The Sun. — London, England, 1842-01-03 00:00:00

MORNING SUN THE SLAVE TRADE. CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO THE DETEN_ 'HON OF VESSLS ON THE CAN COASTAMERICA N BY BRITISH A R MED CRUISERS.AFRI- LORD PALNIERSTON TO MR. STEVENSON. Foreign-office, 'Aug. 5, 1841. The undersigned, her Majesty's Principal Secretary of . State for Foreign Affairs, has received two notes, addressed to him on the 13th of November,.lB4o, and on the Ist of March last, by Mr. Stevenson, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni potentiary of the United States, complaining of the search and detention of the United States vessel Douglas, and.of the ill treatrnentsof her crew by Lieutenant Seagram, of her Ma . jesty's brig Termagant, employed on the coast of Africa in suppressing the slave trade. in these two communications from Mr. Stevenson it is states', that on the 21st of October, 1839, Lieutenant Seagram boarded the Douglas while she was pursuing her voyage on the coast of Africa, examined the ship's papers and the passengers' passports, broke open the hatches, hauled down the American flag, and seized the vessel as a slaver; that he kept possession of her during eight days, namely, from the 21st of October, 1819, to:the .29th of the same month ; that the officers and men of the Douglas became ill from their exposure to the sun, and that ie eons, queues , three of them di ed, and the- Captain is s; , hail And Mr. Stevenson expresses the es.n films expeelati.rn of - the President of the United States that her Majesty's t:evesitissent Wake prompt reraration for the coaduet,o Lientensust Seagram in this case, and will take elifeient auseuss to prs•vesst the re eurrenee of such abuses. • The uS i deisissoest has, in r eply, to state that, in pursuance of the wish expressed by Mr. Stevenson on the part of Isis Govern ment, a Strict investigat;on has, by order of the• Lords of the Admit alty, been made into the particulars of the case, and the reult is as follows : Lieutenaot Seagram, commandiag her 'Majesty's ship Ter magant, employes in suppressing the slave trade on the coast of Africa, had been -apprised by the commanding officer of her Majesty's ships on that coast of an agreement entered into by that officer with Commander Paine, of the United States navy, for searching and dasining ships fund trading in slaves 'under the United States flag; and Lieutenant Seagram having, on the 21st of October, 1839, met with the ship Douglas, carrying the flag of the tiniest, he boarded her, and made inquiries as to the voyage for Vlitich She was bound. Lieutenant Seagram was received on board the Douglas with great incivility, and a dis inclination was shown to repy to any questions relating to her voyage ; but he ascertained that she was bound to the River Brass, and he found on board of her seven Spaniards who were going t 3 that rive: where no trade" but the slave trade is carried on. Lieutenant Seagram requested to ice the papers of the Douglas ; but the Captain of the Douglas coal .1 produce no Custom-house clearance, and had made an entrance on his log that, on leaving the Havannah, he could not procure one, and that he had returned to the harbour to obtain such a paper, but had left the harbour again without it. This cir cumstance appeared suspicious to Lieutenant Seagram ; and on examnaing the papers produced . by the Captain of the Douglas, he found that the Douglas was consigned to a weal known slave-trader, Don Pablo Teisas, who was then on hoard of her, and to wham the slaving vessels Asp and Lark, which had been recently condemned for slave trade, had been consigned. Lieutenant Seagram pressed for permission to examine the hold .f the vessel, and the consignee gave him permission to examine her freight, because he conceived it was protected by the United States tlag ; and, under the same impression, he acknowledged to Lieutenant Seagram that her cargo was Spa nish, and had been ship - eat as American solely for the purpose of avoiding seizure. The hatches of the vessel having then been opened, and Lieutenant Seagram having proceeded to examine her, it was discovered that she was fitted out for the slave trade, with lea guers, hoops, and staves, a slave deck, in planks, and three complete slave coppers. Lieutenant Seagram reports that, under these circumstances, he should have sent the Douglas to the United states to be de livered up to the authorities of that country, but that he had received orders fr,:re the commanding officer of her Majesty's vessels on the coast of Africa not to send any vessels to the United States until he should have been informed what course the l'oited States Government took as to the slave vessels Eagle and tiara, which had been sent to the United States by the commanding officer, with a view to assist the American Go vernment in preventing the abuse of the national flag of the Union. Just Lieutenant Seagram, not having received any informa• tion on this point at he end of eight days after the detention of the Douglas, thought it his duty then to release the Doug las, instead of detaining her longer or sending her to the United States. From the fects above stated there appears little doubt that, if the Douglas had been sent to the United States, she would have ben c eaerened ea- trading in slaves under the flag of the Union. And had she been tried by the Mixed Commission at Sierra Leone, the proofs that the slave-trading voyage on which she was engaged was in fact a Spanish enterprise, were strong enough to have warranted her condemnation in the British and Spanish Courts as a Spanish slaver. With respect to the assertion that three men died from the effects of exposure to the sun, in- consequence of the deten tion of the vekel, the undersigned has to state that it appears that the vessel remained on her own account, in the African seas tee months after her detention by Lieutenant Seagram; and, Le none of those men died until after those two months, there seems no tea:on to suppose that the death of the three men in question was occasioned by the detention of the vessel by . Lieutenant Seagram. With respect to the statement that Lieutenant Seagram or dered the American flag to be hauled down, it is to be observed that ti.e master of the Douglas, in his protest declare?, that be himself, -ami pot Lieutenant Seagram, ordered the United (states) fiteg to be hauled down. As 'ova); loss, of provisions or stores, it is stated by the Arttericat ma that rie Engli,h prize crew brought their provisions wilt them to the Douglas, and he does not even as sert that tlitty•timsturred any provisions belonging to the Doug lee, or that any of the stores of that vessel were lost. With teepee:: to the allegation of the American master, that. the prize crew bad seereted one demijohn of rum , forming part o f the coke of the vessel; it seems probable that there 13 an erior in that allegation, because the hatches of the vessel were opened and closed again in the pretence of Lieut. Seagram, and no couvel tint was made to that officer, either by the ma ter or the ignee, that any loss or damage had been done to the cargo. Inched, the master, on resuming the charge of his vessel, de clared to f.ieut. Seajerem that he had no complaint to make. Front the foregoing statement it will appear that the visit., the search, and the detention of the Douglas eu. Seaelam took place under a full be l ie f on the part of that officer till he teas parsing a course which would be approved by the Go vernment of the United States ; and in his conduct toward the crew of the yes el, lie appears scrupulously to have avoided any act which would justly give cause of offence to of eiendly Power. The undersigned has, therefore, to express the confident hope, f her Majesty's Government that, upon consideration of the who l e case, the Government of the United States will be of opinion that, although the act of Lieutenant Seagram in detaining a United States slave-trading vessel was, in the abstract, irregular , y et the im p ressioa under which he did it, and the motives which prompted him to do it, exempt him from any just blame. But the undersigned cannot refrain from requesting Mr. Stevenson to draw the serious attention of the Government of the United States to this case, which affords a striking example of the manner in which the vessels and flag of the United States are employed by Spanish, Portuguese, and Brazilian criminals, to protect their piratical undertakings, in utter con tempt of the laws of the .Union, and in open defiance of the Federal Government. The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to renew to .Mr. Stevenson the assurenceof his distinguished consideration. A. Stevenson, Esq., &c. Sze. Ike. • PALMERSTON. LORD PALMERSTON TO MR. STEVENSON. Foreign-office, Aug. 5, 1841. Tie undersigned, her Britannic Majesty's secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has teceived the note which Mr. Stevenson, Envoy Extraordina r y and Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States 'of America, addressed to him on the 27th of February last, complaining that the schooner lago, bearing the United States ft.g, and commanded by Mr. Adol phus Dupony, had been detained by her Majesty's brigantir.e Termagant, Lieutenant Seagram, and that the schooner Hero, under the United States flag, and commanded by Mr. 11. M'Conuell, had been detained by her Majesty's brig Lynx. Mr. Stevenson complains, in the first place, that injury was done in these cases to the purposes of the voyage, and. tooth e cargo and stores on board the vessels d et a ined ; and w oo tends, in the second place, that her Majesty's naval officers had no excuse, and much less any justification, for detaining these vessels ; and he adds that it is wholly immaterial whether the vessels detained were equipped for or actually engaged in slave traffic or not. With regard to the allegation of damages done to the car goes of these vessels,- the undersigned begs to remind Mr. Ste venson that the, papers which he transmitted to the under signed show, that, in the case of the lago, the money which Was lost was stolen by the crew of the lago while the master was absent on shore, and it was not abstracted by the crew of the detairtinsfveasel. And it is fair to presume, that the atm. nometeiraimi the watch, which were also lost on bo rd that vessel, were taken by the same