Letter

William H. Seward to J. Hume Burnley, March 20, 1865

Author

William H. Seward

Recipient

J. Hume Burnley

Date

March 20, 1865

Type

Letter

Language

English

Mr. Seward to Mr. Burnley

Department of State, Washington, March 20, 1865.

Sir: I recur to your note of the 15th of March, which relates to Bennett G Burley.

The honorable the Attorney General informs me that it is his purpose to bring the offender to trial in the courts of the States of Ohio and Michigan, for the. crimes committed by him against the municipal laws of those States, namely, robbery and assault, with intent to commit murder. He was delivered up by the Canadian authorities upon a requisition which was based upon charges of those crimes, and also upon a charge of piracy, which is triable not by State courts, but by the courts of the United States. I am not prepared to admit the principle claimed in the protest of her Majesty’s government, namely, that the offender could not lawfully be tried for the crime of piracy under the circumstances of the case. Nevertheless, the question raised upon it has become an abstraction. as it is at present the purpose of the government to bring him to trial for the crimes against municipal law only.

I have the honor to be, with the highest consideration, sir, your obedient Servant,

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

J. Hume Burnley, Esq., &c., &c., &c.

Topics

19th Century Diplomacy Reconstruction

Sources

FRUS u2014 Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, Accompanying the Annual Message of the President to the First Session Thirty-ninth C 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 First Session Thirty-ninth C.