Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1849-1856, 1849-09-27

self and his crew, he succeeded IN dong so,
and presented to the captain OF the Eugena
his claim for the legal amount Of sal, age
The captain refused 20 pay 1t, and Command
er Carpenter ihereupon restored the vessel
" hich he had detained from the time Of ef-
fecting her rescue but thirty hours, rs,-abandon-
ing his claim. lis conduct in the matter eIlc-
tied The decided appreciation Of Mr.. Clifford,
the American Minister, to whom it was after
ward submitted. The French Captain, how
ever, complained OF the treatment TO which
he and his vessel had been subjected by tn
detention, ard tn, French Minister addressed
note to the Secretary Of State, represeniue
that the French flag had been grossly insutcd,
and demanding the punishment, by dismissal
or Otherwise, of Commander Carpenter Mr..
Clayton, deemihg the matter one for the ac-
,ion Of the Navy Department, referred it TO
Nh. Preston, the Secretary, who procured
from Commander Carpenter detailed state
ment of,ll the facts of the case. This state
ment, with The accompanying evidence, was
transmitted by Mr.. Cayton to The French
Minister, accompanied by note expressing
the hope that it would be seen from the docu-
mcnis that no offence as intended, and that
it would prove entirely satisfactory ID the
French Government.
Instead Of submitting the documents TO
the French Government, the Minister wrote
to The Secretary of State letter in which he
characterized the action of the Department
on the subject in highly offensive terms, and
said that he was very sorry 10 " find the Am
ercan Government 50 ut'erly insen>ihle to the
dignity, and SO ignor9n, Of the interests, of its
Marine serylc, as it had shown itself TO be in
tits transaction"
To this insulting note no reply was made
BY the Presidents direction, the whole cor
respondence was Immediately transmitted to
! Mr. Rush, our Minister at the French Court,
and he was Instructed to lay it before the
| French Minister for Foreign Affairs and the
President, and to ask their attention 10 the
language which their Ambassador had seen
| fit to use. He was not directed to ask any
reparaion, or any censure Of their Minister,
bu: simply TO cal the attention Of the Govern
meu to the language in which tho dispatch
was couched No doubt, of course, was en-
,tertainel that immediate and voluntary repair
alton would be made Mr.. Rush accordingly
laid the whole matter before NJ de Tocque-
vile, the French Min ster Of Foreign AlIdirs
He examined the matter, and in despatch
addressed to Mr.. Rush, and transmitted by
him to our government, stated that the French
Executive saw no occasion for its action, and
that there had evidently been unnecessary re-
elimination and marked faults on both sides,
thus seeking to divide the responsibility,
and directly inculpating our Government
! This despatch, as soon as received was
submitted to General Taylor, who immedite-
y directed that no fur her correspondence
should 5e held with the French Minister, and
ordered his passports to be at once made out
and placed at his disposal. At the same time,
the Secretary of State under Gen. Tay or s
direction, wrote TO Mr.. Rush 20 inform NJ. dc
|Tocaueville, the French Minister for Foreign
Affairs, tLat his opinion upon ;he conduct OF
the American Government had not been solic-
Iited-that action and not criticism, was what
had been expected from him, and that before
this despatch should reach him Major Pous-
sn's passports would have been placed a, his
disposal.