Star.
London, England, 1821-09-07 00:00:00

THE SLAVE TRADE.

The following is an extract of a letter from an
Officer on board his Majesty's ship TARTAR, under
Sir GEORGE COLLIER, Bart. commanding the squa-
dron stationed on the coast of Africa, for the sup.
pression of the odious and illegal traffic in Slaves:

" At Bonny two slaving vessels were taken by the bnata of
the TARTAR and THISTLIE ; one, indeed, much by the good ma-
nagement of Lieutenant HACIAN, Commander of the latter ves-
sel. This young man put the prime of all his brig's company
into a canoe which had come or, and stowing these to the num-
ber of thirty-five under the natives, went alongside the slaver, a
Spanish schooner, having on board a gang of the most desperate
villains unhung. As it was dark the surprise was complete; but
the tide was so very rapid, that any mischance must have been
Cie certain sacrifice of his entire crew. He, however, fully suc-
ceeded; and in this canoe captured the schooner, having 450
slaves, and a most desperate crew of fifty men. The schooner
was prepared to resist, having her cannon all primed, and fifty
muskets on deck loaded.

" As the black people in the canoe were too much under feat
of death to betray, when hailed by the Spanish schooner, they
answered all was well. In the next moment HAOAN and his
thirty.five men were on her deck, when the Master and others
seized the small arms, and kept up a rapid fire, by which three
British seamen were wounded: and in the alarm many of the
female slaves, not in irons, leaped overboard, and in a moment
were carried away by the sharks, which abound in this part of
Africa, and which seem to know a slave vessel as a well trained
pointer does his game : I have seen them following In scores.—
Whether the crew of this schooner, many of whom by their lan-
guage must be either English or Americans, are apprehensive of
some evil for their misdeeds, I know not; but they seem very
contrite and full of narrow, very orderly and penitent; but, I
verily believe, had these vagabonds the opportunity, they would
have blown up their vessel. In truth, Ido not think there is a
crime of which they have not been guilty, and piracy amongst
others. It is remarkable that this schooner is a vessel captured
last year, sent so Sierra Leone, and released by the famous
Mixed Commission for trying Prize Causes, on pretence of her
being a Patriot privateer. These vessels are provided with pa-
res and colours of various nations, which they use as best serve
their purpose. This schooner is one of the most celebrated for
sailing. and belongs to the Ilavannah.

" Lieutenant MARSH, of the TARTAR, pushed up the River
in quest of a Portuguese, of which we got information, and,
after receiving the fire of her guns'and musketry, boarded and
carried her. For firing, the boats' crews contented themselves
by giving the Portuguese a most severe drubbing. This vessel,
though only commenced her slaving a week, had one hundred
on board. We bad great trouble and anxiety in getting these
vessels down the river, the channels of which require great cau-
tion in passing ; and if you can judge what 400 people would
suffer, confined between the decks of a Margate hoy, nut above
three feet six inches high, you may form some opinion of the
necessity there was for removing a considerable number of these
most wretched beings to the decks of the TARTAR, and of libe-
rating them from their horrid slave-room, and from the confine.
ment of irons, as soon as possible.

" One of the slave-vessels captured had been complete in her
cargo of human misery only two days, and was waiting a fa-
vourable wind to clear the shoals, and yet there were more than
thirty cases of the very last stage of dysentery. The dying and
the dead were mingled together. The women were compara-
tively comfortable, and yet there were nearly one hundred con-
fined in a space not four feet high, nor above sixteen feet by
nine, to sleep in. I can speak to these facts, as I measured
every part of these vessels. Their tubs showed they were not
exempt from the dreadful disease which had already commenced
amongst the men, and which the nature of slave food, with im-
pure water, invariably produces.
" Nothing can be supposed more horrible than the treatment
and condition of the slaves in their passage from Africa ; fever
and dysentery let loose—the hatches scarcely open to admit suf-
ficient air even to prevent immediate suffocation ! Perhaps you
will hesitate to believe that the thermometer, which stood in the
shade at 85, rose immediately at the entrance of the slave-room
to us,, and at List to 115. The fortunate circumstance of the
Portuguese ship Donna Eugenia having only a small proportion
of her intended cargo on board, afforded great relief; and though
it was with extreme concern we were compelled to increase that
number to 200, by relievirg the other prize, so frightfully
crowded. It is not possible to make these wretched slaves com-
prehend their improved prospects by change of masters ; and
though, for their relief and comfort, their irons were ordered to
be taken off, the Officer in charge of the vessel must resort to
this horrible mode of security, if any symptom of disturbance
shall be observed."

