Mr. Seward to Mr. Welles. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, October 19, 1861. SIR: I transmit herewith a copy of a note from the British minister of the 11th instant, and of its accompaniment, respecting an alleged interference with the British ship "Perthshire" by vessels of the United States blockading squadron. I will thank you to furnish me with such information upon the subject as will enable me to reply to the note of Lord Lyons. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. GIDEON WELLES, WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Secretary of the Navy. Mr. Seward to Lord Lyons. : DEPARTMENT OF State, Washington, October 19, 1861. MY LORD I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 11th instant, accompanied by a copy of a memorial addressed to her Majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs, by Mr. William Gray, owner of the British ship Perthshire, alleged to have been interfered with by United States ships-of-war. A copy of those papers has been transmitted to the Secretary of the Navy with a view to a proper investigation of the matter. When the reply of that officer shall have been received, I shall lose no time in communicating to your lordship the result of the investigation. Accept, my lord, the assurance of my high consideration. The Right Hon. Lord LYONS, &c., &c., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Mr. Welles to Mr. Seward. NAVY DEPARTMENT, October 24, 1861. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 19th instant and enclosures, and to transmit herewith a copy of a report of Captain William W. McKean, commanding United States ship Niagara, and a copy of a report of Commander Melancton Smith, which contain such information as the department possesses in relation to the seizure of the British ship "Perthshire" by the United States steamer Massachusetts, and her subsequent release by order of Captain McKean. I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. GIDEON WELLES. Captain McKean to Commodore Mervine. UNITED STATES STEAMER NIAGARA, Of Southwest Pass of Mississippi, September 19, 1861. SIR: Your communication of the 17th instant, with the accompanying document, was received on the 18th instant. The English ship "Perthshire," Captain James Oates, left the harbor of Mobile on the 30th of June, 1861, and was boarded by Lieutenant Spicer, from this ship, and passed by my order, the fifteen days allowed by the proclamation of the President of the United States for neutral vessels to depart not having expired. I am under the impression that no indorsement was made upon her register, as I did not consider it necessary. I arrived off Fort Pickens in the Niagara early on the morning of the 12th of June, 1861. A large ship, which proved to be the "Perthshire," had just anchored. Immediately after the Niagara had come to anchor, Commander M. Smith, commanding the United States steamer Massachusetts, came on board and reported having captured the Perthshire in latitude 27° 27′ and longitude 85° 31'. I stated to Commander Smith that the Perthshire had left Mobile within the time allowed by the President's proclamation; that I considered the capture illegal, as, by order of the department, no neutral vessel not having on board contraband of war, was to be detained or captured unless attempting to leave or enter a blockaded port after the notification of blockade had been indorsed on her register. I therefore directed him to release the "Perthshire," and to replace such provisions and stores as might have been used by the prize crew. She was accordingly released and immediately got under way, Commander Smith having reported to me that he had not only replaced such provisions as had been used, but had also supplied her with water. I subsequently received from Captain Adams the report of Commander Smith, a copy of which is herewith submitted. It bears no date. As I was in hourly expectation of your arrival from Key West, I had fully intended reporting the circumstances to you, but it escaped my memory. I am, sir, your obedient servant, Flag Officer WILLIAM MERVINE, WM. W. McKEAN, Captain. Commanding Gulf Blockading Squadron, United States Steam Frigate "Colorado." Commander Smith to commanding officer Gulf squadron. U. S. STEAMER MASSACHUSETTS, SIR: I have to report that on the 9th instant, in latitude 27° 27', and longitude 85° 31', I boarded and seized as a prize the English ship "Perthshire," from Mobile, bound to Liverpool, with a cargo of 2,240 bales of cotton; said ship having been boarded by one of the blockading fleet off Pensacola, May 13th, and warned not to enter the harbor. Two officers and twenty-nine men were placed on board the prize, and Mr. Wm. R. Clark, acting master, was directed to proceed with all possible despatch and report to the senior commanding officer of the Gulf squadron for instructions. In addition to the above, I boarded ship Janico from Mobile, ship Carl and bark Mary from New Orleans, all loaded with cotton, and with registers indorsed; also ship Bramley Moore, from New Orleans, register not indorsed, but allowed her to proceed upon her voyage, as the time granted vessels to clear, according to the notification of blockade, had not expired. Very respectfully, MELANCTON SMITH, The COMMANDING OFFICER Commander. Gulf Squadron, Pensacola. [Indorsement by Captain Adams.] JUNE 10, 1861. At the time the Perthshire was boarded from this ship and ordered off from Pensacola there was no blockade of Mobile or the Mississippi river. H. A. ADAMS, Captain U. S. Frigate "Sabine." Mr. Seward to Lord Lyons. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, October 24, 1861. MY LORD: Your letter of the 11th of October last, presenting the claim of Mr. William Gray, owner of the British ship "Perthshire," for damages incurred by the detention of that vessel by the blockading squadron of the United States, was referred by me to the Secretary of the Navy for information upon the subject. I have now received the answer of the Secretary of the Navy thereupon, which fails to show me that the detention of the Perthshire by Commander Smith, commanding the United States steamer Massachusetts, was warranted by law or by the President's proclamation instituting the blockade, although I am satisfied that that officer acted under a misapprehension of his duties, and not from any improper motive. It will belong to Congress to appropriate the sum of two hundred pounds, claimed by Gray, which sum seems to me not an unreasonable one. The President will ask Congress for that appropriation as soon as they shall meet, and he will direct that such instructions shall be given to Commander Smith as will caution him against a repetition of the errors of which you have complained. I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to your lordship the assurance of my high consideration. The Right Hon. Lord LYONS, &c., &c., &e. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. AUSTRIA. Mr. Seward to Mr. Burlingame. [Extracts.] No. 2.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: It seems to me that our mission to Austria has not been made as useful hitherto as it ought to have been. I think, indeed, that it has generally been undervalued, The causes for this are manifest. We are a commercial people, and of course cultivate acquaintance first and chiefly with other commercial nations. Situated on a long Atlantic coast, and confronting on the opposite shore the commercial countries from whence our population was first and principally derived, we have naturally fallen into relations with them of the most intimate kind. Austria is distant, and it has never been a maritime nation. To go no further in the review of its history than 1815, the Austrian government has been that one of the great European powers which has maintained more studiously, firmly, and persistently than any other, the principles of unlimited monarchy, so opposite in their character to the principles upon which our own government has been established. Again, Austria is not an unique country with a homogeneous people. It is a combination of kingdoms, duchies, provinces, and countries, added to each other by force, and subjected to an imperial head, but remaining at the same time diverse, distinct, and discordant. The empire is therefore largely destitute of that element of nationality which is essential to the establishment of free intercourse with remote foreign States. This absence of nationality is observable in the Austrian emigration to the United States. We meet everywhere here, in town and country, Italians, Hungarians, Poles, Magyars, Jews, and Germans, who have come to us from that empire, but no one has ever seen a confessed Austrain among us. So when a traveller visits Austria he passes through distinctly marked countries, whose people call themselves by many different names, but none of them indicative of their relation to the empire. * * * * * Our representatives at Vienna seem generally to have come, after a short residence there, to the conclusion that there was nothing for them to do and little for them to learn. The President expects that you will be diligent in obtaining not only information about political events, but also commercial and even scientific facts, and in reporting them to this department. Austria is an interesting field for improvement of that kind. Although Lombardy, with other Italian provinces, has recently been lost, yet the empire still has a population little inferior in number to our own; and though there are some nations whose people are more mercurial, there is no one in the whole world whose inhabitants are more industrious, frugal, cheerful, and comfortable; none in which agriculture derives more wealth from hard soils and ungenial skies; none where science, art, and taste mingle so perfectly with public and private economy. An undue portion of the country is mountainous. It has never |