The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1845-07-26
THE RIGHT OF VISITATION.

Ar,inteIgent" Officer Of the Navy" is calling tn
Lille attention TO the mysteries of the slave-trade
lod the precepts and practice Of the English gov
.,om.nt on the right of search. Wepublish his 81
rumber in this evenings paper and shall follow Il
with the other numbers Of the series. We, N
arr urn, call the attention of the readers OF The
,rro;on,, TO his essays. From his service In the
,orcon squadron on the coast of Africa, he is IA
ni,r with the practices of the slave-dealers, as well
with the conduct of the British vessels OF war on
~, coast We have no doubt that he will give us
. an and accurate information on oil these points.
or correspondent discusses in his earlier numbers
/. course of Great Britain in relation to the right OF
.oh We cannot too earnestly recommend
,ho.o valuable papers to our reasers--at time
when an earnest desire TO arrest the horrors
tho cxecrable slaye-tradc might prompt us
o,orlnok some of the means which Great
pri,on is employing for this purpose Among
hasa il her claim TO search those vessels
| ,L;,b wear or assume the flags Of other nations.
~. rms, that our correspondent will examine this
claim in the course of his numbers We had
bored that Mr. Stevenson in London, and General
C,ss in Paris, had justly vindicated the exemption
onr A,o. II was taken for granted, that the stp-
,,,on TO which we agreed in the Ashburton treaty,
10 employ not less than eighty guns on the African
co,s had superseded the operation of the claim.
But it turns out, that Mr.. Upshur when Secretary
the Navy in l943 had in his instructions to Com
Perry, given some countenance to the doctrine ;
and that NJ Guizot has eagerly seized upon it, to
cover his Interpretation Of the 9Th article of the re-
cent convention with England. We confess that
we are not disposed to strike flag in this respect,
wi,bou, further examination; and we cannot forbear
the expression of our hope that the new Secretary
Of the Navy will revise these instructions, and
submit them to u more rigid analysis
We Law before our readers an extract from the
late speech of M. Guizot in the chambers, pre-
septinq the views which the French cabinet now
holds upon this subject. They appear to be some
what in conflict with the following expostons made
by NJ de Chatcaubriand the French plenipotentiary
at the Congress of Verona, in 1922
"If the French government could ever consent to
the right of search, the most fatal results would
follow. The national character of the French and
English is opposed to it. And if this opinion re-
CURED proofs, it would only be necessary to call to
mind that this very year, in time of general peace,
French blood has flowed upon the shores of Africa.
France recognises the liberty of the seas for all ac-
knowledged foreign flags, to whatever power they
may belong, She only claims that independence
which she respects in others, and which COMFORTS
with her dignity"
As our correspondent shows, Mr. Talleyrand re-
piled to Lord Castereagh at the Congress of Wen
no, that he would nsrer admit any other police of
the seas than that which each nation exercised
its own vessels"