No. 1.

CONSUL BERNAL TO EARL GRANVILLE, (Received December 27.)

Havre, December 26, 1870. MY LORD, I have the honour to enclose herewith copy of an official letter from Acting Vice-Consul Herring to ViceConsul Lee-Jortin, which has been forwarded on to me by that gentleman, narrating the seizure by the Germans of six English merchant-vessels (colliers), and their subsequent sinking by them in the River Seine at or near Duclair.

Mr. Windsor, an English gentleman living at Rouen, who brought Mr. Herring's letter to Dieppe, and hence here, crosses to England to-night. He will bring this despatch to the Foreign Office, and be ready, should your Lordship wish, to give further information on the subject. He informs me that there are three more English colliers at Rouen.

I also learn from him that the British residents are about 250 in number in and about that town.

ACTING VICE-CONSUL HERRING ΤΟ VICE-CONSUL JORTIN.

Rouen, December 23, 1870.

Sir, I have to inform you of very grave events occurring at this port. On the 21st and 22nd instant Prussian troops took forcible possession of and scuttled six British vessels in the River Seine, near to Duclair (port of Rouen), where they were lying taking in ballast for England.

Notwithstanding the several captains' energetic protests against this proceeding and violation of the British flag, the crews were forced ashore and had to sleep in the open air during a severe frosty night. Time was hardly given the men to save their effects, which many of them have lost, together with money, &c. Permission had been previously given to the vessels by the Prussian authorities to come up to Rouen and discharge their cargoes of coals, which they had done, and were on their return when seized,

Prussian officer who seized said vessels saying he took them as a military requisition, giving the several captains an acknowledgment for their value written in German: these papers I have now in my possession. There are three other vessels at this moment discharging coals at the quay here, which are threatened with a like seizure and sinking.

I have protested formally to the General commanding the forces occupying Rouen against this arbitrary proceeding and violation of a neutral flag.

Not being able to communicate with our Consul at Havre, I address myself to you, sir, requesting you will communicate this serious affair to the British Government immediately. The several crews, amounting to thirty-four men, I send on to you at Dieppe, begging you will please forward them on to their homes. The captains remain for the present at Rouen. I may add that some of the vessels were fired upon by Prussian soldiers, the crew narrowly escaping from being struck. am, &c.

(Signed)

H. D. HERRING.

No. 3.

EARL GRANVILLE TO LORD A. LOFTUS. Foreign Office, December 28, 1870. My Lord,I transmit to your Excellency herewith without delay a copy of a despatch and its enclosure from Her Majesty's Consul at Havre, and of a report made to the Board of Admiralty by the Commander of Her Majesty's ship "Helicon" at that port, respecting six British vessels having been sunk in the Seine near Duclair, by order of the commander of the Prussian troops occupying Rouen; and I have to instruct you to lose no time in calling the attention of the Prussian Government to this matter. With the information now before them, Her Majesty's Government cannot but consider the seizure and sinking of those vessels to be altogether unwarrantable, and the firing upon them, if it took place, a matter which requires the fullest explanations.

You will express the hope that immediate inquiry will be made into the

LORD A. LOFTUS TO EARL GRANVILLE.

(Received January 2, 1871.)

Berlin, December 31, 1870.

My Lord, I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt by yesterday's messenger of your lordship's despatch of the 28th instant, with its several enclosures, referring to the arbitrary proceedings of the Prussian military authorities at Rouen by the seizure and sinking of six British merchant-vessels at the port of Duclair.

I lost no time in bringing this matter under the notice of Baron Thile, and, in conformity with your lordship's instructions, I addressed a note to his Excellency, of which I have the honour to annex a copy.

Baron Thile stated to me yesterday that no report had reached him as yet on this matter, and that he was therefore unable to express any opinion upon it, but that he would immediately forward my note to Count Bismarck.

I have the honour to enclose to your lordship herewith copy of a letter I have this day received from Baron Thile, acknowledging the receipt of my note of yesterday's date, and stating that it would be forwarded to Count Bismarck by this evening's courier.

(Signed)

I have, &c.

AUGUSTUS LOFTUS.

No. 8.

EARL GRANVILLE TO MR. ODO RUSSELL.

(Extract.)

Foreign Office, January 7, 1871. Her Majesty's Government learned with much satisfaction from your telegram of the 1st instant that Count Bismarck had expressed his regret at the sinking of the British vessels, and that he was prepared, after a proper inquiry had been instituted, to pay compensation for the damage sustained thereby; and I lost no time in instructing you by telegraph to thank him for his courteous and satisfactory communication. I should, however, wish you to lose no opportunity of pressing an early settlement of the matter, as considerable injustice would be done to the sufferers if

the payment of the compensation, to which they are undoubtedly entitled, should be unduly delayed.

