The Sun.
London, England, 1855-01-25 00:00:00

THE FLEET IN THE PACIFIC.

SAN FRANCISCO, DEc. 1, 1854.
All the French and English men-of-war have left
this port except the President. The Amphitrite
and Pique sailed on the 19th ult., both for Hono-
lulu, Sandwich Islands. The Amphitrite carried
the greater number of the Russian prisoners, taken
in the Russian prize ships at Petropaulovski some
time ago, to Honolulu, whence the same vessel or
a French man-of-war will convey them to Tahiti,
where they are to be detained as prisoners of war
in charge of the French authorities.
The Pique will remain at the Sandwich Islands
but a short time, and will return to this port.
The Virago sailed on the 23d for San Blas, on
the coast of, Mexico. On the 26th the Sitka sailed
for England in command of Captain M'Guire, and
with her the officers and crew formerly of the dis-
covery ship Plover, which was condemned as unfit
for her Majesty's service, and sold here at public
auction on the 23d ult., when her officers and crew
were transferred to the Sitka.
The Sitka carries to England her former captain
and his wife, as well as two or three of her crew,
taken to England " for examination," as is usual,
with the view of her having her condemned. Tho
President, bearing the broad pendant of Commodore
Frederick, is still here, waiting the arrival of the
Panama mail, hourly expected. Witte sails for Val-
paraiso as soon as the commodore receives his let-
ters. It is reported that the Russian frigate Diana
is hovering about the coast, but the report is not
credited, as it is pretty well known that she is ice-
bound and laid up fer the winter, with the rest of
the Russian squadron, in the Sea of Okhotsk.
Some excitement was caused hero for a few days
by the novel proceeding of an application for the
discharge of the Russian prisoners on board the
Sitka. On the 24th ult. a petition was presented
in the name of a Russian subject in San Francisco,
on behalf of two of the prisoners confined on board
of that vessel, to one of the common law courts of
San.Franciseo, praying for a writ of habeas corpus
in their favour on the plea that they were unlaw-
fully detained. The judge granted the writ on
motion of the petitioner's counsel in the usual
manner on the 25th, making it returnable on the
27th, and it was served on board by the sheriff.
The Sitka sailed, however, on the intermediate
day—Sunday, the 26th—for England ; and when
the case came up on the 27th neither ship nor
prisoners being then within the jurisdiction of the
court, the judge suggested that a representation
of the matter be made through the Executive of
this State to the Secretary of State at Washing-
ton. Had the Sitka not left, and no appearance
been made by or for the officer in charge of her,
no doubt an attempt would have been made by
the civil authority to bring the prisoners ashore,
in which case the commodore would have removed
them to the President and kept them at all hazards,
while, if an appearance had been made, and the
case had been gone into on its merits, some nice
legal questions as to the rights of belligerents and
of neutrals, the comity of nations, &c., would have
been raised, all of which, I think, it is well to have
avoided. The gist of the pleas upon which the
prisoners relied for their release were—first, the
illegality of confining them on board of the Sitka,
which was not a naspof-war of either of the belli-
gerents, but a merchant vessel belonging to the
Russian American Company, not yet condemned
oven, and which could not legally be conyerted
into a prison; and, secondly, that it was contrary
to the law of nations to bring them into a neutral
(American) port after they had once been taken to
and confined in the territory of one of the captors
(Vancouver's Island, to wit).
The simple facts of the case aro that the Sitka
was captured by the British flagship President in
the Bay of Petropaulovski on the 7th of September,
having on board provisions and munitions of war
for that garrison, with several civil and military
officers in the service of the Emperor of Russia des-
tined for that place. She was then taken to Van-
couver's Island. Some of the prisoners were brought
to San Francisco by the French squadron, and some
by the English. The civilians—at least some of them
—were released by the French admiral. Finally,
such of them as it was determined to send to Eng-
land were transferred from the President to the
Sitka, and, in justice to the commodore and the
other officers, it should be stated that their removal
from tho President was proper and necessary on
sanitary grounds, as the vessel was overcrowded,
and the habits of the Russian sailors were by
no means cleanly. Every possible attention and
kindness were paid to them. Some of the officers
were frequent guests at the captain's table, and
made much of, and mutual friendships had sprung
up between them. And such was the consideration
paid to the captain of the Sitka that he has been
allowed to occupy his own cabin, with all his ar-
rangements unmolested, and all his own and his
family's comforts attended to just as if he were
still in command. All this has, of course, no-
thing to do with the legal question which has been
mooted, and I mention it merely to show that
the habeas corpus was not sued out by reason of
any harshness or other ill-usage. It is represented
as a pettifogging attempt to gain a little éclat, and
as a means of venting a little national spite, and,
perhaps, making a little political capital at the
expense of " John Bull," who is rather unpopular
in San Francisco at present, the sympathies of
" Young America" being on the side of the Czar,
however inconsistent such may appear on the part
of Republicans.
San Francisco has always been the purgatory of
masters of trading vessels from the annoyances of
pettifogging attorneys who fasten upon them as
soon as they anchor. It appears that these "pro-
fessional thugs," as one of tho newspapers calls
them, are now resolved to strike at higher game,
as will be seen from the following report of two
snits brought against the captain of an American
man-of-war as she was all ready to leave the port
tko other day :--
" Commander Buchanan, of the United States steam-
frigi:te Susquehanna, appeared before the Recorder yes-
terday to answer to a charge of falsely imprisoning one
of the crew, who was the plaintiff iu the case, named
James L. Chapman. it appeared, by statements made
before the court, that Chapman, about 15 months since,
had been tried, as is usual, for insubordination by a
court-martial. Commander Perry had committed the
plaintiff Chapman to the charge of Commanderßuchanan,
with written instructions, which were produced in court,
to keep him in irons until he was inclined to do his
duty,
or on arriving at an American port he was to be dis-
charged. The counsel for the plaintiff based his com-
plaint on the grounds that the time for which Chapman
had engaged to serve in the squadron had expired before
the court-martial had been held and the order for him
to be detained in custody given ; and also alleged that
plaintiff should have been discharged immediately on the
steamer's arrival. Colonel James and Mr. G. C. Bates,
counsel for defendant, proved that the plaintiff had not
been detained any longer than the time required to make
out the papers for his discharge, and argued that defen-
dant would have incurred a serious liability by act-
ing otherwise than lie had done in this matter. In war
time failure to comply with the demands of a superior
officer, as explicitly laid down as these orders were in
the letter produced, would subject the commander to be
punished by death. Judge Waller, after fully consider-
ing the case, concluded to dismiss it, as he said it was
beyond his jurisdiction.
" Immediately on leaving the Recorder's Court,
Commander Buchanan was served with a warrant
issued from the court of Justice Rix, on complaint
made by one of the late musicians on board the
Susquehanna, charging the commander with as-
sault and battery. Colonel James waved all pri-
vilege of making any objections, and requested to
go-at--once into the trial, as the Susquehanna was ready
to go to sea, steam up, and only one anchor down. The
trial proceeded. It transpired in evidence that this man,
with the rest of the band, was on shore, with the sanc-
tion of the commander, and, at the hour fixed for their
return much difficulty was experienced to get some of
them on board. The next morning he was brought
before the commander, who, irritated at his conduct, hit
him over the mouth with his hand. Justice Rix fined
defendant 5100."
We learn from Honolulu that it is the general
belief there that the annexation of the Sandwich
Islands is now fully- determined upon ; that the
krench and English representatives hate given up