The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-17 00:00:00

THE AMERICAN FLAG, AMERICAN
LAW, AND THE SLAVE TRADE.

uTO HIS EXCELLENCY GEORGE M. DALLAS, THE AXE--
rcgi
MINISTER IN LONDON.

SIR,—An American slaver carrying Ameri
can colours may now sail the seas without
interruption from British cruisers. On the
18th of June, Lord Malmesbury stated, in the
House of Peers, " It was a law of nations the',
we had no right during time of peace to search'
but they have a right of visit which was quite an"
other thing. The American nation, however'
repudiated the principle, and said that no sus"
picion should be sufficient to justify us in boarding
a vessel bearing the American flag." On the 201
of July his lordship said, " Upon that opinion (tha',
of the law officers of the crown) her Majesty's r
vernment at once acted, and we confessed that 11
have no claim to the right of visit and search which
has hitherto been assumed." .1
The Earl of Aberdeen on the 27th of July said,
" If our cruisers knew that there was an American,
vessel sailing by them full of slaves, they would
have no right whatever to visit her unless they had
good ground for suspecting her not to be really an
American vessel."
A British cruiser taking the above course must
sanction the right of the captain of the American
slaver to the American flag, and to the slaves.
deny his right in each case. I deny his right, first,
to the flag. Holding in my hand the laws of the
United States, I denounce the captain as a pirate
punishable with death. I deny his right, secondlP
to the slaves. The British constitution does not re:
cognise the right of man to property in man, all
the captain's pretended ownership is a wild and
guilty fantasy."
I picture, in imagination, an American slaver,
crossing the ocean, her pestiferous hold crammed
with victims, and the breeze sweeping past
made vocal with the wails of the despairing, an
the heartrending shieks of the sick and the dying.
Approaching the captain, I demand, in the name
of outraged humanity, by what law he claims the
manacled sufferers as his slaves ? What reply can
lie make ? Does he say that in accordance with
the laws of the African coast he bought them and
paid for them? I point to the officers and crevrf
the vessel and colours, and declare that, as these
arc all American, he is amenable to American laws.
By what American law, I continue, do you claim
these persons as property ? From what state can
you claim protection ? Not from Massachusetts+.
that state having declared " all men free and equal,"
and having emancipated her slaves as inconsistent
with such a declaration. Not from New Hampshire,
that state having declared that "All men are born
equal and independent ; all men have ceriain na-
tural, essential, and inherent rights ; among which
are the enjoying and defending life and liberty,
acquiring, possessing, and protecting proPertY'
and have the right of seeking and obtaining hap
piness." Its laws prohibit the holding of slaves.
Not from Pennsylvania, that State has declared,
" All men are born equally free and independent+
and have certain inherent and indefeasible rights,
among which are those of enjoying and defending
life and liberty, of acquiring, possessing, and pro"
testing, property and reputation, and of pursan.g
their own happiness." Its laws also prohibit
slaveholding. Not from any other of the rer
maining fourteen free States, because tni
laws of each prohibit the holding of slaves.
continue my inquiry to the captain. From which;
of the fifteen slave states can you claim protection •
Not from Virginia, though it has liberty for It
profession and slave-holding for its practice.
has declared, " All men are by
.nature equal an
independent, and have certain inherent rights, 0.,
which, when they enter into a state of society, the;
cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their
posterity, namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty,
with the means of acquiring and possessing 1
perty, and obtaining happiness and safety.,, ,
ginia prohibits the foreign slave trade._ 111
1778 it imposed the penalty of £l,ooo'
...1111,1
the forfeiture of the slave, upon the
of any slave into that commonwealth. The act was
amended in 1785, again modified 'in 1794, and
clause of emancipation was introduced. Again mo-
dified in 1698 to carry out the prohibition of the
constitution against foreign importation. SG thin
down. to the present .time it prohibits the foreignt
slave trade. Not from Kentucky.; its laws prohibit
the importation of slaves, and every effort which
has been made to remove the prohibition has failet!
Not from Georgia ; in that state even the domestic.
slave trade is felony, a penitentiary offence. Not
from Mississippi ; the importation of slaves is for-
bidden by the constitution. In brief, from the Re"
,volution to the present day, it has been the pail'
of the slave states to prohibit the importation o
slaVes. I know of no exception. Will the captain
tell me that this is a question not to be decided by
the laws of any one of the 32 confederated states—•
that they have conceded to the Federal Government
the control -of commerce, foreign as well as inter-
state, and, therefore, to the Federal Government

