The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1851-08-12

and too o'clock Of tAs night Of the 26-1th
a September, 1914. The letter Of Mr.. DabnsJ
bears date o'clock at night, In which he dspre
cstes rene Esd stts,k on the American brig BY
the naval force Of His Britannia sesty in the port
ofFayzl, In violation ofthe neutrality of the port;
aud urges the interposition Of the Governor with
the british naval commander TO prevent so great q
calamity. THIS letter s answered by the Governor,
Eiiss Jose de Ribeiro, by an address to the COM
msrder 81 the British naval forces in port, at the
heur Of ~ clock Of the same night in which the
Gossrnsr aesaan,' hin that il the pert OF fays
Prince Regent OF Portugal, lies ar anchor tho
United ~tnes schooner OF var General Armstrong,
~Lich has been Obliged To come here Tor want OF
water. The g. pyerpur then proceeds to urge the
neutrality ~ Portugal. acknowledged by His Bri
fannie Majesty aud adnonishes the comm 'nders OF
hb naval forces 20 respect the vessels lying in thai
port Tie IN axes a further request al the hands OF
Captain Lloyd, that he will abstain from any hos
tiliiy against the General Armstrong. To this
Official note the ander Of the British squadron,
a such. replied by the statement of palpable
falsehood, known TO be such TO the Governor, and
TO the inhabitants generally OF ftyal, in these
words -" Permit me 90 inform you that one Of the
boats Of Ills Britannia Msjesty's ship, under my
command, was, without the slightest proyo,a:ion,
fred on by the Americ IA schooner q IN Armstrong,
In coaseq uebce Of which two men were killed, aud
seven we're wounded aud that the neutrality Of the
port. which had determined to respect, has been
thereby violated. la consequence Of this outrage
an determined 10 take possession OF that vessel,
the force employed for that purpose"
IL Is false that but one boat Of his Britannia Ma
jes'y's ship Was fred on by the American brig Ge.
neral Armstrong; II 10 false that the neutrality Of
the port had been violated by the American brig;
il is false that the commander of the British naval
forces IN the port OF Fayai had determ ned to re-
spect the neutrality Of the port; ami on these mi
sersble pretexts, founded on falsehood, and known
to be such, ne expresses bis determination 10 take
possession Of the brig, aud has the further lnpu.
dence to express hope that the Governor wilt or.
der his forts TO protect the force employed for that
purpofe! IL has rarely happened that so many
unqualified fslsehoods, and so much arrogant i'm.
pudence, have been convey ed in so short an epise.
Instead Of only one boat which was fred on by tn,
American brig, four boats, fully manned and equip
ped for boarding, and wnica we're approaching the
brig while Captain Reid was ende ivoring to place
her under the guns Of tho castle, first warned
Of, and then drcd for the protection Of the brig
when the intention Of the assailants could no
longer be doubted. Is this the mode in whi,h
Captain Lloyd intended to demonstrate his deter
mination to protect the neutrality Of the port of
Fayal! But IL is needless to amin advert further
this singular note, as it stands self condemned from
beginning to end. AT o'clock on the morning of the
9th ofSeptember, Governor Ribeiro replied to this
note Of the British commander, aud states en-
phatically that, by il see the motives which in
duce you to violate the neutrality of this port, in
the contest now existing between His Britannia
Majesty and the United states OF America. They
have been sufficiently demonstrated by the results,
and now look with alarm ut those which may fol-
low" The Governor further says :-"l must,
however, assure you, sir, that from the accounts
which have received, il is certain that the British
boats were the first to attack the Ameri-
can brig lie then reminds the British com
Mander that he should nov give some public evil
dence of the harmony, friendship, alliance, and
Sovereign and the Prince Regent of Portugal, by
putting an end to the hostlities begua at o'clock
this night"
The next com mum cation from the Governor of
the Azores to the commander of the British
squadron succeeding tho just noticed, is dated
two o'clock at night, being only one hour after
wards. In this last note the Governor complains
that the commander of the British fleet had not
considered the letter which he wrote one hour pre-
vious worthy OF an answer, and earnestly requests
him TO Suspend hostii against the American
bng [now lying in this portl until he should
ha re had conference with the Governor ON the
subject, as to what may be bes, FOR the interests of
Ills Britannia Majesty and the Prince Regent of
Portugal" This communication was responded
TO by His Britannia Majesty's Consul at Fayal,
VINO informs tho Governor that "an olicer
from Ills Britannia Majesty ship Piantagenet,
cane here with q request that | should
accompany him to your IExcolleucy's quar,crs."