persons who stole the money. With regacd,tp.ahe damage slid t o have been done to the cargo of the f4ro'ituring the search of that vessel, the under signed Vs rletlitiliteil the Board of Admiralty to caus inquiries to be ml a eetspnii ; thattnatter, and he will a cquaint e Mr. Ste venson with the result-. With ree l er to the justification which the British °faeces had for these Americas' vessels, with regard to the detentio Stevenson say there is " no shadow of pretence for "exerelsinr,4, much lessjustifying, the right of search or detent'umnf vessels undi r the United States_ flag by vessels of her .Majesty's navy," the undersigned has to state that a formal agreement was entered into on the 11th of March,, 1840, by the commanding officer c.l her; Majesty's ships on the coast of Africa, and tl.e officer commanding the vessels gent by the United States Government to suppress the slave trade of the United States on the African coast ; and by that agreement , those officers, for the purpose of carrying into execution the " orders and views of their respective Governments respecting the suppression of the slave trade, requested each other and agreed" to detain alt vessels, under the United States flag, found to be fully equipped for and en gaged in the slave trade ; and it was agreed that such vessels should eventually be. , handed over to the United States cruisers, if proved to be United States property, and to Bri tish cruisers if proved to be Spanish, Portuguese, Brazilian, or English property. The undersigned would, therefore, submit that the com manding officers of her Majesty's vessels had no reason to suppose that, when giving effect to this agreement by detain -hag ves s els bearing the United States flag and engaged in slave trade, they were doing a thing which would be disagreeable to the Government of the United State!. With respect to the lago, the undersigned has to observe that the vessel was fully equipped for a slave trader ; that the Papers found on board of her were of a suspicious character; that all her crew but two were Spanish. And her Majesty's Advocate-General, to wheel the case was referred, has reported it to be his opinion that. she Commissioners at Sierra Leone would have been justified in proceeding to the adjudication of the vessel ; and thst it the caae had been investigated by them sufficient proof would have late afforded that the vessel was in reality Spanish, and not American property, and that con intently she was liable to condemnation. The undersigned trusts that the foregoing statement will Show that there is good reason for doubting that any wilful damage was done to the cargo of either of the two vessels in question by the crews of the detaining ships; and that, although it is indisputable that ill Irish cruisers have no tight, as such, to search and detain yes cls which arc the proeeity of citizens of the United '4tit.'es, cyan though such vessels may evidently be engage.l in sla; e trade, yet in thee cases the British naval officers acted in put stianee of a special agreement v. i• ti a naval officer of the Utiitsal States; !pd they were, therefore, justi lied in believing' that, insteast'of doing anytl.ine , . which would be complained of by the iloverbmOt of the I nited States, they were furthering the views and forwarding the wishes of that Government. Such cases, however, cannot happen again, because positive orders- were sent by the Admiralty, in February last, to all her Majesty's cruizers employed for the suppression of the slave trade, not again to detain or meddle with the United States vessel; engaged, in the slave trad e. These orders have been sent by her ''.llalesty's Government with great pain and ,p9rot. but XS an act due by them to the rights of the United States. tier 'Majesty's Government, however, connot bring them selves to believ! that the G Ye nment at Washington can se riously and deliberately intend that the flag and vessels of the Union shall continue to be, as they now arc, the shelter under which the malefacto s of ail countries perpetrate with impunity crimes whieh the laws of the Union stigmatise as piracy and punish with death. But, unless the United States Government shall consent to make, with the other Powers of Christendom, some agree ment of ti.e nature of that which their naval officer on the coast of Africa spontaneously entered into with the British naval commander on that station, these abuses will not only continue to exist, but will increase in magnitude every day ; and the end will be that the slave trade will be carried on ex clusively under the shelter of the flag, and by the special pro tection of the Executive Government of that nation, whose legislature was among the first to pronounce the crime infa mous, and to affix to it the severest penalties. The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to renew to Mr. Stevenson the assurances of his distinguished consideration. A. Stevenson, Esq., &c. PALMERSTON. P. S. I return to you, according to your request, the ori ginal papers enclosed in your note of the 27th of February last, on the subject of the Ingo. MR. STEVENSON TO LORD PALMERSTON. 32, Upper Grosvenor-street, Aug 9, 1841. - _ My Lord—On my return to London, after a temporary ab sence of a few days, I found the two communications which your Lordship did me the honour to address to me, under the date of the 6th inst., in answer to my notes of the 13th of November, the 27th of February, and the Ist of March last, complaining of the seizure and detention of three An.erican vessels, the Douglas, lago, and Hero, and the ill-treatment of their crews, by her Majesty's cruisers employed on the African coast in suppressing the slave trade. Having, in my previous communications, said all that I deemed important on the subject of these repeated aggressions upon the vessels and commerce of the United States and the rights of their flag, I can have no inducement at this time to trouble your Lordship with any further remarks ; and I shall, therefore, content myself with transmitting to my Govern ment, at the earliest day, copit's of your Lordship's notes, with whom it will rest to decide upon the sufficiency of the explana tion which they contain in justification of the conduct of the commanders of her Majesty's brigs of war the Termagant and the Lynx. It is proper, however, that I should seise the earliest oppor tunity to acquaint your Lordship that, in relation to the agree ment which it is areged was entered into between the com• mander of the British squadron on the African coast and the officer in command of the vessel sent by the Government of the United States to suppress the slave trade, allowing the mutual right of searching and detaining all British and American vessels found trading in slaves, I have no other in formation than that communicated in your Lordship's notes, and have no reason te suppose that such authority had been confided by the American Government te any of its officers. 1 pray your Lordship to accept assurances of my distinguished consideration and respect. A. STEVENSON. LORD PALMERSTON TO MR. STEVENSON. Foreign-office, Aug., 17, 1841. Viscount Palmerston presents his compliments to Mr. Stevenson, and with reference to Mr. Stevenson's note of the 9th instant, has the honour to transmit here with, to Mr. Stevenson, a copy of the agreement entered into between Captain Tucker, of her Majesty's sloop Wolve• rine, and Lieut. Paine, of the United States ship of war Gram pus, which was referred to in the notes addressed by Viscount Palmerston to Mr. Stevenson on the sth instant, on the sub ject of the detention of the vessels, the Douglas, the Togo, and Hero, by her Majesty's cruisers. A. Stevenson, Esq., &c. LORD PALMERSTON TO MR. STEVENSON. Foreign-office, Aug. 27, 1841. The undersigned, her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, has had under his consideration the note which Mr. Stevenson, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Ple nipotentiary of the United States, did him the honour to ad dress to him, under date of the 15th of May, 18-10, complain ing of the detention of a brig under American colours, called the Mary, by her Majesty's ship Forester: In this note Mr. Stevenson, assuming the information fur nished to the United States d Government by Mr. Trist, their Consul at the Havarnah, to be complete and correct, prefers a claim for indemnity to the owner of the Mary, and asks for the exemplary punishment of the commander of the Forester, and those concerned in the proceedings taken by that officer against the Mary, proceedings which, in Mr. Stevenson's opinion, seem to want nothing to give them the character of a most flagrant and daring outrage, and very little, if anything, to sink them into an act of open and direct piracy. The undersigned has now the honour to inform Mr. Steven son that the more particular information which has been fur nished to her Majesty's Government, as to this vessel, places the question in a very different light from that in which it has been presented to' the Government of the United States; and the undersigned trusts that the following statement will satisfy Mr. Stevenson th it, although the vessel herself, being ill built, might not have been intended actually to convey negroes from the coast of Africa, yet she was in reality the property of a Spaneh slave-dealer, and was employed by him for the pur poses of slave trade. The papers found on board this vessel by the commander of the Forester showed that, on the 24th of January, 1839, a bill of sale was prepared at the Havannah by Mr. J. A. Smith, the Vice-Consul of the United States at that port, setting forth that a permanent American register (No. 48) had been granted to the brig Mary, of Philadelphia, ou the 17th of June, 1837, and that the brig was at that time owned by Joseph .1. Snowden, of Philadelphia, and was commanded by J. 11. Haven. Joseph J. Snowden, the original owner, then gave a power of attorney 'and substitution to Charles Snowden, who again nominated Pedro Manegat, the notorious slave dealer, but who was described in that document merely as a merchant at Ha vannah, to sell and transfer the Mary. Eight days afterwards Pedro Manegat professedly sold the Mary to a person named Pedro Sabate, of New Orleans, who, on the of May, appointed as her master Charles Snowden, the same person who, three months