The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-26 00:00:00

FRANCE AND PORTUGAL.

(From the Times.)
The dispute between France and Portugal has
-abruptly. terminated. After appealing in vain to
the decisions of courts of law, to the faith of treaties,
to the obvious justice of her own cause, and to the
arbitration of 'any neutral Power whom France
might wish to choose, the Cabinet of Lisbon has
,succumbed, to the menace of instant violence ad-
dressed to her by a Power with whom it would be
utterly fruitless for her to contend. Never was the
voice of truth and justice more arrogantly over.
powered by a mere superiority of physical force ;
never were the rights of a brave and independent
nation more recklessly trampled upon ; never was
the understanding upon which the affairs of
Europe since the Peace of 1815 have been con-
ducted more entirely cast to the winds. For Por-
tugal -nothing is left but to fold her arms and
record her protest against the violence to which
she has been, forced to submit; for Europe there
remains a precedent fraught with danger. The'
forcible rescue of the French slaver—for such it is
now clearly proved to be—from the hands of the
Portuguese authorities is one of those events which
are sure, sooner or later, to exercise an important
influence on the actions and feelings of mankind.
It is the germ, we fear, of much evil, and, there-
fore, before we part with it, before it is effaced for
a time by the torrent of events that is rushing past
us, we must briefly recapitulate its details, in order
to bequeath to our readers a clear idea of a trans-
action which we may reasonably expect to reappear
in its results before any long time has hien suffered
to elapse.

The French Government obtained from Portugal
permission to carry negro emigrants to the Island
of Reunion from the Portuguese colony of 7.llozam-
bique. The part of the coast of Mozambique from
which the emigration was to take place was accu-
rately defined and agreed upon. The French vessel
Charles et Georges was seized on a part of the
coast where she was not authorised to go by the
agreement with a hundred and ten negroes on
board. It appears by the testimony of the agent
of the French Government, Nicolas Correl,
that thirteen of these Negroes came on board
voluntarily, with their arms tied behind their backs
by their own permission. With respect to these,
the same agent admits that the agreement had not
been complied with, and that it was his intention
to report this violation of his duty on the part of
the captain as soon as he arrived at Reunion. The
vessel was provided with false decks and other
accessories used by slavers. The ship was con-
demned as lawful prize by the Court at Mozam-
bique, and an appeal was lodged from that decision
to the Court of Supreme Jurisdiction at Lisbon. It
is almost impossible to imagine a clearer case. The
only point, indeed, on which it is understood that
France relies is the presence of an accredited
agent on board the ship, which, it is contended,
afforded an irresistible presumption that no act
of slaving was committed. But what becomes of
that irresistible presumption when that agent him-
self is the witness who proves the act of Slave-
trading, and represents the misconduct of the
captain to have been so gross that it was his own
intention to report it to the authorities as
soon as he arrived at Reunion ? The first duty of
the French Government clearly was to await the
decision of the court of justice at Lisbon, and to
take no step until an adverse decision had been
rendered, and to consider itself bound by that
decision unless it was clearly contrary to reason
and natural justice. The manner in which the
French Government discharged this duty was
to demand the surrender of the condemned ship
in 48 hours, to send two men-of-war into
the Tagus, and to make a demonstration
of hostility by pointedly neglecting to salute
the King of Portugal in his own river.
Finding that France would not await the decision
of a Portuguese court of justice, the Cabinet of Lis-
bon next -proposed to leave the dispute to the
arbitration of any neutral Power whom France
might choose to appoint; and, that being refused,
except as to the quantum of damages, the Por-
tuguese Government were compelled, under pro-
test, to deliver up the ship condemned for slave-
trading by a court of competent jurisdiction mainly
on the evidence of the representative of the nation
that claims her release ; and so for the present the
matter terminates. We have only to compare the
treatment of Portugal by France in this matter
with the conduct of Great Britain in the recent
case of the Cagliari to understand the true nature
of this high-handed proceeding. Our relations to
Naples were not like those of France to Portugal,
for we had suspended diplomatic relations with that
country, and, instead of an exceedingly strong pre-
sumption of guilt, there never existed the slightest
reason to believe that our countrymen had any
share in the design against the Neapolitan Govern-
ment. They were treated with great cruelty, and
their trial most unreasonably delayed, which can-
not for a moment be alleged with regard to the
French captain. Yet, so far from taking the law
into our own hands, it was only after a delay of
nine months and the most convincing proof of the
illegality and oppressiveness of the proceedings of
the Neapolitan Government that we demanded
their liberation ; and even then, so far from avail-
ing ourselves in any way of the superiority of our
force, we offered to leave the whole matter to the
decision of any neutral or impartial Power. Com-
pare the manner in which we felt bound to deal
with the Government which we might fairly con-
sider as acting towards us in the most hostile spirit
with that in which France has just treated a
friendly Power, who can have no other wish but
to deal with her in a manner as favourable as is
consistent with her own dignity, and it will then
appear how far the Cabinet of the Tuileries has

departed in this instance, not only from the form,
but the substance, of diplomatic and international
courtesy.
Henceforth we must, however unwillingly,
adopt it as a matter too clear for dispute, that
France will not allow the right of smaller and
weaker Powers to that shelter and protection
which the law of nations has hitherto thrown
around them. Justice is for equals,—dictation,
menace, and, if necessary, force, for inferiors, in
power. The use of a law, and more especially the
law of nations, is the protection of the weak
against the strong, and for any weaker nation
which is so unfortunate as to have a difference
with France that protection no longer exists. A
second most lamentable result of this affair is, that
we fear we can no longer count upon France as
among those nations who are bent upon discourag-
ing in every manner the continuance of the Slave
Trade. The power of the Empire has been put forth
to shelter a very flagrant violation of what has
hitherto been understood to be the policy of France
in this respect. It is one thing not to maintain an
armed squadron for the purpose of putting down
the Slave Trade, it is another to rescue a vessel duly
convicted by the menace of an immediate appeal to
arms. There is too much reason to fear that this
untoward result of the noble offorts which the
Portuguese Government, and especially the Colonial
Minister, the Viscount Sa Da Bandeira, has been
making for the suppression of the Slave Trade, will
relax the zeal of a Power which thus meets with in-
suit and menace in the very quarter from which it
had a right to expect countenance and support.
Nor is this all. We cannot conceal from ourselves
that the manner in which Portugal has been dealt
with was caused by a suspicion, utterly unfounded,
as we know it to be that she was acting in this
matter under the peculiar instigation of England.
It occurs to us to ask what part has the English
Government taken in this transaction ? We know
our Government has not extended to Portugal any
material support—has any moral influence been
exerted in her favour ? Have we interceded for
her with our great ally ? Have we strengthened
her with the assurance of our approbation of tslide
honourable course she has adopted, and promised
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