[From British Blue Book, "North America," No. 9, 1864, p. 4.] No. 2. Lord Lyons to Earl Russell. WASHINGTON, December 15, 1863. MY LORD: On the 11th instant, a few minutes after I had sent off my dispatch to your lordship of that day, Mr. Seward called upon me and showed me a telegram which he had just received from the United States vice-consul at Halifax. It had been not very correctly transmitted, but the substance of it appeared to be that the Chesapeake had been taken, by the passengers who seized her, into the port of Shelburn in Nova Scotia, and that the Crown lawyers at Halifax were deliberating on the case. Mr. Seward begged me to address a telegraphic dispatch to the governor of Nova Scotia, to request, in the name of this government, that all proper measures might be taken to prevent the escape of the vessel. The result of my conversation with Mr. Seward was that I dispatched a telegram to General Doyle, the administrator of the government of Nova Scotia, stating that the Secretary of State of the United States requested me to beg him to take all measures compatible with international and municipal law, in order that justice might be done in the case. General Doyle having replied that the Chesapeake had not entered any port within his jurisdiction, I dispatched, at Mr. Seward's request, a telegram to the governor of New Brunswick, to the same effect as that which I had sent to Nova Scotia. I have the honor to inclose copies of correspondence which I have had on the subject. MY LORD: This department is in possession of authentic information that among the persons who recently committed piracy and murder on board the United States steamer Chesapeake were two named Braine and Parr, respectively, and that they have taken refuge in the British province of New Brunswick or Nova Scotia. As it is desirable that they should be detained there until the formal affidavits can be forwarded with a view to their extradition for trial in this country, I will thank you to request her Majesty's authorities to do anything which can be legally done for that purpose. I have the honor to be, with high consideration, my lord, your obedient servant, Right Hon. LORD LYONS, &c., &c., &c. Lord Lyons to Mr. Seward. WASHINGTON, December 16, 1863. MY DEAR SIR: I send you a copy of the telegram which I have dispatched to the administrator of the government of Nova Scotia, in consequence of the note which I received from you this morning respecting the affair of the Chesapeake, and the conversation which I had with you on the subject afterwards. I have dispatched an identical telegram to the lieutenant governor of New Brunswick. Yours, faithfully, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, &c., &c., &c. LYONS. Lord Lyons to Lieutenant Governor Gordon (and Major General Doyle.) [Telegraphic.] WASHINGTON, December 16, 1863. The United States government informs me officially that it has authentic intelligence that Braine and Parr, two men charged with having committed piracy and murder on board the United States steamer Chesapeake, have taken refuge in Nova Scotia or New Brunswick; and it requests the British authorities to do anything which can be legally done to detain the two men until formal affidavits can be procured with a view to their extradition for trial. The Secretary of State suggests that if it be alleged that the men were belligerents, and that their acts were acts of lawful warfare, the proper time for examining this plea will be when the propriety of complying with an actual demand for extradition shall be under consideration. I have answered that it is certain that your excellency will act in exact conformity with the requirements of municipal law and international law and comity. SIR: Your dispatch of the 27th of November (No. 545) has been received. We await with much interest the end of the prosecution in the case of the Alexandra. Meanwhile the bold and flagrant crime committed in the name of the insurgents here, by seizing the steamer Chesapeake, and using the British colonial coasts and waters as a base of their piratical operations, ought to bring home to the British government the discovery that its premature toleration of the anomalous belligerent is engendering a border war, which would be a sad and daugerous sequel to our unhappy insurrection. Again, if the northern states of Europe are to become a theater of a civil war in Denmark, with the intervention of foreign states on opposing sides, according to their sympathies or dynastic interests, it will soon become important to know by what code of neutrality our own conduct is to be regulated-whether the one we have set up, or the one that has been adopted by Great Britain and France in regard to ourselves. MY LORD: The Chesapeake is a regularly licensed American steamer, plying the coasting trade, carrying passengers and freight between the city of New York and Portland, in the State of Maine. On the 5th of December last, under the care of her captain, (Willett,) with a crew in all consisting of seventeen persons, old and young, male and female, she took on board at New York sixteen unsuspected passengers, all of whom paid their fares, and she set out at half past 3 in the afternoon on her voyage to Portland. On Monday the 7th instant, at half past 1 in the morning, the steamer then being off Cape Cod, on the high seas, these passengers surprised the watch, murdered the second engineer, maimed and disabled the first mate, and seized the captain and crew, and confined the captain with irons. The piratical passengers then took control of the steamer. Arriving at Partridge Island, in St. John Harbor, in the waters of New Brunswick, the pirates delivered the captain and crew on board of a pilot-boat, which seemed to be attending by concert, and they were subsequently put on shore at St. John, in that province. Information of these crimes having reached this government, several ships of war were sent out to capture the pirates and recover the Chesapeake. Advice being received that the