before, had named Pedro Manegat as his agent to sell the Mary ; and on the 18th of June Pedro Sabate replaced Snowden, by appointing David Tomlin son to the command. _ This Pedro Manegat, thipretended seller but real purchaser of the Mary, is the same individual who, in like manner, owned the following nominally American vessels, namely, -the Hyperion, which left the Havannah in December, 1838, as an American vessel, and was afterwards condemned as the Spa nish schooner Isabel ; the schooner Hazard, which was de tained and erroneously released in February, 1839, under cir cumstanc s similar to those which mark the case of the Mary; and the Octavia, also condemned as Spanish property; which last named vessel Pedro Manegat had only employed as he did the Mary, namely, to carry goods for the purchase of slaves to agents on the coast. The Spanish master, Thomas Escheverria, and a Spanish crew, were shipped on board the Mary as passengers; among them were several individuals who were recognised as having been formerly captured in slave.vessels, Escheverria himself having been master of the Spanish schooner Norma, when that vessel was captured with 231 slaves on board. The ship's articles set forth that the crew was engaged to navigate the Mary from the port of Havannah to the Gallinas, or wherever else the master may direct. In twoor three papers which the master David Tomlinson produced to prove his American citizenship, he is styled Pils B. Tomlirnorty, and in the third P. B. Tomlinson, while in the log, enclosed in Mr. Stevenson's note, he is called Captain Thomason. The clearance and bills of lading show that the owners of the cargo were Blanco and Carvelho Pedro Marlines and Co., Pedro Manegat, and Thomas ELheverria, the Spanish captain, all well known slave traders ; and the consignees, Thomas Rodriguez Baron, Ignacio P. Rolo, and Theodore Canot, of the Gallinas, long and well known to the naval officers employed in suppressing the slave trade on the coast as factors for the purchase and shipment of slaves. Thus the papers produced to the Captain of the Forester, by Tomlinson, were of themselves sufficient to show that this was one of the then frequent cases in which the flag of the United States had been fraudulently assumed ; and all doubt was removed as to the real character of the undertaking in which the vessel was employed, when, on farther search, there were found on hoard slave coppers, two bags of shackles, large water leaguers, and a slave deck—the latter being noted as shipped under the denomination of five hundred feet of lumber. Under these circumstances, the undersigned is of opinion that the commander of her Majesty's ship Forester was fully justified in considering the Mary to be a Spanish vessel, and, consequently, in taking her before the British and Spanish Court ; and, accordingly, when the British Commissioners reported to her Majesty's Government that the Judges had refused to allow the Mary to be libelled in that Court, under the impression that the mere fact of her having the Ameri can flag hoisted should have protected her from visitation and search by a British cruiser, the British Commissioners were told that there was, in the opinion of her Majesty's Government, reason to suppose that the Mary was a spanish, and not an American vessel, and the Judges ought therefore to have allowed her to be libelled in the British and Spanish' Court ; • for the, although British ships of war are not authorised to visit and search American vessels on the high . seas, yet if a vessel which there is good reason to suppose is in reality Spanish property is captured and brought into a port in which a mixed British and Spanish Court is sitting, the CommisSioners may properly investig ate the case, and, upon su ffi cient proof being adduced of th Spanish character of the vessel,' are! of her having been guilty of a breach of the treaty between Great Britain and Spain for the suppression of the slave-trade, the Court may condemn her, notwithstanding, that she was sailing under the American flag, and had Ame rican papers on board. With respect to the general question of the search . of vessels under the American flag by British cruisers, the undersigned begs td refer Mr. Stevenson to his other Vote of this day's date relative to the case of the Susan, in which the under signed has fully, and lie hopes satisfactorily, replied to the re presentation made by Mr. Stevenson on that subject. The undersigned begs to return to Mr. Stevenson the log kept by John Hutton, while acting as mate on board the Mary ; and avails himself of this occasion to renew to Mr. Steven son the assurances of his distinguished consideration. P A L M E BST ON. LORD PALIVIERSTON TO MR. 'STEVENSON. Foreign-office, Aug. 27, 1841. The undersigned, her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, has the honour to acknowledge the receipt of the note from Mr. Stevenson, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from the United, States at this Court, dated the 14th of April, 1840, on the subject of a complaint made by the American Government against the officer in com mand of her Majesty's brig Grecian, for having boarded the American Merchant ship Susan, when off the light of Cape Frio, in the month of April, 1839. The undersigned begs leave to state to Mr. Stevenson, in reply to the remarks contained in his last note , that her Ma jesty's Government do not pretend that her Majesty's naval officers have any right to search American merchantmen,. met with in time of peace at sea, and if in some few cases such merchantmen have been searched when suspected of having been engaged in the slave trade, this has been done solely be cause the British officer who made search imagined that he was acting in conformity with the wishes of the United States Go vernment, in endeavouring to hand over to the United States tribunals ships and citizens of the Union found engaged in a flagrant violation'of the laws of the Union. Such things, however, will not happen again, because order have been given which will pi event their recurrence. But there is an essential and fundamental difference between searching a vessel and examining her papers to see whethershe is legally provided with documents entitling her to the protec tion of any country, and especially of the country whose flag she may have hoisted at the time. For though, by common par lance, the word " flag " is used to express the test of nationality, and though, according to that acceptation of the word, her Majesty's Government admit that British cruisers are not en titled in time of peace to search merchant vessels sailing under the American flag, yet her Majesty's Government do not mean thereby to say that a merchantman can exempt himself from search by merely hoisting a piece of bunting with the United States emblems and colours upon it ; that which her Majesty's Government means is, that the rights of the united States flag exempt a vessel from search, when that vessel is provided with papers entitling her to wear that flag, and proving her to be United States prope r ty, and navigated according to law. But this fact cannot be ascertained unless an officer of the cruiser, whose d, ly it is to ascertain this fact, shall board the vessel, or unless the master of the merchantman shall bring his papers on board the cruiser; and this examination of papers of merchantmen suspected of being engaged in the slave trade, even though they may hoist a United States flag, is a proceeding which it is absolutely necessary that British crttiaers employed in the suppression of the slave trade should TILE SUN, continue to practise, and to which her Majesty's Goiernment are fully persuaded that the United States Oovcriantent can not, upon consideration, object; because, 'what would be the consequence of a contrary practice? What would be the consequence if a vessel, engaged in the slave trade, could protect herself from search by merely hoist ing a United States flag? Why, it is plain that in such case every slave trading pirate, whether Spanish, Portuguese, or Brazilian, or English or French, or of whatever na tion he might be, would immediately sail under the colours of the United States; every criminal could do that, though he could not procure genuine American papers ; and thus all the treaties concluded among she Christian Powers, for the suppression of the slave trade, would be rendered a dead letter. Even the laws of England might be set at defiance by her own subjects, and the slave trade would be invested with complete impunity. Her Majesty's Government arepersuaded that the United States' Government cannot maintain a doc trine which would necessarily lead to suds monstrous conse quences; but the undersigned is bound in duty frankly to de clare to Mr. Stevenson that to such a doctrine the British Go vernment never could or would subscribe. The cruisers employed by her Majesty's Government for the suppression of slave trade must ascertain by inspection of pa pers the nationality of vessels met with by them under circum stances which justify a suspicion that such ves,els are engaged in slave trade, in order that, if such vessels are found to belong to a country which has conceded to Great Britain the mutual right of search, they may be searched accordingly ; and that if they be found to belong to a country which, like the United States, has not conceded that mutual right, they may be allowed to pass on, free and unexamined, to consummate their intended iniquity. Her Majesty's Government feels convinced that the United States Government will see the necessity of this course of proceeding. But her Majesty's Government would fain hope that the day. is not far distant when the Government of the United States will cease to confound two thing; which are in their nature entirely different ; will look to things, and not to words, and perceiving the wide and entire distinction between that right of search which has heretofore been a subject of discussion be tween the two countries, and that right of search which almost all other Christian nations have mutually given each other for a the swu ill nenss longoefr: h p estave t t h r a e d a e h , r w join h s i a l nd subjec t st e Ch r n i f s t i t a h n e l et Union n i u on to be engaged in undertakings which the law of the Union punisl.es as piracy. The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to renew to Mr. Stevenson the assurances cf his distinguished consideration. A. Stevenson, Esq., &c. PALMERSTON. MR. STEVENSON TO LORD ABERDEEN. 