to the Messrs. Hodgkins of their property, or to indicate your willingness to do so on the production of evidence of ownership, if you were not safisfied on that point; and feeling that the outrage upon the rights of citizens of this State was so great as to admit of no unnecessary delay on my part, at 9.30 p. m. on Tuesday, the 5th instnat, I issued an order to Colonel Henry R. Jackson, aide-de-camp, in the city of Savannah, instructing him to call out, through Colonel Lawton, a safficient military force, and to make reprisal by the seizure of all ships then in the harbor of Savannah belonging to citizens of the State of New York. In obedience to this order I am informed that he has seized the followign vessels and will hold them subject to my order, to wit: Barks Adjuster and D. Colden Murray; brigs W. R. Kibby and Golden Lead, an schooner Julia A. Hallock. Since the issuance of the above mentioned order I have received a telegram signed by Your Excellecny, in which you acknowledge the receipt of the dispatch sent by me to you, allenging, as you are pleased to say, that certain arms had been retained in New York. You further say of may dispatch that "its grave character and unfficial from forbid you from taking action in regard to it without better authenticated information". Nevertheless, you say that you respond to enable me, "if veritable", to communicate my wishes by letter. I am unable to rpeceive what reason you had to dobut that my dispatch was veritable. it was dated at the Executive Department, and was signed here by me. You laso object to it on account of its unofficial form. It is not only dated at this department, but I expressly stated that I make the demand as Governor of Georgia. I am not aware of the additional language which Your Excellency would consider requisite to give to a demand of this character "official form".

A lengthy official correspondence in this case is neither invited hor desired. The outrage was a public one. Citizens of this State have been robbed of their property in your State by officer under your control. That property is now detained in a public building under your control. As the Executive of Georgia, I have demand it s redelivery to its owners. My demand when met has been met evasively by raising a technical objection to its form, which has no foundation in fact, as a simple reference to the demand itself will show. The case is one, therefore action, not lengthy diplomacy. I have the honor, threfore, to notify Your Excellency of the seizure of the vessels above mentioned, under my order, and that I shall hold them until justice be done the injured citizens of this State above named by redelivery of the guns to them or to G. B. Lamar, of New York, whom I have appointed my agent to receive them. If the property seized as reprisal belongs to citizens of New York who are friendly to the cause of justice an dtruth and the equal rights of the people of the Southern States, I shall regret the inconveniences to which they may be exposed. I cannot forget, however, that my first duty is to protect the citizens of this State against the lawless violence of the officers of citizens of the other States. If in so doing incidental junry should be done to orderly and law-abinding citizens of such offending State, for just and fulle inedmnity they must look to their own Government, which has brought the injury upon them. I trsut Your Excellency may have no difficulty in arriving at the conclusion that this communication is "official" and "veritable".

Very respectfully, your obedient servnat,

JOSEPH E. BROWN.

[6.]