PRICE SEVEN-PENCIL

MENTIFIC.4TION.

FRONI TILE NEW YOFeK DAILY ADVERTISER OF ALTO. 10.
The following case exhibits a somewhat surprising
instance of the facility with which the senses may be
deceived, and misapprehensions of facts imbibed. It
c•mveys to all an admonition of caution:
GENERAL SESSIONS, AUGUST 7.
WM PEOPLE V. JOON VAN ATVER.
The prisoner was indicted for grand larceny, in stealing about
ISt dollars in Bank notes, the property of Isaac Conklin, from
the state-room of a sloop, of which the said Conklin was Master,
in th- port of Nt.w York. It aptgrred in evidence, that the
theft was committed on the 24th of July last, between the hoot s
of twelve all!. t Five wi; nesse' owdrlgto the identity of the
pti-nner ; and that he. in company witkanother, was on boarl
tile vessel at the time the money was alleged to be taken, and
suddenly disappeared.
Coutisel for foe prisoner rested his defence upon an althi;
and •ceolcd in proving that the prisoner, a. the time the said
theft was ar.qed to have been committed, and for some hours
both before acid after, Is !d bee: in the company of the witne, .es
he produced ; and further, and .vhich might alone be conclusive
against fifty witnesses, produced a hill of sale of a vessel exe-
cuted to the prismer, in the Custom-house, at the very hour the
felony was alleged to have been perpetrated. There was re if”-
penihment offered or intimated agaiiist any of the witnesse
The prisoner was acquitted.

NEW SOUTH' WALES.
SUPREME COURT, SYDNEY, SEPT. is, Ivo.
THE GOVERNOR V. RIGGS.
This was an action against the American ship Ge-
neral Gates, upon the usual bond entered into by
Masters of ships coming to this port. not to suffer any
person, convict or free, to be carried away, witlicait
permission from the Governor, ac' nos to quit the
harbour without a proper clears:lu.. The General
Gates left the port a brig on the 29th July, 1819,
and was sent back by the Master of the Dromedary
store-ship, on the 12th of May last, converted into a
ship. It appeared by the evidence that the defendant
had himself :educed and conveyed on board his ves-
sel five, and suffered to be carried away five more,
convicts, and one free man, from the Colony, many
of them being the best mechanics in the employ of
Government. They were all set to work the ship as
soon as the vessel cleared the Heads; and being bound
for New Zealand, when she arrived at the Bay of
Islands, they were all enrolled in the ship's articles,
and employed in sealing, like the rest of the crew.
On the 12th of April last, the General Gates fell in
with the Dromedary, when Captain Skinner, being
in the service of the British Government, went on
board the American to reclaim the prisoners of the
Crown. The defendant, upon seeing the Drome-
dary's boat coming towards him, sent the convicts
on shore under pretence of cutting wood, and when
Captain Skinner proceeded to muster the crew, the
defendant at first denied having more than three con.
victs, but afterwards owned to six. The Dromedary's
people, however, found nine on shore. The next day
Captain Skinner sent the prisoners back to this port
by the General Gates, in charge of an Officer and
crew of the Dromedary, together with the defendant
in arrest, and only two of his own ship's company ;
but his Mate and two more were afterwards sent
hither by the Prince Regent of this port. There was
a great deal. of aggravating matter on both sides,
which the Court declined to enter into, in this dry
action upon breaches of the defendant's bond, which
were so clearly proved. The defendant's Solicitor
complained of unlawful seizure, arrest, and imprison-
ment here; and the Solicitor for the Crown recrimi-
nated with charges of cruelty and starvation of the
convicts on the sealing islands, and attempts to poison
them on board of the ship. But Mr. Justice FIELD
said that these matters could not be inquired into in
this action, and might become the subject of another.
At present the Court had nothing to do with how the
defendant was brought here: the plaintiff in this action
found him here, and might. sue him for this debt, like
any other debtor. His present imprisonment had no
connexion with his original capture, whether lawful
or unlawful : he was now in jail, under process of this
Court, for not finding bail ; and so far from having a
right to complain of hardship and grievance, it ap-
peared by the evidence before the Court, that this Ame-
rican, being suffered to refresh his ship here, while
partaking of a valuable fishery, which we might if we
pleased monopolize to ourselves, instead of repaying
the hospitality of the port with gratitude, acted more
like a pirate than the subject of a friendly civilised
nation, and went about into low public.houses sedu-
cing some of our best convict mechanics. The
Learned Jadge had no doubt that this was breach
of the laws of nations between friendly Powers, and
might, perhaps, revive the embers of discord in coun-
tries now happily at peace, and involve the defend.
ant himself in consequences of which he was little
aware. The defendant pleaded that he had now left
seamen on sealing islands, who if not relieved must .
starve. For those serious consequences he must him-
self be responsible. Although when he left this port,
breaking through its regulations, he might not have
expected to have been brought back by any other
constraint than that of perils of the seas, yet he must
be taken always to have contemplated those fatali-
ties, and that necessity might bring him once more
within a jurisdiction which would detain him for the
penalties of his bond. And then, and not now, he
should have thuught what would become of the
fishing parties which he had left on the islands. Upon
proper representations, the Governor of this Colony
would take measures for the relief of those parties.
All the Court had to do, was to decide whether this
bond was not forfeited. They had nothing to do with
the amount of the penalties, which were 1.:550 for
each person carried away. Mitigation lay in the
breast of the Governor. The Judge could only say
that the cristeace of the Colony depended upon his
Excellency's power to prevent the escape of convicts, •
and that, though hundreds of ships had sailed from ••
this port, and (he was afraid) thousands of convicts
had been carried away; this was the first opportunity
the Court had had of punishing so vital an offence.
The Court found a verdict for twelve penalties of
£590 each; eleven for carrying away so many per-
sons, and the twelfth for quitting the harbour with-
out a proper clearance.

PP

-sh ,

LISBON, AUGUST 25.

ZOREt CDC HRANE.
• TO THIF EDITOR OF THE STAR.
• . 7hit—As tion of some British merchant
ships by Lord COCHRANE has occasioned consider-
able animadversion, I shall feel much obliged by
your inserting, in justification of his Lordships con-
duct, the following extract from a letter from his
Lordship, which I received this morning.
I am, Sir, your most obedient servant,
110, &rand, Sept. 6. SAMUEL BROOKS.
EXTRACT FROM A LETTER FROM LORD COCHRANE
TO MR. BROOKS, DATED APRIL 8, 1821:
Neutral vessels are daily dropping into our hands laden
with Spanish, French, Italian, and'other goods on Spanish ac-
count; but in these there is scarcely an article of British manu-
facture ; and, strange to tell, it is chiefly British merchants who
cloak this property, to the destruction of the mannfacturing and
honest commerce of their countrymen. One --., of London,
and the house of --. at Gibraltar, are great people in these
dealings. I have lately seized two of their ships, worth half a
million of dollars, from Cadiz : they called at Gibraltar, and
took out false papers as If they had loaded there. I doubt not
but you will see a deal of this in the papers, and if you do, I
wish you would just Set ustie facts be known."

THE RUPTURE BETWEEN PORTUGAL
AND AUSTRIA AND RUSSIA..