32, Upper Grosvenor-street, Sept. 10, 1841. The undersigned, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni potentiary from the United States, has the honour to acquaint the Earl of Aberdeen, her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State fer Foreign Affairs, that he has had the honour to receive the two communications addressed to him by Lord Vis. count Palmerston, her Majesty's late Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, under date of the 27th ultimo, upon the subject of the improper anti harassing conduct of British cruisers toward the vessels and flag of the United States in the African seas. In communicating the decision of her Majesty's Government upon the claims submitted to its consideration ) it would have given the undersigned great satisfaction to have represented that decision as one calculated to do justice to the individual claimants, and in accordance with the just rights and - interests of his - country. He had indulged a confident hope that the complaints which had been made upon the sub ject would have been followed not only by suitable atonement and reparation, but by an immediate abandonment of the system of wrong and violence to which the vessels and com merce of the United States had been so long exposed, through the misconduct of British cruisers in the Atrican seas. This course he had expected, not less from the justice of her Majesty's 'Government than the friendly relations subsist. ing between the two countries. It is, therefore, with painful surprise and regret that the un dersigned now learns from Lord Palmerston's communications, that these proceedings of her Majesty's cruisers have not only been approved and justified, and the injuries which ensued to remain utiredressed, but, that a right is now asserted by her Majesty's Government over the vessels and flag of the United States, involving high questions of national honour and inte rest, of public law, and individual rights. Having heretofore, in his correspondence with Lord Palmer ston, discussed the merits of these claims and the principles in volved in them, and presented the views and expectations of his Government upon the subject, the undersigned does not feel it incumbent upon him, at this time, to open again the general discussion, or recapitulate the particular circumstances by which these oases might justly claim to be distinguished. Referring Lord Aberdeen to the previous correspondence which has taken place, the undersigned will refrain from fur ther discussion of the individual cases, and content himself with a brief examination of those parts of Lord Palmerston's notes in which a power is, for the first time, distinctly asserted by her Majesty's Government over the vesse's and flag of the United States is time of peace, on the high seas. In order to ascertain the precise nature and character of this new and ex traordinary power, it may be proper to quote those parts of his Lordship's communicatiou in which it is asserted. They are in the following words : " The undersigned begs leave to sate to Mr. Stevenson, in reply to the remarks contained in his last note, that her Ma jesty's Government do not pretend that her Majesty's naval officers have any right to search American merchantmen met with in time of peace at sea; but there is an essential and fundamental difference between searching a vessel and exa mining her papers to see whether she is legally provided with documents entitling her to the protection of any country, and • especially of the country whose flag she may have hoisted at the time. For though, by common parlance the word flag' is used to express the test of nationality, and though, according to that acceptation of the -word, her Majesty's Government ad mit that British cruisers are not entitled, in time of peace, to search merchant vessels sailing under the American flag, yet her Majesty's Government do not mean triereby to say that a merchantinan can exempt himself from search by merely hoisting a piece of bunting with the United States emblems and, colours upon it ; that which her Majesty's Government mean is, that the rights of the United States' flag exempt a vessel from search when that vessel is provided with papers en titling her to wear that flag, and proving her to be United States property, and navigated according to law." And again : " The cruisers employed by her Majesty's Government for the suppression of the slave trade, must ascertain, by the inspec tion of the papers, the nationality of vessels met with by them under circumstances which justify a suspicion that such vessels • are engaged in the slave trade, in order that, if such vessels are found to belong to a country which has conceded to Great Britain the mutual . riglit of search, they may be searched ac cordingly ; and that, if they be found to belong to a country which, like the United States, has not conceded that mutual , right, they may be allowed to pass on free and unexamined, to ' consummate their intended iniquity." Here is a direct assertion of a right ss on the part of British cruisers, to board and detain all vessels sailing under the flag of the United States, whether American or not, for the purpose of ascertaining, by an examination of their papers, their national character, and deciding whether they are en titled to the protection of the flag of the country under which they sail. Now, it is proper to remark that the attempt which his Lordship makes to distinguish between the sight of search (a right, however, which he disclaims) and that which he asserts, is wholly fictitious. 'f hey are essentially the same for all the purposes of the present discussion. Indeed, the . right to board, detain, and decide upon the national character of vessels navigating the ocean in time of peace, may justly be regarded as more odious and insulting, and giving place to wider and more important injuries than the right of search, which is purely a belligerent right, and cannot be enforced in time of peace. But if the distinction was admitted to be a sound one, yet nothing would be gained in support of the right which Lord Palmerston claims for her Majesty's Govern ment. The inquiry must still arise, whether a power even of visitation or detention can be rightfully and lawfully exercised by one nation over the ships of another in time of !peace upon the high seas. That it cannot the undersigned will now pro ceed briefly to show. And first, as to the principles of public law and the usage of nations. By these it is expressly declared that the ves sels of all nations, in time of peace, navigating the ocean shall be exempt from every species and purpose of interrup tion and detention, unless engaged in some traffic contrary to the law of nations, or expressly provided for by treaty and compact. Now, although piracy is admitted to be an offence against •the public law, and therefore punishable in every country and by every nation, no ;natter where com mitted, it must yet be borne in mind that all piracies are not offences against the law of nations. Piracy, therefore, by international law, and that which may be made so by the municipal law of particular States, are essentially of a dif ferent character, and to be treated accordingly. Hence it is that offences declared to be piracy by the municipal laws of any State can only be tried and punished by the country within whose jurisdiction, or on board of whose ships on the ocean, the offence may have been committed. Now, slave trade is not cognizable under the law of nations. Al though prohibited by most nations, and declared to be piracy by their laws, and especially by the statutes of Great Britain and the United States, it is yet not an offence against the public law, and its interdiction cannot be en forced by the ordinary right of visitation, detention, or search, in the manner that it might be if it was piracy by the law of nations. That this is the acknowledged doctrine of interna tional law cannot, it is presumed, be doubted. It is so ex pressly declared by all writers upon the law of nations, and has been acknowledged by the British Government, through ite highest judicial tribunals. Her annals are full of instruction on the subject. The.following is the language held by . one of her most distinguished jurists ts— . • - , ' " We are disposed to go abler in discountenancingahis odious traffic as the law of nations and the principles reeognisedAsy English tribunals will allow us in doing; but bejond these principles we do not feel at liberty to travel. Formal decla rations hive been madcand, laws enacted in reprobation of this ptactice, and plans, ably and zealously conducted, have been taken to induce other countries to follow our example, but at present with instifficient effect ; for there are nations which ad here to the practice, under all the encouragement which their own laws give. What is, :hen, the doctrine of our ewn Cotirts, of the laws of nations? Why, that this practice is to be respected ; the slaves, if taken, to be restored to their owners;,and, if not taken u n d er i nnocent m i sta k e, to b e re stored , with costs and damages." Again ; "It would be, indeed, a most extraiagant assumption, in any Court of 'the law of nftioris, to pronounce that this practice, the tolerated, the approved; the encouraged object of law, ever since man became subject to law, was legally criminal." Does her Majesty'a Government now mean to contend that the slave trade, is contrary to tbe law of nations ? • On the con trary, is not the trade lawful to all Governments . who have not i i g n h t t i m g given e o n f pe to ac a e n , y one. o fo a r t lf o ul n forbidden rode pendent of express treaty stipulations by which the extent of t 'the 'an , d siav c e on st e i g p u s e o n f tl go n th o er r 'the power to be exercised must be regulated. The right, then; which LO - rd Palmerston asserts derives no support from the principles of the public law, but is left to stand upon the grounds of expediency and necessity as the means of executing the existing treaties for the suppression of the slave trade, and without which 'his Lordship asserts they would become a deg letter. Whether this be so or not the undersigned has no