Charles Francis Adams to Right Hon. Earl Russell, April 5, 1864

Mr. Adams to Earl Russell.

My Lord: I have the honor to submit to your consideration copies of a letter from Mr. Dudley, consul of the United States at Liverpool, and of two depositions, showing the continued agency of the house of Jones & Co., British subjects, in enlistments and payment of British subjects in the service of the insurgents in the United States.

I pray your lordship to accept the assurances, &c., &c.,

Mr. Dudley to Mr. Adams.

Sir: You will find enclosed copies of two affidavits, one of Catharine Pratt, the other of Catharine Dow, wives of two of the men who were taken from Liverpool and enlisted on the confederate steamer Rappahannock, now at Calais. These affidavits show that the house of Jones & Co., 28 Chapel street, Liverpool, are implicated as well in enlisting the men for this vessel as they were for the steamer Japan, now called the Georgia.

The husbands of these women are now in Liverpool. They tell me Mr. Morse took their statements; hence I have not.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

Deposition of Catharine Pratt.

I, Catharine Pratt, of Llewellyn street, Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster, make oath and say: I am the Avife of John Pratt, of 9 Llewellyn street aforesaid, fireman. On the 7th February last my husband informed me that he was going to London to join a steamer bound for the West Indies, and on the following night he left Liverpool for London with Welsh, Cunningham, Buchanan, and others. I learned from the wife of one of the engineers who had gone with my husband that they had gone from London to Calais to join the steamer Rappahannock, and I wrote to my husband to let me know where he was going to, and I received a letter from him that he had joined the Rappahannock for 12 months, not to exceed two years, at £16 19s 10d. a month, and had got one month’s advance, and directing me to call at Jones & Co.’s office, Chapel street, Liverpool, where they would pay me the advance and the half pay. I called at Jones’s office on the 28th of March last, in company with Mrs. Welsh and Mrs. Dow, and we saw the cashier, and Mrs. Dow told him that we had called for our half pay, when he referred to a roll of paper and said that our names were down, but that he could not pay us then, as he had not received orders from Paris, and directed us to call again on the 31st March. We called again on the 31st March, when we saw Mr. Jones, and told him that we had called for our pay, when he said that he had not received orders from Paris yet to pay us, and did not give us any definite answer when we were to call again for it.

The mark of × CATHARINE PRATT.

Sworn at Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster, the 2d day of April, 1864, this affidavit having, in my presence, been previously read over to the deponent, who appeared perfectly to understand the same, and made her mark thereto in my presence. Before me,

Deposition of Catharine Dow.

I, Catharine Dow, of 5 Llewellyn street, Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster, make oath and say, as follows: I am the wife of John Dow, fireman. On the 7th February last my husband informed me that he was going to London to join a steamer bound for the West Indies, and on the following evening he left Liverpool for London, in company with Welsh, Cunningham, Buchanan, and others. Not having heard from my husband, I made inquiries of the wife of one of the engineers who had gone with him, who informed me that they had gone from London to Calais to join the steamer Rappahannock, and I wrote to my husband to let me know where he was going to, and received a reply informing me that he had joined the steamer Rappahannock for 12 months, not to exceed two years, at £619s. and 10d. a month, and had received one month’s advance, and directed me to call at Jones & Co.’s office, Chapel street, Liverpool, where I would be paid. I called at Jones’s office about the 28th of March, in company with Mrs. Welsh and Mrs. Pratt, when we saw the cashier, when we told him that we had called for our half pay, when he referred to a roll of paper and said that our names were down, but that he could not pay us then, as he had not received instructions from Paris to do so, and directed us to call again on the 31st of March. We called again, as directed, on Thursday last, the 31st March, when we saw Mr. Jones, and told him that we had called for our husband’s half pay, when he said that he had not yet received orders from Paris to pay it. We then asked him when we should call again for it, but he did not give us any definite answer.

CATHARINE DOW.

Sworn at Liverpool aforesaid this 2d day of April, 1864, before me,