Plenipotentiaries assembled at Aix-laChapelle, at once to have completed the work of peace in Europe; and to have laid a broad and fasting foundation, on which the deliverance of another great Quarter of the Globe, from a scourge far more severe than European Warfare in its most aggravated forms, might have been effected, by establishing an Alliance, which should for ever deny to the fraudulent Slave-Trader, of whatever nation, the cover of their respective flags for the purposes of his iniquitous traffic. Although disappointed in this hope, they will not despair of ultimately arriving at their object, whilst they have so powerful a cause to advocate; and whilst they can address themselves not less to the understandings than to the hearts of those Sovereigns, who, when assembled in Congress at Vienna, solemnly pronounced upon this question, and devoted their future exertions to the consummation of this work of peace. The British Ministers observe, that they derive additional consolation from the perusal of the documents above referred to; which, although they disappoint them for the present in their conclusion, render, nevertheless, in all their reasonings, SUCH MOMAGE TO THE PRINCIPLE of Abolition, and, in some of their details, so fully evince the strong sense of duty which animates the different Sovereigns in the prosecution of this measure, as to be regarded rather as the precursors of some decided effort for putting an end to this great moral evil, than as indicating, on their part, any abandonment of a cause, which, in the face of mankind, they have taken under their especial protection. It has been the fate of this question, they remark, in every stage of its progress, to have difficulties represented as insurmountable, which, in a little time, have yielded to perseverance, and to the more matured impulses of humanity. The lan. guage in every country has been at times discouraging; yet the principles of Truth and of Justice have ultimately triumphed, so as to have left only one great blot in the civilized world at this day unremoved. Every nation, one only excepted, has renounced this pollution; and even the King of Portugal has taken steps in the same direction, which afford a hope that he will deliver his people, in no very long time, from a practice which must degrade May, 1819. them in the scale of enlightened policy, só long as it shall continue to be tolerated amongst them. It is against the fraudulent SlaveTrader, that, with a view to the welfare of Africa, more decisive measures are urgently called for, because, were it not for his pestilential influence, more than half of that great Continent would at this day have been consigned to peaceful habits, and to the pursuits of industry and of innocent commerce. It is he, who, by his piratical practices on the Coast of Africa, in breach of the laws of every civilized Government, not only vexes that extended portion of the Globe, but has undone the work of many years of slow, but successful improvement. It is the fraudulent Slave Trader, who has there introduced anew this traffic, with all its desolating influence on the interior of the country; and which, if not soon checked by measures of a decisive character, will banish thence, not only every trace of improvement, but all commerce except that of Slaves. The British Plenipotentiaries then proceed to state, that although, in the view of the speedy departure of the Sovereigns from Aix-la-Chapelle, they could not hope for a more favourable decision on the plans which they had been directed to propose; yet they could not satisfy their own sense of duty, were they not to record, for the mature consideration of the different Cabinets, their observations upon the objections which had been brought forward; and they express a confident expectation that the subject may, at no distant period, be resumed in London, and prosecuted, under more favourable auspices, to some more decisive result. And first, with respect to the Russian Note, the British Plenipotentiaries lament, that the Russian Cabinet, in the contemplation of other measures to be hereafter taken, should have been discouraged with respect to the great good which lay within their reach; and that his Imperial Majesty should thus have abstained, for the present, to throw into the scale of the proposed measure his illustrious and powerful example. They observe, that it appears that the Russian Government looks forward to a moment, when Portugal shall have finally abolished the Slave Trade, for founding a system upon the Coast of Africa, and for erecting an Institution there of a new character, and to be entrusted with extensive 2 D powers; but they express their doubts, as to the practicability of founding or preserving in activity so novel and so complicated a system. If the moment should have arrived, when the traffic in Slaves shall have been universally prohibited; and if, under such circumstances, the mode should have been devised by which this offence shall be raised in the Criminal Code of all civilized nations to the standard of Piracy; they conceive that this species of Piracy, like any other act falling within the same legal principle, will, by the Law of Nations, be amenable to the ordinary tribunals of any or every particular State: that the individuals charged with Piracy, can plead no national character in bar of such jurisdiction, whether taken on the high seas or on the African Coast. If they be Pirates, they are "hostes humani generis." They are under the protection of no flag; and the proof of the fact of Piracy, by sufficient evidence, places them at once within the jurisdiction of the first criminal tribunal of competent authority, before whom they may be brought. It seems equally unnecessary to have recourse to so new a system for arriving at a qualified and