The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1858-07-08
the New York Times.
SLAVE TRADE TREATIES.
! . WAsHlNoros, June y, 1853.


ai y q WAsHlNGroS, June ~, 1858.
] have rarely read more interesting docu.
ment than the message Of the President, under
the date Of 2lst April, to the Senate, communi.
eating the correspondence between the Amer.
| can and British Governments, on the African
slave trade. Tae public wAs FIRST appraised,
through the correspondence Of the Times, that,
after the receipt Of many com municAtions on
the subject from her Msjoty's Government,
Gen. Csss had made . general and comprehea-
sive reply, fully setting forth The views of this
Government The coerespondeuce was, IN due
time, called fer BY the Senate, and now appears
in pamphlet. g-7' e sfce'iesef e. = ~ t'ff
TIE 6rst paper showsn the ruling passion
strong in DEATH" Il ID D note OF three lines
from Mr.. Champion, dsted May -, 1866, fur.
nishing, for the Information oftie State Depart
msnt, memoranda from the British Commits
sioners at Losnda, west coast Of Africa, as to
the mode in which the slave trade was carried
on in the yesr 1855. Three days after the re-
csipt Of this letter, Nj. Crampton was peremp
The Commissioner assert that on the slss
Of December, 1866, vesssl believed TO be
American shipped 500 slaves from point on
the coast of Bsnguels. They proceed: One
Lucas, Q notorious slaHe. dealer, driven off in
1864, had lately rsappsarsd = bod offered fifty
or sixty milressn per head fox slaves.
Il Aug. 2, l857.-Lord Napier informed Gen.
Ca~ Of the cases Of the brigantines Adams
Gray and w. D. Mller, of New Orleans. 1t
appeared, from the report OF the British Consnf
6 Lagos, that about the LIST of February. 1857,
the Adams Gray Vas capsared by the British
steamer -Prometheus, with all the usual equip
ments of Q slAye cargo, and With $40, 500 10
specie. She threw overheard her Spanish
American papers, and, having no evidence of
nationally, was condemned: as.tf rs.
The captain Of the ". 2. Miller was more
audacious and astute. .Hsskspt his American
papers, sa;isd. boldly through 5 Aeet Of British
merchantmsn. in Lagos Roads, was pursued,
showed his American papers, and avovsd that
the purpose Of his voyage vas 70 ship slsves.
| On the 10th Of 8eptember, 1885,, Lord Napier
sends 70 Gen. Cesa . resolution of tho House
of Commons, praying her MAjesty to use all
practicable meaps 70 suppress the slaye trade,
70 which her Majesty graciously responds that
she WILL. sl3sI ! -. 80 -, a -.
Oct.l9-Commodore Conover, commanding
American squadron on the coaat of Africa,
writes to Mr.. Touosy concerning the capture,
BY Commodore Vice, in the British steamer
Vesuvius, of the brigantines Bremen, wearing
American colors Itappears that on the 10th
Of October, l857, ths Bremen WAS oyerhauled
| BY the Vesuvius-th&t Commodore Wise went
on board, saying, in effect, II do not want TO
tsee your papers, which l know we fraudulent,
bat shall take the vesssl, and know givs you
the choice of being taken under the American
flag or otherwise" The captain said that, il
taken AZ an American, he would be liable TO
be hanged as pirate, and threw his flag and
papers overheard. This conduct Commodore
Conover thought nnxarantabls, and he asnt 10
xh<xu<n -
ing that this practice of the British commanders
sufficiently shows why 20 ymsny vessels are
taken without colors on papsrs--the reason be-
ing, in brief, that the masters are. induced to
destroy them by the threats and misrepresenta,
tons of the British boarding oficers.s sse
Oct. l3, ls57.-Edward Gabriel, who ap
pears to be British Consul or agent at Loanda,
states that the American vessel Onward had
been captured BY the steamer Electo, without
any papers of nationality. The ship or barque
Charles, of Boston, was found BY the steamer
Sappho embarking slaves at Caveca de Oabrs,
"copper" Head y was chased, and ran upon the
breakers, by which incident 200 slaves ware
drowned, 1853 rescued, and the captain and
crew, with part of the slaves, escaped. The
Myrmidon caught an American brig near the
same place.
The Consul is grieved to inform the Commo
dore that slavers, under the American flag, in.
fest the coast in greater numbers than ever be-
fore. Among those then proving about for
slaves, he names the barques Petrol and Clara
B. Williams; the schooners Crimean, Louis Nc
Lane, and Windward, and the briggs jamestown
and Bremen. A good sized feet, it must be
admitted, for an illicit and prosecuted traffic.
Oct. l9, l857-Com. Conover sends strong
ly-expressed protest against the seizure of the
Bremen to Rear Admiral Sir F. w. Grey. He
declares the act in contravention of the treaty
of the neutral rights of Americans, and of the
right of the American Government to catch
and punish offenders against her own laws.
Dec. "a, 1857.-Lord Napier sends long
and important dispatch to Gen. Cass, covering
the whole subject of the slave trade. He de.
scribes eight cases of vessels being taken and
condemned as sIavers while wearing the Amer
lean flag. In addition, he stated that Portu.
guese men of war had captured the Gen. Pierce
and the Splendid-of which the latter was fitted
for the reception of thousand slaves. These
ten vessels were all captured during the " ear.
lier months of 1851" Lord Napier then pro-
ceeds to give list of nineteen other American
vessels believed to be engaged in the slave
trade. Among them are the Spirit of '76, the
Putnam. and the James Buchanan. The case
of the North Hand was peculiar. She had
been chartered for the ostensible purpose of
converting food to the starving inhabitants of
the Cape de Verde Islands The British Min.
lister caustically observed: "In this affair,
where benevolence was made subservient to
crime, the notorious house of Figaniere, Refs,
l. Co, was busy" Mr.. Figaniere is Consul of
Portugal in New York. After remarking that
the American complement of vessels and guns
under the treaty was not at all times kept up,
ols,Ha ~r:t
moral r. Elections on the slave trade.
April l3, ls57-Commissar Judge Craw-
ford, at Havana, writes to the Earl Of Ciaren.
don, that for many years the expeditions to the
coast of Africa have not been 90 numerous as
nov; that he has good reason to know that IF
teen vessels had been fitted out for the slave
trade in New Orleans within two months.
August 4, l857.-The British Commission.
ers at Havana report that the Spanish brig
Three Brothers has been altered, and rechrist-
ened with the American name Eliza, and sent
off on q slave voyage. Also, that the Ameri
can ship Hydra, 499, briggs Windwsrd and
Brahman, the schooner Niagara, and the Peru.
Wan ship Architect, were in Havana, preparing
for slave voyages. An American, named
Drinkwater, calling himself resident Of Port.
land, was the purchaser and outf.ter of all
these vessels. The Commissioners say the w
D. Miller, the same American brig which, about
May IL, l847, was boarded by British officers
near Loands, showed American papers, and
declared the object of their voyage was the
slave trade. This same vessel landed near
Sierra Moreno, in Cuba, 4l5 Bozals, and was
then burnt Ten days before this occurrence,
600 were landed at Vertientes.
|. Feb. g. ls57.--Mr. Gabriel writes from Lo-
anda to the Earl of Clarendon, that athe whole,
or nearly the whole, Of the slave trade at pres