No. 9.

COUNT BISMARCK TO COUNT Bernsto FF. (Communicated to Earl Granville by Count Bernstorff, January 9.)

Versailles, January 8, 1871.

The report of the Commander of that part of our army by which the English collier-ships were sunk in the Seine has not yet arrived, but as far as our intelligence goes, the general outline of the facts is known.

You are authorized in consequence, to say to Lord Granville that we sincerely regret that our troops, in order to avert immediate danger, were obliged to seize ships which belonged to British subjects. We admit their claim to indemnification, and shall pay to the owners the value of the ships, according to equitable estimation, without keeping them waiting for the decision of the question who is finally to indemnify them. Should it be proved that excesses have been committed which were not justified by the necessity of defence, we should regret it still more, and call the guilty persons to

account.

The official answer to Lord Augustus Loftus' note will follow after the Report from the army has been received.

No. 10.

EARL GRANVILLE TO LORD A. LOFTUS.

Foreign Office, January 18, 1871.

My Lord,-I enclose herewith to your Excellency copy of a telegram from Versailles which has been communicated to me by Count Bernstorff, in which it is promised that the owners of the British vessels sunk at Rouen shall be at once indemnified. It is added that an official answer will be sent to your Excellency's representations after the Report from the army shall have been received.

I have to instruct your Excellency to take an early opportunity of expressing to M. de Thile the great satisfaction with which Her Majesty's Government have learnt that the Government of the North German Confederation have so readily adopted a course which from its promptitude and friendly character promises, if carried out in the same spirit, to turn a painful incident into a means of confirming the good understanding which exists between the two Governments. I am, &c. (Signed)

GRANVILLE.

No. 11.

MR. ODO RUSSELL TO EARL GRANVILLE.

(Received January 13.)

Versailles, January 3, 1871.

My Lord, I sent your lordship a telegram on the 1st instant in answer to your lordship's telegram of the 31st ultimo, respecting the six English colliers fired into and sunk by the Prussian authorities at Duclair, near Rouen, to say that Count Bismarck greatly regretted this disaster, and that his Excellency had ordered an immediate inquiry into the transaction, and was ready to pay compensation if called for by the circumstances of the case.

Since then I have received and communicated to Count Bismarck your lordship's despatch to Lord Augustus Loftus, but his Excellency had already received an official note from Her Majesty's Ambassador at Berlin, which he said he would answer officially as soon as the result of the inquiry had been received and submitted to the law officers.

I have also conveyed your lordship's thanks to Count Bismarck for his courteous and satisfactory reply of the 1st instant. I have, &c.

MR. ODO RUSSELL TO EARL GRANVILLE. (Received January 13.)

Versailles, January 8, 1871.

My Lord,-After receiving this morning your lordship's telegram of yesterday afternoon, I called on Count Bismarck and again talked over the question of the six English colliers shot at and sunk by the Prussian authorities at Duclair.

His Excellency said that he had not yet received a circumstantial account of the transaction, but he found that the law officers held that a belligerent had a full right, in self-defence, to the seizure of neutral vessels in the rivers or inland waters of the other belligerent, and that compensation to the owners was due by the vanquished Power, not by the victors.

If conquering belligerents admitted the right of foreigners and neutrals to compensation for the destruction of their property in the invaded State, they would open the door to new and inadmissible principles in warfare. Claims for indemnity were submitted to him daily by neutrals holding property in France which he could never admit. He valued, however, the friendship and good-will of England too highly to accept this inter

pretation of the law in the present case and preferred to adopt one that would meet the wishes of Her Majesty's Government and give full satisfaction to the people of England.

He deplored the treatment to which the masters and crews of the colliers had been subjected, according to the accounts he had read in the newspapers, and begged I would assure your lordship, with expressions of deep regret, that when the reports from the Prussian authorities had been received he would obtain the King's permission to pay any just compensation to the owners and sufferers your lordship might think right to recommend. I have, &c.

(Signed)

No. 14.

ODO RUSSELL,

COUNT BISMARCK TO COUNT BERN

STORFF.

(Communicated to Earl Granville by Count Bernstorff, February 1.)

Versailles, January 25, 1871.
(Translation.)

