Taking up the British bill of lading and looking at the seal, Semmes called upon Captain Wells, with an oath, to explain. It was evidently the only one of the three he thought it worth his while to respect. "Who is this Burden?" he inquired sneeringly. "Have you ever seen him?" "I am not acquainted with him, but I have seen him once, when he came on board my vessel," replied Captain Wells. "Is he an Englishman--does he look like an Englishman?" "Yes," rejoined the captain. "I'll tell you what," exclaimed the pirate, "this is a d--d pretty business--it's a d--d Yankee hash, and I'll settle it,"--whereupon he proceeded to rob the vessel of whatever he wanted, including Captain Wells' property to a considerable amount; put the crew in irons; removed them to the Alabama; and concluded by burning the vessel. These facts will at once be brought before the British consul. The preliminary steps have been taken. The facts will also be furnished the Portuguese consul, who announces his intention of placing them before his government; and besides whatever action the Italian consul here may choose to take, the parties in Messina, to whom the property lost on the Lauretta was consigned, will of course do what they can to maintain their own rights. The case is likely to attract more attention than all the previous outrages of the Alabama, inasmuch as property rights of the subjects of other nations are involved, and the real character of Semmes and his crew becomes manifest. Captain Semmes makes this sarcastic comment upon the foregoing article: I was not quite sure when I burned the Lafayette that her cargo belonged to the shippers, British merchants resident in New York. The shippers swore that it did not belong to them, but to other parties resident in Ireland, on whose account they had shipped it. I thought they swore falsely, but, as I have said, I was not quite certain. The Advertiser sets the matter at rest. It says that I was right. And it claims, with the most charming simplicity, that I was guilty of an act of piracy, in capturing and destroying the property of neutral merchants, domiciled in the enemy's country, and assisting him to conduct his trade! The alleged destruction of British property on board American ships attracted much less attention in England than in the United States. The Liverpool Chamber of Commerce caused a letter to be addressed to the British foreign office asking for information in regard to the matter, to which the following reply was made: