MR. BENTINCKsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether he will state the result of the communications addressed to the Spanish Government with reference to the alleged seizure of the American brig "Mary Lowell" by a Spanish ship of war in British waters on the 15th of March 1869, and lay upon the Table Copies of the Correspondence which has taken place upon the subject?
MR. OTWAY, in reply, said, the Mary Lowell, an American vessel, laden with contraband of war, was captured by a Spanish frigate on the 15th of March last, off the Bahamas. Representations were made to Her Majesty's Government that the capture had been effected in British waters, and consequently communications were addressed from the Foreign Office to the Spanish Government upon the subject. The Spanish authorities, in their reply, denied that the capture occurred in British waters, and the vessel was condemned by the prize court of Havannah as a vessel taken on the high seas. Her Majesty's Government thought it due to the United States as well as to them 1868 selves that the circumstances under which the capture was made should be thoroughly sifted by some competent person, and accordingly the Admiralty were requested to send Commodore Phillimore to investigate the matter. His Report had been received, together with the charts and documents which he sent home, and after a careful examination of them, the Government were advised that the formal submission of the Mary Lowell occurred on the high seas. Her Majesty's Ministers at Washington and Madrid had accordingly been informed that the evidence as to the place of capture of the Mary Lowell did not justify a demand for her restitution, and this decision was to be communicated to the Governments of the United States and Spain. These communications were made in November last, and no reply had yet been received from either of the Governments named. The correspondence being incomplete he was unable to lay it on the table.