Consul Archibald to Lord Lyons.

British Consulate,
New York. 8 July, 1863.

My Lord

     Referring to your Lordship's dispatch of the 9th of April last, and to the correspondence therein referred to, respecting the case of Michael Quin, a British emigrant who was, in Jan. last, entrapped by a recruiting runner, taken on board the receiving ship "North Carolina," and subsequently sent out to Cairo, in Illinois, but on his way, leaped from a railway train in motion, receiving serious injuries&@151;I now have the honor to report to Y. L'p. that Quin, having recovered from his injuries, returned to this city last month, and has since then, in pursuance of his plan on leaving Ireland, proceeded to San Francisco.
On arriving here Quin called upon me, and made a full affidavit of the facts connected with his being fraudently taken to the "North Carolina"—of his detention there, and the subsequent history of his case. This affidavit in original, together with a copy of the same, I now have the honor to transmit to Your Lordship;

I would have forwarded it, at an earlier period, but that I desired to take the opportunity of offering, at the same time, some observations upon the report and documents, transmitted to Yr Lp. by Mr. Seward, with his note of the 31st March last—copies of which were communicated to me in Yr. Lp's. Dispatch.
     The Report of the late Rear Admiral Foote (Marked C. Washington, Feb 13. 1863) is founded on two statements marked respectively A. & B—and dated at the Naval Rendezvous, No. 346. Water St. New. York. The latter document, dated Feb. 11th is a report made by two Acting Ensigns of the U. S. Navy, and the Clerk at the Naval Rendezvous, to acting Lieut. J. M Leon Murphy, Recruiting Officer for the Mississippi Flotilla. In this document it is stated:
     1st "That no man has been shipped from this rendezvous without knowing that he was shipped for the Mississippi Flotilla—and the capacity he was to fill—"
     2nd "Every man has stated the length of time (viz: one or more years) that he desired to serve—"
     3— "Every one was given a due bill for advance money which he receipted, and each was

individually informed at the time of signing the receipt that it was for the said due bill."
     4. "Every one has procured his outfit before going on board the receiving ship—without such outfit he could not be received on board."
     5. "This statement applies litterally to Michael Quin, &c."—

     In the document Marked A; dated Feb. 12th Lieut. Murphy undertakes to say, that the appeal of Quin, and the other men who had applied to me, is founded in (6.) "unmitigated falsehood." He goes on to say that "(7) Quin shortly after his admission to the receiving ship," (to which he knew he was destined) "became so infected with vermin, as to be a source of complaint from the crew, and it was found necessary to have him scrubbed at the Col— deck by negroes—hence doubtless his desire to shirk his obligation to the Government—"
     I have numbered these various passages for more convenient reference.
     It is, perhaps, not surprising that with these bold statements of the recruiting officers before me, Rear Admiral Forte should have adopted the impression, that an imposition had been practised upon me, by Quin—and, therefore, sent him out to join the

Western Flotilla— Had these statements been brought to my notice before Quin's departure for the west—, or had an opportunity been afforded to me of being present at any investigation of his case, I have no doubt a different decision would have been arrived at. It does not appear indeed, from acting Lieut. Murphy's report, what if any examination of Quin, or investigation of his case actually took place— Quin himself swears that, so far as he knew, no officer made any inquiry into it— The remark which (see statement no. 7) Lieut. Murphy makes as to Quin's being "infected with vermin, after entering the receiving ship, and his desire to shirk his obligation to the government in consequence of having been scrubbed," is the sum of his personal investigation, if such it can be called.
     As to the statements by the officers at the Rendezvous (Nos, 1. 2. 3. 4 & 5). I beg leave to refer Y. Lp. to the affidavit of Quin, whose demeanor, history of himself, and of the circumstances of his case, are such as to leave, on my mind at least, no doubt whatever of his veracity. That the general order of proceeding at the Rendezvous may have been such as is stated in Report (B), it is not necessary for me to question; nothing, however, is said of the subscribing agent or runner who decoyed

Quin to the rendezvous. Is it, or is it not, a fact, that such sub-agent was employed or contenanced; and can it be that the recruiting officers have too credulously, if not too willingly accepted the interested statement of this Runner, and his engagement on behalf of Quin, without satisfying themselves, that Quin understood and agreed to it?—
     It is gravely stated, (nos. 1 & 2)—that Quin knew he was shipped for the Mississippi Flotilla,—, that he designated the capacity he was to fill; and further, that he stated the length of time—(viz. one or more years) that "he desired to serve." It is possible, as I have suggested, that the Runner may have been accepted, as the Interpreter of Quin's wishes, and thus the above conclusion may have been arrived at, in his case. Quin can neither read nor write. He swears, positively, that nothing was read to him. He was a stranger at New. York, and indeed totally unused to the ways of large cities, and confided in the runner—
     Why, the appearance of this lad, a simple illiterate youth—utterly ignorant of the world, who neither knew. nor understood what the Mississippi Flotilla meant; nor as he asserts to me ever

heard of it, until he had been got on board the Receiving Ship, demanded the exercise of peculiar vigilance in guarding against his being, through his own ignorance and inexperience, made party to a contract, which he manifestly did not comprehend. His whole story is natural and consistent with itself, and the probabilities of the case. It is not the story of a man—excusing himself because he had been drinking, for it is asserted to me by his relatives, as well as by himself, that he never tasted ardent spirits in his life. The moment he reached the "North Carolina," where his deceiver left him, and when he discovered the fraud practiced upon him, he protested against the wrong done him, and continued his protest from that time, until he effected his escape. At the earliest moment, through the kindness of his guards, he apprises his Uncle of his being kidnapped. His Uncle visits the ship, and an application was made by me for his release. The answer to which, left me under the belief that he would surely be discharged.
     If this unhappy youth, who is temporarily detained in this city, while on his way to California, under circumstances stated by him, and easily provable, had, contrary to all presumptions, of fact,

I have &c—
E. M. Archibald

The Lord Lyons—

P.S. July 9— I beg leave to enclose in original a letter from the Agent in this City of the Montreal Steamship line corroborating Quin's statement—

E. M. A—