The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1865-10-31

CS.t .tAlSi liStCi1HS dlCCutlNCly TO the OATH
OF allegiance, declared that his connection
with the late Confederacv rendered it i'm
possible tor him to subcribc, and conSe-
quently he left the court house unsworn.
Important from Europe.
The Steamer Hibernian at New York,
brings dates from England to the 18th
instant
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE.
Important diplomatic correspondence be-
tween Mr. Adams, the American Minister.
and Earl Russell, is published in the Lon,
don Gazette of the 11th inst.
Inc correspondence begins with letter
from Minister Adams, dated the 7th of
April last, III which he calls the attention
OF Earl Russell to the official reports re-
spectlng the ravaSes of the Shenandoah,
and announces that for the damages caused
by such cruisers his Government cannot
avoid entailing the responsibility upon
Great Britain.
The reply of Earl Russell is dated MAY i.
He says that the duties of Great Britain
toward the United States are not measured
by the losses which the commerce of the
latter may have sustained. The question
IS simply whether the Queens Government
have faithfully and honestly performed the
duties which international laws and their
own municipal laws imposed upon them.
The reply Of Mr.. Adams is dated May 4.
he says that the insurgents became belli-
gerents On the ocean solely by reason of
the facality furnished in Her Majesty's ports
for them to do So. He complains Of the
secret sympathy of Her Majesty's Officers
in the port Of Liverpool, and contends that
after the information which he supplied re-
specting the Alabama, it was by the heflagrant
negligence of Her Majesty's Board of
Customs that this vessel, admitted to be
intended for war purposes, was suffered to
depart from Liverpool.
An interval of three months elapsed be-
tween the above letter and Earl RussePs
reply to it.
In response, Earl Russell proceeds 70
justify the course of Her Maiestys Govern
reasons are given why, in an extreme diff
Guilty. orders to exclude from British ports
vessels of war partly fitted up in the United
Kingdom were issued.
very important point is referredto in
this letter. Earl Russell notices statement
IN letter from MIR. Adams, in 1863, as to
the Government of Washington being ready
to refer these disputes to arbitration
Earl Russell declines this offer, and says
1t p question, in the first place, whether
faith, in maintaining their neutrality. and
in the second place, whether the law officers
of the Crown, have correctly interpreted q
British statute. Earl Russell cont nues
''The Queens Governmet can refer neither
Of these questions to arbitration" Tho
CHER Majesty's Government are the sole
guardians OF their own honor. They can
not admit they had acted with bad faith in
maintaining the neutrality they professed.
The law officers Of the Crown must be held
to be better interpreters of British statute
than any foreign government can be pre-
sumed to be. Her Majesty's Government
must therefore decline to make reparation
and compensation for captures made by the
Alabama, Or TO refer the question to any
foreign State.
Her Majesty's Government conceive that
II they were to act otherwise, they would
endanSer the position of neutrality in all
future wars. Her Majesty's Government
are, however, ready to consent to the ap-
polntment OF a Commission to which shall
late civil war, which the two powers shall
agree to refer to the Commissioners.
The reply Of Mr.. Adams is dated the 18th
OF September, and is very serious in its
tone.
Mr.. Adams considers that there is now
no dispu;' as to the fact that no recogni-
| ton Of TIC South as bclligcrcnts was such
an acG as was never done by one nation
toward another in state Of amity. He
harSes the British Government with hay
G acted without knowledge and upon a
re presumption in assuming that the
dence Of the blockade of the Southern
is was imperfect. The blockade, he
p, was the consequence, not the cause
rit.sh policy.
thinks that the only excuse for the
h Government is that its conduct was
pltate. He then lntlmateS that if the
- mes and practices of the British Gov
Vlcpt are allowed to become the rule tn
vIted States will not be the greatest losers
Yacrcby.
NJ. Adams Gee, not appear 10 think that