New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1858-01-07

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ference Of any UnteiS authority; for. If
were admitted belligerent- against power wh which
The United states wos at peace the owneTs Of the
tral vessel had ccur right 10 warlke persons
well conraband - wal, subject only To the risk
of capture by the enemy CRUISER We did not for
moment imagnetha naval officers would undertake to
place restraints American in the absence
ederal law and Congressional authority. The defer
enoe, too we know your Exeelleucy has for the Con
stituiion of the United States precluded the suppos
ton that any ovders had been Sued to dean cap
turs American vessel Whose papers showed she
va. engaged in q lawful voyage.
Satisfied we were Of the entire legality of our
voyage, did not hesitate to enter the port OF san
Juan de Nicaragua, although We knew that a United
states -loOp-of-yar present IN the harbor But
we had scarcely landed before subjected to
sere- of Illegal and insulting acts by the commander
of the Saratoga. These acts have been detailed in
i've letters addressed by me TO Commodore Pauding
AID now on tie, presume, in the Navy Department.
While we were being embarrassed by the action of
the Saratoga We had not been Idle. Col Anderson
who Rad served his native country throughout the
Mexican war-at the head Of 20 u,en, had assembled
the river and gained Possession a the stronghold
which in the last century had for days deied the ge
Mus of the proudest naval name in British annals
Not only this, bat he had reganed possession Of val
liable American property unlaviuily held BY Costa
Riean soldier and had given Che order TO restore il
to the agent claiming it for the Permit 10
ask whether il is sneh acts these which authorize
naval officers to apply TO us the >lest ephets Of
the language
Scarcely, however. had the Possession Of Castillo
Vieo opened to us the tn Lake Nicaragua and Ia
the regaining of all We had lost by Capt DAVIS
reference. than most grievous wrong was again
inflicted on us by Commodore Pauldng. On the 9Th
Of December the latter officer summoned Inc to sur
render to him, and the Ncarsguan flag a second
time hauled down NCaragusn soil BY the orders OF
| the United States Navy.
1t would be superervgatory Sir for me to say that
| the act of Capt. Pauldng Was without warrant of
law. Much too, as We felt the wrong, was not the
act itself as much as the in which was done
| that cut us to the quick We knew that the act was
in violation of the sacred charter-the Constitution of
| the United States. We knew that an authority higher
| than that of any Commodore-higher even than the
President of the United States-would vndcate the
sanctity Of violated law, and punish the offenders
against the American Constitution. We felt, too, that
the august and most potent sOvere gnthe people of
the United Staes--woud render justice for the inu
ries We sustained. But far more grevOus than the
surender-far more CALLING than TO see our
own flag lowered our own soil-was it to be
told that We were there to the dshonor of the United
| States. There were men on that sandy beach. Mr..
President, who had carried your flag alof amid the
thickest of the foe and one had been promoted by
predecessor in your Office for first planting your cOors
upon the nights of Cerro Gordo. Others among them
had led your soldiers scToss the continent and always
in the path of duty and honor. For such men to be
told that they dsgracsd the flag they had served
| 20 nObly and well was pang sharper than that of
| DEATH and might have wrung tear from men harder
and calous than he who inflicted the rreparable
| injury.
need not tell YOU that was unable TO anticipate
the act of Capt Pauldng. Military necessity required
me to hold Punta Arenas and the idea never entered
my mind that an American officer processing to exc
cute the law would far forget his duty to Infringe
not only wel-establshed international law, but also
| the requirements of that instrument with which are
involved the best hopes of mankind the Constitution
| of the United States. Even could have foreseen the
| action of Capt. Paulding, military reasons would
| have prevented from leaving the Point
| But if was impossible to imagine that vio-
| lent u step-marked as it was in is details by
| conduct worthy of soldiers in the sack of town
w,uld have been taken by an officer OF the United
States navy. And Mr. President, in the name OF the
official oath which You have taken in che presence Of
and to right the wrong presume not to direct your
wisdom in the course It shall pursue but in the name
of the whose rights your officers have infringed
and whose honor has been most harshy and heedessy
trampled in the dust, call for the justice it is your
| high prerogatiye TO bestow.
| But permit me TO conclude by adding that in all
events and under all circumstances there are duties
and responsibilities from which ! and the officers and
men represent will not dare not shrink. No extreme
of illegal interference, amount of hard words OF un
| just epithets deter us from following the path
which is before us. Tho tuncionaries of the Govern
ment may exhaust upon IA the explosives OF the Ian
| guage; they may insult the public conscience and
degrade their character, by applying to us all
| the epithets their morbid imaginaons suggest, but
conscious Of the right and justice of our cause, We
shall not relax our efforts be driven into ylO
| lation of the law. As long there is Central
American exiled from his native land and deprived Of
his property and civil rights for the services he
dered us in evil well good report, long shall
our time and energies be devoted to the work of
| their restoI alton. As long the bones of our COM
| pSions in arms, Hurdered under barbarous decree
of the Costa Rican Government, lie bleaching and I'M
buried on the hsdeS Of Nicaragua, 30 long shall our
brains contrive and hands labor for the justice
| which one day we will surely obtain. Permit your
officers if you can, to trample under foot the Con-
| stituton and the laws; pass unnoticed II you Will,
the most violent inyasions of individual rights
| and public duties; treat with and contempt
| if YOU choose, the demands for justice which we
humbly and deferentially place at your feet we Will
not be cast down dismayed We fight for the rights
Of our race which have been denied u by an migrate
fu and degraded arsocracy. We strive TO retain I'M
sulied the device some of ancestors have borne
on many field. "none shall wound us with IMMUNITY"
And as long faith in right sndures, and our con-
dence in the God Of our fathers remains unshaken so
long shall we all just and proper means to regain
what has been wrongfully wrested from us
have the honor to remain. with high respect,
Your obedent servant
WILLIAM WALKER.
To- his Excellcncy the Pr sident Of the United States.