The Sun.
London, England, 1842-01-19 00:00:00

UNITED STATES .AND THE

SLAVE TRADE.
TWENTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS-SECOND
SESSION.-SENATE.
CASE OF THE FORMOSA AND CREOLE.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 22.—Mr. Barrow said he bad
a memorial entrusted to his charge, from an Insurance
Company of New 'Orleans, which, from its importance,
he trusted, would excuse his trespassing for a few mo-
ments on the time of the Senate, while he briefly reca-
pitulated its contents. The memorial states that during
the past year, a vessel sailed from Richmond to
New Orleans. That the memorialists insured thirty-
eight slaves, which were on board that vessel, against
capture or seizure by the British Government.
That the vessel was wrecked, and a wrecking
vessel took off the captain, crew, and slaves, and
carried them to Nassau, in the Island of New
Providence. That while the vessel was moored in
the harbour, without having touched the wharf, she
was boarded by persons in the dress of British sol-
diers, who carried the slaves to Nassau, where
after some show of official proceedings, the slaves
were liberated from the custody of their owners.
These slaves belonged to a gentleman of Richmond,
of the name of Templeman, who was moving to the
South, and when he learned their fate he abandoned
them, and applied to the insurers for indemnifica-,
tion. One Company paid the demand ; but the
other contested it—for there were two Companies,
who had taken this most extraordinary risk against
the capture of American property in an American
vessel, in a time of peace, by the authorities of a
nation professing to bold friendly relations with us. He
moved the -reference of the subject to the Committee
on Foreign Relations, as he considered that the ap-
propriate reference, inasmuch as in his opinion it was a
matter upon -the -proper adjustment of which was in-
volved the questionolpeace or war.
_ _ _

Mr. CALHOUN said he seconded the motion. This
was the care of the Creole, he presumed.
Mr. BARROW—No, the Formosa, which occurred
several months since.
Mr. CALHOUN said he had been under the im-
pression that it was the case of the Creole. Many
years since he had called the attention of the Senate
and the country to this subject, and brought forth
resolutions based on the laws of nations, which re-
ceived the almost unanimous assent of the Senate.
The Senate would recollect the cute of the Enter-
p, rise which was the cause of the reiolutions he
had referred to. But be regarded the case of the
Creole as the most. threatening that had ever come
in contestation between the two Governments. He
considered. it most remarkable, that, while the
hoardings and detentions g.,igur vessels on Abe
coast of Africa, the border troubles on the North-
eastern frontier, and other matters of much less import-
ance, have received the attention of our Government,
this case has been entirely overlooked. It is high time
that this question was settled, and that the South should
understand whether their property should be protected
from spoliation or not.
Mr. KING asked that the memorial might be read,
and it was read accordingly. He then said he had long
foreseen that claims for indemnity for property of South-
ern citizens seized by British authorities, would lead to
serious difficulties between the two Governments. This
matter had been progressing for years, and the attempt
made to arrest it by the resolutions of the Senator from
South. Carolina had been ineffectual. He foresaw with
regret that it would lead to consequences deplorable to
humanity. As far as he was acquainted with the sub-
ject, Great Britain utterly refuses indemnity for the
property of our citizens taken from them 'by persons
clothed with her official authority, and in a recent case
she has even gone so far as to countenance and encou-
rage mutiny and murder. They had sheltered and pro-
tected the mutineers, and carried them to another and
distant island to render their recovery the more imprac-
ticable. It was to this subject he had alluded yester-
day, when be replied to the remarks of the Senator from
North Carolina (Mr. Mangoin), who anticipated no
serious consequences would arise from the difficulties
between us and Great Britain. It was the lawless 'at-
te npts Jif that country, in her ambitious graspings at
universal.demination, which would render war inevit-
able nnleis she retraces her steps, and does what is just
between DatiOn, and nation. He hoped that the memo-
and referred to the Committee on
Foreignitelations, and that they would investigate the
matter, and see what has been done, and what ought to
be done.

