The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-28 00:00:00

ITE7ERIAL P.

HOUSE OF LORDS—Last Evening.
The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack at

the uual hour.

PETITIONS.

The Aichbiehop of CANTERBURY presented petitions
againit the sale of intoxicating liquors on Sundays.
The B'shop of LONDON presented similar petitions.
Lord CIIELMSFORD presented a petition against the
amalgamation of the City and metropolitan police force.
PRIVATE BUSINESS.
The Glaegow and South Western Railway (Capital),
North Eastern and Stockton and Darlington Railway
Company's Amalgamation, Whittle Dean Water, Work-
ington Dock, Desford Road, Stonehouse and Nails-
worth Railway, Caledonian Railway (Granton Bran_hes),
London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway (Extension
and Alteration) bills were read a second time.
THIRD READINGS.
The Carmarthen and Cardigan Railway (No. 1), Black-
, Chorley, end Wigan Railway, and Vale of Llan-
gollen Railway bills were read a third time and passed.
THE WAR IN AMERICA—THE MAIL BAGS.
Fat iRUSJELL —My lords, you will expect me, no doubt,
to answer the qacstions which were put to me on Friday
night. What I have to say will, I think, convince your
lordships it is not desirable that at this time I should state the
opinions which I have received from the law officers of the
Crown. Oa referring to the papers already presented to Par-
liament your lordships will see that a good deal of correspon-
dence passed subsequently t o the Bth of August. The letter
-written on the Bth of August has been published; but I
wrote afterwards to Mr. Stuart, and on the 10th of October
I made a further communication to the same gentleman. It
is not necessary to trouble your lordships with the whole of
the lastmentioned despatch. Part of it has already been
presented to Parliament ; but the despatch, after the pas.
sages published in the pritted papers, goes on to say :
"Her Majesty's Government are glad to find from your
despatch of the 12th of August last that the orders originally
given to American cruisers in regard to interference with
neutral vessels have been rescinded. If these orders had
been sanctioned and continued in force by the Govern-
ment of the United States, they would have called for
prompt and firm remonstrance on the part of her
Majesty's Government, and it will be proper that you
should intimate to Mr. Seward, while expressing the
s sthfactien of her Majesty's Government et their revoca-
tee, that her Majesty's Government are glad to be there-
by spared from the necessary of stating their decickd objet •
Lions to their tonour, You will say that to order vessels,
thoagh appar:ntly and prima fame carrying on a lawful
trade, to be systematically seized on the high seas, without
any preliminary search, or without the di, covert' during
such search of any strong evidence of suspicion against such
vessels, would be to subject the mercantile marine of neu-
trals to a system of oppression and annoyance which no
neutral Government could be expected to tolerate. The un-
j est seizure under urgent circumstances of a neutral vessel
may be considered as cne of the occasional burdens which
a state of war may impose upon a neutral, and it may b
partially compensated by the condemnation of the captor in
costs or in costa and damages; but the indiscriminate and
general seizure of merchant vessels, without previous
search, converts an cceasional exception into an intolerable
rule. The question which has arisen in this case as to the
seizure of her Majesty's mails on board the Adele, while it
forms a new and very important element in this case, de-
serving very grave consideration, raises a point of some deli-
cacy and difficulty. Her Majesty's Government cannot
doubt that the Government of the United States are pre-
pared to concede that all mail bags, elearly certified to be
such, shall be exemet from seizure or visitation, and that
some arrangement shell be made for immediately forward-
ing such bags to their destination in the event of the ship
which carries them being detained. If this is done, the ne-
cessity for discussing the claim, as a matter of strict right,
that her Majesty's mails on board a private vessel should
bo exempted from visitation or detention, might be avoided;
and it is therefore desirable that you should ascertain from
Mr. Seward whether the Government of the United States
admits the principle that her Majesty's mail bags shall
neither be searched nor detained."
On receipt of this despatch, Mr. Stuart read it to Mr.
Seward, who was ready to admit the principle therein laid
down with regard to naval rights. That there might be no
misunderstanding on the subject, it was agreed that special
instructions should be issued. Accordingly, on the 31st of
October, the following letter was addressed to Mr. Welles :
"Department of State, Washington, Oct. 31, 1862.
" Sir,—lt is thought expedient that instructions be given
to the blockading and naval officers that, in case of capture
of merchant vessels suspected or found to be vessels of the
ineurgents or contraband, the public mails of any friendly
or neutral Power, duly certified and authenticated as such,
shell not be searched or opened, but be put, as speedily as
may be convenient, on their way to their designated desti-
nations. This instruction, however, will not be deemed to
protect similathd mail bags, verified by forged certificates
or counterfeited seals.—fhave, &c.,

