The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1849-10-10


nander Carpenter for the facts; and without as
far as il appears, taking the opinion OF the Attor-
ney General as to the law enclosed copies Of those
letters TO the French minister in justification OF
the refusal to comply with the demand OF the
French government, and without addressing any
argument TO the French minister on the question
of salvage. Then it that nj. Poussin ad
dressed to MIR. Clayton his note the 3Oth of May,
which was deemed offensive. After this note was
received, Mr.. Clayton despatched it to the French
government, and submitted the validity of Com
mander Carpenters claim for salvage, the real
foundation of the whole matter, to the considera-
. ton of the Attorney General"
Thus, not only did the Union, on the
23d Of September, consider the validity OF
the claim for salvage as ''the real founda-
ton of the whole matter" but it twitted Mr..
Clayton for his omission to address "any
argument to the French minister on the
question of salvage" when he sent to the
latter copies of Commander Carpender's
letters in justification of the refusal of our
Government to comply with the demand OF
the French government.
Now, if the validity of Commander Car
pender's claim for salvage constituted "the
real foundation of the whole matter" and
the validity of that claim could be estab-
lished, then would Commander Carpenter
stand blameless before his country and the
whole world, and his Government be abun-
dainty justified for refusing to censure him
at the demand Of the French government.
But this, as its subsequent conduct incon-
testably proves, was the very reverse of
what the Union wanted. What it did de-
sire, and what it was determined, if possi-
BILE, to effect, was to put its own Govern
ment in the wrong, in the controversy
which the insulting language ofthe French
minister had forced upon it; and, to effect
this disloyal and dastardly purpose, it
was, with malignity characteristic OF IT.
self alone, ready to sacrifice meritorious
and gallant officer in our navy.
No sooner, therefore, did the Union
perceive-which it did very soon thereaf
ter-that it had gone the wrong way to
work to accomplish its Infamous purposes,
than it forthwith departed from the course
which it had at first taken, and started on
a new and entirely different tack. On
Sunday the Odd Of September, as we have
seen, it pronounced the validity OF Com
mander Carpenters claim for salvage to
be ''the real foundation Of the aohole mat
ter,'' and even twitted Mr.. Clayton for
not addressing an argument to the French
minister on that identical question. On
Tuesday, the 25th-having, in the inte-
rim, discovered it was on the wrong, that
is, the american, tack-it did ''not think
the validity of claim for salvage thus
abandoned of much importance; but il APP
pretended that the complaint of the French
government grew out of the unauthorized
detention of the vessel for the purpose of
obtaining compensation. On Thursday
(the 27th) it urged that the question pre-
sented in M. Poussin's note, demanding
the censure of Commander Carpenter,
was ssnot involved in the validity of Com
mander Carpenters claim for salvage"
On Friday (the 2Sth) it "capped the eli
MAXI by boldly denying that it had ever
said it considered the demand for salvage
''of any special Importance" We will
quote this denial in its own words:
From the Union Of Sept. Is.
AS to assailing the claims of Commander Car
pender, we have never done Az yet, we have
not expressed any definite opinion to the legal
| ity of his claim. We have said from the first,
that we did not consider the demand for salvage
of any special Importance; for the complaint OF
| the French government directed entirely
against the detention of the ship Eugene under
that claim. Commander Carpenters right to
compensation might have been clear, and yet his
detention of the vessel may have been unau-
| thorized."
Said from the first that it did not con-
slider the demand for salvage OF any sPe-
cia importance Why, just five days
before, as we have already shown by ex-
tracts from its own columns, the Union
| ueCldTeu tue NdiultJ vi NOi'nahNSi Ooi
pender's claim for salvage" to be " the
real foundation of the whole matter;" and
imputed to Mr.. Clayton, as an omission,
that he had not addressed "any argu-
ment TO the French minister on the ques-
ton of salvage" at the time he sent him
the letters written by Commander Car.
pender 10 the Secretary of the Navy in
justification of his conduct And this
abominable falsehood the Union delibe-
rately and unbushingly tells, for the Pur-
pose of bolstering up the French minister
in his understandable demand for the cruel
infection of Severe cenSure on gallant
and meritorious officer in our navy, and
of extricating that minister from the diff
culties he had got into, by urging that de-
mand in language the most offensive and
insulting to the Government OF the United