The republic. [volume], June 22, 1849, Image 2

About The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853

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From tke iMtulon Nautical Standard.
MANNING TIIK NAVY.
There is every probability that within a short
time the Navigation laws will cease to be the law
of the land. AVhat effect (if any) will be produced
by such a change, upon the prospects and interests
of our navy, we are not prepared to form an
opinion. Legislation at the present day is a species
of speculation, which approaches very nearly to
empiricism; afcd the most that can be said for the
ablest legislator is, " that he is a fortunate man."
With u repeal of the Navigation laws, we can no
longer look to our commercial navy to supply seamen
for the country's service, even at the cost of
the fruud, wickedness, and violence to which the
government intiye-gone times condescended to resort,
to supply the fleet. The abominations of the
press-gang, the contrivances, the falsehood and
cruelty of the crimp, must be now substituted by
some well organized plan for manning the navy.
Anxious as has ever been the government to sup
{trees all discussion upon ihis plague-spot of the
service, and little assistance as we may expect from
the men who now fill the seats of the udnnrahy. it
is utterly impossible that the subject can Ire allowed
to rest. Every officer knows the difficulty at the
present day of manning n ship suddenly commissioned.
It is perfectly well known that whilst
other employments under our government administration
are eagerly sought after, the greatest repugnance
is manifested to entering the royal navy?
it is clear that, in the event of war, such repugnance
would be greatly increased, whilst, at the same
, time, there is no difficulty in obtaining men for the
commercial marine. There must be something
wrong in this, and the evil, whatever it may be,
should be eagerly sought after, and promptly removed.
But we are sorry to be obliged to think
that the cause of this stubborn repugnance to enter
the service is not simple, but, on the contrary, is
complicated, with a variety of details, all of which
must be corrected, if we would secure to the service
the facility of procuring men, which is not
only enjoyed by the sister service, but by the commercial
marine. One evil is, however, sufficiently
prominent to attract the notice of the most careless
observer?die pay of the seaman is too low?it
neither induces him to perform his duty in time of
peace, nor has it sufficient influence to induce him
to risk his life in time of war. The paltry pay of
the seamen places the service in unfair competition
with the commercial marine?the latter of which
services has greatly the advantage, to the prejudice
of the royal service, and of the serious loss of the
country. The pay of an ordinary seaman is not
sufficient to form an inducement for good men to"
enter the service, nor is it Likely thut, with the
limited prospects or promotion, anti the impaired
treatment of the warrant officers, men will be
found to volunteer into the service, or that boys
can be retained longer than may suit their personal
convenience and interest. It is a notorious fact
that thousands of pounds are annually expended in
this country in supplying the OliU of the American
service. How is this r Is it not simply because
. the inducement of receiving better pay is more
powerful than the sentiment of patriotism, which,
although well in itself, is not a plant that thrives
luxuriantly in a poor soil ? Patriotism goes a short
way, particularly when its rewards are meted by
our admiralty in supplying a lost leg, or in furnishing
food and raiment to the orphans of a deceased
hero. Education amongst the class into which we
must now look for efficient seamen, has done much
to transform the characters familiar in the long war.
Jack has lost many of his characteristics of improvidence
; if he is worth any thing for the service,
he must be expected to think a little for himself;
and no man possessing these characteristics is likely
to give a preference to a service which exacts more
exertion with less pay, and induces greater risk of
health and life without any proportionate reward.
If we would avoid recurring to the infamous, expensive,
and inefficient mode of manning the navy
practised in the war, the whole system must be reorganized.
The system of raising volunteers,
thaugh superior to impressment, is both costly and
inefficient. Impressment has no one redeeming
quality to save it from the odium which it has universally
provoked. It is impolitic, because it is unjust
: it is inefficient, because, though it may secure
ihe services of slaves, it can never command the
1 symfiaihiea of freemen. It is ruinously expensive,
as we kiiow from a pretty extensive experience
purchased during the war.