guarded right of visit. In this, as in the former instance, the British Plenipotentiaries observe, that the simplest means will be found to be the best; and that such means will generally be found to consist in some modification of what the established practice of nations has for ages sanctioned. They then urge the reasons which appear to render this mode preferable to the establishment of the new Institution proposed by the Russian Government; and then ask, why the Russian, Austrian, and › Prussian Governments should unnecessarily postpone taking some measure for the suppression of the Slave Trade for an indefinite period, and until Portugal shall have universally abolished it; for there are, now, more than two-thirds of the Coast of Africa which might be as beneficially operated upon as if that much-wished-for æra had already arrived. Portugal herself has given unanswerable arguments upon this point, by conceding the right of visit north of the Equator; where the Abolition has now been completed, as well by herself, as by Spain and all other Powers. They then combat the reasons which appear to have influenced the Russian Government to defer its adherence to granting the right of mutual visit; which appears expressly to be delayed, until there is reason to presume, that a general concurrence is attainable; and they shew how much the chance of success would have been improved, had the Three Powers in question followed the example of those who have already adopted the system; and how much narrowed the chance of fraud would have been, had the sphere of the Alliance been extended by their accession. In adverting to the Memoir of the French Minister, the British Plenipotentiaries observe, that the objections on the part of France are of a more general description, and such, as it is hoped, time will of itself serve to remove. With regard to the objections against the concession of a qualified right of mutual search, as if there were some moral incompetency in the French Nation to conform themselves to the measure; and as if what is felt by the Crowns of Spain and Portugal, and of the Netherlands, to be no disparagement to the honour of their flag, nor any inconvenient surrender of the commercial rights and interest of their people, would, in France, work nothing but a sense of humiliation and discontent; they indulge the hope, that although, at first sight, strong prejudices may exist against the measure, a people so enlightened will, when the whole subject is brought fairly before them, not fail cordially to answer to an appeal made by their Government to the generosity of their feelings upon such a point: but, that, should a doubt or murmur arise among the people at the first aspect of it, they might be told that four of the most considerable of the Maritime Powers of the World have cheerfully united their exertions in this system, for the deliverance of Africa; and that the British People, so sensitively alive as they are known to be to every circumstance that might impede their commercial pursuits or expose the national flag to an unusual interference, have betrayed no apprehension on the subject, and that not a single remonstrance has been heard against it-that should the French people fear that their commercial interests on the Coast of Africa might be injured, they would find, on inquiry, that, to preserve and improve their legitimate commerce on that coast, they cannot pursue a more effectual course, than by uniting the efforts of France to those of other Powers for putting down the Illicit Slave-Trader, who is now become an armed freebooter, combining the plunder of merchant vessels, of whatever nation, with his illegal speculations in Slaves-that the idea, that French Merchant Ships frequenting the coast may experience interruption and delays by such visits; that disputes may occur between them and the subjects of Foreign Powers; that officers may possibly abuse their trust, notwithstanding the precautions taken by the respective Governments; if calmly reduced to their true value, are such minor inconveniences, when compared with the aggravated horrors of an Illicit Slave Trade, that they think the French Government will scarcely hesitate in its decision upon such an alternative. With regard to what the French Memoir says against the principle of subjecting the property of French Subjects to any other jurisdiction than that of their own tribunals, the British Plenipotentiaries observe, that this practice is by no means unusual; nay, that in time of war, for the security of the belligerent, it is constantly the case-the neutral being, in all cases, amenable for the alleged infractions of the rights of the belligerent in matters of blockade, contraband of war, &c. to the tribunals of the belligerent, and not to his own, or any mixed tribunal:-but that if it be said, this is not a case of war, but a regulation introduced in peace, and for the first time, the obvious answer is, Does the case warrant the innovation? and that, if it does, the novelty of the practice ought to form no decisive objection to its adoption but they add, that it is by no means true, that this is the first instance, in time of peace, where the pro perty of the subject has been brought under a jurisdiction other than the ordinary tribunals of his own State; and quote, as a decisive authority, the two Conventions, which, in Nov. 1815, referred the private claims upon the French Government, immense as they were in amount, to the decision of a Mixed Commission - similarly constituted. And they proceed to observe, that the claimant, in the present case, would gain a singular advantage, by having his case disposed of by such a Commission, which he could not obtain were he proceeded against in his own Courts, of in that of the capturing power for the restitution of his