means of judging, and deems it therefore unnecessary to either admit or deny it. The question is not whether the power asserted might be necessary or expedient, but whether any such rower exists. It is incumbent dun upon her Majesty's Government to show upon what principles of - justice and right it claims the power of deciding upon the right of an independent nation to nevi gate the ocean in time of peace ; and this, too, for the purpOse of executing treaties to which such nation is not a party, and consequently not bound. The signal error of Lord Palmer ston is in assuming the necessity and expediency of the power as proof of its existence. Was such a power ever before as serted in the manner or to the extent which is now done? On the contrary, has not the right of visitation and search been always regarded as exclusively one of a belligerent character? In proof of this, the undersigned need only refer Lord Aber deen to the authority of Great Britain herself on ihe subject. " I can find no authority," says the late Sir William Scott, "" that gives the right of interruption to the navigation of States upon the high seas, except that which the right of war gives to belligerents against neutrals. No nation pan exercise a right of visitation and search upOn the e t cremon and unap propriated parts of the ocean, except upon the belligerent claim." ' And again :—" No nation has the right to force the way for the liberation of Africa by trampling upon the itsde peridence of other Stop; on the pretence of an eminent goqd by means that are unlawful, or to press tiwardto a Oita prin ciple by breaking through other great principles which stand in their way." Now, of all the principles ever attempted to be established LONTJ_OST, MONDAY, JANUARY 3, 1842. in the 'fist history of the dominion of the set, few probably could be selected of more offensive and objectionable cha. ratter than those asserted in Lord Palmerston's note. In deed, it is difficult to be beloved that his Lord.hip, or her Ma jesty's Government, could seriously expect that any indepen dent nation could for a moment acquiesce in do urines involving the extravagant supposition of yielding to another the right of determining upon the terms and conditions upon which it should navigate the ocean in a time of general awl profound peace. Such a power once submitted to and there would be no species of national degradation to which it'might not lead. • That such would be the consequence the under signed feels himself at liberty to suppose. But if it were ad mitted, for the purpose of illustration, that, such a right was even doubtful, still the United States, as well as other com mercial nations, would be bound to demand' its discontinu ance, if attempted to be exercised'in the manner indicated in Lord Palmerston's note. Under what restrictions and limita tions could such a power be enforced ? What competent tri bunal would there be to determine upon the degree of sus picion which is to justify the boarding and detention, and the right of determining the national character of all vessels under the flag of the United States? Would it not make every sub ordinate commander of a British cruiser the exclusive judge, and not only lead to angry and exciting irritations upon the ocean, but to painful d scussions between the two Govern ments? What security would American merchantmen have against . decisions made without evidence, or where all the rules of evidence might be violated with impunity? Would it not, from its very nature, be a power the exercise of which, in whatever form it might be guarded, could admit of no just limitation? _ The answer to these questions will best show how incon sistent with the peace of Great Britain and the rights of other States the exercise of any such power would be attended. I But it is unnecessary to press this view of the subject further ' upon Lord Aberdeen's atten'ion. The objection is one of principle and not of expediency, and is, therefore, wholly incapable of being overcome by the manner or di'cretion with which the power might be exercised, or the limitations thrown around it However softened in terms, or restricted, it must still be regarded as imposing restrictions upon the lawful commerce of neutral nations, and an innovation upon the liberty of the spas ; a power which no independent State could ever submit to without surrendering its independence and sovereignty, and disregarding the high obligations of duty which it owes to itself and the other nations of the world. Nor is there any force in the view alleged by Lord Palmer• ston, and upon which great reliance is placed, that the flag of the Union is grosAy abused by other nations ss a cover to their "slave traffic. To what extent the flag of the United States may have been used for this purpose the under signed and his Government have no means of judging. That it has been grossly abused, however, there is too much reason to believe and deplore ; but whatever this abuse may have have been, it can have no just influence either to strengthen or weaken the right asserted by her Majesty's Government. In relation to the conduct efother nations, who seek to cover their infamous traffic by the fraudulent use of the American flag, the Government of the United States cannot be respon sible. It has taken the steps which it deemed best to protect its flag as well as its character, from abuse, and will follow it up by such other measures as may appear to be called for. The Government of the United States are not insensible to the force of the considerations which belong to the subject of the African slave-trade, nor have they failed to manifest their sensibility to whatever concerns its abolition. Nothing is farther from the wish of the American Government than a de sire to increase the difficulties, or throw obstacles in the way of the execution of the existing treaties for its final extinction. This the undersigned has, upon more than one occasion, had the honour of assuring her Majesty's Government, and takes leave now to repeat to Lord Aberdeen. Anxious, however, as the Government of the United States are to promote the views of her Majesty's Government on this subject, it cannot consent to do so by sacrificing the rights of its citizens or the honour of its flag. Her Majesty's Government cannot be insensible of the im portance and value of guarding the rights of neutrality from every species of violation. This duty belongs especially to great and powerful nations, such as Great Britain and the United States, not only as the best means of preserving peace, but giving security to weaker communities, under the shadow of impartial justice. Among neutral nations there is probably not one more deeply interested than the United States. Their attitude is that of a neutral and peaceful Power. The con sistent and persevering policy of their Government has been displayed in defence of the rights of neutrality and the liberty of the seas. Desirous to manifest cordial good-will to allnations, and maintain with each not only relations of the most perfect amity, but those of a commercial character, upon the basis of a fair, equal, and just reciprocity, the United States will con tinue to give to their system of policy a sincere and steady adherence. Upon this basis, the relations between Great Britain and the United States, as well as all other nations, can alone be expected to confines.. The undersigned, therefore, is happy to see in these relations, as well as the justice of her Majesty's Government and the firmness of his own, the best reason to expect not only an abandonment of the power which is now asserted, with the whole system of .vexatious interrup tion and surveillance to which the vessels and commerce of the United States have been subjected, but the future relations of the two countries placed upon the solid foundation of mutual interest and comity, and a more enlarged and liberal policy. These are the views which the undersigned has deemed it hisduty to submit to Lord Aberdeen's consideration, upon the doctrines contained in Lord Palmerston's note, of a character so new and alarming to national sovereignty and sensibility, and the friendly relations of the two countries. He has pre sented them with the frankness andearnestness which their im -er tance merited, and with the high respect due to her Ma jesty's Government. He has, therefore, no other duty now to perform than to transmit copies of Lord Palmerston's commu nications to his Government, and to protest, in the most solemn manner, against their doctrines, as alike inconsistent with the principles of public law, with the rights and sovereignty of the United States, and with that sense of justice and right which belongs to the British nation. '1 he undersigned prays Lord Aberdeen to accept assurances of his high consideration and respect. A. STEM ENSON. To the Right Hon. the Earl of Aberdeen. ( To be continued.) LOVE AND MURDER. (FROM A CORRESPONDENT.) MANSFIELD.` PEC. 31,..