burn, (

WILLIAM H. SEIVARD,''
Those were the instructions given to American naval offi-
cers, and no question arose with respect to them, until the
other day. I have just received the account of the prelimi •
nary proceedings in connection with that transaction. On
the 4th of April, Mr. Archibald, her Majesty's Consul at
Ne iv York, was summoned to attend the prize commission
in regard to the Peterhcff, which, had been captured, as the
house is aware, by the United States. On arriving at the
office Mr. Archibald was shown the mail-bag taken from
the vessel, which was under the seal of her Majesty's Post-
master-General. Mr. Archibald protested against that seal
being broken and the bag examined, and requested that it
should be sent forward to its destination. The United States
officers, however, insisted that the bag should be opened,
and that was accordingly done. The bag was found to con-
tain several packages aderessed to 3latamoras. Nothing
more took place on this occasion, and Mr. Archibald re-
ported the matter to Lord Lyons, Lord Lyons immediately
applied to Mr. Seward, and stated that the proceeding in
question was in violation of the letter of Oct. 31, upon which
he relied for the security of mails of this description certi-
fied by her Majesty's Postmaster-General. Mr. Seward
said the subject would require consideration. Subsequently
Mr. Archibald was again desired to attend the Prize Court,
and was there informed by the counsel for the United States
that it had been resolved to open the packages found in the
mail-bag. In the first instance Mr. Archibald was invited
to perform this task, in order to ascertain what were bona
fide letters, which should be forwarded to their destination,
and what were papers referring to the cargo, which should
be handed over to the Prize Court. Mr. Archibald, however,
declined to be a party to such a course. If the Court chose
to order the packages to be opened, he said he would be
present as a witness of the transaction, but could not ap-
prove or give any sanction to it. Upon this declaration the
proceedings seem to have been suspended, and the opening
of the packages was deferred, Mr. Archibald at once re-
ported to Lord Lyons what had been done. Lord Lyons
went to Mr. Seward, and pointed out that, in accordance
with the order of the 31st of October, the letters ought to be
replaced in the mail-bag and forwarded to their destination.
According to the latest intelligence which I have received,
a telegram had been sent to the Prize Court directing that
the packages were not to be opened until further orders, but
the Government of the United States had not come to any
'efiaite determination on the subject. These are the facts of
caze as they at present stand. The opinion of the law
ee of the Crown must, of course, be very carefully
1 by her 3lajes'y's Government before any steps are
taken. lestructiona will be sent out probably by the next
mail, but in the reemtime fresh information may arrive
which may quite alter the complexion of the affair. Under
these circumstanced, I have to press for the indulgence of
your lordships in forbearing, for the present, to state the
opinion of the law officers of the Crown.
The Marquis of CLAN RICARDE said no one could ap-
Frew. more than he did the discretion which the Govern-
ment had exercised in postponing for the present the publi•
c..4tien of the opinion of the law officers. He was also glad
the noble earl had called attention to the agreement of 31st
October as to the security of the mails. On the 11th instant
the owners of the Sea Queen, in addressing an inquiry to
the Goveriunent as to the amount of protection which would
be afforded to the mails, referred to the dictum of an Ame-
rican judge, to the effect that mail letters found on board a
British ship could legally be opened in order to ascertain the
the character of the ship. Now, seeing that by the letter of
October last that contention was waived on the part of the
-United States Government, it would have been courteousin
the aohle earl, or in the noble lord the Postmaster-General,
to have stated the understanding now in force. He wished
to know what steps had been taken by her Majesty's Go-
vernment to obtain correct reports of the proceedings of the
American prize courts. It was clearly of great importance
that they should know whether there was any conflict of
law between the prize courts and the United States Go-.
,verometet. He understood that a number of ships had been
seized, some of them as far back as 10 months ago, and had
been Taken into port, but had not yet been brought
before
the Prize Court. The reason of that delaywasbelievedby
the owners to be the want of evidence against the vessels,
but from whatever cause it occurred it was most unjastifi-
able. (Hear, hear.)

weigte

Earl RUSSELL was not sure that complete reports of all
the proceedings of the Prize Courts could be obtained, but
he would take care to remind the British Minister in the
Unite' d States of the importance of transmitting them when-
ever possible.
CHARGES FORE
AILWAYS ENTAILED ..ESTATES FOR

Lord REDESDALE called attention to the report from
the s2lect committee upon this subject, and to what he con-
sidered the objectionable nature of the course of procedure
recommended by that report—viz., allowing an entailed
estate to be charged to assist in making railways. His lord-
ship also read t letter from Lord St. Leonards in support of
his lordship's view of the case.
Earl GREY defended the report, and argued that the
system of charges recommended was justified by the great
benefit that railways conferred upon the estates in their im-

znedicue vicinity.
Afier a few remarks from Lord Egerton, Lord Ravens-
worth, and Lord Stanley of Alderley, the Earl of Bandon,
Lord. Wodehouse, the Earl of Airlie, and Lord Granvgle,
the sitbject dropped.
LONDON DIOCESES BILL.

This bill was read a second time.
GARDENS IN TOWNS PROTECTION BILL.
The Commons' amendments were agreed to. _

Ts EW ZEALAND BOUNDARIES BILL.—
9IFFENCES (SOUTH AFP.,ICA)
TlAgllllls passed through committee.
BILL.
" CE of SECRETARY-AT-WAR ABOLITION
BI:LL--DooKYARDS PROTECTION ACT
A'NIENTMENT KILL.
These
ibills were read a third time and pasied.
Tlwr vordskopft adjourt.4,4 9,t acitzarter befine seen,