The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 3, Volume 2. Page: 488
viii, 1007 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
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CORRESPONDENCE, ETC.
(Translation.)
SHARON SPRINGS, August 30, 1862.
The Honorable Mr. SEWARD,
Secretary of State of the United States of America, &c.:
SIR: I have had the honor to receive your letter, dated Washing-
ton, 20th of this month,* relative to the seizure made at the consulate
of the Netherlands in New Orleans and to the report on this subject
which has been made by the Hon. Reverdy Johnson. I have likewise
had the honor to receive the extract from the report which was annexed
to your letter. I shall hasten to transmit the two documents to His
Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the King, with a request
to furnish me with the necessary instructions, in order that I may fully
answer the letter which you have just done me the honor to address
to me. Meanwhile I avail myself of the power which you have been
pleased to confer on me of selecting the person to whom will be
delivered the sum of $800,000 in silver by indicating the person under
whose charge that sum was found; that is to say, Mr. AmedBe Couturie.
As to what concerns the other articles seized I have not been able
to find, either in the report of the Hon. Reverdy Johnson or in the
correspondence exchanged between him and Mr. Couturie, the slight-
est trace of any refusal by the latter to receive back the various boxes
seized. I have, however, perceived that there was a disagreement
between them as to the opening of one of the boxes and as to the deliv-
ery of the eighteen bonds of the cities of New Orleans and Mobile; but
I have also perceived that, very far from refusing to receive all the
boxes which are mentioned in the "statement" of the consul dated
the 13th of May, he asked them back in their entirety in his letter of
the 24th of July, addressed to Mr. Reverdy Johnson. I have, more-
over, not found in all the correspondence which has been communi-
cated to me any want of respect shown by Mr. Couturie toward the
authorities of the United States, although he may have differed from
them as to the way of understanding his duties. For instance, the
Hon. Reverdy Johnson seems to have thought that it was the consul's
duty to go in quest of or to send for that which had been improperly
seized at his house. I cannot, any more than the consul, share this
opinion. In my judgment, the least that could be done after an unwar-
ranted seizure was to have the articles which had been seized sent back
to the place in which they had been found.
After receiving your letter of the 5th of June, and finding in it an
allusion to a denial of the deposit and to a refusal of information on
the part of the consul at the time of the appearance of the military
authority of the United States in the consulate of the Netherlands,
I questioned Mr. Couturie in this regard by letter of the 9th of June
(which he only received in duplicate on the 26th of July). He
answered me that he had not at all refused to give information, and
he sent me a note supplementary to his "statement of facts"-a note
which I have the honor to transmit to you herewith. However, I
must leave entirely to the King's Government to judge of the conduct
of the consul.
In my opinion, all questions between organs or agents of different
governments ought to be discussed with the most perfect sincerity
and greatest politeness, and every offensive expression carefully
avoided. I therefore request you, sir, to be pleased to believe that
the word "outrage," which appears to have displeased you in my
* See p. 503.488
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United States. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union And Confederate Armies. Series 3, Volume 2., book, 1899; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth139264/m1/497/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.