—The present season seems to be peculiarly rife with crime of an appalling cast, for scarcely a day passes without the report of some addi tional horror. ,On Friday night last the quiet town of Mansfield, in Nottinghamshire, became the scene of a domestic tragedy of a shocking character. A young man, called Samuel Moore, which, however, is said not to be his real name, .who was paying his addresses to a girl named Mary Hallam, in a frenzy of jealousy, cut her throat. in a dreadful manner, and she immediately -died of the Wounds. The man is about 23 years of age, and is a shoemaker Ly trade, being a good norkman at his craft, and the girl was 19, and & dressmaker. Moore is not a native of Mansfield, but has lived there about three years, working for a respectable shoemaker, and having lodg ings in the tom n. On the evening of Friday he made an appointment with the girl to meet him at eight o'clock. They . met, and he induced her to accompany him to the shop in which he worked, a small tenement he rented for the purpose near his lodgings. He .conversed with her on the subject of other young men following her, expressing his wishes that she would give them up and devote herself to him. She, however, said she would not, and becoming excited, he committed the dreadful act which cost the life of the girl, and sacrificed his own to the offended laws. He afterwards went to bed at his lodgings ; but the unhappy parents of the girl, after long search en missing her, having found her body, he was arrested, and he then made a full confession of his guilt. The body awaits the Coroner's inquest, which is to be held this day (Saturday). Moore is a young man of steady habits, and respect- able character; and the girl was good-looking, and also respectable. THE EXCHEQUER BILL FRAUD It is understood that the final and revised statement of E. B. Smith to the Treasury is to the following effect : " That he was introduced so long back as 1820 to Rapallo, Solari, and one or two of their associates. That soon after, becoming entangled in accommodation bills, he was tempted to borrow' an Exchequer bill of 1,0001., in order to raise money to meet his acceptances. " That a speculation was entered into by Rapallo and his friends, which, if successful, was to have extricated all parties from their difficulties. But it proved most unfortunate, and only plunged them into increased per. plexity and trouble. "That apparently it lay in his power at any time to secrete and misapply almost any number of bills, vi anting only the signature, and by a simple forgery to turn them into good and valid Exchequer bills. " That no person of rank or public character whatever was in any way mixed up in the transaction; the parties being himself, Solari, Rapallo, and another individual whose office was in Basinghall street; at which place they used to meet and concert their plans. " He believe; the total amount fabricated to be about 340,0001., but is doubtful whether a sum of 40,0001. is or is not included in this total. _ _ " He still maintains that this whole amount has been wasted, from time to , titne, -in gambling transactions on the Stock Exchange." Smith, in his defence before the Criminal Court, most unequivocally declared himself, though guilty, to have been the tempted party; to;lave been induced by others to commit frauds and forgeries, from which they, rather than lie, derived advantage. In the written statement above referred to he appears to persevere in this repre sentation. Now, if there be any truth in this story, every one will ask, how it comes to pass that he, and he only, is brought to justice, while all his coadjutors—the men who, according to his statement, drew him into the whole series of crimes—are left entirely scatheless ? The loose and negligent mode of transacting busi ness in the Exchequer Bill-office, as here exhibited, is too obvious to need remark. Not for a few months, or a year or two only, but for a long series of years, has this facility continued to exist, by which a clerk in the office could fabricate and issue bills to the tune of 300,0001, or 400,0001., at his own discretion, and without detection. It is a curious question—how many millions of Ex chequer bills in all t h ave b een f a bricated and put into circulation ? We say, how man millions? For it i s clear that the existing amount of .340,0001., or 380,0001., no more exhibits the whole extent of the' fabrication than the 16,292,0001. of Bank of England notes, which were in circulation between Nov. 13 and Dec. 11 last, represented the whole amount of bank notes made and circulated during the last ten years. It is dear that a perpetual system of issuing, redeeming, cancelling, and replacing must have been in operation for the last dozen or twenty years, and it is a moderate supposition to con clude the total amount to havo been from five to ten mil lions But, If this be so, what sort of a figure does our Exchequer Bill-office cut ? FAIAE AI4ARIg IN A CHURCH —.On Sunday, during the celebration of last mass in the church of St. Andrew, Westland-row, some person inside the sacred edifice, whether through a inalielous motive, in order t o cause mischief, or from fancied apprehension of danger, called out that the gallery was falling. This was natu rally enough followed by a rush on the part of the mor e timid of the congregation towards the principal do ors. Two policemen on duty o A mido, rightly judging the alarm to Vie unfbunded, immediately closed the doors, and thus prevented the serious consequences that would, no doubt, have ensued from the indiscriminate forcing of a body consisting of hundreds of individuals through comparatively narrow p 4 s liages , and down a flight of soma half a dozen steps. Confidence and order were in a very brief spare restored, and the celebration of divine service was concluded without further interruption,— Dublin Freeman, LONDON: MONDAY, JANUARY 3, 1842. That the Ministry have resolved to send Lord ASHBURTON, taking him from the Exchequer Bill Commission, to which he has just been ap pointed, on a special mission to the United States, indicates a critical, not to say an alarm ing, state of our diplomatic relations with that country. The publication of the Correspond ence between the American Minister and the Secretary of State for Foreign Af fairs, on the RIGHT OF SEARCH, comes unhappily to confirm the worst apprehensions which Lord ASHBURTON'S appointment excites. We pointed out, when we adverted to the Ame rican PRESIDENT'S Message, the danger which threatened us on this question, and the com plaints of the Americans of the manner in which the right is exercised by our ship Captains, men for the most part accustomed to adminis ter to their own people an odious tyranny, confirms our remarks, and tends to justify the Americans in refusing to submit their vessels to the rude visitation of such arbitrary police officers. The dispute between the two coun tries on this question has now assumed a very fbrmidable and unfavourable appearance; and, consequently, the character and fitness of the Noble Negotiator for the delicate and im portant task he has undertaken, has become a public matter of very considerable interest. Lord ASHBURTON, let it be remembered, was Mr. ALEXANDER BARING, a great merchant for the best part of his life ;. for many years a Mein- ber of the House of Commons ; created a Peer by the Tories, a few years ago, after professing Whig principles through the greater part of his career; and at present remarkable, for an old man, for a somewhat senseless ambition, to be a great statesman as he has been a great mer chant. He seems stimulated by the success in this line of Mr. P. TIMMSON, and as he aspired to preside over the trade of the country in imi tation of that merchant, he now aspires to eclipse his glory in pacifying Canada by settling all dis putes between this country and the United States. The motives of the man, we are afraid, are unworthy ; and the situation and abilities of the negotiator do not warrant the national confideme. The Herald of Saturday alludes to Mr. BARING having been an American merchant, and says " that his mercantile services have pro voked not the gratitude. but the animosity and ill-will of the agrarian democrats of that strange country." Mr. BARING, now Lord ASHBURTON, was not only a merchant, he was also a loan-contractor; he was also an extensive proprietor of the 'United States Bank Stock, that is a partner; he, or his mercantile firm, was the agent of that swindling body, and long considered its chief European adviser and prop. At present the inhabitants of the Union are suffering most dreadfully from bank and mercantile swindlers, and nearly the whole domestic policy, and most of the party feeling in that country turn on the honesty and on the credit really due to bankers, merchants,and money issuers. Now Lord ASHBUR TON, closely connected all his life with one of these parties as the representative here of such . men as BIDDLE, must be, on this account, as the Herald says, unacceptable to the most numerous and in fluential portion of the Americans. Judging of Mr. TYLER'S opinions from the part he has acted, we must conclude that Lord ASH BURTON, from his unfortunate connexion with what the Americans call the "Shin-plaster," or " shaving " interest, must be unacceptable even to the head of the Government. He is further connected with American parties by an alliance with an American lady, and must be, on these accounts, biassed, partial, and wholly unfit to represent this country at Washington. Lord, AsußuttroN is•said to have retired from trade, but no person Will believe that his connec tion with the house of BARING, BROTHERS, and Co., of which his sons, we believe, and at any rate his relations, are the chief members, will not bias his judgment. Suppose that house should at. this moment be involved in the loans for the different States, which are repudiated ; suppose that it should be con cerned in cotton speculations, and be smarting under a recent loss of 200,0001., caused, it may be asserted, by some act of the PRESIDENT, in refusing his expected, and some say, promised, assent to a banking scheme—will such a circum stance not be expected to influence the money sensitive mind of Lord ASH BURTON, and make him anything but an independent and impartial negotiator? A man, with the strongest mind, and of the most straightforward cha racter, placed in such a position, would ex cite unpleasant suspicions ; there would be a want of confidence in him ; lie would be unfit for that particular negotiation ; and Lord Asti- BURTON is neither astreng-minded, nor a straight forward man. On every question not concerning hi s own pocket he sees it in such a variety of lights, that he never expresses any decided and clear opinion. He cannot, it is said, give a plain answer to a plain question without some limitations or qualifications. He never makes a speech in which he dues not say almost as much against as for his• own view, He always doubts, and balances, and argues every question as if there were nothing positive and certain, nothing decidedly right or wrong. He splits hairs, refines, mystifies, and contradicts himself. In a negotiator frankness, or at least the appearance of frankness, sincerity, or its semblance, to win confidence, are essential ; and of frankness and sincerity, of all earnestnes s and directness of purpose, except to gather wealth, the mind of this ennobled merchant seems wholly destitute. All his propositions will be regarded with suspicion, and the object of sending hint will most probably be defeated by the opinion that he has purposes of his own to serve. In what spirit can he be expected to conduct a negotiation ? In that of a merchant higgling for a bargain. That is the habit of