The 24th of August, which delivered us from ages
of slavery and oppression, has returned with the great
recollection which will render it ever memorable in
the annals of Portugal. It was ushered in with dis-
charges of artillery from the castle, the forts, and the
men of war in the harbour. At nine o'clock there
was a grand parade of all the troops in the capital,
in the Rocio. The King was present in full uniform.
His Majesty appeared on the veranda of the Palace,
formerly belonging to the Inquisition, having with
him the Infant Don Michael, and Don Sebastian, with
the Officers of his Household, and others. The, feu
de joie being fired, and the troops having filed off be-
fore the King, all the Officers went and embraced
those of the distinguished 18th Regiment, which at
half-past two e. M. fired numerous salutes ; that being
the hour when they left their quarters last year, to open
the grand scene of the regeneration of their country.
A numerous crowd immediately filled the square
before the Palace, and• uttered the most rapturous
acclamations, waving their handkerchiefs, which was
returned from the windows, that were crowded with
persons of both sexes richly dressed. The King never
ceased chewing his approbation of these worthy sen-
timents, as well as of the order and tranquillity which
prevailed among so many thousands of persons ani-
mated by the recollection of the day, and by the joyful
liberty which each of them felt on this solemn festival.
Tile King gave audience (beija moo, kissing hands)
in grand gala, inviting all the Diplomatic Body to
be present, and also inviting, through General Sepul-
veda, all the Commanders of brigades and corps.—
The day was concluded with general rejoicings, and
the whole city was splendidly illuminated.
The Supplement to the Lisbon Gazette (Diario do
Gcverno) of the 27th of August, contains the official
documents relative to the departure of the Russian
Ambassador, of the Austrian Ambassador, and of the
Austrian Con-il-General.
On the 22d instant, the English packet sailed for
Falmouth, having on board Baron Thuyll, Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from his
Majesty the limpet or of Russia, and Baron Sturmer,
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
from his Majesty the Emperor of Austria, and also
the Chevalier de Berks, Austrian Consul-General at
this Court. Here follow the documents. The first
is a circular letter to the Portuguese Ministers at
foreign Cows, from M. Silvestre Pinheiro Ferreira,'
dated August 21, 1821, giving en account of what
had happened. I le first states the departure of the
A mbassadors, without leaving any Charges d'Affaires.
The people having illuminated on the 29th March,
and two following nights, in honour of the accept-
ance of the bases of the new Constitution, and several
Ministers and Consuls of foreign Cow is not think-
ing it necessary to illuminate, the windows of the
Delegate of the Court of Rome were broken on the
first night.
The Regency expressed to all the Ministers their
regret at this outrage, and took every precaution to
prevent the repetition of it by placing sentinels and
patrols, and nothing happened the two following
nights, except that the Serjeant commanding the
patrol before the house of the Austrian Consul, think-
ing that lie was to patrol to the end of the street, it
happened that just while he was a few steps off, the
populace passing, and seeing the house without lights,
threw some stones, and broke several windows, which
the patrol hearing, came up, and the authors of the
outrage fled; but as the crowd was great, the Ser-
jeant, feat ing lest some fresh insult might be offered,
went in and persuaded M. de Berks to give orders
to illuminate. Next day M. de Berks wrote a note
to M. de Braamcamp, complaining of the insult, and
desiring .a passport for a courier to be sent to Count
Metternich. An answer (No. 2.) was returned ex-
plaining the affair, and with this M. de Berks ap-
peared to be satisfied.
The Portuguese Government was therefore much
astonished to find in the English newspaper, the
Courier, of 19th May (No. 3.), a narrative so far from
the truth, that it gave reason to fear what in fact
happened on the return of the courier from Vienna.
The Conde de Barbacena, then Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs, received a note (No. 4.) from M. de
Berks, in a tone such as nmst naturally be inspired
into the Court of Vienna by the affair in question,
related not as it really happened, but as described in
the Courier, concluding with a categotical and inde-
cently premature alternative, of either an immediate
and ample satisfaction, or his passports. Well known
and satisfactory reasons having hindered the giving,
an immediate answer by the Conde de 'Barbacena,l
M. de Ferreira, who succeeded him, received from
M. de Berks a note (No. 5.) which he presented in a
conference that he had asked with M. Ferreira, and
in which lie did not hesitate to say that the insult
was premeditated, and that many persons in high
offices were concerned, but he declined giving any
proofs in support of this assertion.
M. Ferreira made the strictest investigation, and
finding no trace of any such plot, laid the affair be-
fore his Majesty, by whose ordershe returned an an-
swer (No. 6.) in which it is stated, that the Govern-
ment cannot discover that any person can be con-
victed of improper conduct except the Meg com.

