The Sun.
London, England, 1864-05-25 00:00:00

THE CC ,NEE: DEBATE STEAM RAMS,

IThe following is the diplomatic correspondence
which hss taken place between the British autho-
rities and Mr. Jefferson Davis on the subject of
" the Rama " _ _ _

Her British Majesty's Legation, Washington, D.C.,
April 1, 1864.

Mr. Jefferson Davies, &c., Richmond, Va.
Sir,—l have been instructed by Earl Russell,:
her Britanic Majesty's Secretary of State for
Foreign AffAirs, to convey to you the following ex-
tract of a despatch which has been forwarded to
me by his lordship. I have chosen the method
which appeared to me the only available one under
the present unhappy circumstances in which this
country is involved, and I trust that the absence
of all recognised diplomatic or consular residents
or other agents of her Majesty at Richmond will
be recognised as a sufficient reason for it not being
sent through the usual channels. I need scarcely
say that the bearer of this despatch, whom you have
consented to allow to visit Richmond, has been
authorised by the Government of the United States
to pass into your lines on the flag of trace boat for
the purpose of delivering it, and will desire your
permission to return to Washington by the same
mode of conveyance.—l have the honour to be, with
high respeot, your obedient humble servant,
LYONS.

:(Copy.
Yon will also convey to Mr. Davis at Richmond,
through such channel as shall be available, and as
you may in your discretion deem proper, the
formal protest and remonstrance of her Majesty's
Government against the efforts of the authorities
of the so-called Confederate States to build war-
vessels within her Majesty's dominions to be em-
ployed against the Government of the united States.
Perhaps your lordship might best accomplish this
object by obtaining permission of the authorities of
both belligerents to send a special messenger to
Richmond with the necessary despatch, in which
you will transmit this paragraph, or the substance
of it, together with all that follows, to the close of
this communication.

Her Majesty's Government, in taking this coarse,
desires Mr. Davis to rest assured that it is adopted

entirely in that spirit of neutrality which has been

declared the policy of this country with regard to
the two belligerents now so lamentably desolating

America, and which will be continued to be pursued

with a careful and earnest desire to make it con

ducive to the most rigid impartiality and justice.
After consulting with the law officers of the
Crown, her .lajesty's Government have come to the
decision that agents of the authorities of the so-
called Confederate States have been engaged in
building vessels which would be at least partially
equipped for war purposes on leaving the ports of
this country ; that these war vessels would un-
doubtedly be used against the United States—a
country with which this Government is at peace ;
that this would be a violation of the neutrality laws
of the realm, and that the Government of the United
States would have just ground for serious corn-

plaint against her Majesty's Government should
they permit such an infraction of the amicable re■
lations now subsisting between the two countries.
Her Majfsty's Government confidently rely on
the frankness, courtesy, and discernment which
Mr. Davis has diap eyed in the difficult circum-
stances in which he has been placed during the

past three years, for a recognition of the correct-
ness of the position which her Maksty's Govern-
ment have taken upon this subject. No matter
what might be the difficulty of proving in a court

of law that the parties procuring the building o
these vessels are agents of the so-called Confederate
States, it is universally understood throughout the
world that they are so, and her Majesty's Govern-
ment are satisfied that Mr. Davis would not deny
that they are so. Constructed as rams, as these
vessels are, they would certainly be in a condition,
on leaving port, to inflict the most serious damage on
vessels belonging to the United States, es was shown
by the destruction of the Cumberland, United States
sloop of war, by the ram Merrimac, by the latter
being run into collision with the Cumberland. Such
vessels arc to all intents and purposes equipped as
war vessels of a certain power, although they be
without a gun or any ammunition on bomrd; nor
can the frequent use of the word " equip," in the
sense of " to furnish with everything necessary for
a voyage," be held for a moment to limit its signi-
ficance to the furnishing of a war vessel with every-
thing which it might be possible to put upon her,
or the ultimately putting of which on her might be
contemplated. Stich aco istruction cannot be
entertained for an instant. It is clear that a 120
gun ship might be equipped for war purposes with-
out any fraction of her armament on board, although
she might not be so powerful or so efficient as she
would be if she had the whole of it. A ram would
b 3 also equipped for war purposes, although the
absence of her ordnance and ammunition might
render her less effective than she would be with
them. This, it is presumed by her Majesty's Go-
vernment, will be conceded by Mr. Davis without
farther argument or illustration in support of it.
This much being established to the perfect con-
viction of her Majesty's Government and the law
officers of the Crown, and admitted, as they are
convinced it must be, by Mr. Davis and by every
other person of sound and impartial judgment, there
is not the slightest room to doubt that it is proposed
to use the vessels in question against the United
States, a country with which this nation is at peace
and on terms of amity, and that the permitting of
them to leave the ports of her Majesty's dominions
would be a violation of the neutral laws of the
kingdom, and such an injurious act towards the
United States as would justify the Government of
that country in seriously complaining of it as un-
friendly and offensive in the highest degree, even to
the imminent peril of rupturing the peaceful rela-
tions now existing between the two countries.
Under these circumstances, her Majesty's Govern-
ment protest and remonstrate agsiust any further
efforts being made on the part of the so-called Con-
federate States, or the authorities or agents thereof,
to build or cause to be built, or to purchase or cause
to be purchased, any such vessels as those styled
rams, or any other vessels to be used for war :
nus o y
ea r
pur-
poses
against the United States, oratgy
,a t any
country with which the United Kingdom is at peace
and on terms of amity; and Her Majes
Govern-
went further protest and remonstrate against all
acts in violation of the neutrality laws of the realm,
have the honour to be your lordship's obedient
servant, RUSSELL,
"Richmond, Va,, C.S.A., April 6, 1864.
To the Right Hon. Lord Lyons, C,8., &c., her
Britannic Majesty's Minister to the Government
of the United States,
My Lord,--4 have been instructed by the Presi-
dent to acknowledge the receipt of a despatch from
your lordship, enclosing a copy of a portion of a
despatch from Earl Russell, her Britannic Majesty's
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, purporting
to be a " formal protest and remonstrance of her
Majesty's Government against the efforts of the
authorities of the so-called Confederate States to
build war vessels within her Majesty's dominions,
to be emplayed against the Government of the
United States."

The President desires me to say to your lordship
that while he is not unwilling to waive in existing
circumstances the transmission of such a document
through other than the usual and proper channel,
it wool l be inconsistent with the dignity of the
position tie figs, as chief magistrate of a nation com-
prising a population of more than twelve millions,
occupyin. a territory many times larger than the
United Kingdom, and possessing resources unsur-
passed by those of any other country on the face
of the globe, to allow the attempt of Earl Russell
to ignore the actual e.xiatencs of the Confederate
States, and to contumeliously style them " so called,"
to pass without protest an rernonstrance. The
President therefore does protest and remonstrate
sa-linst this studied insult, end he instructs me to
say that in future any document in which it may
be repeated will be returned unanswered and un-
noticed.

With respect to the subject of the extract from
Earl Russell's despatch, the President desires me
to state that the plea of neutrality which is used
to sustain the sinister course of her 314jesty6
present Government against the Government