THOMAS SAVAGE, Vice Consul General to William H. Seward, April 23, 1864

Mr. Savage to Mr. Seward.

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the reception of despatches from the department, Nos. 70 to 77, both inclusive. I also received yesterday the despatch No. 79, signed by F. W, Seward, Assistant Secretary, and immediately communicated the purport thereof, in confidence, to the captain general. He had likewise a despatch from the Spanish minister at Washington, advising him of the interview he had had with you on the subject of the rendition of the Spanish officer, Don Jose Arguelles. His excellency was very much pleased, and very warmly expressed his thanks to me for the promptness with which I had attended to his request in this matter. He read me the Spanish minister’s letter, and said that he would send a proper officer to perform the service, who will probably proceed to New York by the steamer Columbia on Monday next, and, on arrival, immediately repair to Washington and place himself under the direction of the Spanish minister.

In this connexion I deem it proper to make known to you that the captain general is under the impression that Arguelles will be surrendered as accused of crime, to be subjected to trial here, in which case, from what I can learn, he will certainly be convicted and sentenced to the chain-gang, which will be the fate of the curate of Colon and three or four others who were accomplices, aiders, and abettors of Arguelles in the nefarious business. I did not say anything to his excellency to the contrary, not feeling authorized to do so.

The one hundred and forty-one negroes sold into slavery by Arguelles, as alleged, were represented by him and his accomplices as having died of disease after landing, and the curate of Colon is charged with having made a new register of deaths, wherein those supposed deaths were inserted. This new register supplanted the regular one, which the captain general says Arguelles took away, and now has in his possession. Conclusive evidence of this fact is before the court.

I have the honor to remain, with great respect, your obedient servant,