Letter

Lyons to John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, February 29, 1864

Author

Lyons

Recipient

John Russell, 1st Earl Russell

Date

February 29, 1864

Type

Letter

No. 30

Lord Lyons to Earl Russell.

Washington, February 29, 1864.

My Lord: I have the honor to transmit to your lordship a copy of a despatch addressed by Mr. Seward to the United States consul at Halifax, in which it is stated that this government, while it adheres to the opinion that the delivery of the Chesapeake ought to have been made at once by executive authority, is nevertheless gratified with the just and friendly proceedings of the officer administering the government of Nova Scotia, and appreciates the enlightened and impartial spirit by which the vice-admiralty court has been guided in the case.

Mr. Seward gave me a copy of this despatch the day before yesterday, and authorized me to communicate it to your lordship and to Major Generar Doyle. I send a copy of it to the major general to-day.

I have also the honor to transmit to your lordship a copy of a note in which, in obedience to the instructions contained in your lordship’s despatch of the 3d instant, I have informed Mr. Seward that her Majesty’s government accept the apology of the United States for the violation of her Majesty’s territory committed by the United States officers in pursuit of the Chesapeake.

I have, &c.,

LYONS.

Topics

19th Century Civil War Diplomacy

Sources

FRUS u2014 Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the Second Session Thirty-eighth View original source ↗

U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the Second Session Thirty-eighth.