The Express.
London, England, 1862-06-14 00:00:00

iii&iielariciii.

The Earl of CARNARVON said he wished to put a
gumtree to the noble earl the Secretary for Foreign
Affairs, in reference to a proclamation said to have been
issued by Geoeral Butler, the commander of the Federal
forces at .New Orleans. The noble earl then read the
proclamation, in which it was ordered that any woman
who shall by word, look, or gesture, Windt any officer or
soldier, shall be treated sa a woman of the town plying
her vocation, and dealt with accordingly. The question he
wished to ask was, whether her Majesty's go-
vernment had received any information as to whether
this proclamation was authentic or not. He wished
also to put another question to the noble earl.
There had been current for some days • report of a pro-
posal made by the government of France to the government
of this country for concerting jointly certain terms of me-
diation between the bellipients in this civil war. It was
obvious that the whole value of such a mediation must
depend on the terms in which it was couched, OD its gene•
red character, and on the spirit in which it was received.
But assuming that the mediation wee such as we could, con-
sistently with our self-respect, and consistently with the
material interests of this country, join in, he trusted that her
Majesty's government would give it their most earnest and
most favourable consideration.
Earl RUSSELL said he had to inform his noble friend
that the only information he had received on this subject
was in a despatch from Lord Lyons, in which he enclosed
the newspaper containing this proclamation, sod after allud-
ing to its purport, he said they might infer that it wee
authentic. But with regard to any action that had been
taken by the American government expressing approval or
disapproval of the proclamation, he had no information on
the subject. Lord Lyons did not appear to have raised any
question with the American government on the subject, and
it did not appear that there was any public act approving of
this proclamation ; and he did not bud that the minister of
the United States in this country had received any despatch
alluding W the proclamation. For his own part he must
say he trusted, for the sake of the American government
itself, that they would disavow the proclamation, and
would refuse any sanction to it It was of importance
to the character of the American government, and it was
likewise of importance to the whole world, that the usages
of war should pot be aggravated by proclamations of this
nature. War of itself was quite horrible enough, and to sold
to its horrors by such proclamations as this was • grave
offence, not only against the particular population which
were subject to hostilities, but against mankind in general,
whose interest it was that these usages should be made lees
rigorous and less cruel. (Hear, hear.) With regard to the
proclamation itself, he had been told that the words which
the noble earl had read might be susceptible of this axplana-
Non. The words which the noble earl bad read were to
the effect that if any woman should show contempt of any
soldier or officer, she should be liable to be treated as •
woman of the town plying her vocation. He had been told
that the meaning of those words was that then was in New
Orleans a local regulation that women of the town creating
disorder in the streets were liable to be sent to prime ; and
that the meaning of the order was that any woman offend-
ing against the America officers and soldiers might be so
sent to prison. He could not answer for that being the mean-
ing, but at the same time he quite agreed with the noble
earl that even if the proclamation was pot meant to be put in
forests was likely to give the soldiery a Hoene° for great bru-
tality. And therefore, for his own part, he must say that he
saw no defence for the proclamation, and he sincerely hoped
that the United States government would disavow it alto-
gether, and would declare that it met with their decided
disapproval. (Hear, hear.) The noble earl bad asked him
a question with reference to • rumour which had obtained
currency, that the two governments of France and England
intended to offer their mediation between the belligerents.
The spreading of these rumours might do • great deal of
mischief, and therefore he was glad the noble earl had put
the question, as it gave him an opportunity of informing
the house what was the true state of the case. Her Majesty's
government bad made no proposal of the kind to the govern-
ment of France, and the government of France had made
no such proposal to them. Moreover, the French ambn.
ardor in this country bad stated that he had no instructions
on the subject ; and he (Earl Russell) need not say, there-
fore, that there had bean no communication between the
two governments of the tenour which had been alleged.
Without giving soy opinion as to the propriety at some
time or other of offering the good offices of her Majesty's
government, he must say that be thought the present time
was most inopportune for such mediation. He thought
that uo goad could come of it, and in the present state of
the war, and in the present embittered state of feeling on
both sides, such an offer would rather tend to prevent any
good result from being Wanted d • similar step should be
hereafter taken. (Hear, bear.) Certainly there was no in-
tention on the part of her Majesty's government to interfere
at the present moment.
THE SLAVE TRADE AND THE RICHT OF SEARCH.
Lord BROUGHAM said there was soother subject on
which he thought the governments of England and France
ought to oome to some agreement, and that was the right
of search, which he thought ought to be extended by
Frame in order to prevent the carrying on of the slave
trade. The profits of the slave trade were so enormous that
if one ship escaped out of five or six the trader made •
profit. He had a letter written by a highly re-
spectable merchant of the city of London, in which he
said to the person to whom he wrote it that a gentleman
with whom he was intimately acquainted told him that an
offer had been made to him to lour others in the African
trade ; that he made use of the observation that he trusted
it was not the slave trade, and the reply was that it was,
and he therefore declined ; that be made the remark that
there was DOW a right of search between America and Eng-
land, upon which the gentleman snapped his fingers, and
said their intention was to sail under French colours, and
that their port of departure was Marseilles ; that has friend
further stated that a large amount of money was
at command, but that every movement was conducted
with the utmost secrecy. He (Lord Brougham) had no
doubt that the French government would hear with the
utmost indignation of the attempt to make Marseilles •
slave-trading port, and to make the French flag the colour
under which the slave trade was to be carried on. Under
the circumstance., it was absolutely necessary that some
communication should take place between the two govern-
ments, so that France might exteod the right of search to
us, which she had done for • few years.
Earl RUSSELL said this subject had on escaped his at-
tention. As nos as the treaty with the United States of
America was ratified, he wrote a despatch to her Majesty's
ambassador is Paris, in which he stated the proba-
bility, now that the United States flag could not be used to
cover the slave trade, that other flags would
Le used, and more especially the French flag,
and urged that the French government should enter into
BOMB treaty or convention on the subject. It appeared that
the treaty of 1815 put an end to all former treaties on this
matter between the two governments. It was provided
that that treaty should last ten years, and that then, if it
were not renewed, it should expire. In 1815 there was no
proposal oo either side to continue the treaty, aid it had
consequently expired. He certainly thought it was very
nenesary that there should be some new treaty on the sub-
ject. He had no doubt that the French government would
do everything that it could to put a stop to the slave trade.