I do myself the honour of transmitting to your Excellency, in pursuance of my preliminary communication of the 4th, and my telegram of the 8th instant, a copy of the Report from the 1st Army, on the sinking of English ships in the Seine, near Duclair, the preparation of which has been delayed by the manifold movements of the Corps concerned. Your Excellency will find therein, with the same satisfaction as myself, that the measure in question, however exceptional its nature, did not overstep the bounds of international warlike usages. The Report shows that a pressing danger was at hand, and every other means of averting it was wanting; the case was therefore one of necessity, which, even in time of peace, may render the employment or destruction of foreign property admissible, under reservation of indemnification. I take the opportunity of calling to mind that a similar right in time of war has become a peculiar institute of law, the jus angariæ, which so high an authority as Sir Robert Phillimore defines thus: that a belligerent Power demands and makes use of foreign ships, even such as are not in inland waters, but in ports and roadsteads within its jurisdiction, and even compels the crews to transport troops, ammunition, or implements of warfare. I hope the negotiation with the owners, for which you are already authorized, will lead to an understanding as to the indemnification for the damage; if not, it would have to be submitted to an arbitrator's award. In the negotiation, also, the difference in

R

the statements of the 1st Army and of the English Consul at Dieppe, as to the number of English ships sunk, will be explained.

I respectfully request your Excellency to communicate this despatch, with its enclosure, to the Secretary of State of Her Britannic Majesty, and to be so good as to express, at the same time, my apology for the delay, as well as my thanks to Her Majesty's Government for the just appreciation of the military necessity with which Lord Granville has apprehended and treated this matter.

(Inclosure in No. 14.)

Report of the 1st Army Corps on the Sinking of Ships off Duclair. (Translation.)

The 1st Army Corps having received orders to occupy Rouen with three infantry brigades (one was left at Amiens), and to secure itself by proper positions in advance on both banks of the Seine against an enemy who was known to be numerically stronger than the Army Corps, the attention of the General in command was the more necessarily directed first of all to the Seine itself, as information had been received that French men-of-war had but a short time before left the port of Rouen.

A close examination of the Seine was therefore ordered; and soundings taken by engineer officers showed that the channel was from 30 to 35 feet deep throughout, and the depth was increased from 4 to 10 feet by the tide.

Several French inen-of-war also soon appeared, and steamed with the rising tide as far as off Duclair; they returned with the ebb to Candebec, where most of them remained for the night. Our patrols, where they showed themselves, were hotly fired upon by the men-of-war: hostile detachments were even disembarked on the left bank of the Seine. It is clear that the troops were thereby really endangered in their positions and operations.

It was not only possible for the enemy to flank an advance of our troops on the right or left bank by a direct artillery fire, but a change from one bank to the other was extraordinarily facilitated for the hostile troops--nay, they might even be disembarked in the rear of ours.

According to the statement of competent judges, a large wooden ship, which was stationed in the Seine with two or three small ships, alone held 1000 troops for landing.

Another considerable evil was, that the men-of-war entirely stopped the road to Candebec, as it runs close to the bank at the foot of the steep rocky cliffs.

Finally, the appearance of the men-ofwar kept the inhabitants of Rouen in continual excitement, which was the more to be avoided as the quartering of troops, the closing of the manufactories, &c., already made the temper of the workmen worse from day to day.

Under these circumstances, General von Bentheim ordered Lieutenant-Colonel von der Burg, Chief of the General Staff, to have the Seine completely blocked up. Fresh examinations and conferences with the first engineer officer, Major Fahland, gave the following result:

It is impossible to block up the channel completely by means of the low river ships; this can only be effected by sinking high-built sea ships. The great expense of attaining the end in this manner makes it appear desirable to attempt the blocking up in another and less costly manner, for example:

1. By the formation of batteries which were made near La Fontaine. 2. By torpedoes.

The first measure proved insufficient, as it was soon ascertained that some of the small steamers were armour-plated, and the commander had only field artillery at his disposal; the second failed from the want of the requisite materials at the time.

Therefore the only possible means of blocking up the channel was by the sinking of sea ships. So Lieutenant-Colonel von der Burg ordered Major Fahland to seize all the sea ships which were off Duclair. This measure was necessary, because if a requisition had been made for ships to the mayoralty here, probably all the ships, timely warned, would have gone to Havre.

All the ships seized immediately hoisted neutral flags, especially English. In the urgency of the matter researches could not then be made how far the neutral flag covers ships also in rivers, and lying espe cially between belligerent parties: the suitable ships were pointed out for sinking.

The work began on the 19th December; altogether eleven ships were sunk, amongst them seven English ones.

It is hardly worth mentioning that the reports of some French newspapers, stating that the British crews were brutally treated, are quite unfounded. As only three ships were sunk daily there was time enough to warn the crews to save their papers and effects, which was done. Besides, an order was handed to the captains in which the value of the ship, according to the captain's own statement, was entered.