Mr. `igiiikitioSs said that in the absence of the Chair-
man ortiiipaommittee on Foreign Relations (Mr.
Rives); he would but express the opinion that the suls-
ject- would receive all the attention its great importande
demanded. He referred to the correipondence between
the British Government and the lamented and distin-
guished late Secretary of State (Mr. Forsyth), and said
that thicqueition.could hardly be a cause of difference
between the two nations. The law of nations was clear
and imperative on the questions in dispute between the'
two nations, and he thought that Great Britain would
hardly come in cOrtlct with this Government on such
an untenable position. - The administration of that Go-
vernment was now in the hands of as enlightened and
liberal•minded a statesman as ever guided the destinies
of that great nation. He would express' the opinion,
that notwithstanding what had fallcri from the very dis-
tinguished gentleinan (Mr. Rives) yesterday, much
more conversant with such subjects- than he was, there
were no difficulties between the two Governments which
rendered the interruption of amicable relations probable.
Mr. RIVES (who had entered the Chamber during
the !marks of Mr. Preston) said be would only say
one word. He understood the memorial was for in-
detnnity for slaves liberated by British authorities.
Many similar cases had arisen during the last two years,
which still remained unsatisfied. It was the character
of the questions between the two Governments which
rendered their relations eminently precarious, and which,
in his opinion, made it a matter of the most imperious
necessity to place our country in a state of defence.
This was made the more necessary by the pertinacious
refusal_of Great Britain to do justice, and the difficulty
was made.the more serious by the occurrence of a re-
cent case, in which insurrection was openly encouraged.
It was impossible to look at all these circumstances and
not feel admonished of the propriety and necessity of
making all timely and ppperpreparations for defence:

Mr. Causoirsi. said he did not rise to participate in
this debate, but to express his regret that so much
was said in our discussions about peace and war
with Great Britain. Other gentlemen' had expressed
their views, and he would succinctly submit his. It was,
that if the proper course of conduct was pursued by
this Government, there would be no war. The two
nations were so largely engaged in commercial inter-
course, and there was such a vast amount of interests
at stake, that there was a large peace party in both
countries. If there was a war, it would be caused by
the want of a prudent foresight on the part of this
country to prepare for it. The first and most important
step of preparation was a reform in the administration
of the pecuniary affairs of the Government. For what
did they hear from Gentlemen from every side of the
Chamber ? That is e were less prepared for hostili-
ties now, than we were at the commencement of
the last war. He did not believe this ; but ad-
mitted that we were deeply embarrassed in our
financial affairs. This he attributed to the loose-
ness introduced into our financial relations by the
surplus arising from the tariff of 1828—a system
which it appeared was again to be forced upon us ;
for he considered the report of the Secretary of
the Treasury, as one of the most thorough tariff docu-
ments that bad ever emanated from the Department.
He concurred with the Senator from Virginia (Mr.
Hives) as to the flagrant character at the case of the
Creole. He had a full statement of it, which bad been
forwarded to him by a gentleman of New Orleans, cer-
tified by affidavits, and he had also the British account
of the transaction, and, upon a full examination of the
testimony on both sides, he considered it one of the
most atrocious and insulting outrages every perpetrated
by one civilized Government upon another. He consi-
dered it a case of naked piracy ; and our, Go-
vernment, as soon as the official report was re-
ceived, should demand the pirates for punish
meat. It was stated in the testimony received by him,
which was verified under oath, that when the Creole
arrived at Nassau, she was boarded by a British officer,
who, after he had heard the detail of the atrocities from
the negroes, said to them, " You are foo!s ; you should
have killed all the whites, and then there would have
been no evidence." He trusted that this Government
would be true to itself, and prompt and ample repara-
tion demanded, and if Great Britain refused to do us
justice, he looked to every man who bad an American
heart, to raise his voice and his arm against such tyran-
nical insolence and oppression.
Mr. BARROW said, his object in presenting this me-
morial, and moving its reference to the Committee on
Foreign Relations, was not that his constituents should
be compelled to wait for redress upon the tardy move-
ments of negotiators. The matter bad become the
subject of negotiation ever since 1830. His object
was, that Congress should act, and set forth to the
country and the world the principles of international
law which were recognised by this country, and would
be maintained by her at all hazards. He wished to
trust this matter to other agents than the Executive
and his Secretary, and the Secretary of the British
Queen. The property of the South is unsafe, and it is
to be subjected to the plundering propensities of British
officials ; they would be compelled to fit out armaments,
and destroy Nassau and other nests of "incendiaries ad-
jacent to our coast.
Mr. RIVERS said, the Senate had already acted in
the manner indicated by the Senator from Louisiana,
and, at the instance of the Senator from South Carolina
had.- -4,a.unanimous vote, passed a
(sell ire; Cb
ofa I resolutions,
lu tion s, embodying their views of interna-
tional law. If it was the desire of the Senator from
Louisiana that these -principles should be re-asserted
andre.affirmed, he Was perfectly willing that such a
course.should be adopted, and was prepared to go the
whole length- - - -
The Memorial was then referred to the Committee
on Foreign Relations.

