The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-12 00:00:00

WHAT IS NOW DOING.

Let the recot ds of the past speak for us: they will
say " almost nothing," and I can scarcely hope for
anything better for the immediate future. We have
heard of a slaver captured now and then by an
Americas; cruiser, but such a thing is like an angel's
visit—a thing of many fews and far betweens. Bah!
out upon us—we are justly stigmatised as a nation
of slave-traders ; for it is solely under the colour of
our flag that a traffic is carried on which ought to
damn any nation, tongue or kindred engaging in it.
I can scarcely wonder that we are judged abroad
with the harshness that we are ; that we are begin-
ning to stink in the nostrils of decent nations as a
very inconsistent people—a people which allows its
flag to be prostituted to a base purpose.
A spasmodic show of zeal has of late been made
manifest by the present administration, and it has
heralded forth to the world its magnificent declara-
tion of its determination " to put down the slave
trade." A new squadron has replaced the old one,
and it has entered upon the scene of its duties, and
if its start is indicative of its future course, I would
not give much for its efficiency. There has been a
congregation of the new squadron at this place
within the past two weeks, and we have witnessed
the humiliating spectacle of an almost disorganised
squadron, owing to navy quarrels and disagree-
ments. So far from working amicably in the dis-
charge of the important duties assigned them by Go-
vernment, the only inference to be drawn is that these
naval gentry are sent out here to, by their own pri-
vate animosities, thwart the aims of the service. To
such an extent has this quarrelling been carried on
that the flag officer of the squadron has had to make
a complete shifting around of the personnel of the
vessels under his command, not one of which has
been allowed to retain her original complement of
officers. Upon one vessel there have been over 20
changes in her officers. Like the Kilkenny cats,
they have to be separated. Two of the vessels soon
go to Madeira, leaving the work to devolve upon
the other three. One steamer, just having arrived
on the station (and she was supposed to be the best
vessel on the station), has nominally broken down,
and gone to the pleasant port of Cadiz, Spain, to
recruit her exhausted energies.
I mention these things reluctantly, solely because
of the bearing they have upon the efficiency of our
navy in doing the work of suppressing the slave
trade. There is certainly something rotten in Den-
mark.

It is a fact that the bulk of the work of captur-
ing slavers is done by the British. They take six
slavers to our one. There is no rubbing this out ;
all of the pseudo patriotism we may indulge in, and
all of the highfaluting talk we may give vent to,
would not make it otherwise. There is not a month
but what one or more slavers, with cargo aboard, is
captured by British cruisers. Furnished with a fleet
of small fast-sailing steamers, maimed by officers and
men whose allotted time on this deadly coast is four
and five years, they make the capture of slavers a
matter of work and self-interest. And, indeed, they
do work ; their steamers are constantly cruising
and on the alert; there is no sham about their
movements. Lynx-eyed they dog every suspicions-
looking craft which falls in their way. They are, of
course, much beloved in this delectable community,
where nearly everyone, aside from the black popu-
lation, is either directly or indirectly interested in
the slave trade. In some things they have the ad-
vantage over us, and hence their greater efficiency.
They have no discordant southern element in their
navy, whose wish is to perpetuate the traffic, and
who would throw obstacles in the way of the cap-
tured slavers—who would wink at the traffic and
rejoice in its success. They are furnished with a
set of admirably adapted vessels for the prosecution
of their work, and well do they use them.
' You have doubtless had the case of the notorious
Orion before you ere this. The history of this vessel
is a good illustration of the different ways of work-
ing adopted by the two nations. Falling into the
hands of the captain of an American steamer, the
captain and crew of the slaver successfully imitated
sickness, and begged earnestly for assistance,
both medical and to aid in getting their vessel
into port. The want of sympathy spoken of by
Talfourd with his dying breath may not, upon
this occasion, be made manifest. The feeling Ame-
ricans were touched with compassion at the sight
of the sufferings of their brother, and they with-
,
held not their aid. Medical assistance was fur-
nished, and the slaver was manned by an American
man-of-war crew, and carried to a safe anchorage,
quite near the place where she was to receive
her cargo. Left alone there, ber crew suddenly
got well, and up anchor and off. Overhauled again,
she was found with her slave deck partly laid, and
things in a general state of forwardness for the