undertake the repairs, and they on the 30th January reported that it was absolutely necessary to put the Shenandoah on the government slip, as the diver who inspected the vessel had reported that the lining of the outer stern-back was entirely gone, and would have to be replaced; and that, as three days would elapse before the vessel was slipped, it would take ten days from date to accomplish the repairs. It may here be remarked that the slip (termed the "government slip" in the report of Messrs. Langlands Brothers & Co.) was not in possession of, or under the control of the government, the fact being that, although it was originally built by the government, yet it had been for many years leased, and at that time was under lease to Mr. Enoch Chambers. This report was submitted to the commissioner of trade and customs, who wrote, by direction of his excellency the governor, for a list of the supplies required for the immediate use of the vessel, and stated that his excellency had appointed a board, consisting of Mr. Payne, inspector and secretary of the steam-navigation board; Mr. Elder, the superintendent of the marine yard at Melbourne; and Mr. Wilson, the government marine engineer, to go on board the Shenandoah, and to examine and report whether that vessel was then in a fit state to go to sea, or what repairs were necessary. Lieutenant Waddell furnished a list of the supplies he required, and permission was given for the shipment on board of reasonable quantities of the supplies asked for. The board appointed by his excellency had the vessel examined by a diver, and then reported 1st. That the Shenandoah was not in a fit state to proceed to sea as a steamship. 2d. That repairs were necessary. 3d. That the part or parts requiring repair being the inner stern-post bearing of the screw-shaft, the extent of the damage could not be ascertained without the vessel being slipped. His excellency, on the receipt of this report, gave permission for the vessel to be placed on the patent slip, and he requested the commissioner of trade and customs to make arrangements for obtaining daily reports of progress of repairs and provisioning of the Shenandoah, and directed every precaution to be taken against the possibility of the commander of that vessel in any way extending its armament, or rendering the present armament more effective; and these instructions were carefully acted on. On the 6th of February, 1865, an application was made for permission to land some surplus stores from the Shenandoah, which was refused on the advice of the attorneygeneral. The repairs of the Shenandoah not having been proceeded with, the commissioner of trade and customs wrote on the 7th of February to Lieutenant Waddell, stating that his excellency desired that a day should be named for proceeding to sea; and that he was directed to say that, after carefully considering the question of the position of Great Britain as strictly neutral in the present contest, the use of appliances— the property of the government-could not be granted, nor any assistance rendered by it, directly or indirectly, toward effecting the repairs of the Shenandoah. Lieutenant Waddell replied that he could not name a day for proceeding to sea till the vessel was taken on the slip, when the injury could be ascertained, and the time estimated for its repair, the recent gales having prevented him from lightening the ship to the necessary draught preparatory to going on the slip, in which matter he had been guided by those in charge of the slip. He hoped the weather would permit the engineer in charge of the slip to take the Shenandoah on the slip the following morning. The Vessel was not hauled up on the slip until the morning of the 10th, when the board appointed by the governor had another inspection, and they then reported as follows: 1st. That the lignum-vitæ staves forming the bearing of the forward end of the outer length of the screw-shaft were entirely displaced. 2d. That the inner stern-post bracket in which the staves of lignum-vita were fitted, forming also the support for the foremost end of the screw-frame, was fractured on the starboard side to the extent of about four inches. 3d. That these repairs (necessary to render the steamship seaworthy) could be effected in or about five clear working-days from that date. The repairs of the Shenandoah were accordingly proceeded with until the 14th of February, 1865, when the commissioner of trade and customs wrote, by direction of his excellency Sir Charles Darling, to Lieutenat Waddell, to inquire whether he [61] could state *more definitely when the Shenandoah would be in a position to proceed to sea, and, in reply, was informed by Lieutenant Waddell that the Shenandoah would be ready for launching to-morrow morning, the 15th instant, at 4 o'clock, and that be thought, without some unforeseen accident, he should proceed to sea in her by Sunday, the 19th instant; that he had yet to take in all his stores, coals, and swing the ship. Some difficulties having arisen with respect to an alleged breach of the "foreign-en listment act," which will be referred to in a separate farrative, his excellency Sir Charles Darling, on the 14th of February, 1865, directed that, upon receipt of an instruction to that effect from the chief commissioner of police, none of Her Majesty's subjects in the colony would render any aid and assistance to, or perform any work in respect to, the so-called confederate ship Shenandoah, or in launching the same; and steps were taken accordingly. It subsequently appeared that the men who were supposed to be on board had left her, and, therefore, upon a report from the lessee of the patent slip that, in the event of a gale of wind coming on, he would either be compelled to launch the Shenandoah or run a great risk of her sustaining a serious amount of damage in