The Sun.
London, England, 1841-08-20 00:00:00

1 The CHAIRMAN then proposed " The health of Mr.
Easthope, the consistent friend of civil and religious
liberty, and the opponent of Church-rates."—(Cheers.)
Mr. EASTHOPE came forward amidst cheers to acknow-
ledge the toast. He congratulated the electors of Lam-
beth on the triumph whic they were then met to cele-
brate. He was delighted to find that they had sent to
Parliament men who were the determined supporters of
that civil and religious liberty which he was about to
propose as a toast to the meeting. Unfortunately it did
not always happen that the ministers of religion were
the friends of popular rights. He was, however, happy
to find among the order one splendid exception to that
principle--the exception of one, distinguished by birth,
genius. and learning—he meant the Rev. Baptist Noel
—(Cheers)--the eloquent author of the " Plea for the
Poor."—(Renewed cheers.) He was happy, too, to find that
her Most Gracious Majesty had been pleased to manifest
the interest which she felt in the same cause, by nomi-
nating the reverend gentleman as one of those from
whom she was to receive the rites and consolations of
religion.—(Cheers.) The great question now agitating
England was the claims of the labouring poor to that
justice which would ensure to them the necessaries of
life ; such a cause must finally prevail. Men might
change, but principles remained fixed ; and numbers
must dwindle when opposed to truth and justice.—
(Cheers.) The Hon. Gentlemen concluded by proposing
the toast of " Civil and Religious Liberty."
The toast was drank with enthusiam.
The CHAIRMAN, then proposed;" Lord Fortescue," and
" Justice to Ireland."---(Great cheering.)
Mr. Hurrorr, the late Member for Dublin, responded
to the toast.
A vote of thanks was then passed to the Chairman,
and the meeting separated at an early hour.