property; namely, that the Commission, in deciding upon his cause, not only has the power of pronouncing upon his wrongs, but can give him, by its decision, ample damages, for the discharge of which (according to the terms of the Convention) the State of the capturing ship is made answerable; whereas, in an ordinary case of capture, he would have a dilatory and expensive suit to carry on against perhaps an insolvent captor. The British Plenipotentiaries, in the conclusion of their Note, express their satisfaction at the determination announced, of introducing into all the French Colonies a Registry of Slaves; and their hope that this and other beneficent arrange ments may operate powerfully, so far as the mischief has decidedly a French character: but they state, that, until all against the Illicit Slave-Trader, AT LEAST the principal Powers can agree to have, as ON THE COAST OF AFRICA, but one common flag and co-operating force, they will not have gone to the full extent of their means to effectuate their purpose, in conformity to their declarations at Vienna. Despatch of Lord Castlereagh to Earl Bathurst. In a Despatch from Viscount Castlereagh to Earl Bathurst, dated Aix-la-Chapelle, 23d Nov. last, his Lordship states, that, after presenting to the consideration of the Conference this review of the objections brought forward against the measure of mutually conceding the right of visit, he had had an audience of the Emperor of Russia; at which he took occasion to represent to his Imperial Majesty, in the strongest terms, the necessity of taking some effective measure of this nature, without delay, and without waiting for the decree of Final Abolition on the part of Portugal; and that his Majesty promised to give directions to his Ministers, that the consideration of the question should be re-opened in London, under fresh in structions. His Lordship states, that the modification of this measure, which he had finally urged, and he trusts with considerable hope of success, is, that, in addition to the limitation of the right of visit to the Coast of Africa, and to a specific number of ships. of each Power, the duration of the Convention should be for a limited number of years; at the end of which period, the several States would again have it in their power to review their decision, after some experience of its convenience or inconve nience, of its efficacy to the object, and of the necessity of its being renewed, regard being had to the then state of the Illicit Slave Trade. His Lordship observes, that this arrangement would sufficiently meet the most pressing wants of the case, whilst it would go less permanently to disturb the acknowledged principles of Maritime Law, as regulating the right of visit. By the aid of this latter expedient, his Lordship flatters himself, he has made a considerable impression in removing the strong repugnance which was at first felt to the measure. In this Despatch, Viscount Castlereagh inclosed a projêt of the Letter, to be addressed by the Sovereigns to the King of Portugal, on this subject. This Letter, after referring to the Declaration of the Congress of Vienna, and to the measures subsequently taken to carry that Declaration into effect, adds "If the result of the Conferences of Aix-la-Chapelle, which consummate the pacification and guarantee the prosperity of Europe, still leave a wish, it is that of seeing insured the final triumph of the Declaration of the 8th of February, 1815, by means of an Act decreeing the Aboli tion of the Slave Trade, in all parts, and for ever; and that the Sovereigns should not be permitted to separate, without turning their confident regards towards the Powers, to whom the Supreme Arbiter of the destinies of the earth has reserved the glory of putting an end to the afflic tions of an unfortunate population." Thus ended the Conferences and Proceedings at Aix-la-Chapelle, respecting the more effectual Abolition of the African Slave Trade; and thus have the Directors been disappointed in the hopes which they had entertained, of seeing the noble principles announced to the world by the Congress at Vienna carried into complete effect, by the Sovereigns and Plenipotentiaries assembled in the course of the last autumn. Whether such another opportunity of bringing those principles into action may ever again occur, cannot be foreseen; but the Directors must be allowed to express their unfeigned regret, that so very favourable a combination of circumstances has led to such unimportaut results. NEGOCIATION BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND THe united states In the month of June last, Lord Castlereagh addressed a Letter to Mr. Rush, the American Minister in London, respecting the more effectual Abolition of the African Slave Trade; in which his Lordship observed, that, with the exception of the Crown of Portugal, all States had now either actually prohibited the traffic in Slaves to their subjects, or fixed an early period for its cessation, whilst Portugal had also renounced it to the north of the Equator; that, from May 1820, there would not be a flag which could legally cover this detested traffic, to the north of the Line; and that there was reason to hope, that the Portuguese might ere long be also prepared to abandon it to the south of the Equator: but that, until some effectual concert should be established amongst the principal Maritime Powers, to prevent their respective flags from being made a cover for an Illicit Slave Trade, there was but too much reason to fear, whatever might be the state of the law on this subject, that the evil would continue to exist; and, in proportion as it assumed a contraband form, would be carried on under the most aggravated circumstances of cruelty and desolation; and that it was from a deep conviction of this truth, founded upon