Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1840-02-27

THE ARMIsIAD AFRICANS.
Those who consider the iabricatons o. the Evening
Journal worth rccollccting, Will remember, that on the
9Th inst, it charged that when the two SpanIards,
Ru;z and Monicz, were arrested in New York, on
the afidarits Of the blacks, the President, in reply TO
the applicat;on of the Spanish Minister for the Exccu-
tive intcrnositlon in their favor, wrote TO Mr.. b. +. But
Ter, the District Attorney, directing him to call upon
The imprisoned Spaniards, and devise some plan by
which the Spanish Governments should be satisfied, and
the oyrn interference Of the Executive obviated-that
MIR. Butler called upon them accordingly, and after pre-
missing that he had received a letter from Washington
concerning their Imprisonment, recommended h@t they
ShovId prorure bail ind flee The counfry-that in reply to
the difficulties suggested by the Spaniards. of procuring
bail, and of satisfying it in case of forfeiture, MIR. Is.
binted that he iraS authorized 10 proride for such a con-
fin gcncu, and still more earnestly insisted that they
sL0vd run aaray'-:hat Senior .hOntc- ''acted upcn Mc
syrocstion Of tho Erccutirc, communicated through Mr..
Butler, rarc bail, md Bcd The country'-and that ''Ruiz
declined to avail himself Of the prudent advice of the
President, and is still confined III the Egyptian tombs
in the CITY Of New York"
1t will be recollected also, that we stated ut the time,
that we did not profess 10 know any thing of the cir
cumstanccs to which the Evening Journal had allu-
ded; but that we should venture TO assert that the story
was in all respects a fabrication, or such a distortion OF
the actual facts as to place them beyond the recogni-
ton of those most familiar with them: We felt conf
dent of this, not only from the high character, person
ally and officially, of the President and MIR. Butler, but
the we'll known ~profigacy OF the source of the lmputa'
ton. We beg leave now to lay before the public a let
Ter from MIR. Butler, on this subject, written in reply to
a suggestion Of ours, that if he regarded the allegations
of the Evening Journal, inendacious as it is conceded
to be, rs worthy Of the least notice, this perhaps was a
case in which it might be worth while not TO leave 1t
altogether to the silent corrective afforded in the gene
raj estimate Of its character.
Mr.. Buffers letter will speak for itself-We shall
BIZ no means libel the public estimate of character so
much as to doubt its judgment, in a question of ve-
racitv between him and the conductor ofthe Evening
Journal. We have nderscored several passages in the
letter:
sNEw YORK, Feb. 10, 1910.
"Dear SRI have received your letter of the 9th
inst. calling my attention to an article in the Evening
Journal of the preceding day, headed "Thc Amistad
Africans with the copy Of that paper addressed tt
me by YOU. am not in The habit of noticing newspa-
per articles IF this sort; but since you request IT, and as
an act Of Justice to the President, against whom the at
tack is chiefly aimed, | will, in this instance depart
from my general rule.
"The article referred to, so far as it relates to any
communication received by me, or any act Of mine, IS
in crcry material particular, uhoHy DESTITUTE OF
TRUTH. have never received any letter from the Pre-
sident, in relation to the case of Messrs. Ruiz and Mon
tcz; nor has any communication, on this subject, come
10 me from him, except through the Secretary OF State,
from whom I have received two official letters, each
of which is stated to have been written by the IRE
sident's direction. Neither Of these letters contained
anu such instruction or suggestion as IS alleged by tn
~urter in the Ere. Journal; nor did J trT make "a
.Hessrs. Rui= and Monies, or either Of them, any snch
communication as IS imputed 10 me. iRdetd, before
receirrd tc first letter addressed TO me by the Secretary o
State frhifh came to my hands on tie 2eM Of Oct05e
yast) .Mr. Monies had been discharged from arrest, ana
had departed for Cuba, in consequence Of arhich, ! sEvEr
HAD, WITH Elm, Any coasusIcATIoy wHATKrsa- Be