The Sun.
London, England, 1863-03-07 00:00:00

tice, and in the event of failing to obtain it, in making re-
prisals not only against such Government, but also against
the subjects of that Government ; and Vattel further states,
that reprisals may be resorted to if justice be denied, or un-
reasonably delayed, or if the decisions of the tribunals of
the country be manifestly unjust. The effect of interna-
tional law was this—that where the subjects of one nation
had a claim on another, and there were no means of enforc-
ing the claims of the injured party, the Governnment of
such injured party might take the law into their own hands.
It appeared to him that the case against Brazil might be
summarised :—An English vessel was wrecked on the Bra-

zilian coast, and all the crew perished, but whether by

drowning or violence of the inhabitants at the scene of the
wreck was not quite clear. Probably some of the crew
were murdered. It was admitted that some of their
bodies were stripped of everything; and it was clear that
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the cargo of the vessel had been plundered. It was clear
that the authorities of the place where the wreck took

place were bound to afford ali the protection in their power
to the survivors of the wreck (if there were any), and also

to any property or cargo of the vessel that might have been
saved from the wreck. But the functionaries on the spot,
instead of doing so, were probably accomplices in the inju •
ries complained of. It was quite certain they failed in their
duty. (Hear, hear, and no.) He repeated it was quite cer-
tain they had, and he undertook to prove it. For 14 months
. _

the Governmmt of this country had been appealing to the

Central Government in Brazil !o do their duty, and the re-

suit was, that they could not obtain justice. If the house

woull hear him, he undertook to prove the case of the in-

jured party from the papers which he now held in his hand.

The Prince of Wales was wrecked on the coast of Rio

Grande, and what ensued ? The hon. gentleman who moved
the resolution described the agent of the Brazilian Govern-
ment, and the inhabitants of the country where the wreck
took place, as the most simple and primitive ; but allow him
(Mr. Collier) to refer to the newspaper published at Rio

Grande. The hon. and learned member here read an extract

from the paper, describing the conduct of the chief magis-
trate of the place, and of the chief of police in the district,
as censurable, and the conduct of the inhabitants as guilty
and most reprehen-ible. He would prove from letters that
that was the character of the inhabitants of the coast, and
if the Glovern►nent did not establish an efficient magistracy
there, he contended they were responsible. The Prince of

Wales was wrecked on the coast on the 9th of June, The
first functionary was Signor Suarez, the next was Signor

Faustino, son-in-law of Suarez, and inspector of the district;
and the third functionary was Signor Gonzales. Now, it

was the duty of those functionaries to have repaired to the
spot and to have directed a coroner's inquest to be held on

the bodies of the members of the crew who had lost their

lives, and also to have protected the cargo. Let the house
mark what Suarez's conduct was. He had three days'
notice of the wreck, and while he lived only four miles dis-
tant from the scene of it, he, a chief magistrate, neglected to

repair thither at once, when he heard of the catastrophe.
The excesses that were committed by the inhabitants were

properly represented by Consul Vereker ; but that gentle-

man was most unjustly represented by the Brazilian Ciovern-

merit, who, while they defended the inhabitants, tcok all
possible means to blacken Mr. Vereker. (Hear.) Now
what was the cause of all this hostility to and misrepre-
sentation of Mr. Consul Vereker ? Why, that he discovered
concealed in Suarez's house, some of the property of the
wreck. Just mark that—some of the property concealed in
the house of that functionary—himself a justice of the

peace. Consul Vereker then went along the shore, where
fragments of the wreck were strewed about—boxes and
packing cases lay scattered, some of them appearing to
have been broken by violence, and the contents of all gone.
It was said by Faustino, the inspector of the district, that
the boxes had been cast in with the surf, and broken by
the violence of the waves—but the paper with which those
boxes were lined being dry proved that they had not been