the man's mind, it is natural and confirmed by long practice. To succeed with the Americans, the most unreserved openness and simplicity are requisite. Lord AsnnunToN, we are afraid, will carry to the negotiation the habitual sharpness of a loan contractor. Through his whole political life, when he pleaded for free trade in the House of Commons as a merchant, and when he advo cates the Corn-laws in the House of Lords as a landlord, this man has made his political prin ciples subservient to his interests and his ambi tion, and is alike undeserving of the confidence of the Americans or the English. He is now one of the foremost advocates ofrestraints and restrictions on commerce, a matter in which the Americans are almost as deeply interested as in the right of search, and on this ground as well as on account of his political character, and his connection with the loan interest, he will be most unac ceptable to the Americans, and a most unfit re presentative of England at Washington. We cannot conclude this subject, to which we shall probably recur, without throwing out a suggestion which may possibly lead to a favour able result. Time Americans profess a wish to put an end t? the slave trade, but they wish, from very substantial reasons, to preserve their flag from being visited by our men-of-war. Let the visitation or search then be made under their own authority. How ? Place an American officer, we say, on board every English man of-war employed to repress the slave-trade, and let every ship which shows American colours be examined and answered for by him? That would satisfy the hon Our of the Americans, pro tect the flag from insult, and their people from injury, and secure the end of suppressing the slave-trade by - American vessels, so far as that can be secured by the employment of our men of-war. We publish in our columns of this day the first part of a long, and by no means lively, cor respondence between the Governments of Eng land and the United States, on the subject of the Right of Search of vessels on the coast of Africa suspected of being engaged in the Slave Trade. As this correspondence is en gaging a great deal of serious attention in the United States, and as it will fortn a subject of discussion in Congress, we deem it of sufficient importance to be sub mitted at length to the consideration of our readers. The sum and sushstance of the whole correspondence may, however, be summed up in a few words. The United States Govern ment refuses to allow vessels bearing the Ameri can flag to be searched, although suspected of being slavers, and the British Government, after a great deal of ineffectual struggling, is forced to abandon all attempts to detain vessels bearing the American flag. The consequence is obvious. Under shelter of the American flag the Slave Trade will again flourish to an extent un precedented in the recent history of that de testable traffic. The Treaty of the Five Powers is, therefore, not worth the parchment upon which it is written. While any flag can cover and protect a traffic in slaves, nothing but the progress of African civilization can ever put it down. When we extort praise from an opponent we are sure we deserve it. his abuse we disregard as the sign of nothing but his own ill-temper. We can conscientiously say, that " The Sun is a paper," as the Colonial Gazette, anxious to in form its readers of our character, says, " of good repute, as to the liberal arrangements which it makes for securing ample and speedy reports of public occurrences." But The Sun, being NI ORNINCI SUN in no wise bound up wild an y h um =' bug or fraudulent schemes f or enr i c hi ng land jobbers ( 01 at the expense of the labourers of England, takes its own view of a .much-praised Scheme of borrowing money, or selling laud that has no value whatever, in order to obtain the - ' means of transporting the people WllOlll the - 111( 0 ' i i landlords of E ng l an d w ill not a ll ow to li ve at home .and enrich their country. For taking'''' is . ol this independent line, w hi c h, as our readers- :"..Bjo know, we took the very ne x t p u bli cat i on a f ter 7 ' j to we had heard of the emi gra ti on s ch eme, t h e Colonial Gazette takes us to task, and misrepre- - ' ll ti sents our character. - ; The latter is public, and must 'vindicate itself.= I ° 9 Of emigration,' the point about which we differ L' lll4 lll from sundry so-called Liberal Journals, and so called Liberal Members of Parliarnent, we are aid not the opponents; but we are decided enemies of the Government adding to its duties by, undertaking to apportion labour and capital . ; 1 41 to land throughout the vast dominions of ; I,J the British empire. Our Government is already , ; (1 notoriously inefficient to perform the immense duties imposed on it. Our criminal law is a cruel f p blunder. Our civil law is an undigested mass Of anomalies and confusion. Our administration'in all its branches is at once costly and worthless., t . It abounds with idlers who engross large sala ries, and over-worked subordinates who are under paid. If any chairinaker's apprentice had at his first trial, made such a wretched abortion. of a three-legged stool as our Government is, fur all useful purposes, he would have been at once turned out of the shop, and told he would never earn salt to his meat. To place on such an in efficient, weak, and yet costly instrument, the additional and most onerous duty of apportioning labour and capital to land, as is now demanded by some pretended Liberals, seems to us one c.) the most extraordinary follies that ever cupidity or overweening vanity engendered. For the Government, which is so incapa ble of now performing the duties impoSed - on : 4.1, it, to seek this additional and most onerous • duty, is a more mad ambition than ever was nourished by any of the conquerors of man kind,. from ALEXANDER to NAPOLEON. Con, ceiving that our Government has already a much . greater number of duties to perform than it_ can perform well--considering, also, that the appor. ' l 4 tioning of labour and capital to land is no part of, . '•; 4 the duty of any Government—we object more decidedly now, and shall object at all times, to the Government, be it in the hands of what party it may, presuming to interfere in any way • with the distribution of capital and labour. By tjie Tory Journals a great outcry was made against the Whigs when they were obliged to take up the Corn-law question for making that a party question ; but not a word escapes from the virtuous - and immaculate emigration-, mongers at the Tories taking up emigration as 11' a party question. Not a step did they .ever before take in "the matter; but now, when it will serve their party purposes, and may, perchance, ,;; weaken the just demands of the people for a re peal of the Corn-laws, they are about to take. it up, and a whole host of Weekly Chronicles and : 0 1 Spectators make common cause with the Jour-, ; Ai , nals of the vilest and most unscrupulous.faction / that ever cursed a country, in praisin g thi s party ;00 move as the height of patriotism. We are not' so blinded, nor so bribed, by any particular interest, and we denounced the emigration scheme ~ 0 'from the moment it was propounded, an d s h a ll continue to denounce it as a sly scheme of the culprit monopolists to postpone the day of reek- ; I'. oiling- and the day of punishment. If the mind .41 of man have not lost its love of justice,. and have not ceased to do homage to truth, that day . - ; . "1 will inevitably and speedily overtake them. We borrow, from the Carlisle Journal, a para graph descriptive of the present condition of the poor of-that town, which the Journalist remarks is within a. short distance of Sir JAMES GRAHAM'S property, who is at this moment., he further says, raising his rents from 20 to 30 per cent. Ityordi nary cases, what rent a gentleman asks fur h* land is to the public a matter of utter indiffe rence. It is a mere bargain between two indi viduals, with 'which the public have no more to do than with the price of tallow or hops; which in general, however, the dealers make known. We should hold it, in fact, under ordinary circum-. stances, to be an impertinent internieddling with private concerns to direct the public attention to the rent which any gentleman asks for his land;- but at present, when rent is raised, as Lord STAN LEY admitted, by a tax on the people's bread-- when Sir JAMES GRAHAM'S rent is increased by the bread-tax levied on his starving neighbours when that same Sir ' JAMES GRAHAM is a vehement supporter of the law which ordains this unrighteous tax— when he is a member of the Cabinet that has been constituted to preserve this flagrant iniquity—and when his case is so exact a coun terpart of that of most of the members of the Cabinet, and most of the members of his party-- we feel bound to notice it, and bound, if we can, to rivet public attention to the individual fact,. , and the general facts to which it is an index. Sir J. GRAHAM, a member of the Cabinet, is raising his rents and increasing his income, while his neighbours are starving, and starved in order that his rents may be raised. Sir J. GRAHAM'S case is also the case of Lord STANLEY. He g ets at present higher rents by the rise in the price.of food, which stints and starves his neighbours in Lancashire. Sir JAMES GRAHAM'S case is also the case of Sir ROBERT PEEL, Sir EDWARD KNATCHBULL, the Duke of BUCKINGHAM, the Duke of WELLINGTON, the Earl of A B ER' DEEN, the Earl of RIPON, and probably every member of the Cabinet. One. and all of them have raised, or are raising, their rents in conse quence of the high price of corn caused by the , laws they passed, and they have been consti tuted a Cabinet to preserve. Sir JAMES GRAHAM'S case is also the case of every landowner who has a seat in the House of Commons, and contributes to make the laws. All England is a common neighbourhood, and every landowner is nog • raising, or has raised his rents, by levying a tax on the bread of his starving neighbours. Sir JA use GRAHAM'e case, who is now raising his rent while : hisstarving neigh bon rs are obliged to pay him a taAc. on their land, let it not be fur one moment for gotten, is the case of every landowning legislawr in the empire. A great question is at issue between thg,PeOple and the landowners. This statement makes it perfectly plain that the landlords benefit by the bread-tax, and the landlords in the Cabinet and in Parliament decide in their own favour against the people. No man, however virtuous, is a proper judge in his own cause. In such a case no man is unbiassed, and all the assertions and arguments of the landlords must be liable to sus picion. A Corn-law, made or modified by them, never will command the confidence, and we • doubt whether it will long command the obedi- • ence, of the people. We are quite sure that tie Corn-law they can make will deserve to obeyed. ~d When the rise of rent on the one hand, and , the starving people on the other, are considered:: . : t to be the two great elements of the landlord's .