I Launch or-the Mdg.iba.?This wrought iron
steamship was launched on Tuesday last from the
slop yard of Messrs Fairbairn & Co., Isle of
Dogs, Poplar. She is one of the four acre w steamfrigatcs
ordered by the late admiralty; the present
admiralty, on coming into office, were unacquainted,
it appears, with the advantages of iron as a material
for ship-buiidine, although hundreds of merchant
ships and vessels were in use, from 50 to
1,0U0 tons and larger. They listened (amongst
their first lessons) and believed in the preposterous
prejudices and interested motives of the Surveyor
of the Navy's department, and others of that school;
and iron ships, for war purposes, were consequently
condemned! The Megsera, and the other
three vessels, were at die time nearly finished ; they
had, however, lost their patrons, and were doomed.
Their progress was arrested for many months, and
acre ultimately altered to store-ships, and their
engine power reduced to about half that which was
prepared for them These alterations must have
cost at least -150.000! It is not to 1* credited,
nevertheless it is a fact, that certain alterations
made in the stern of this ship have coat, in the iron
work alone, the enormous suin of -?45 the hundred
weieht!
The Mega-re's dimensions are :?
Length for tonnage ?... 20b 0
Breadth for tonnage - - - 37 8
Depth in hold - - - - 24 3
Builder's tonnage ... 139] ions.
Original horses power - - 556
The power appointed by the present
admiralty - - 350
AuMiaaLTT, May 21.?Th? following promotions
have this d iv taken olace. consequent on the
I death, on the 19tfi iriataiit, of Rear-Admiral Sir
Neabit J. Willoughby, C. B , K. C. H.:
Rear-Admiral of Un Blue, E W Hoare, to be
Rear-Admiral of the White
Captain R Wauchope, to l?e Rear-Admiral of
the Blue.
By the promotion* conaecpient on the death of
Rear-Admiral 8ir N J. Willoughby, C. B , K. C.
H., Captain Sir John Gordon Sinclair, Bart., liecome*
senior on the liat.
Th* Simoom Stiam-Fbi(.atk ?Tina magnificent
veaaeL baa been in the course of conatruction at Mr.
Robert Napier'a building establishment, at Uovan.
She ia built of iron, and is intended to lie fitted a*
a aerew-ateamer, with engine* of 350 horse power,
bv Meaara. Jame* Watia arid Co , of Birmingham
The dimenaiona of this magnificent frigate are a*
follow: Length orer all, about 270 feel; breadth,
41 feet; depth of hold, afiout 25 feet . her admeaaurement
being upward* of ^.OthJ. She la pierced
on the main deck for 30 guns?15 on each aide?
and in addition will carry awivel gun* upon th<
upper deck, which can be used to fire either a-head
or a-#tern, or to the aide*. In our opinion, the
Simoom i* a remarkably handaome veaael ; but o!
course connoiaauera will I* t>etter able to judge oi
th,a when *h? i* ?afely in the water, which we truai
and hope will Ire the caae shortly after the mo
menUius order for knocking down the dagger* it
given. A a the Clyde at the apol where ahe i* te
be launched ia not *o wide aa could have beer
wiahed for the purpoae of receiving no tremendois
a veaael, it will not be wondered at if there aliouk
1* cona.derahlt anxiety felt a* to the aucces* of I hi
operation, for ahe will not have more than thi
length of heraelf to afiare when ahf get* fairly of
the way*. To render the launch, however, aa se
I cure i? po??i*?le, brrnk* of a peculiar and Hcien'ifn
description Wave l??*n fitted up, which, acting ijpoi
chain cable*, of a tare* and strong df * crip t ion, art
expected to bring her tin before ah' can receive anj
damage. We reserve further particular* regnrdu |
the i^mootn till aha be fmrly afloat; but in th<
mean time we may aay that the launch of to-daj
will form one of the moat momentoua evenla in th<
history of the Clyde that it haa ever been the dut]
of any journaliat to chronicle.?.North Hrit. Jnvr.
atfecdote or the la te admiral Sir \eU1'
Willouoh*t.? He waa the greatest 'dare-devil'
of hia day. On one occasion he had been a< nt fron
hia ahip in command of the bnaia, to botrd an en
emy'a privateer. The privateer proved to be wi
manned and armed, and the boata Buffered a eoo
deal in pulling up to her. Witloughby waa et
con raging hia men in every poaaible way, by wnr
and deed. When hia boat neered the privatee
?h'' waa prepared to reaiat them ; when Lteutenai
WiUoughby, taking off hia hai, flung it over tl
(piartar on the deck of the vcaael, exclaiming,
gallon of rum to the fellow who givea it me back
Willnugbby waa the first to Itoard himaelf, but it
rindcratood dial three or four fellowa claimed d
SPog, which waa divided amongst ihem The pr
r waa taken, but with Considerable bras, as h<
t"rgw tut ouinnmltercd the j<eojde m litt boats.
V ?
i X S *> >sl~
From the Sew Orleans Picayune, June 13.
1'HK liOLD HEUIOKS IN CALIFORNIA.
For a considerable time after the first accounts
reached the States of the profusion of gold which
lay scattered on the banks of the Sacramento, much
incredulity prevailed as to their genuineness. People
were averse to believe that wealth incalculable
should have lain exposed on the surface of the soil
of California, for so long a period, without attracting
the attention of the numbers who had successively
visited it from the time of Sir Francis Drake
and the old Spanish settlers in Mexico. The golden
legend to the European is as old as the time of
Cortez, the Conquistador ; and stories of the rich
mineral deposits in California have been repeated
from mouth to mouth, for nearly two centuries and
a half. Our people huve been loth to yield credence
to the narratives that have from age to age been
given by travellers of the wonderful prodigality
with which nature had endowed that favored land,
in regaru to me precious metals, since me Sjranmrds,
with their Gambusnos, or professed gold
J seekers, were never able to find the rich sites during
the long period of their possession of it. It did
seem really wonderful?more like the fabrication of
an idle brain, than a tale of sober reality?that
Americans?of all races in the world the least disposed
to run after ideal wealth?should find in u
few months, what had buttled the avarice of the
SjHiniards for upwards of two hundred years. The
former, an agricultural and manufacturing fieoplc;
the latter almost exclusively devoted to treasureseeking,
and familiur with all the operations of gold
mining; these are the facts that invested the accounts
of the discovery of gold mines in California,
so shortly after our occupation of the territory,
with a still more doubtful character, and even the
central government was by some supposed to be in
collusion with the authorities in that distant possession,
in spreading delusive reports, for the purpose
of accelerating the settlement of the country. Successive
arrivals, however, within the last two or
three months of adventurers from California, mostly
laden with the precious dust, the fruits of their
industry at tiie mines, have served to dissipate the
incredulity with which the first stories were received,
and at the present moment there are few to
be found, at least in this section of the country, who
hesitate to believe any accounts that come from
that half-fabulous land.
The arrival of the Crescent City here has created
an immense sensation among our population. The
sight of the bronzed and hardy gold diggers, and
of their hoarded specimens of rich metal, has quickened
curiosity to a great degree, and the stories
each of them relates of hisex[>erience.at the mines?
dry diggins, wet diggins, mill races, river forks,
gold, pure and in quartz, are as familiar as household
words to them?are listened to by all with
greedy avidity. Yesterday Mr. Christopher Tay..
- . L _ r* . ...L. _ I L. L
ior, ? jMosrugcr ill inc v/icswiu, wnu nua uecu ai>sent
from the Stales about two months, called at
our office und exhibited some beautiful specimens
of the gold obtained at the placers in California.
This gentleman is from Germantown, Montgomery
county, Ohio, and left with a party of emigrants
for Oregon in the spring of 1847. He quitted Oregon
in the fall of last year, and reached San Francisco
in December, just six months ago. He went
to the mines on the Sacramento one week afterwards,
and fur a few days applied himself to gold
digging, which abundantly remunerated him for
his toil, collecting several ounces a day. He then
became a trader, and with what success his presence
here, after so short a sojourn in California,
sufficiently demonstrates. In the course of his
trade Mr. Taylor visited every part of the country
in which the operations of gold digging are carried
on, and he not only confirms all the reports which
have hitherto come to hand, but declares his belief
that in the course of a few weeks or months developments
of a still more extraordinary nature
will be made of the hidden wealth of California.
Mr. Taylor showed us a variety of samples of the
metal taken from different parts of the country.