PHREIstOLOGICAL SOCIETY.
MESMERISM.

On Monday evening there was a full attendance of the
members of this Society, at their Chambers in Exeter-hall.
The Secretary, Mr. E. S. Symes, read the, minutes of
the last meeting, which were confirmed, and S. Prideaux,
Esq., of Southampton, was balloted for, as correspond-
ing member of.-the Society, and unanimously elected.
The liev. Mr. Wood, M.A., was also unanimously elected
a member.

The President, Dr. Elliotson, delivered a lecture upon
the connexion between Phrenology and Mesmerism. He
said—l have always been scrupulously cautious in intro-
ducing the subject of Mesmerism at our meetings, on
account of the difficulties opposed to- it, and the 'preju-
dices existing against it in the minds of mankind -; and I'
would not do ahything to create a difference of opinion
in the Society. But assertions have recently been made'
in public, and opinions have been promulgated in society
(and I see no reason against adopting them), that Ales-
merisna could explain some of the most important prin-
ciples of Phrenology. I was always aware-of the con-
nexion between them, as Mesmerism relates to the whole
of the nervous system, of which Phrenology explains
one part. There is the less objection to my introducing
the subject here at present, as the Society for
the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, with -Lord
Brougham at
_their head, and four of my late
colleagues at the London University, who worried
me at the University Hospital, have now borne
public testimony to the reality and usefulness of Mesmer-
ism. This they have done in the last monthly number of
the Penny Cyclopcedia. What is more remarkable,
they have borne their testimony just as strongly, and
just to the same extent, as I have done in my Physiology,
for I have said no more than that one person can in-
fluence another in various ways, without the will or
consciousness of the person influenced—that so one
person can send another to sleep, and again awaken the
latter at pleasure—and that he would know nothing of what
might happen in the interval: I have said that this
can be done not only without the knowledge,
but even .against the will. But • I was at last
compelled to admit more than this. I was com-
pelled from what I witnessed to admit that persons thus
influenced were rendered insensible to pain even to
that of severe burning, and of sharp surgical operations
—such as the insertion of setons, and the removal of
tumors. Yet to all these—mad as it must appear—l
have been obliged to admit " vision without the eyes."
Mad as it may appear I have seen it in the most un-
equivocal manner in three cases, where the eyes were
blindfolded with the utmost care. Thick cloths were
placed over the eyes and were pressed down with eye-
cups. In one of those cases, which occurred the other
day at Paris, I put soft wool. over the eyes, and pressed
it tight down with a thick bandage of new cloth,
and filled Up. all the intervals with wool. When
the patient was in this blindfolded state, I took papers
out of my pocket. and held them before the patient, out
of the line of vision, and that person read what was
there printed. Such are the facts which are admitted
in this article of the Penny Cyclopadia. I was also
ogliged to adMit of "pre-vision," at least as to the state
of the persons themselves. I hare not known any-
thing which Could be called prophecy ; but I have
known persons to predict what would be the state of their
own -health at particular times. I will not enter into
any speculation as to this—whether it may be ac-
counted fur by supposing that they did actually
foreknow the future state of their own health, or
that imagination produced the change. But this
sort of prediction is declared in the Penny
Cyclopedia-to be INDUBITABLE ! The assertion is
made distinctly,, and openly in the article on Somnam-
bulism, in to a case recorded in the French En-
iyelopmdia, on the respectable authority of the Arch-
bishop of Bourdeaux
asg . "It is the case of a young ecclesiastic, who, was in the
habit of getting up during the night in a state of som-
nambulism, of going to his room, taking pen, ink, and
paper, and composing and writing sermons. When he '
had finished one page of the paper on Nvhich-he was
writing, he would read over aloud what he had written,
and correct it. Upon one occasion he had made use of
the expression, Ce divin enfant: In reading over the
passage, he changed the word divin' into ' adorable.'
Observing, however, that the pronoun ce' could not
stand before the word adorable,' he added to it the
letter t.' In order to ascertain whether the somnam-
bulist made any use of his eyes, the Archbishop held a
piece of pasteboard under his chin, to prevent him from
seeing the paper upon which he was writing ; but he
continued to write on, without being apparently incom-.
moded in the slightest degree. The paper upon which
he was writing was taken away, and other paper laid be-
fore him ; but the young ecclesiastic immediately per-
ceived the change. He wrote pieces of music while in
this state, 'and in the same manner, with his eyes closed:
the words he placed underneath the music. It happened
upon one occasion that the words were written by him
in too large a character, and did not stand exactly under
the corresponding notes ; he soon perceived the error,
blotted out the part, and wrote it over again with great
exactness.",