• , judgment, it must be also remembered_ that the starving people are called canaille by the law-making landlords and their friends. They are called the swinish multitude, and are', continually spoken of, and continually treated ae if their feelings, and even their lives, were of no manner of importance. 'Weighed against a rise of rent, the whole of the so-called mob of Car- i lisle are not, in the landlords' minds, worth a; moment's consideration ; and the conduct of the bread-taxers, for many years past, justifies us in asserting that, if they could raise their rent by" ft 9 starving the whole of the inhabitants of Carlisle,' l o g they would not hesitate to starve them. As long, therefore, as any Corn-law shall be enacted by„,1,1!. the land-owning Legislature, whatever it may bepi , u o i it never will satisfy the people or settle the queS i tei_i f i c, tion. It is in the nature of things that our pre47o sent Legislature can only settle it by totally abo ü b o lishing the Corn and Provision-laws. It is worth further notice, that while .-. 4 0? 11 1id JAMES GRAHAM'S neighbours are starving, and,AiliP3° i raisin 1.1 1 and to best: sufierin Pation the ans, Mouth howeve orati on, raising. must p ti of this satisfie becaus e consi, could the hr, which neve, tl -IRTII that, lie hithert( of hi, st the laic( w hen t °therwi "It H -88 men L ""r of 1 . and 13 Th e th e ren e Previous the anon I tlitte e 14 di. ent l atio n J!January , the s , 'ls trial A set:. at B~rlii ' int erg rede r i Princes: 4 rratige " At ,"teneral rece ieet to. *hick t die has of his An °lller p ret,ch t rink 01 ZP4nish I N )° : t4 gU 4 1kUll , n(4, in tt- i pen to„, th it . - 13, Great Marlborough-street. MRS. GORE'S NEW NOVEL, 19 "THE MAN OF FORTUNE," IS NOW READY AT ALL THE LIBRARIES. Henry Colburn, Publisher, 13, Great Marlborough-street. TiOTICE!--COLBURN'S UNITED SERVICE JOURNAL and NAVAL and MILI TARY MAGAZINE.—Mucit confusion having arisen from the similarity of title between this Monthly periodical and that assumed by a Weekly Newspaper (the United Service Gazette), it has been found necessary, in order as far as pos Bible, to prevent future mistakes, to modify the name cf this work by a simple transposition of its double title, so as to make a broader distinction between it and a print, with which, it ought to be needless to say, the United Service Journal can have no sympathy or connexion. It is therefore requested that Correspondents will be particular in addressing their com munications m conformity with the title this publication will henceforth bear—namely, COLBURN'S UNITED SER VICE MAGAZINE, and NAVAL and MILITARY JOURNAL. Henry Colburn, Publisher, 13, Great Marlborough-street. UITA BL E NSW YEAR'S PRESENTS. I. MERRIE ENGLAND in the OLDEN TIME; or, Peregrinations with Uncle Tim and Mr. Bosky, of Little Bri tain, Dr)salter. By GEORGE DANIEL. 2 vols. post Bvo., vsith numerous Illustrations by Leech, &c., including several Fac-similes of rare and curious Old Prints.' 11. THE PORCELAIN TOWER; or, NINE STORIES of CHINA. By T. H. SEALY, Esq. 1 vol. post Svgs., with numerous Illustrations by Leech, price 10s. 6. 111. THE INGOLDSBY LEGENDS; or, MlRTHfand MARVELS. By THOMAS INGOLDSBY, Esq. I vol. Bvo., with numerous Characteristic Illustration., price 10s. 6d. Also, by the same Author, SOME ACCOUNT of MY COUSIN NICHOLAS. 3 vols. post Bve. IV. TALES of a GRANDMOTHER. By Mrs. A. C. CARMICHAEL. 12mo. price 4s. V. PORTRAITS of CHILDREN of the MOBILITY, from Nature. Drawn on Stone, by J. Leech. With Charac teristic Sketches. By the Author of " The Comic English Grammar," &c. -Royal 4to, price 10s. 6d. VI. MEMOIRS of the COURT of ENGLAND during REIGN of the STUARTS. By J. HENEAGE JESSE, Esq. 4 vols. Bvo., with Engravings from original Paintings. VII. The COMIC ENGLISH GRAMMAR. By the Au thor of " The Comic Latin Grammar." 1 vol., post Bvo., with upwards of 50 Characteristic Illustrations, by Leech, price Ss. VIII. THE CLOCK MAKER ; or, SAYINGS and DO INGS of SAM SLICK of SLICKVILLE. New Edition, 3 vols. post Sco., with numerous Illustrations. IX. HOWITT'S BOOK of the SEASONS. New and Improved Edition, in a neatly bound pocket volume, embel lished with Thirte 3u Engravings, price is. 6d. Richard Bentley, New Burlington-street. a * To be had also of all Booksellers. THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY-LANE. THIS EVENING, JAN. 3, Her Majesty's Servants will perform the Play. of THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, horn the Test of Shakspeare. Duke, Mr. G. Bennett ; Antonio, Mr. Phelps ; Bassanio, Mr. Anderson; Lorenzo, Mr. Elton; Shylock, Mr. Maeready; Portia. Mrs. Warner; Nerisia, Mrs. Keeley ; Jessica, Miss E. Phillips. After which will be repeated the New Christmas Pantomime, ca led HARLEQUIN AND DUKE 'HUMPHREY'S DIN NER ; OR, JACK CADE, THE LORD OF LONDON STONE. Doors to be opened at Half• past Six, and the Performance to begin at Seven o'clock. Boxes 55.,- Second Price, 2. 6d. Pit 35., Second Price 2s. Lower Gallery Is. 6d., Second Pr ce Is. Upper Gallery Is., Second Price 6d. THEATRE ROYAL, COVENT-GARDEN. UNJER the MANAGEMENT of MADAME VESTRIS. THIS EVENING, JAN. 3, Will be performed Ehakspere's MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM.— Theseug, Mr. Cooper; Quince, Mr. Bartley; Bottom, Mr. Harley ; Flute, Mr. Oxberry ; Snout, Mr. Mea dows ; Snug. Mr. F. Matthews ; Hermia, Mrs. Nisbett ; Oberon, Madame Vestris • Titania, Mrs. W. Lacy; Puck, Miss Marshall; First Fairy, Miss Rainforth. After which will be repeated the New Grand Christmas Pantomime, entitled GUY EARL OF WARWICK ; OR, HARLEQUIN AND THE DUN COW. Doors to le opened at halt-past Six—the performances to commence at Seven. Dress Boxes, 7s. ; Second Price, 3s. fid. ; First and Second Circles, ss. ; Second Price, tls. 6d. ; Pit, 35.; Second Price. Gallery, Is. Tickets and places for the Boxes to be taken of Mr. Grogan at the Box-office, from Ten till Four, where Season Tickets may be had uvon application. Private Boxes to be had so'ely of Mr. Andress, bookseller, 157. New Bond-street. To-morrow, Norma, with the New Pantomime. ROYAL SURREY THEATRE. UNDER THE MANA(EMENT OF MR. DAVIDGE AND MR. WILLIS TONES. Astounding hit—The acknowledged best Pantomime in Lon don—Hundreds nightly unable to gain admittance—The Sons of Syria and Felix Carlo surprise every one. THIS EVENING. JAN. 3 Will be acted a New Domestic Drama, entitled MADAME LAFFARGE, from Memoirs written by Herself. After which, a Nautical Burletta entitled JACK JUNK ; or, a SEAMAN'S FIRESIDE.—Jack Junk, with Five Sea Songs, Mr. Walton. To conclude with a Grand Christmas Pantomime, entitled HARLEQUIN AND THE ICE QUEEN; OR, JACK, FROST AND KING SHAM.—With gorgeous and charac teristic Scenery, splendid Properties, ludicrous and Quaint Dresses, ingenious Tricks, magnificent Panorama by. Brun ning, &c. Harlequin, M. Huline ; Patch, M. Rochet ; Pan taloon, M. Lehman ;.Flip, Signor Feliz Carlo ; Clown, Mr. Buckingham ; Columbine, Miss Sharpe ROYAL VICTORIA THEATRE. UNDER THE DIRECTION OF AIR. OSRALDISTON. Grand Juvenile Week ! The Pantomime played as Second Piece ! Novelties unequalled! Attraction undoubted ! In terest unprecedented! and Success enormous! THIS EVENING, JAN. 3 Will be acted, SUSAN HOPLI 7 .Y ; or, THE TRIALS AND VICISSITUDES OF A SERVANT GlRL.—Wil liam Dean, Mr. E F. Saville; Dicky Dean, Mr. Paul, Susan Hopley, Miss Vincent "(the acknowledged Heroine of Domestic Tragedy), After which, a New Grand Romantic Aerial Cmic :Pan tomime, entitled HARLEQUIN PETER WILKINS ; OR, THE KING OF THE AIR AND THE FLYING IN DIANS.—With new and extensive Scenery, Dresses, Decora tions, Tricks, Transformations, and Effects—A new Nautical Panorama, to be entitled " Our Native Sea-girt Isle !" con sisting of Maritime Views along the Coast of England. Also, a new Grand Dissolving Diorama, by Childe, the Great Illu sionist ' • and the Opening of the Pantomime supported by the Comic Talent of this—the Popular Theatre of London. To conclude with THE HAUNTED INN. Boxes, 2s.—Pit, Is.— Gallery, 6d.—Half-price to the Boxes only, at Half-past Eight. To-morrow, Susan Hopley, Harlequin Peter Wilkins, and The Haunted Inn. NEW STRAND THEATRE. OPEN EVERY EVENING. Immense attraction, thunders of applause, the Public deceived with their eyes open. Mr. JACOBS, the ROYAL 'VENTRILOQUIST and GREAT MODERN MAGICIAN, having been received on his third visit to the Metropolis in the mcst gratifying manner, will continue to work his wonderful and sense-deceiving powers during the present season. All are surprised, all astonished, all delighted with the incomprehensible and metamorphistical feats produced ; amazement sits upon the countenances of the spectators, and murmurs of approbation resound throughout the theatre. Visit the temple of this modern charmer, or you will lose a treat indeed. In addition to the above are added the fol lowing excellent performances :—Mons. ROUSSEUR, the celebrated FRENCH EQUILIBRIST ; the Classical group ings of the PATAGONIAN WONDERS ; and Herr KREU- Z ER'S PHANTASMAGORICAL DISSOLVING POR TRAITS. Doors open at Half-past Six, commence at Seven. Boxes, 2s. 6d. ; Children, ls. 61. Pit, Is. 6d. ; Children, Is. Gal lery, 6d. Half-price & Quarter to Nine. Boxes, is. 6d. Pit, Gallery, no half-price. Carriages to be in waiting Ten Minutes to Eleven. THE RAILWAY SUN IS NOW RE-PUBLISHING, PRICE SIXPENCE. THE CHINA SUN, AND THE PARLIAMENTARY SUN, ARE STILL ON SALE, PRICE SIXPENCE EACII. Sun Office, Jan. 3, 1842. „,,.. • v • it..,,, r i ' d .' , '.' ',. • ~•• * ,4 Q V c (1•U 1 4 fitp, - o , 's`,Figf -1 / 4 401,"ftik , 4 .',,,.• .' , .. I ,, et ''''' • ... , - , :-....-zz,.. • 46 . . . ~' : , -.: 4p ' ' 'k” ;, ,,,—, 1 , : - ' . —V ' 1 • _S Atit.