The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-05 00:00:00

MR. SEWARD TO LORD LOONS.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, Oct., 14, 1861.
My Lord,—l have the honour to acknowledge your lord-
ship's note of the present date.
In that paper you inform me that the British Government
is much concerned to find that two British subjects, Mr,
Patrick and Mr. Rahming, have been brought under arbi-
trary arrest, and that although her Majesty's Ministers have
been advised by you of the release of Mr. Patrick, yet they
cannot but regard the matter as requiring the very serious
consideration of this Government.

You further inform me that her Majesty's Government
perceive that when British subjects, as well as American
citizens, are arrested, they are transferred to a military pri-
son, and that the military authorities refuse to pay obedi-
ence to a writ of habeas corpus.
You add that her Majesty's Government conceive that this
practice is directly opposed to the maxim of the constitution
of the United States, that no person shall be deprived of life
liberty, or property without due process of law. You then
observe that her Majesty's Government are nevertheless
willing to make every allowance for tho hard necessities of
a time of internal trouble, and they would not have been
surprised if the ordinary securities of personal liberty had
been temporarily suspended, nor would they have complained
if British subjects, falling under suspicion, had suffered from
the consequences of that suspension. But that it does not
appear that Congress has sanctioned in this respect any de-
parture from the due course of law, and it is in those cir-
cumstances that the law officers of the Crown have advised
her Majesty's Government that the arrests of British sub-
jects are illegal.
You remark, further, that, so far as appears to her
Majesty's Government, the Secretary of State for the United
States examines upon the reports of spies, and assumes the
power of depriving British subjects of their liberty, or
liberating them by his own will and pleasure; and you in-
form n.e that her Majesty's Government cannot but regard
this despotic and arbitrary power as inconsistent with the
constitution of the United States, as at variance with the
treaties of amity subsisting between the two nations, as
tending to prevent the resort of British subjects to the
United- States for purposes of trade and industry. You
conclude with informing me that upon these grounds her
Majesty's Government have felt bound to instruct you to
remonstrate against such irregular proceedings, and to say
that, in their opinion, the authority of Congress is neces-
sary in order to justify the arbitrary arrest and imprison-
ment of British subjects.

Tho facts in regard to the two persons named_ in your
note are as follows :

Communications from the regular police of the country
to the Executive at Washington showed that disloyal per-
sons in the State of Alabama were conducting treasonable
correspondence with Confederates, British subjects and
American citizens in Europe, aimed at the overthrow of
the Federal Union by armed forces actually in the field
and besieging the capital of the United States. A portion
of this correspondenee, which was intercepted, was ad-
dressed to the firm of Smith and Patrick, brokers, long
established and doing business in the city of New York. It
appeared that this firm had a branch at Mobile, that the
partner, Smith, is a disloyal citizen of the United States,
and that he was in Europe when the treasonable papers
were sent from Mobile, addressed through the house of
Smith and Patrick, in New York. On receiving this infor-
mation, Wm. Patrick was arrested and committed into mili-
tary custody at Fort Lafayette by an order of the Secretary
of War of the United States, addressed to the police of the
city of New York. These proceedings took place on the 28th
Aug. last.

Representations were thereupon made to the Secretary of
State by friends of Mr. Patrick, to the effect that notwith-
standing his associations ho was personally loyal to this
Government, and that ho was ignorant of the treasonable
nature of the corraspondenco which was being carried on
through the mercantile house of which ho was a member.
Directions were thereupon given by the Secretary of State
to a proper agent to inquire into the correctness of the facts
thus presented, and this inquiry resulted in the establish-
ment of their truth. Mr. William Patrick was thereupon
promptly released from custody by direction of the Secre-
tary of State. This release occurred on the 13th of Septem-
ber last.

On the 2d day of September the Superintendent of Police,
in the city of New York, informed the Secretary of State,
by telegraph, that he had under arrest J. C. Rahming, who
had just arrived from Nassau, where he had attempted to
lance the owners of the schooner Arctic to take cannon to
Wilmington, in North Carolina, for the use of the rebels,
and inquired what should ho do with the prisoner. J. C.
Rahming was thereupon committed into military custody
at Fort Lafayette, under a mandate from the Secretary of
State, This commitment was made on the 2d of September.
On the 17th of that month this prisoner, after due inquirsl,
was released from custody, on his executing a bond in the
Pe'-'.14.7 a MOO &as., with a condition that he should there-
after bear true allegiance to the United States, and do no
a
et 'hostile or injurious to them while remaining under their
Protect'
ton,

I have to regret that, altar so long an official intercourse
between the Governments of the United States and Great
Britain, it should
ministers that be necessary now to inform her Majesty's
all executive proceedings, whether of the
Secretary of War or of the Secretary of State, are, unless
li
disavowed or revoked by the President, proceedings of the
President of the United States.
170rectanionu,Gatintte"ndiedtilbye British
United States when the
Government Certainly
social
iw i tan
war,
swwntaohsta
otn27ee es
lan
even 00C g in the U