They say: all this without reference to Mesmerism ;
but farther down they relate the case, of Jules Cloquet,
thus :

" It is that of a lady, aged 64, who consulted M. Clo-
quet, April 8,'1829, on account of an ulcerated cancer on
the right breast, of several years' standing, which was
combined with a considerable swelling (engorgement) of
the corresponding' axillary glands. M. Chapelain, the
physician attending this,lady, who had magnetized her
fur some months, had obtained no other result than that
of producing a most profound sleep, during which all
sensibility appeared to be annihilated, while the ideas re-
tained all their clearness. HtFproposed to M. Cloquet to
operate upon her while she was plunged in this magnetic
sleep. The latter, having deemed the operation indis-
pensable, consented. The two previous evenings this
lady was magnetized several times by M. Chapelain, who,
in her soinnabulism, disposed her to submit to the opera-
tion, although, when awake, she rejected the idea with
horror. Upon the day appointed, M. Cloquet found the
patient dressed, and seated in an elbow-chair, in the atti-
tude of a person enjoying a quiet natural sleep. She had
however been. thrown into testate of somnambulism, and
talked with great calmness of the operation. She un-
dressed herself, and sat down upon a chair ; M. Chape-
lain supported the. right arm, the left was permitted to
hang down at the side of the body. M. Cloquet delibe-
rately performed the operation, which lasted from ten to.
twelve minutes, and the tumour was extirpated. During
all this time the patient continued to converse quietly
with the operator, and did not exhibit the, slightest .sign
of sensibility. There was no motion of the limbs or of
the features, no change in the respiration nor iiirthe
voice ' • no emotion even in the pulse. The patient -eon-
tinuedin the same state of. automatic indifference and im-
passability in which she had been some minutes before
the operation. There was no occasion to hold, but only
to support her. A ligature was applied to one of the'
thoracic arteries, which had been opened during the ex-
traction of the glands. The wound was united by means
of adhesive plaster, and .dressed„,,;.The patient was put
to bed while still in a state of somnambulism, in which
she was left for 48 hours. An, hour. after the operation
there appeared a slight hemorrhage, which was attended
with no consequence. The first dressing was taken off
on the 14th, and the wound was cleaned and dressed
anew ; the patient exhibited no sensibility or pain, and
the pulse preserved its usual rate. After the dressing
M. Chapelain awakened the patient, whose somnambulic
sleep had continued from an hour previous to the opera-
tion, that is to say, for two days. She did not appear to
have any idea of what had passed in the interval ; but
upon being informed of the operation, and seeing her
children around her, she experienced a very lively emo-
tion, which the magnetizer checked by immediately set-
ting. her asleep. The only doubt or objection which the
writer has ever seen raised with respect to the above case,
is that it does not appear certain that the patient was
not in a state of anaesthesia before she was thrown into
the magnetic trance ; but this is so very far-fetched and
improbable, that it is almost equivalent to confessing that
the fact of an artificial state of anaesthesia having been