One was of bar gold, as it is termed, being in grains
of various sizes, down to fine dust. Some grain
gold from the river Stanislaus, intermixed with
small lumps, were exceedingly beautiful. His
largest mass of metal in a pure slate is one of five
ounces weight, and was picked up on the summit
of a mountain at the head waters of the Sacramento.
But the object of the greatest interest among his
treasures, was a superb specimen of white quartz,
thickly studded with gold, and veined throughout
with the finest tracery in the same metal. It surpasses
all we have ever seen in the way of gold in
the rock, and would be invaluable to a museum.
j It weigh* a pound and a half, and was found at
' about two nulea from the bank* of the Stanislaus.
Every part of the noil in the vicinity of the numerour
rivers that intersect the country is mixed with
gold depositee. The Juba, Feather, North, South
and American forks, Ac., equally afford rich treasures
to the gold hunters. Between the rivers the
land is called the dry diggings, but the richest spots
are those in deep water, which are yet untouched,
for want of machinery. The principal points at
which the adventurers have congregated, are the
old dry diggings, fortv-five miles, and the Mormon
Island twenty-five miles from Sacramento city. A
short time ago the diggers at Mormon Isle were
getting a pound of gold a day. Our informant
states that the treasure seems inexhaustible, industry
being the measure of a man's daily success.
We have before stated that in the opinion of Mr.
Taylor, some astounding developments will ere
long be made. It appears that the adventurers are
continually shifting the scene of their operations,
prmptciing ss the term is, orgmng on the tramp in
search of richer locations. These rarely miss hndi
ing fresh deposits in all their virgin purity and nnI
live abundance, when a new inqietus to labor isex|
penenced. It appears that parlies are about to ex[
plore (he head waters of the several rivers, in the
( nope of discovr ring ongin&l beds of the metal, which
| must exist some where in large extent, and it is
' very probable that success will crown their enter|
prise
We hear from Mr. Taylor the moat extraordinary
talea of the reckless expenditure of money by
j the adventurers in California, and of the fabulous
prices occasionally paid for the simplest articles of
I common need. Onions $ I each, potatoes $3 per
| pound, gunpowder $ 16 per pound, revolvers $100
to ??i<) each, pickle* 1 10 IJ ounce of gold per
liottle. These are |>rice* that have been jiaid at
the mines, but provisions are getting more plentiful
and roniM quently chewier every week, as also clothing
ami merchandise of eery description. Lum.
l>er of ail kinds is very scarce, ?750 per thousand ;
I shingles command their own price; marble counters
can lie purchased cheaper than to buy Imard*
, and have them made. This gentleman is of opinion
that fierwms who contemplate going to Califor!
nm should go as little encumliered with goods as
I possible Labor dictates its own reward, and may
i command all it needs; for it is, in fact, according
to our informant's expressive language, the only
aristocracy there The prospects of the inhabittnta
in the w?y of supplies are highly favorable, as imfw>rtations
keep pouring into San Francisco, and
will soon cause a glut of every thing in the markets.
We aic sorry to learn that there has been considerable
sickness at the placers, the scurvy having
afflicted many, through the aalt provisions on which
they, for some ume, exclusively fed Another
disease, indigenous, if not to the clime, at least tc
the occupation, had also visited the gold diggers,
I called "Lung fever," and which was produ cid by
the habit of constantly stooping over their troughs
f pans, or treasure " holes'' The first symptom u
f a gnawing pain in the chest. One feature in the
t history of the numerous encampments "on thi
. placers is very pleasing. Crime, so much dwel
, on in the States, is almost unknown there, and i
, principle of probity and uprightness is rigidly oh
, servpn by one digger to another. They all, how
, ever, go arrncd with pistol and dagger. Gambling
I we are sorry to learn, is practised with the mos
frightful results, the blacxleg preying, with hii
. I wonu-d rapacity, on the heedless. The potrula
I tioci is mnluplying daily, and Mr. Taylor bdievei
. thai in thifl moment it amounta to 21)0,000 aoula
the vast majority being male*. The great exigency
, of the territory ta female labor, a supply of whirl
. ; would lie the greatest benefit that could lie conferrw
, ! on it. California, however, an an appendage to th<
j R< public, la yet in ita infancy; and m a few year*
i by the w-indom of the General Government, am
f the indomitable energies of our people, who will
no doubt, thickly nettle it, every discrepancy of i
,, moral, aorial, and po!iti?al nature that now dia
figures it will have completely disappeared.
