The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-29 00:00:00

FRANCE AND PORTUGAL.

The Moniteur of yesterday publishes the follow-
ing article :
" The Moniteur has already announced the ter-
mination of the difference which had arisen between
France and Portugal relative to the vessel Charles-
et-Georges. The Government of the Emperor had
demanded the liberation of the captain, the resti-
tution of the vessel, and an indemnity for the loss
incurred by the owners. Those demands have ob-
tained a full satisfaction. The Government of his
Majesty did not make them until it had acquired,
by a reiterated examination of the matter, the full
conviction of its right. A simple statement of facts
will, moreover, suffice to establish the justice of its
claims.
" A French vessel, the Charles-et-Georges, autho-
rised by the Colonial Government of Reunion to
engage free blacks who voluntarily offered them-
selves, is stopped by a Portuguese brig in the Bay
of Conduccia, a dependency of Mozambique. She
had on board 110' negroes, engaged (recrutes)
chiefly at Mayotte and at Grande-Comore ; the
others at Matibone, on the Portuguese coast.
" Taken to Mozambique the Charles-et-Georges
was referred to, a court of justice and condemned as
a slaver, the captain was sentenced to two years at
the galleys, the vessel declared a lawful prize, and
the negroes on board placed at the disposal of the
local authorities.
" The first objection is, according. to the captain's
statement, and according to the investigation set
on foot by the Minister of Marine, that the vessel
was seized beyond the territorial sea-line—that is
to say, beyond Portuguese jurisdiction ; conse-
quently the Mozambique authorities. had no right
to interfere.
" But even admitting, as the Portuguese officer
asserts, that the seizure took place in Portuguese
waters, the conduct of the Mozambique authorities
is not the less unjustifiable. To prove this it will
suffice to observe that the Governor-General and
the Commission appointed to decide upon the capture
of the Charles-et-Georges took no account of the re-
gularity of its papers, which established the proper
armament, nor of the presence on board of a delegate
(delegue) of the French Government, nor, finally,
of any other circumstance (sic) which ought to have
left no doubtupon the fair character of the ship (la
legitiuzite de sa mission) and the honesty of the
captain.

It is the more astonishing that the'Portuguese
authorities should have considered as coming under
the slave trade laws, an act clearly defined and re-
gulated by the French legislation, as on the oth
Nov., 1857—as only a few days before the seizure
of the Charles-et-Georges, the Governor-General
had addressed a circular to the district governors,
the precise object of which was to regulate their
conduct as regards French vessels that might touch
at Portuguese ports to recruit labourers. Now,
those instructions are to the effect that the Portu-
guese authorities must not mistake such vessels for
slavers.

" After pointing out that those recruiting ships
(navires recrateurs) have 'often on board objects
considered by the Portuguese decree of 1836 as an
indication of traffic in slaves, the circular adds that
serious embarrassment might result from a rash
application of the terms of that decree to vessels
coming under the definitions of French law. The
Governor-General therefore recommends great cir-
cumspection as regards French vessels, prescribing,
in case they should touch at a Poituguese port, to
limit the notification to the order which prohibits
the engagement and-embarkation of colonists, and
to the exaction from the captain of a written pro-
mise to comply with such order.
" The measures to be adopted towards the Charles-
et-Georges were therefore clearly indicated by the
Portuguese authorities themselves, and it is incon-
ceivable how they could have acted in a manner
so contrary to their duty.
" The Charles-et-Georges was taken to Lisbon to
be tried at a higher Court of Appeal. The Govern-
ment of the Emperor, which from the very first
neglected nothing to enlighten that of his most
faithful Majesty on the true character of this
affair, hoped that the Cabinet of Lisbon, after
taking cognizance of all the circumstances of the
capture and of the proceedings of the trial at.
Mozambique, would eagerly have admitted the
irregularity of the proceedings of the Governor-
General of that colony towards a vessel which
could not even be suspected of being connected with
the slave trade. That hope was in the first instance
deceived ; but the Portuguese Government, after a
more careful examination, was brought to a more
exact appreciation, and submitted to the just
representations of the Government of the Emperor.
A resolution so conformable to equity, while oblite-
rating all traces of misunderstanding between the
two countries, will have the effect, we do not doubt
it, of restoring to their relations the cordial charac-
ter of which they partook before this lamentable
incident."