William L. Dayton to William H. Seward, July 7, 1864
Mr. Dayton to Mr. Seward
Sir: Yours, No. 565, advising me to inquire of Mr. Carvallo, the minister of Chili at Brussels, if it shall be pretended that the rams now being built at Bordeaux have been ordered by, Chili, I have received, and shall not fail to ac upon it, if it become necessary. But Chili has a minister here, Mr. Rosales, who is my immediate neighbor, and with whom my relations are very good. He was at one time, on the part of Chili, making all necessary inquiries about these vessels, and, if I remember rightly, got the contracts under which they were built, or copies of them, from me. I will have no difficulty in learning from him whatever may or may not be done here for Chili.
But Europe is so disturbed just now that this class of vessels, and vessels-of-war indeed of any kind, may find purchasers. The newspapers assume it as a fact settled, that the two clipper ships which have left, or are about to leave, Bordeaux for Amsterdam have been bought by Prussia. This I hope may be so, but I am by no means sure of it.
In the Gironde, published at Bordeaux on the 5th instant, is the communication in the accompanying slip, which I send you as containing the substance of all the newspaper notices on this subject.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward &c., &c., &c.
P. S.—Since writing the above, M. Drouyn de l’Huys has assured me that the Yeddo has gone into the possession and ownership of Prussia; and that this vessel carries her flag, and has a Prussian crew aboard; which, by the way, he says is against his intention, and in direct violation of Arman’s promise to him to deliver this ship to a neutral in the port of Amsterdam. But Arman’s misstatements to his own government have been so often repeated that it is difficult to understand how a man of M. Drouyn de l’Huys’s sagacity could have permitted himself to be again deceived by him.
D.