his question •of right belongs ? Granted, and it
follows that if any state legalise the foreign slave
trade it would be assuming powers beyond its pro-
vince.
I go then to the Federal Government, and, bring-
ing forth its laws, shake them in the face of the
captain, and denounce him as a pirate, punishable
with death ; for from the year 1808 to the present
time by the law of that Government the foreign
slave trade has been piracy.
No fewer than nine acts, having for their osten-
sible object the abolition of the foreign slave trade'
have been passed by the federal government between
the 22d of March, 1794, and on the sth of MaY'
1820. That of the earliest date prohibited " the
carrying on of the slave trade to any forein place or
Country." That of the last date declared the Alice (
trade to be piraCy, and affixed the punishment °f
death to the crime ; thus all that can be effected by
mere enactments appears to have been done.
I have thus proved the American slaver to be
pirate by American law, and yet I understand they
while he tramples American law beneath his fee.
he is to be protected if he hoists the American flag'
Will it be said that such a concession made byEll,g;
land to America was becoming, as perpetuating tn,a_,,
amiable feeling now happily existing between to,e
two nations ? My reply is, I see no concession to
America. The only concession I see is one made to
pirate. punishable with death by American law. Shad
he take rank with those who honestly sail the seas,'
Then what becomes of the discipline of the seas? and
what will be understood by the term—" The Awe.;
ricans are jealous of their rights ?" On what growl:
also can other pirates be interfered with ? Can
British cruiser sanction such a vessel in having se"
room without sanctioning two false principles--;
the right of the captain to the flag in violation of
American law, and his right to property in man in
violation of the British constitution ? Concessions
to a false principle involve future concessions. Tile
buried difficulty rises again multiplied. If the
right of the slaveholder to the slave be conceded on
the ocean in violation of American law, can it be
denied in America where it is sustained by law ?
Will not slaveholders demand hereafter the frill
market value of their slaves who escape to Canada,
as well as for slaves passing ocean-wise from one
state to another, and driven by stress of weather to
'the British West Indies, or going there voluntarily
after overcoming their oppressors on the passage
Must it not also affect the condition of British
coloured subjects visiting the slave states, and will
not the laws against them, recently relaxed, be
made more stringent ?
Pro-slavery American diplomacy has made the
coloured people groan. What an amount of misery'
would have been prevented had the federal govern-
ment been anti-slavery instead of pro-slavery.
What facilities would have been afforded by such
a government for suppressing the slave trade ! The
capture of a slaver under such circumstances would
have occasioned equal joy to America as to Eng-
land. The lessening of the number of slaves and
the increase of the number of freemen, the rescue of
the sufferers from extreme degradation, the checking
of the pirate in his high-handed career, the re-
cognition of the laws of justice and mercy, and of
the being and authority of God, all these are em-
braced in the capture of a slaver, and all these,
would promote the happiness, peace, and mutual
respect of the two nations. Slavery and the slave'
trade can produce no such effects, for " righteous-
ness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to allY
people."--I am yours, &c.,
Oxford, Sept. 14, 1858.

EDWARD MATHEWS•

SUNDERLAND AND DURHAM DISTRICT BANK* t
We (Newcastle Daily Chronicle) are authorised to state that
the first instalment of £150,000 has been paid to the
tors by the New Derwent Iron Company for the purchas.heo
the Derwent Ironworks, and that satisfactory security
been given for the payment of the remaining instalments. f
BANK OF ENGLAND.—The half-yearly Court
the Proprietors of the Bank of England took place yesth
day, Mr. Sheffield Neave, the Governor presiding. to
°
profits for the six months ending August' 31 were stateu
be £628,770, making the amount of the rest on that (1,,
£3,676,868. A dividend at the rate of 41 per cent. forth.
half year was declared, leaving the rest £.1,021,983. ttof
faction was expressed that, notwithstanding the low raL'be
interest lately prevalent, a distribution at this rate could
made.
FOREIGN BONDHOLDERS.—At a meei....r, j.
Central American bondholders yesterday afternoon, Mrf
ii3O
D. Powleg in the chair, it was resolved to authorise
agents of the Government of Guatemala to deduct 29 rr:
cent. on all future dividends as a remuneration for the s
al eo.v.
vices of the British Consul there in adjusting the fe,
debt of the Republic. A similar arrangement was ~a_
adopted with regard to the States of Nicaragua, San Sac' a
dor, and Honduras, to come into operation whenever
nii
satisfactory settlement of the debts of those States t.
have been ebtained,