No. 220.
Mr. Lowell
to Mr. Frelinghuysen.
Legation of
the United States,
London, January 12, 1883.
(Received January 27.)
No. 479.]
Sir: Referring to my No. 471 of the 2d instant in
relation to the removal of the remains of the late John Howard Payne to the
United States, I have the honor to acquaint you that late in the evening of
that day I received the following telegram from Mr. Davis, Assistant
Secretary:
Have you received news from Tunis relative to Payne’s remains?
I answered this by cable the next day, as follows:
No direct news from Tunis. Lord Granville informed me yesterday he
had telegraphed December 30 to consul-general instructions to comply
with wishes transmitted in your 506. See my 471.
I sent you a copy of Lord Granville’s letter in my No. 471.
On the 4th instant I received a further note from Lord Granville dated on the
1st, stating that the consul-general at Tunis had telegraphed on the 31st
December that the remains would be shipped to Marseilles on the 4th of
January.
I immediately telegraphed this information to you as follows:
Lord Granville informs me consul-general Tunis has telegraphed
remains will be shipped 4th January, consigned to United States
consul, Marseilles.
I have received this morning another letter from his lordship with inclosures
giving an account of the exhumation of the remains and their shipment on
board of the Charles Quint to the care of Mr. Taylor, the consul at
Marseilles.
I inclose copies of such of this correspondence as has not already been
transmitted.
I have written to Lord Granville an expression of my thanks for his courtesy
and that of the British officials at Tunis in this matter.
I have, &c.,
[Inclosure 1 in No. 479.]
Lord Granville to
Mr. Lowell.
Foreign
Office, January 1,
1883.
Sir: With reference to my communication of the
30th ultimo, I have the honor to inform you that a telegram was
yesterday received from Her Majesty’s consul-general at Tunis, stating
that the late Mr. John Howard Payne’s remains will be shipped for
Marseilles on Thursday the 4th instant, consigned to the care of the
United States consul at that port.
I have, &c.,
[Page 411]
[Inclosure 2 in No. 479.]
Lord Granville to
Mr. Lowell.
Foreign
Office, January 11,
1883.
Sir: With reference to my communication of the
1st instant, I have now the honor to transmit to you, for the
information of the United States Government, a copy of a dispatch and
its inclosures received from Her Majesty’s consul-general at Tunis,
giving further particulars relating to the exhumation and shipment of
the remains of the late John Howard Payne.
I have, &c.,
PHILIP W. CURRIE,
For
Granville.
[Inclosure 3 in No. 479.]
Mr. Reade to Lord
Granville.
My Lord: I have the honor to report that,
pursuant to the instructions expressed in your lordship’s telegram of
the 30th ultimo, the remains of John Howard Payne were this day shipped
on hoard the French steam vessel Charles Quint to the consignment of Mr.
Taylor, the United States consul at Marseilles.
Owing to the impossibility of complying with some of the formalities
which, under ordinary circumstances, would have been strictly enforced,
in connection with the exhumation of the body, and to my communication
with the United States consulate at Malta, in the hope that some ship of
war of that nation might be charged with its conveyance across the
Atlantic, some delay occurred in the execution of the instructions with
which I was in the first instance honored by your lordship.
As stated in my telegram of the 30th ultimo, I had arranged to ship the
remains two days ago, but, in order to allow of the arrival of the
United States consul at Malta, who had expressed a wish to be present at
their disinterment, the shipment did not take place until this
morning.
I beg, in conclusion, to inclose a copy of the act executed on the
occasion of the exhumation of those remains, and of my dispatch to the
United States consul at Marseilles, announcing their shipment to his
address.
I have, &c.,
[Inclosure 4 in No. 479.]
Mr. Reade to Mr.
Taylor.
Sir: I have the honor to inform you that,
conformably with the instructions of Her Majesty’s principal secretary
of state for foreign affairs, I this day shipped on board the French
steam vessel Charles Quint, and to your consignment at Marseilles, a
case covering three coffins, two being of wood and one of lead, the
innermost of which contains the remains of John Howard Payne, the
distinguished poet and dramatist of your nation, who died in this city
on the 1st of April, 1852, while serving his country in the capacity of
consul.
The exhumation of those remains took place yesterday, with all the
required formalities; Mr. Worthington, the United States consul at
Malta, being among those who were present on the occasion.
Two keys of the outer coffin are inclosed, which I beg you will have the
goodness to forward to that coffin’s destination in the States.
I have, &c.,
[Inclosure 5 in No. 479.]
In pursuance of instructions which, at the request of the Government of
the United States of America, have been communicated to the English
representative in this country by Her Majesty’s principal secretary of
state for foreign affairs, the exhumation, prior to the removal to the
United States, of the remains of John Howard Payne, the distinguished
citizen and poet, who died at Tunis on the 1st of April, 1852, while
serving his country as consul, took place this day, in the presence of
Thomas Fellowes Reade, esq., Her Britannic Majesty’s agent and
consul-general, and the following officers and gentlemen: Dr. F. Apia,
Her Majesty’s consul and judge; John
[Page 412]
Worthington, esq., United States consul at Malta;
Mr. M. Pisani, British proconsul; Dr. G. E. Pratz, M. D.; Dr. Achille,
Perini, M. D.; Commander W. M. Bridger, R. N.; Mr. G. Carbonaro, and Mr.
Alf. M. Camilleri, LL. D.; and with all the formalities required by
law.
In testimony of which the undersigned have
hereto subscribed their names, in the Protestant cemetery of St.
George, at Tunis, this 5th day of January,
1883.
- THOS. F. READE,
Her Majesty’s Agent
and Consul-General.
- F. APIA,
Her Majesty’s Consul and
Judge.
- JOHN WORTHINGTON,
United States
Consul at Malta.
- M. PISANI,
British
Proconsul.
- DR. G. E. PRATZ,
Médecin de S. A. le
Bey de Tunis.
- DR. ACHILLE PERINI,
Médecin de
Police de S. A. le Bey, et Médecin honoraire de Consulat
Générale d’ Angleterre.
- W. M. BRIDGER, R. N.
- G. CARBONARO.
- ALF. M. CAMILLERI.
[Inclosure 6 in No. 479.]
Mr. Lowell to Lord
Granville.
Legation of the United States,
London, January 12,
1883.
My Lord: I have the honor to acknowledge the
reception of Mr. Currie’s note on behalf of your lordship of the 11th
instant, with its inclosures, stating the fact of the exhumation of the
remains of the late John Howard Payne at Tunis, and their shipment to
the care of the United States consul at Marseilles, agreeably to the
request of my Government, and I beg to express my most sincere thanks
for your lordship’s courtesy in this matter, and for the promptness,
delicacy, and efficiency with which Her Majesty’s consul-general at
Tunis and other British officials have conducted this transaction.
I have, &c.,