produced is indisputable."
They conclude the whole with these words, in which
I entirely agree :
" With respect to the .phenomenon of somnambulism
as caused by Mesmerism, or animal magnetism, the
writer only wishes to add most distinctly and explicitly,
that so much credulity and deception have been brought
to light in connection with it, that a person cannot be
too cautious in sifting and weighing the evidence on
which each of the alleged instances rests ; but that,
after all this mass of knavery and folly has been cleared
away, there still remain a large number of instances
which cannot be disbelieved without discarding all his-
torical evidence whatever. For more information on
the subject the reader may consult, besides the works
already quoted, the Rev. Chauncey Townshend's work
on Somnambulism, and Le Magnetism Animal en
France,' by M. Bertrand, Paris, 1826."
With respect to what some say of this case, that it was
possible for this lady to exhibit such insensibility by the
exercise of a very determined will, I can say that there
is no ground for such a statement. Indeed, Dr. Cald-
well lately assured me that he put the question to M.
Cloquet, whether any one could have borne the operation
as that lady had done, with as little manifestation of
suffering, in a natural state ? and M. Cloquet replied,
" 3-amais, jamais, dans le monde." But I have men-
tioned these things, Gentlemen, more to smooth my way
in relating occurrences of a more extraordinary nature
which have happened in America. In the course of the
last month I have received a series of newspapers from
America containing accounts of Mesmerism, from which
it seemed that when an operator had reduced a patient
to a state of stupor he could excite the
_.phrenological
organs at will, that parts of the brain could be awakened
and excited, and afterwards sent to sleep again:
Dr. Elliotson then read from a New York paper an
account of numerous mesmero-phrenological experiments
performed at and in the Museum of Louisville by Dr.
Buchanan and others. We insert the following :
" August 7th.—At ten o'clock, A. M., in company with
Dr. H. H. Sherwood, of this city, I went to the museum,
and found Miss M. at the piano. In the course of a few
moments she was put to sleep, when the following most
interesting experiments were performed. I had not
communicated my desigi?. to Mr.. Peale, or to Miss
M., and, hence it is certain, that there could have been
no collusion between them. She was directed to play several
• -
tunes, which she did, stopping various tunes, when a sign
was made to Mr. Peale by myself. I then requested him to
wake up the organs of tune. He did so, by simply, re-
versing the motions with his thumbs over those portions.
He then directed her to, play one of her favourite tunes,
The Old Arm-Chair. She attempted, but immedi-
ately said, she could not remember the air!' - She said
she could remember the words, and repeated them ; but
could not play the tune.
I next . requested him to mesmerise_ the organs of
tune again ; and to reverse the motions over the' organs
of language. He did so, and then requested her to play.
She-commenced the tune, kititcrld not repeat the wards,
Mr. Peale tried various w induce her to rapeA the
words, but she as often signified' her inability to remain-
ber them. I then pointed out to him,- -without-464144,