. No such vessel of either belligerent shall be permitted to put to sea until after the expiration of at least twenty-four hours from the time when the last preceding vessel of the other belligerent (whether the same shall be a ship of war, or privateer, or merchant-ship) which shall have left the same port, roadstead, or waters, or waters adjacent thereto, shall have passed beyond the territorial jurisdiction of Her Majesty. II. During the continuance of the present hostilities between the Government of the United States of North America and the States calling themselves "the Confederate States of America," all ships of war and privateers of either belligerent are prohibited from making use of any port or roadstead in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, or in the Channel Islands, or in any of Her Majesty's colonies or foreign possessions or dependencies, or of any waters subject to the territorial jurisdiction of the British Crown, as a station or place of resort for any warlike purpose or for the purpose of obtaining any facilities of warlike equipment; and no ship of war or priva 'Appendix, vol. iii, p. 18. teer of either belligerent shall hereafter be permitted to sail out of or leave any port, roadstead, or waters subject to British jurisdiction, from which any vessel of the other belligerent (whether the same shall be a ship of war, a privateer, or a merchant-ship) shall have previously departed, until after the expiration of at least twenty-four hours from the departure of such last-mentioned vessel beyond the territorial jurisdiction of Her Majesty. III. If any ship of war or privateer of either belligerent shall, after the time when this order shall be first notified and put in force in the United Kingdon and in the Channel Islands, and in the several colonies and foreign possessions and dependencies of Her Majesty respectively, enter any port, roadstead, or waters belonging to Her Majesty, either in the United Kingdom or in the Channel Islands, or in any part of Her Majesty's colonies or foreign possessions or dependencies, such vessel shall be required to depart and to put to sea within twenty-four hours after her entrance into such port, roadstead, or waters, except in case of stress of weather, or of her requiring provisions or things necessary for the subsistence of her crew, or repairs; in either of which cases the authorities of the port, or of the nearest port, (as the case may be,) shall require her to put to sea as soon as possible after the expiration of such period of twenty-four hours, without permitting her to take in supplies beyond what may be necessary for her immediate use; and no such vessel, which may have been allowed to remain within British waters for the purpose of repair, shall continue in any such port, roadstead, or waters for a longer period than twenty-four hours after the necessary repairs shall have been completed: Provided, nevertheless, that in all cases in which there shall be any vessels (whether ships of war, privateers, or merchant-ships) of both the said belligerent parties in the same port, roadstead, or waters within the territorial juisdiction of Her Majesty, there shall be an interval of not less than twenty-four hours between the departure therefrom of any such vessel (whether a ship of war, a privateer, or a merchantship) of the one belligerent, and the subsequent departure therefrom of any ship of war or privateer of the other belligerent; and the times hereby limited for the departure of such ships of war and privateers, respectively, shall always, in case of necessity, be extended, so far as may be requisite for giving effect to this proviso, but not further or otherwise. IV. No ship of war or privateer of either belligerent shall hereafter be permitted, while in any port, roadstead, or waters subject to the territorial jurisdiction of Her Majesty, to take in any supplies, except provisions and such other things as may be requisite for the subsistence of her crew; and except so much coal only as may be [17] sufficient to carry such vessel to the nearest port of her own country, or to some nearer destination; and no coal shall be again supplied to any such ship of war or privateer in the same or any other port, roadstead, or waters subject to the territorial jurisdiction of Her Majesty, without special permission, until after the expiration of three months from the time when such coal may have been last supplied to her within British waters, as aforesaid. I have, &c., (Signed) J. RUSSELL. By the first and second of the foregoing orders belligerent vessels were absolutely excluded from the ports, roadsteads, and waters of the Bahama Islands, except in case of stress of weather or of special leave granted by the lieutenant governor. These islands being very near to the American coast, access to them was of little importance to the armed vessels of the United States, unless under stress of weather; while to vessels of the Confederate States it was of great importance, the harbors of these States being generally, though not always, effectively blockaded. The orders thus issued by Her Britannic Majesty's government were more stringent and comprehensive by far than those of any other neutral government. It was not the fact that in the ports of the French empire, or in those of other neutral powers generally, belligerent vessels entering without prizes were prohibited from remaining more than twenty-four hours or from purchasing supplies other than arms and military supplies. The Sumter, after leaving Trinidad, entered in succession the ports of Paramaribo, of San Juan de Maranham in the empire of Brazil, where she remained ten days; of Port Royal and St. Pierre in Martinique; and of Cadiz, where she remained fourteen days. She was during fourteen days in the waters of Martinique, and procured there, under the written authority of the governor of the island, as much coal as her commander wished to take on board to enable him to extend his cruise across the Atlantic, together with other supplies. A few days after her arrival, the Iroquois, a war steamer of the United States, entered Port Royal harbor, and the subjoined correspondence passed between her captain and the governor: Captain Palmer to the governor of Martinique. UNITED STATES STEAMSHIP IROQUOIS, SIR: As circumstances prevent my paying my personal respects to your excellency or your representative at this place, I write to announce my arrival in the afternoon of yesterday, as well as to inform you that, to my surprise, I find a notorious steamer called the Sumter quietly coaling at the wharves and enjoying the hospitalities of the port. As your excellency cannot be aware of the character of this vessel, I denounce her to you as one that has been for some time engaged in pirating upon the commerce of the United States, robbing, burning, or otherwise destroying all American vessels which come within her reach. May I not hope, therefore, that your excellency, upon this representation, will not allow her to enjoy the privileges I complain of, but direct her to leave the protection of the French flag and the immunities of a French port? GOUVERNEMENT DE LA MARTINIQUE, CABINET DU GOUVERNEUR, No. 430, Fort-de-France, le 15 Novembre, 1861. M. LE COMMANDANT: I have the honor to reply to the letter which you addressed me this morning. I am not ignorant, M. le commandant, of the presence in the roads of St. Pierre of a vessel belonging to the States of the South, who profess to have formed a separate confederation. To accomplish the generous intentions of the Emperor, I wish to be hospitable to the vessels of the two belligerent parties, but I will not, nor can, without violating the orders of His Majesty, divest myself of the absolute neutrality that I ought to observe. That is to say to you, M. le commandant, that if it is not my intention to refuse an anchorage to a vessel belonging to the States of the South, I offer to you, on the other hand, the same hospitality and the same facilities to the vessels belonging to the Government of the Union which you have the honor to command. There exist, besides, international laws, that every civilized nation scrupulously observes, and which I need scarcely recall to you, M. le commandant, nor to the commander of the Sumter. Accept, &c., M. LE COMMANDANT DE L'IROQUOIS. LE AMIRAL, Gouverneur de la Martinique, &'c. The captain of the Iroquois was also informed that, if the Sum[18] ter should leave *the port before him, he would not be permitted to weigh anchor until twenty-four hours should have elapsed after her sailing. He quitted his anchorage immediately, and cruised in the offing, with the design of intercepting her, till the night of the 23d, when she succeeded in making her escape. On the 18th of January, 1862, the Sumter arrived at Gibraltar. The American consul at that port immediately addressed a letter to the governor, informing him of the fact, and expressing a hope that he would "give such orders as may prevent this rebel cruiser from obtain |