former were likely to seek refuge either in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia, the United States consuls were directed to apply to her Majesty's authorities for their arrest and detention, until a requisition could be made for their delivery under the existing treaty between the two governments, as fugitives from justice. Your lordship is, I believe, already informed that his honor the chief justice of Nova Scotia issued warrants for the arrest of the offenders, but I am not advised that any of them have actually been arrested under that process. I now learn by telegrams which have been received from Mr. Gunnison, the American vice-consul at Halifax, that United States ship of war Ella and Annie, under S. F. Nichols, commander, at 9 o'clock in the morning of yesterday, the 17th, saw the Chesapeake lying in Sambro Harbor, Nova Scotia, under flag of distress, and that the pirates were abandoning her. The Ella and Annie proceeded to the vessel, and two of the crew found on board of the Chesapeake delivered her up to the officers of the Ella and Annie. Those officers immediately proceeded with the Chesapeake to Halifax, where they now have that vessel, and it is said three of the pirates, in their keeping. The object of the officers in proceeding to Halifax was to deliver that vessel and pirates up to her Majesty's authorities if they should desire that to be done. Meantime the consul has reported the transaction to this government and asked instructions. Assuming this statement of facts to be true, I am not aware that the naval officers have, in any respect, violated the sovereignty of jurisdiction of Great Britain. It is possible, however, that the case may not yet have been fully made known to this government. To guard, therefore, against any possible misapprehension, I have now by the President's directions to inform your lordship that this government has not authorized, nor does it propose to justify, any exercise whatever of authority, by its agents, within the waters or on the soil of Nova Scotia. If any such authority has been assumed, this government will at once express its profound regret; and it stands ready, in that case, to make amends which shall be entirely satisfactory. The question, however, remains, what shall now be done with the Chesapeake and the pirates? This government will, if it be required, place them at once in the custody of her Majesty's authorities at Halifax. Nevertheless, as at present advised, it would be my duty, in that case, to demand a delivery of the vessel, that it may be restored to its undoubted owners, and a surrender of the pirates, to be tried by our laws for their crimes. Such proceedings would be dilatory, and possibly somewhat embarrassing to the authorities at Halifax. I have thought it proper, therefore, to propose another mode of proceeding which would save all the rights of her Majesty's government, while it may be more convenient to all parties. If it shall be agreeable to the authorities at Halifax, the Chesapeake and the pirates may be left in the keeping of the naval authorities of the United States, and may be brought back to our own country. Here not only the vessel, but the pirates, will in that case be held in custody until the wishes of her Majesty's government shall be expressed, and if they shall see fit to require it, they will at once be restored to the care of the British government, the United States reserving the right to make legal requisition in the case for the fulfillment of justice. I have the honor to be, with high consideration, my lord, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Right Hon. LORD LYONS, &c., &c., &c. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of to-day, communicating to me the recent intelligence which has reached you concerning the steamer Chesapeake. I accept with entire satisfaction the disavowal you so promptly make of any assumption of authority by officers of the United States within the territorial jurisdiction of her Majesty's province of Nova Scotia; and I will lose no time in communicating to the administrator of the government of that province the suggestions which your note contains respecting the disposal of the Chesapeake and the three men found on board. His excellency will certainly consider those suggestions with a desire to fulfill to the utmost the obligations of international comity and good neighborhood. I have the honor to be, with high consideration, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, SIR: I give you herewith, for your information, a copy of the papers relating to the piracy committed upon the Chesapeake. It is very desirable, if possible, that her Majesty's government should cause a surrender of the criminals. It would avert possible embarrassments, which I need not particularly indicate, and would manifestly be very useful in preventing the rise of border jealousies, a class of troubles always to be seriously deprecated. I am, sir, your obedient servant, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, Esq., &c., &c., &c. INCLOSURES. Lord Lyons to Mr. Seward, December 12, 1863. Mr. Seward to Lord Lyons. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, December 20, 1863. MY LORD: Credible information having reached this department that John C. Braine, H. A. Parr, John Parker Locke, alias Vernon G. Locke, David Collins, George Robinson, John Wade, and others, have committed piracy and murder on board the United States steamer Chesapeake, while that vessel was on her way from New York to Portland, in Maine, and that they have taken refuge in the British provinces of New Brunswick or Nova Scotia, I have the honor to request that, pursuant to the 10th article of the treaty of Washington, they may be delivered up for trial in the United States. I have the honor to be, with high consideration, my lord, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Right Hon. LORD LYONS, &c., &c., &c. [From British Blue Book, "North America," No. 9, 1864, p. 5.] No. 3. Lord Lyons to Earl Russell. WASHINGTON, December 21, 1863. With reference to my dispatch of the 15th instant, I have the honor to transmit to your lordship copies of further correspondence relative to the American steamer Chesapeake, which was taken possession of at sea by some of the passengers, who overpowered the master and crew. Your lordship will find among the correspondence a note from Mr. Seward to me, informing me, by direction of the President, that this government has not authorized, and does not propose to justify, any exercise whatever of authority by its agents within the waters or on the soil of Nova Scotia; and that if any such authority has been assumed this government will at once express its profound regret, and stands ready, in that case, to make amends which shall be entirely satisfactory. I have deemed it right to be content with this assurance until I shall receive fuller information of what has occurred in Nova Scotia, and shall be made acquainted with the views and wishes of the administrator of the government of the province. An account of my communications with Mr. Seward on the subject is contained in the letter to Major General Doyle which forms the last inclosure in this dispatch. LIST OF INCLOSURES PRINTED IN THIS COMPILATION. 1. Mr. Seward to Lord Lyons, December 16, 1863. 2. Lord Lyons to Lieutenant Governor Gordon, (telegram,) December 16, 1863. 3. Lord Lyons to Mr. Seward, December 16, 1863. 6. Mr. Seward to Lord Lyons, December 18, 1863. 7. Lord Lyons to Mr. Seward, December 18, 1863. [The above inclosures will be found printed ante.] 8. Lord Lyons to Major General Doyle, December 21, 1863. [Inclosure No. 8.] Lord Lyons to Major General Doyle. [Extract.] WASHINGTON, December 21, 1863. When I transmit to you copies of a note from Mr. Seward, and the answer from me. I delivered this answer to him, Mr. Seward told me he should immediately telegraph his note in extenso, and my answer to the United States consul at Halifax; and he read to me a telegram which he said he should dispatch at the same time, directing the consul to communicate the notes to you, and then to dispose of the Chesapeake and the men taken on board, as you should direct. On the following day I received your excellency's telegram of the 18th instant. I immediately went to Mr. Seward, and after pointing out the material difference between the actual facts as stated by you, and the reports which he had received when he wrote his note, I said that I should consider whether it would not be necessary that I should address to him without delay an official written remonstrance against the proceedings of the United States officers. Mr. Seward, observed to me, that he had already declared in his note that this government had not authorized, and would not authorize, any exercise whatever of authority by its agents, within the waters or on the soil of Nova Scotia. And that he had added, that if any such authority should have been assumed this government would at once express its profound regret, and make amends which should be entirely satisfactory. This having been done, he thought it would be better that any further written communications should be postponed until we had full information of what had occurred, or, at all events, until we knew what view your excellency would take of the note. I answered that I would beg him to consider whether the new facts which your excellency's telegram disclosed did not render it advisable that he should send further instructions to the United States officer at Halifax. În reflection I came to the conclusion that it would be better to wait until I was made more fully acquainted with your excellency's views and wishes before I took any further steps. And thus the matter stands at the present moment. [From British Blue Book, "North America," No. 9, 1864, pp. 10-24.] No. 5. Major General Doyle to the Duke of Newcastle. HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA, MY LORD DUKE: I have the honor to report, for the information of your Grace, the circumstances connected with the steamship Chesapeake, recently brought into this harbor by United States men-of-war. 2. On the 10th December a letter, a copy of which is annexed, was addressed to the honorable provincial secretary of my government by Mr. Gunnison, ex-vice-consul of the United States of America, stating that information had been received at the United States consulate that the American steamer Chesapeake had been seized by a band of pirates and murder committed, and requesting that should the Chesapeake or any one connected with her enter our ports, she should be detained, and the parties implicated arrested, and held to answer any charge that might be preferred against them. 3. At the same time, and subsequently between the 10th and 15th December, Mr. Gunnison handed the provincial secretary copies of the annexed telegrams, and an affidavit made by the vice-consul on the 14th instant, all of which were by my direction placed in the hands of the law officers of this government. 4. On the 11th instant I received a telegram from Lord Lyons, saying he was informed that the American government had heard that the steamer Chesapeake had put into a Nova Scotian port, and that the Secretary of State had begged him to take all measures compatible with international and municipal law, in order that justice might be done, to which I replied that the Chesapeake had not been heard of in any of our ports, and inquired whether I should detain her if she should come. 5. On the 14th instant the provincial secretary replied to the vice-consul that the question raised by his communication had been submitted to the crown officers, and that they did not see, as at present informed, that they could legally interfere. A copy of that letter is annexed. 6. During the 15th and 16th instant telegrams were received by the government here from the custom-house officers at Lunenburg and Bridgwater, saying that the Chesa peake had reported herself as the confederate war-steamer Retribution, had exhibited |