SLAVE TRADE. •
TO J. 11. TREDGOLD, ESQ., SECRETARY OF THE BRITISU
AND FOREIGN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY.
Hnnah, June 28, 1841.
SIR—In my last of the sth ava
and 13th of May, per
Pigeon packet, I informed you that the Portuguese slaver
Aguila (the property of Messrs. Fernandez, Pozo, and
Co., hardware merchants of this city) had been wrecked
at the port of Cabanas, in this island, and about 470 of
the surviving victims had been seized by the authorities,
and conducted in safety to this port. I now beg leave
to communicate to you some further particulars relative
to this unprecedented occurrence.
It would appear that many of those persons to whore,
the Captain-General's circular was addressed had bel;_evod
that his Excellency was sincere in ordering than every-
thing possible should be done for the effectual
suppression
of the slave-trade ; the consequence was that the order
was seconded by the Captain-Geller :I oiMarine, and by
the Intendent,, who directed the. subaltern officers of their
respective. departments to ...Yield implicit obedience to the
very letter of the ortleri. contained in the circular.
sired,
haaidtscareely- issued when the brig Trueno ar-
Th" ' r having landed 450 Africans on the coast.
captain of the port, and the health officer, Doctor
Francisco de Orta, immediately reported to the Captain-
General the arrival of the Trueno, and informed him
that there were strong suspicions of her having come
from the coast of Africa, and of her having landed
negroes on the island. The vessel was subjected to
quarantine by the captain of the port, at the sug-
gestion of the health officer, until the Captain-
General should determine on what course to pur-
sue. Two days were allowed to pass over without
anything being done by the Captain-General towards
instituting an inquiry into the case; in the meantime the
owners of the vessel were enabled, through the conni-
vance of the authorities, to discharge every article from
on board which could tend to prove the fact of her being
actually a slaver •, and when the inquiry was instituted,
as was anticipated, nothing was proved. This vessel
has been again fitted' out, and is now ready for sea.
A very few days had only elapsed after the case of
the Trueno when the Aguila was wrecked at Cabanas,
or, as it is positively asserted, was chased on shore
by one of our cruisers. In the attempt to land the
negroes upwards of thirty were drowned, and the re-
mainder were seized by Don Jose Lunar, the command-
ing officer of • the Intendant's revenue guard stationed at
Cabanas. Don Jose Lunar immediately despatched an
express to the Intendant, giving him information of their
capture, and the Intendant, without loss of time, com-
municated it to the Captain-General, who sent the steam-
boat Tacon to Cabanas, and had them brought to this
port, where they drrived the following day. On their
arrival here the Captain-General summoned the Mixed
Court to assemble, and offered to hand over the negroes
for adjudication by that Court, according to the regula-
tions of the Treaty; but, strange to say, the English Com-
missary Judge, Mr Kennedy, in conjunction with his Spa-
nish colleague, the assessor Pinanso, refused to admit this
most laudable offer of the Captain-General, declaring that
the Mixed Court had no power whatever over them, nor
had it any right to interfere with them, in consequence
of their having been seized on shore by the authorities of
the island.
This is the substance of the opinion expressed by the
English Commissary Judge at the meeting of the Court,
and I am credibly informed that he was the only member
wilt) evinced any desire to prevent the Court from in-
terfering.
This most extraordinary proceeding, if not in direct
opposition to the letter of th e treaty ( ?) is certainly opposed
to the object and spirit of its regulations. The mere cir-
cumstance of the Captain-General's having addressed
himself to the Mixed Court on the subject is sufficient to
prove that, if Mr. Kennedy had wished to do so, the Court
might with every propriety have taken charge of and
passed the sentence of emancipation on those unfortunate
persons, by which they would have been placed under
the protection of the British Government, in conformity
with the 13th article of the treaty. But now, in conse-
quence of the Mixed Court not having considered them-
selves bound to take cognizance of th case, it becomes
purely a Spanish question, with which, perhaps, it may
hereafter be contended that we have not a right to in-
terfere, because the English Commissary Judge had
already decreed the non-interference of the Court of
Mixed Commission.
The Spanish Commissary Judge is the Captain-Gene-
ral's Lieutenant-Governor and Assessor-General, and it
is by no means probable that he would have opposed the
interference of the Mixed Court, particularly after the
offer which was made to it by the Captain-General.
This deplorable event, proceeding, no doubt, from a
want of proper zeal on the part of the English Commis-
sary Judge, has caused the Captain-General to emanci-
pate these negroes on his own authority, and in his own
way. Forty-eight hours after the sentence of emanci-
pation was passed, his Excellency, in defiance of all laws
human and divine, caused them to be reduced to the
very worst sort of slavery which the world has ever
known, by selling them to planters, owners of sugar
estates, for a term of five years, for nine ounces of gold
for a male, and seven ounces for a female.
VI whom shall we appeal for redress, when English-
men, who are sent here for the special purpose of sup-
pressing the slave trade and watching over the
fulfilment of the treaty, contribute, by their own con-
duct, to deeds so prejudicial to its object ?
It is rumoured that the case of the negroes, by the
Aguila, has caused a misunderstanding between the
Captain-General and the Intendant, and that the result
will be that he will not again interpose his authority to-
wards the fulfilment of the Captain-General's jesuitical
orders. Indeed, it is said that the revenue coast-guards
have already received a written order to wink at the dis-
embarkation of negroes.
There were thirty-eight Africans drowned on board
the wreck of the Aguila at Cabanas. These unfortu-
nate victims of the cruelty. and cupidity of the slave-
dealer, were the finest and most robust of the men com-
posing the cargo. Their unprincipled oppressors, who
had not forgotten the case of the Armistad, fearing a
similar attempt on board of the Aguila, had secured them
in the hold in fetters, attached to a heavy rod of iron,
and when the vessel struck the reef she filled so fast
with water that these poor creatures were allowed to
perish without an effort being made to save them.
I cannot refrain from calling your attention to another
circumstance, extremely prejudicial to the cause of
African freedotn in this country, and which I submit is
well deserving the attention of your society, in order,
through its influence, to cleanse from the pollution of
slave-holding the British name in this country. I
allude to Mr. Clarke, the Consul at Santiago de Cuba,
who is also the principal manager of one of the copper
mines in that place, which is worked at this moment
by 400 of the unfortunate victims of slave-dealing
cupidity. With what grace can we appeal to the world in
behalf of this interesting race of persons, when our own
public officers contribute to the continuation ofslavery and
the consequent degradation of our fellow-man ? Surely
it must appear clear to the British Government, as well
as to yourselves, that the man who is either directly or
indirectly the holder of slaves cannot be a fit person to
represent the British nation in this country, where his
most active and untiring exertions are daily and hourly
required to suppress the frightful progress of the slave
trade ? What was the use of removing Mr. Hardy, if
you were to appoint his successor in the management of
the copper-mines at St. Jago in his stead ; and, above
all, why remove Mr. Tolme from the Havannah, a man
remarkable for the suavity of his manners, and genie-
ness of his disposition, if not for the austerity of his
abolition principles, when at the other end of the island
such men as Hardy and Clarke were left at full liberty
to wield the cart-whip and the cow-hide ?
It was only yesterday that I heard a worthy native,
an abolitionist of my acquaintance, declare that the
greater part of the British functionaries resident in this
island might be compared to the priests, who preach the
morality they do not practice. "Doas I bid you, but
do not follow my example, is a doctrine from which no
good can come, and such practices afford an obvious ex-
cuse for those of the slave-holders.
I have just been informed that our Consul has suc-
ceeded in rescuing from slavery a British subject, a native
of Jamaica, originally of free condition, who was stolen
at that Island about ten years ago, and brought to this by
a Spaniard named Jose Antonio le Desma, and who has
held him in bondage ever since. It is to be hoped that
the zeal and activity for which Mr. Turnbull is so well
known will enable him to resoue many others who still
exist in this island in the same state of degradation.—l
am, mile-440y, Sir, your most obedient servant.
9th--It is currently reported and believed that the
amount produced by the sale of Africans by the Aguila
has been handed over to Messrs. Fernandez, Pozo, tied
Co., as a remuneration to them for their lossesA

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