Mr. Dayton to Mr.
Seward
No. 429.]
Paris,
March 4, 1864.
Sir: In a conference with Mr. Drouyn de l’Huys
on yesterday, he said he had some notes on his table in reference to the
cases of the Florida and Georgia, which should have been sent to me
before; but these vessels having been gone from the French ports for
some time past, he now scarcely supposed it worth while to deliver them.
I at once said that I much preferred they should be delivered even now.
I preferred this because, as I told him, the action of this government
in these cases, and analogous cases, extended beyond the occasions which
gave rise to them; that France had been making rules of maritime law
which might, at no distant day, be applied to herself. I thought it
safest and best, therefore, for both parties, that a distinct
understanding of the grounds on which she had placed herself should
appear in and by her own written communication. Under these
circumstances he at once handed me the two written unsigned
communications, of which I herewith send you translations. The
Rappahannock is yet detained in the port of Calais, under the direction
of this government.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward
Secretary of State, &c., &c.,
&c.
[Page 50]
[Translation.]
As soon as the confederate ship Florida, which had been forced to
take refuge in the port of Brest, was in a state to go to sea, M.
the maritime prefect, conformably to the instructions of the
government of the Emperor, signified to the captain of this vessel
that he was to withdraw from French waters within 24 hours. The
Florida, in consequence, left the night of the 10th February. During
her stay in the port of Brest the competent maritime authorities
have been careful that the rules of the strictest neutrality should
be observed in regard to her. In the matter of powder, of arms, and
of all that which constitutes, in a word, warlike armaments, the
precautions have been pushed as far as possible. M. the maritime
prefect, in order to avoid the incorrect statements which often
arise in similar cases, was not willing that the powder of the
Florida, which, according to the regulations, ought to be
disembarked before her entrance into the port, be deposited in the
magazines, it remained in the roadstead under the surveillance of a
French agent. The crew of the Florida was not completed, and
although, according to the captain, he wanted 45 men, whose presence
was necessary for the working of the ship, information collected
with the most scrupulous care authorizes us in saying that he has
made no attempt to recruit French citizens.
[Translation.]
M. the maritime prefect of the port of Cherbourg has rendered an
account to M. the minister of the marine of the causes which
opposed the departure from Cherbourg of the confederate ship
Georgia, whose repairs are now completed. The captain of this
vessel having been, as the instructions of the government of the
Emperor prescribe, summoned to leave within a delay of 24 hours,
has made known that the desertion of a great number of the men
of his crew, particularly engineers, appertaining to the service
of the engines, rendered it absolutely impossible for him to go
to sea. The presence of other engineers being in effect
indispensable to insure the navigation of the Georgia, there was
there a case of force-majeure, which
prevented the injunction addressed to the captain of the
confederate vessel from being immediately followed; but M. the
maritime prefect will take care that he conforms to it so soon
as he shall be in a condition to do so.