consequence of her unsafe position on the cradle, the suspension of permission to British subjects to assist in launching the ship was withdrawn, pending further inquiries. The Shenandoah afterward took on board the necessary supplies of provisions, coals, &c., but no munitions of war, and she thereupon left the port of Melbourne, and passed through Port Philip Heads, on the 18th of February, 1865. The statement of a person named Temple, quoted by Mr. Dudley in his dispatch to Mr. Adams of date the 18th of December, 1865, ought not to pass unnoticed. During the stay of the Shenandoah none of her officers had any other than strictly official intercourse with any member of the Victorian government. The dinner given to these officers at the Melbourne Club was not an official one, but was a private entertainment over which the government had no control. Mr. Temple mentions "the governor of Melbourne"-there neither was nor is any such officer. The course pursued by the governor of Victoria in connection with the Shenandoah and her officers has been fully set forth in the foregoing narrative, which proves that Mr. Temple's remarks are not applicable to him. Mr. Temple evidently refers to the mayor of Melbourne of that year, (a municipal officer altogether independent of the government,) who, in common with many other citizens, exchanged civilities with the officers of the Shenandoah. PART II.-As to the prisoners on board the Shenandoah on her arrival in the port of Melbourne. When the Shenandoah arrived in the port of Melbourne, the lieutenant commanding applied to his excellency the governor for permission to land prisoners, and was informed that his excellency desired to be furnished with a list of the prisoners in question, and any other information affecting them which Lieutenant Waddell could afford. At the same time the commissioner of trade and customs wrote, by direction of his excellency, to Wm. Blanchard, esq., United States consul, informing him of the application which had been made, and asking whether he was willing to undertake to receive and provide for, on behalf of the Government which he represented, the prisoners above alluded to. It appeared subsequently that these prisoners left the Shenandoah without Lieutenant Waddell's consent, and, in reply to the above communication, the United States consul stated that previous to its reaching him he had made provision for the master, crew, and passengers of the United States bark Delphine, (presumed to be the persons referred to,) burned at sea by the Shenandoah, which he termed a piratical vessel, and requested his excellency to treat as such accordingly. Several other letters were written on the subject by the United States consul to his excellency Sir Charles Darling, who laid them before the Crown law-officers, who advised that they were of opinion that there was no evidence of any act of piracy committed by any person on board the vessel called the Shenandoah; that this vessel purported to be, and they thought she should be, treated as a ship of war belonging to a belligerent power. This opinion was communicated to the United States consul.. PART III. As to alleged breaches of the statute of the Imperial Parliament called the foreign-enlistment act," 59 George III, cap. 69. While the repairs of the Shenandoah were going on, an information was laid [62] *before a magistrate, that a British subject named James Davidson, otherwise Charley, had unlawfully violated the " foreign-enlistment act," and was then on board of that vessel. A warrant for his arrest was accordingly issued, and Mr. Superintendent Lyttleton was intrusted with its execution. On going on board the Shenandoah, the officer in charge-Lieutenant Waddell being then absent-refused to allow Superintendent Lyttleton to go over the vessel, and it was then arranged that he should return on the following day and see Lieutenant Waddell. Superintendent Lyttleton accordingly went and saw Lieutenant Waddell, who re fused to allow him to go over the vessel, and said he pledged his honor as an officer and a gentleman that he had not any one on board, nor had he engaged any one, nor would he while he was there; and, after further consideration, he said he would fight his ship rather than allow it. Under these circumstances, his excellency the governor, on the 14th of February, suspended his permission to repair and take supplies, and Her Majesty's subjects were warned accordingly. At the same time the commissioner of trade and customs wrote to Lieutenant Waddell, informing him of the suspension, and stating the grounds upon which his excellency considered he was entitled to require that the warrant should be executed and the offender apprehended, and requested Lieutenant Waddell to reconsider his determination. Lieutenant Waddell, in his reply-which is dated, and was dispatched, on the night of the same day, the 14th-states that the execution of the warrant was not refused, as no such person as the one therein specified was on board; asserts the inviolability of the deck of a man-of-war; declares that all strangers have been sent out of the ship, and adds, "I, therefore, as commander of this ship, representing my government in British waters, have to inform his excellency that there are no persons on board this ship except those whose names are on our shipping-articles; and that no one has been enlisted in the service of the Confederate States since my arrival in this port; nor have I in any way violated the neutrality of the port." Superintendent Lyttleton took possession of the slip, and notwithstanding the assurances of Lieutenant Waddell that there was no one on board, Superintendent Lyttleton, about 10 p. m., observed four men leave the Shenandoah in a boat pulled by two watermen. They were followed by the water-police, and handed over to Superintendent Lyttleton, who