wafted ashore by the waves, for, had they, the paper lin-
ing them would have been found wet. (Hear.) It was
clear, then, that the boxes had been plundered by the in-
habitants of their contents, and that the functionaries whose
duty it was to protect the eargo had failed to do their duty.
They had also failed in their duty in not causing a coro-
ner's inquest to be held on the bodies of the men who had
lost their lives, and they had even refused to allow the con-
sul to see them when he requested to do so. The hon. and
learned member then read a document which he said was
an admission by the Brazilian Government of the plunder
of the wreck, and also an admission of the plundering ha-
bits of the inhabitants of the place where the wreck oc-
curred, and that the wealthy parties there were also ad-
dicted to plundering. The document was a despatch from
Mr. Christie, who had conducted an investigation into the
circumstances. The hon. and learned member then referred
to statements made by Mr. Baillic, the predecessor of Mr.
Christie. The investigation into the conduct of one of the
accused was conducted in the absence of Mr. Vereker, who
was refused permission to be present, and that was the way
in which criminal justice was administered in Brazil where
money could generally secure an acquittal. A great parade
had been made of the efforts of the Imperial Government to
compel the local authorities to do their duty , but up to a
late period the president or governor of the province denied
that he had any knowledge of the case, and the consequence
of the long delay that had taken place was, that the prin-
cipals accused had an opportunity of making their escape.
The president gave a promise that an inquiry should be
made by the chief of the police; but instead of that being
done the inquiry was made by an inferior officer. Subse-
quently the chief of police did institute an inquiry, accom-
panied by an officer and two or three soldiers; but instead
of going to the place where the wreck occurred, it ap-
peared that he only went one-third of the way, and coolly
returned back on the following. day. So that the inquiry
talked about by the Brazilian Government turned out to
be nothing but a sham. (Hear, hear.) The honour-
able and learned gentleman continued to quote largely
from the papers which had been laid on the table
and printed on the subject. The Marquis D'Abrantes was
responsible for the conduct of his officers, and the Govern-
ment of Brazil was responsible for the marquis. Mr.
Christie having called the attention of the marquis to the
conduct of the inspector, who allowed a prisoner to escape
with stolen goods in his possession, the marquis gave an
evasive reply, in which he stated that the inspector had been
dismissed, but did not state the true reason for such dis-
missal. It was quite clear that no steps had been taken to
protect the property of the ship from the wreckers, who were
allowed to escape, with one exception, and now, after 14
months, this man (Suarez), a justice of the peace, in whose
house the stolen goods were found, still remained unprose-
cuted, He (Mr. Collier) contended that the Brazilian Go-
vernment were to blame in this matter. An injury had
been done ; there had been a wholesale plunder of the cargo,
and no justice having been rendered, her Majesty's Govern-
ment were justified in obtaining that redress by force which
they could not acquire by persuasion. If the Government
had not taken the course which was now complained of, the
Opposition members would be the first to complain, and ask
the house what was the use of a British fleet if British com-
merce was not to be protected and British wrongs redressed.
The house would be reminded of the policy of Cromwell,
who, whatever might have been his faults, vindicated British
honour, and protected the British merchant in every quar-
ter of the globe. (Hear, hear.) Thirteen years ago, on the
Pacifico question, the noble lord (Lord Palmerston) advo-
cated with great ability the same doctrine with respect to
Gre?ce: He was then taunted by his opponents with not
having appealed to the tribunals of Greece, but on this occa-
sion the tribunals of Brazil had been appealed to, and for
14 months, without effect. (Hear, hear.) There must be
limits to the forbearance of a strong Power as against a
weak one, and he (Mr. Collier) thought that the extent of
English forbearance on this occasion wassufficiently ample.
(Hear, hear.) Ho trusted that if the Brazilians aspired to
take a high place among civilised nations, they must no
longer employ such public servants as Suarez, Porseno,
and others, or have tribunals which will not administer jus-
tice with independence and impartiality. (Hear, hear.)
Lord R. CECIL wished to know whether the hon. gentle •
man who spoke last would require the Government of Eng.
land to go to war with every country whose judicial tribu-
nals were incompetent? If so England would never be at
peace. It was quite true there were wreckers employed at
Rio, but it was customary for such culprits, when they had
committed depredations, as happened in England, to escape
from one jurisdiction to another. This was what took place
in the case in question. The inquest certainly did not take
placed in time, but the murderers, if violence had been done,
were far away and beyond the reach of justice. As to Mr.
Consul Vereker, Mr. Christie, as would be seen in the
papers, bore testimony to his fitness fsr office, notwith-
standing his nervousness and occasional delusions. The
noble lord then referred to Wheaton and Phillimore on re-
pre.als, indicating that such should not be made on light
grounds, and that an erroneous sentence of the judges of a
country ought not to be made a pretext for them. It was
clear then, that the mere finding of a Bible in the vicinity
of the wreck was not sufficient to justify reprisals ' • and with
regard to the packing cases,
respecting which the hon. and
learned gentleman made so much, there was no evidence
that one word was said about them for nine months after
the wreck. (Hear, hear.) With respect to the charge of
alleged delay against Suarez and the executive Government
in not directing protection to be at once sent to the scene of
the wreck, the latter had certainly exposed themselves to
the imputation ; but the charge did not certainly establish
indifference as to the consequences on their part. The noble
lord here referred to the case of three young gentlemen,
British sailors, who having enjoyed f
themselves in indulging
in the wine and brandy of the Brazils, ran oul of a Brazilian
sentinel, who not understanding their badtbe arrested.
Spanish, thought
they were "chaffing" him, and caused them o
The noble had gave a most
amusing narrative of the diffi-
culties which the three young midshipmen had in trying to
make themselves understood by the Brazilian authorities,
who only knew Portuguese, of which they knew nothing
whatever, and of a German interpreter who was called in,
but who knew no more of English than they knew of Ger-
man. Now, was that a matter seriously deserving the notice
of any dignified nation? He contended it was net, and that it
was not a case fur war. Earl Russell thought otherwise,
and in his despatch, using bullying language, he demanded
of the Brazilian Government that the sentinel who was on
guard, and:who, he said, had offered indignity to three Bri-
tish subjects--officers of her Majesty's navy—should be dis-
missed from the service, and that the chief of police and
other officers named in the noble lord's despatch should re-
ceive censure. But it was a distinguishing mark of Earl
Russell's policy and that of the Government, that when