, 1866-03-03


The volume Of Il correspondence respecting
the Shenandoah" just presented to Parlia-
uept Is not a mers collection Of documents
already published separately. Besides the
elaborate series Of Dispatches which passed
between Lord John Russell and Mr.. Adams
on the general question Of our alleged llahii-
to to The vtsit Of the shenandoah to Mel
tssv W letters o. Mr. Seward, III. Adams and
Lord M Clarendon oa thIs tne.haus.i.
that in his despatch Of the % day
Of December, which pnrportsd 70 s'ose IA. tno
phatic assertion that no armed vessel had de-
parted from British port during The var to
cruise asan,st the commerce Of tbs United
States, md that onz Government had steadily
and honestly discharged all the duties I'M
posed upon Us as neutEals By 1ntsrnational
ter could have rested, either party maintaining
It's own position, but forbeatng to renew tho
discussion. Unfortunately, Iii. Seward hsu
already pcnned, on tho 3oth Of NoTeIa"
her, caustic >and il'-censidered de-
spatch, which Mr.. Adams CON-
muntcated TO Lord Clarendon On the
comments on the circumstances attending tho
surrender Of the Shenandoah In terms which
contrast unfayorabty with Mr. Adams assu
rance on The 18th oi NoscMoer, that IN this
lnstsncsthc promptitule Of our proceedings
would give great satisfaction to his Govern
s1s. On The sotaFy y,s ~ Wa.a ns a,es ears, :,
possible. - We accept the vessel, hut I re-
grer to cay that the acceptance is not attend
ed with any satisfaction on the part Of this
Government. 1t would have gratlded the
President II her Alajcsty's Government had
caused proceedings to ba instituted for the
condemnation oi the Shenandoah The
course, however, which the British Gov
rrnmcnt has hitherto pursued In regard
to our applications for Justice was such
As TO discourage on our part an expectation
OF such d disposition Of tho vessel. Wa ac-
ccpt her now simply and exclusively, upon
the prudential consideration that, being re-
d1ced into our possession, she will not again
depart from British winters In hostile ehaFao-
ter,r After advcrtiDg TO the facts Of the case.
.A1r. Seward concluded BY drawing, On behalf
OF the United States, "thc painful Inference
10 t sold guilsiess of al crime subjects Of her her
Maesty who have In Time OF pro-
| found peace wagcd naval war upon the high
seas against unaTmed citizens Of the United
Stntcs engaged In lawful commerce aud
nayisattou.n Upon this despatch being sead
to him, Lord Clarendon quietly observed that
Ills friendly relations with the United States
| alone prevented him from replying to 1t at
! once In appropriate language, aud in q Inter
despatch ot the 10Th Of January he repeats
this sentiment to $lr Frederick Bruce, adlins
that Her Hajesty's government think
| untounded q charge they shall best consult
tbelr own dignity.
/ Fully concur1inr IN the proprsety Of this
course, We shall not dwell further upon Nr.
Sewurd's protest. The special arguments,
howsysr vhtsn hs,aass be Employs n and she .sts
spatch Of the 18th Of December. demand our
attentive consideration. In Mr. sewara's
opinion Captain Vaddell and his crew, whom
he assumes to bare been guilty Of piracy,
ought to have been delivered mp, on regui-
dictlon OF the United . States and
puutshed hera for their aagrant csincs.''
This requisiiion, according 10 him,
was not made because the prcce-
dent Of the "Gerrity" left no hops Of a
and his complaint Is that no Prosecution ot
them we're directed by our government. Ha
criticises with much severity the two reasons
for their uoD-detention specified by Lord
Clarendon in his despatch Of the 1ith al No
vember- As to there being no legal evidence
he remarks-drat, that "every part Of the
unlawful transaction complained OF had oc-
Cured either In British ports or on the decks
Of the Shenandoah, harself being British
vessel" secondly, that tall those transae-
tions had been fully made known to
that "any parties who could give ia ss
necessary testimony for the eonvic-
| tIon OF the pirates were, not only within Rfit-
ish jurisdiction, but actually within custody
Of the agents~ Of Her Majesty Government"
As to the allegation that uone Of them wore
tents himself by replying broadly that ":all
the offenders were either native subJecta of
| the Queen, or had become by same sufficient
form Of refuge or lomicilfation amcnable
| equally with native subjects TO the penal laws
Of ths realm," On all these points
deIce then within : the cognizance Of
| either Government nt-appearst to us conclusive.
| No charge Of '.piracy" whatever could b..
! sustained, In any case, against the officers or
men Of the Shenandoah prior to the tesmfna-
tton the war. Nothing could Justify, even
except proof Of their having wilfuliy cona;n-
uetl hostilitles after that period. The allcgrd
! unlawful outfit Of the vessel has, therefore.
| no bearing on the question, md 1t Is certain
that she lost her Brit9h character after 1nIt-
ting the Desertas Island, md before COM
| meneIng her warlike cruise. In fact, Mr..
Ada.ns' request for her delivery was founded
l on the supposit1on thnt, being public ship
| OF the Confederate Government, she Ind
reverted 10 The United States, and upon
In the power 1f our Government to grant il.
50 far from all the transactions alleged 10
| constitute case OF piracy being fully raada
known to the latter, the only documents re-
lattng to captures after the war ended which
had come to thefr knowledge were entirely
given to Captain. .Wadieli, No Persons
capable Of giving evidence on the mntter were
kEowD to be within British Jurisdiction, stIll
less IN the custody Of British agents, unless It
were seamen belonging to the crew OF the
Shenandoah, and these could not be uaada
| Witnesses against themselves. LastI7.
| 10 proof was offered, or was fu the pos-
session Of the government. to show that auy
| uatural born spbiects Of her Majesty wcre On
| board Of her, and no other persons can be ln-
dictcd tor Illegal enlistment Of course !" for
lie 10 tbe tribunals Of tbs country as natural
born subjects p but no one was'ia position
I to substausIate this charse. which Il WI, onStn
orcn tn MI Adams or ms other a",.1t NJ
lie IJnitcd states1 to nrcfer, E'A' ~
While we thus recognize the cogency of
Lord Clascndon's reasoning as against that
or Mr. Seward, we are not disposed 10 deny
/ tie lorce OF certain eyidence vh,ch has s1nca
rome in Npht. On the s8th Of Drrenber NJ.
Adums enciosed 10 Lord Clarenilo,. in II rerv
courteous despatch, the aiiidavits procured
\ Nv the TnItcd States Cnnani. at I;vernooi
I which certainly place In new aspect The Yio,
! Iatfon of our neutrality BY Capt. Waddell aud
lis associates. The gsst and most Important
OF these atfidayits, made by a sailor named
Temple, contains, it Is true, much that Is
Irrelevant. For Instance, il relates at great
s' the course @ " Of Of ~ Capt. Corbett:s VI trtal q
and Of = date prior to the 10TH Of Octo-
@ bes, when vi ihe ia W KIM: - vas anai,y converted OF
into the Shenandoah, md commenced her
destructive career. It gives, also, great
prominence to the fnet Of two eighteen