experience, that the British Government, in all its late negociations upon this subject, had endeavoured to combine a system of alliance for the suppression of this most injurious practice, with the engagements which it had succeeded in contracting with the Governments of Spain and Portugal for the total or partial Abolition of the Slave Trade. His Lordship inclosed to Mr. Rush copies of those Treaties, together with the Acts which had recently received the sanc tion of Parliament for carrying them into execution. He also transmitted a copy of the Treaty which had just been concluded with the King of the Netherlands, for the like purpose; to which his Lordship was induced to call Mr. Rusli's attention more particularly, as it contains provisions calculated to limit the powers mutually conceded by the former Treaties, in a manner which, without essentially weakening their force, might render them more acceptable to the contracting parties. Lord Castlereagh earnestly begged of Mr. Rush to bring these documents under the serious consideration of the President of the United States; intimating to him the earnest wish of the British Govern ment, that the exertions of the two countries might be combined upon a somewhat similar principle, to put down this great moral disobedience to the laws of both countries, wherever it might be committed; and expressing his belief, that this could not effectually be done except by mutually conceding to each other's ships of war a qualified right of search, with a power of detaining the vessels of either State with Slaves actually on board; and remar ing, that, if the American Government were disposed to enter into a similar concert, and could suggest any further regulations the better to obviate abuse, the British Government would be most ready to listen to such suggestions; their only object being to contribute, by every effort in their power, to put an end to this disgrace ful traffic. Mr. Rush most readily promised to transmit to his Government copies of Lord Castlereagh's Note, and the docu. ments which accompanied it. Towards the latter end of December, Mr. Rush transmitted an answer to Lord Castlereagh. In this Note, Mr. Rush states, that he had been distinctly commanded, in the first place, to make known the sensibility of the President to the friendly spirit of confidence in which the Treaties between Great Britain, Portugal, Spain, and the Netherlands, and the legislative measures of Parliament founded upon them, had been communicated to the United States; and to the invitation which had been given, that they would join in the same or similar arrangements, the more effectually to accomplish the beneficial object to which they look. He was further commanded to give the strongest assurances, that the solicitude of the United States for the universal extirpation of the Slave Trade continues with all the earnestness which has so long and steadily distinguished the course of their policy in relation to it. Of their general Prohibitory Law of 1807, Mr. Rush says it is unnecessary for him to speak, his Lordship being already apprised of its provisions; amongst which, the authority to employ the national force, as auxiliary to its execution, will not have escaped attention. But he has it in charge to make known, as a new pledge of their unremitting and active desire in the cause of Abolition, that so lately as the month of April last, another Act of Congress was passed, by which not only are the citizens and vessels of the United States interdicted from carrying on, or being in any way engaged in the trade; but in which also, the best precautions that legislative enactments can devise, or their penalties enforce, are raised up against the introduction into their territories of Slaves from abroad, under what ever pretext attempted, and especially from dominions which lie more immediThat ately in their neighbourhood. peculiarity in the eighth section of the Act, which throws upon a defendant the labour of proof as the condition of acquittal, Mr. Rush persuaded himself would be regarded as signally manifesting an anxiety to suppress the hateful offence; departing, as it does, from the analogy of criminal jurisprudence, which so generally requires the independent and positive establishment of guilt, as the first step in every public prosecution. To measures of such a character, thus early adopted and sedulously pursued, he was further commanded to say, that the Government of the United States, acting within the pale of its constitutional powers, would always be ready to superadd any others, that experience may prove to be necessary for attaining the desirable end in view. But, on examining the provisions of the above-mentioned Treaties, it has appeared to the President, that their essential articles are of a character not adapted to the circumstances or to the institutions of the United States. The powers agreed to be given to the ships of war of either party-to search, capture, and carry into port for adjudication the merchant vessels of the otherhowever qualified, are connected with the establishment, by each Treaty, of two Mixed Courts, one of which is to have its seat in the Colonial Possessions of the parties respectively. The institution of such tribunals is necessarily regarded as fundamental to the whole arrangement; whilst their peculiar structure is doubtless intended, and would seem to be indispensable towards imparting to it a just reciprocity. But to this part of the system the United States, having no Colonies upon the Coast of Africa, in the West Indies, er elsewhere, cannot, it is said, give effect Moreover, the powers of Government in the United States, whilst they can only be exercised within the limits, are also subject to the restrictions of the Federal Constitution. By the latter instrument, |