detained them in custody. One of them claimed to be an American citizen, and as there was no evidence obtainable to prove to the contrary, he was discharged. Three of them were afterward prosecuted for violating the "foreign-enlistment act," and sent for trial at the criminal sittings of the supreme court. Two of them took their trial and were found guilty, and the judge, considering they had been in prison for upward of a month awaiting their trial, sentenced each of them to ten days' imprisonment; the third prisoner being a young lad of about fifteen, and as he had been in prison also awaiting his trial, the Crown did not press the case against him. While the Shenandoah was in port there were many vague rumors in circulation that it was the intention of a number of men to sail in her, but although the police authorities made every exertion to ascertain the truth of these rumors, yet (with the exception of the four men above alluded to) nothing sufficiently definite to justify criminal proceedings could be ascertained; indeed, at the best, these rumors justified nothing more than suspicion, and called only for that watchfulness which the government exercised to the fullest extent in its power. It was not until after the Shenandoah had left the waters of Victoria that the government received information confirming, in a manner, the truth of these rumors. We have perused the above narrative and the documents set out in the Appendix, and we find the same to be a complete and accurate statement of all the circumstances connected with the visit of the ship Shenandoah to the waters of Victoria, in the year 1865. Dated at Melbourne, in the colony of Victoria, this 4th day of November, in the year of our Lord 1871. (Signed) JAMES MCCULLOCH. [63] *To all to whom these presents shall come, I, Alfred Brooks Malleson, notary public, duly authorized, admitted, and sworn, residing and practicing in the city of Melbourne, in the colony of Victoria, do hereby certify that the memorandum or certificate written at the foot of the within-printed narrative was duly signed by Sir James McCulloch, knight, and Archibald Michie, James Goodall Francis, and George Higinbotham, esquires, in my presence, and that the names "James McCulloch," "Archd. Michie," "Jas. G. Francis," and "Geo. Higinbotham," thereto respectively subscribed, are of the respective proper handwriting of the said Sir James McCulloch, Archibald Michie, James Goodall Francis, and George Higinbotham. And I further certify that in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, the said Sir James McCulloch, Archibald Michie, James Goodall Francis, and George Higinbotham held the following offices in the government of the said colony, that is to say, the said Sir James McCulloch was chief secretary, the said Archibald Michie was minister of justice, the said James Goodall Francis was commissioner of trade and customs, and the said George Higinbotham was attorney-general. In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed, my name and affixed my seal of office, this fourth day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one. (Signed) ALF. B. MALLESON, Notary Public, Melbourne, Victoria. [65] *APPENDIX.1 PART I. Lieutenant commanding Confederate States steamer of war Shenandoah to His Excellency Sir Charles Darling, K. C. B., captain-general and gov ernor-in-chief, and vice-admiral, Melbourne. CONFEDERATE STATES STEAMER OF WAR SHENANDOAH, Port Philip, January 25, 1865. SIR: I have the honor to announce to your excellency the arrival of Arrival of the Shen- the Confederate States steamer Shenandoah, under my comtion for permission to mand, in Port Philip this afternoon, and also to communicate that the steamer's machinery requires repairs, and that I am in want of coals. andoah; and applica repair, coal, and land prisoners. I desire your excellency to grant permission that I may make the necessary repairs and supply of coal, to enable me to get to sea as quickly as possible. I desire also your excellency's permission to land my prisoners. I shall observe the neutrality. I have, &c., JAS. J. WADDELL, Lieutenant Commanding. The honorable the commissioner of trade and customs to the lieutenant commanding the Confederate States steamer of war Shenandoah. DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND CUSTOMS, Melbourne, January 26, 1865. SIR: I am directed by his excellency Sir Charles Darling to acknowl Permission to repair edge the receipt of your letter of the 25th instant, acquaintand coal granted. ing his excellency with the arrival of the Confederate States steamer Shenandoah, under your command, in Port Philip, and intimating that the machinery of the steamer requires repairs, and that you are in want of coals. In the communication under acknowledgment you request his excellency to grant permission to make the necessary repairs and to obtain a supply of coals, and, further, to be allowed to land your prisoners. In reply, I have received the instructions of Sir C. Darling to state that he is willing to allow the necessary repairs to the Shenandoah and the coaling of the vessel being at once proceeded with, and that the necessary directions have been given accordingly. I am at the same time to furnish, for your information, the accomExtract of regula-panying extracts of orders issued by Her Majesty's govern tion of neutrality com- ment, and publicly notified in the Government Gazette of this colony on the 17th March and 24th April, 1862, with tions for the preserva inunicated to the commander. 1 These papers have many of them been already printed in the correspondence relating to the Shenandoah, given in vol. 1 of the Appendix. They are reproduced here, with some fresh documents, as giving the principal facts relative to the proceedings of the Shenandoah at Melbourne, in a more convenient shape. |