The British Consul complained Of sickness, and de-
clined the interview, but proceeded to state 'iis
object lie to inform you, that the ncrcins having
this port, the commandcr VIII send brig from ths
squadron to fire ON the American schooner; aud it
said brig should encounter any hostiliies from the
castle, or your Excclency should allow the mists to
be take from that schooner, he would regard this
GLAND as an enemy of Ills Britannia Majesty, and
would treat the town and castle accordingly
Thus ends this most extraordinary correspon-
dencc, which not only fully sustains the protest OF
Capt. Reid, but demonstrates beyond tho possibility
OF doubt, the fixed determination OF the commander
Of uthe British 6eet, at the moment he entered the
port of Fayal to avail himself Of the weakness OF
that island, and the unprotected condition Of the
American brig, in the presence OF the formidable
naval force under his command, to capture the brig
without dan age to her hull, rigging, or armament,
and make her q useful adjunct to the naval force
then lying in tho hsrbor OF Jamaica, of which this
squadron was TO form n part, and which was des-
tined for the mouth Of the Mississippi river, and the
capture Of the city of New Orleans. This achieve
ment, Capt. Lloyd imagined, could DC readily ac-
comTlished without a struggle, as the brig
could not be expected to hazard a conflict with
such fearful odds. But 10 this Capt. Lloyd
found himself cgregiously mistaken. Hence hi,
modification euuced by the arrogance and
violence OF his conduct and language to Cover
nor Ribeiro, whose weakness he insulted alth oug'
an ancient ally Of his Britannia Majesty, by an un
called for menace to consider the island IN state
of hostility TO Great Britain, and to reduce both
the Island and the CASTLE II any opposition from tbs
shore should DO made to his contemplated attack
OH tho American brig. This IL the manner III
which this bold commander treated, at that time,
hs friend and ally, and obviously tainted him
with his weakness to deter HIM from any effort to
maintain the neutrality Of his port. We shall see,
hereafter, bow tho government oil England has
attempted 10 turn this same weakness TO her own
account and 10 cast a shade the efforts of the
government Of the United States 10 obtain indem.
nifty and vindicstc the rights Of our Own citizens
aud the national honor equally violated in the at
tack made the American brig in the nou,ra
port Of Fsyd.
This evidence, drawn from the highest authorit,
in Faysl, who was AN eye witness OF the who'll
| transaction. and whose efforts were made in goo'
faith to arrest the unlawful proceedings OF the com
msndcr of the British feet coming, as does, frou
| the authorities Of Portugal must be deemed con
elusive in respect TO the aggressor and thereby th'
responsibility Of the violation VI the neutral right
| of Portugal is fixed On the commander VI tn
British fleet, unless some testimony more clear an'
| explicit can be adduccd to imrlicate the commsndc
Of the American brig rs the first sggrcssor ia oP
| position 70 such inference. not only the dlrec
| i.sumcny, hut every attribute Of human ressoi
! may be called into action.
| The FIRE, impulse Of gallant commander having
/ the command OF single brig wItha email amour
a iotoe ana metal, finding his vessel IN tue ncigh
boibuod OF greatly sup, nor force would NATURAL.
be tetto seek safety by AL tue mean
! at ms command This Is prircipe ct our natur