manding the patrol : to pnnish him severely was the •
only satisfaction, added to the frank and clear expo-
sition already made, that could be given him, and I
that if he declined this he might have his passports. I
Maantime Baron Stunner arriving, a new inquiry
was commenced, M. de Berks pretending to prove
his assertion, by saying that the people had come with
bags full of stones, and that the attack lasted three
hours without the armed force interfering. While
this inquiry was going on, Baron Sturmer wrote a
note (No. 7.) compla►ning that the Government was
remiss in giving the satisfaction required, and threat-
ening the consequences of a silence which he repre-
sented as equally extraordinary and inexplicable.
To this the Minister returned an answer (N 0.8.), to
which Baron Sturmer replied, by merely acknowledg-
ing the receipt of it, and desiring his passports, which
were sent him. On the same day (August 16), Baron
Thttyll, the Russian Minister, sent a note (No. 9.),1
stating he considered himself and his august Master
as exposed to infallible insults from the populace on
all illuminations, such as the 24th of August, then
near at hand, and declared that he was resolved never
to put any lights in his Palace.
It being necessary to repel the pretensions arrogated
by a foreign Minister, to Judge of the nature of the
institutions of the internal Government of the coun-
try, the Minister replied in a Note (No. 10), together
with the passports he required.
Notwithstand►ng all that has passed, the Portuguese
Government hopes that this unpleasant affair will not
have any consequences tending to disturb the good
understanding now subsisting with the Governments
in question.

THE EVENING STAR.

LONDON.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7. 1821.
PRICES OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT ONE 04LOCK :
3 per Cent. Consols 75% 5/6 3 IX,, per Cent. 86%
5 per Ct. Navy 108/g 109—Imperial S per Ct. 73%
Irish 5 per Cent.lo9l/2—lndia Bonds 655. 645. pr.
• South Sea Stock 831/2—Exch. Bills 4s. 2s. 4s. pr.
• Exch. 500 Bills 6s. ss. 7s. pr.
Consols for Act. 761/8 76 1/8

A Mail arrived this forenoon from Flanders, with
Papers to the 4th inst. The following arc extracts :

FRANKFORT, AUGUST 26.

The appeal of Baron Daubers to the Germans, in
favour of the Greeks, has produced considerable el.
fect : auxiliary corps are forming, which are to be
armed and equipped by means of voluntary sub-
scriptions. Several young men, and persons formerly
in the army, shew great eagerness to join in the
expedition.
. .

Prince Aurelius, of Hesse Darmstadt, has just
written to Aschaffenburg, that in case the young
Germans who intend to form a corps to assist the
Christians in Turkey, should desire to have at their
head a German Prince, he was ready to satisfy their
wishes, having proved in the late wars, in which he
had the command of a corps, that he is versed in the
pi ofession of arms.
We learn from Darmstadt, that the Grand Duchy
take such a lively interest in the cause of the Greeks,
that it is hoped that the Gland Duke will consent to
appoint a town in his dominions to serve as a rally-
ing place and a rendezvous for the volunteers who
may desire to make the campaign against the Turks.
Offenbach, a little town on the Maine, near Frank-
fort, has been proposed.