Dasimouth CtiLMtL?The eXeretnen of the An
', nual Commencement will take place on the 25t)
and 26th of July. On thefirntday hid win P. Whip
' i pie, of Boat on. will addrena the United Societies
ind the Rev Mr. P Bramari, of Dan vera, the The
() | ological Society No poem in announced.
'* i Public Bath#.?About $6,(MX) han l?een nub
" ttcriUid towards the catablishment of a public wanl
r> houne m New York, on the plan of thoae recentlj
II entablinhed with no much nuccenn in London
About $l4.tHM) more in required in order to carrj
* , the plan into effect,
"! '
it Lr.att 0?t.?The Little Rock (Arkannan) Demo
tf erai notice* ? shipment of JOO.Of 0 pounds of lea<
l- ore, from the mines near that gity, direct for Liver
r j tool. The silver in thin lot of mineral, nl a low ea
j timale, i? said to lee worth |7,h00.
TH E REP U B LIC.
WASHINGTON:
FRIDAY MORNING, JUNE 22, 1840.
OFFICIAL.
APPOINTMENTS BY THE PRESIDENT
JU8TIN Buttkrfield, of Illinois, to be
Commissioner of the General Land Office
from and after the 30th inst., vice Richard
M. Young, resigned.
Thomas A. Deblois, of Portland, to
be Attorney of the United Slates for the
district of Maine, vice George G. Shepley,
removed.
Luther Chase, of Arkansas, to be
Marshal of the United States for the District
of Arkansas, vice Elias Rector, re
inuveu.
Aebert L. Catlin, to be Collector for
the district of Vermont, vice Russell G.
Hopkinson, removed.
John Dunham, Deputy Postmaster,
Norwich, Connecticut.
Ot'R NEl'TRAL POLICY.
The War Sti Hinrr United Slate*.
In the review which we have already
published of the Executive and Legislative
policy of our Government, from its formation,
in regard to our neutral duties, we
invoked the high authority of Washington
and Madison as the authors and advisers
of the legislation 6f 1794 and 1818. We
might also have cited the correspondence
of Mr. Jefferson, when Secretary of
State to President Washington, as we
did cite the letters addressed by Mr. Monroe,
while occupying the same position in
the Cabinet of President Madison, to the i
chairman of the Committee of Foreign
Relations in the House of Representatives.
It is sufficient for our present purposes to
add, that with all his sympathies for republican
France, Mr. Jefferson fully concurred
in the policy which was recom
mended
to the first President by an unanimous
Cabinet; and his letter of the Kith
August, 1793, addressed to Mr. Morris,
then our minister at Paris, reviewing the
conduct towards our Government of Mr.
Citizen Genet, contains matter which
makes it at the present moment a document
of very commanding interest. In
this letter, written prior to any legislation
of Congress on the subject, Mr. Jefferson
says : " We hold it certain that the
law of nations and the rules of neutrality
forbid our permitting either party to arm in
our ports." In this letter he alludes to
the case of the ship Jane, an English merchant
vessel, which had sought to increase
her defensive armament in one of our ports.
" Finding that the Jane," writes Mr. Jefferson,
"had purchased new gun-carriages
to mount two or three additional
guns which she had brought in her hold,
and that she bad opened additional portholes
for them, the carriages were ordered
to be relanded, the additional port-holes
stopped, and her means of defence reduced
to be exactly the same at her departure as
at her arrival. This teas done on the general
principle of allowing no party to arm
within our ports J1
In the same letter, complaining of the
course of Citizen Genet, Mr. Jefferson
particularly mentions the case of the Little
Sarah, or Little Democrat, as that of a ves
sel which had l>een armed, equipped, and
manned, in the port of Philadelphia, under
the very eye of the (k>vernment, 44 and as
if meant to insult it." This vessel having
; fallen down the river, and being evidently
on the point of departure on a cruize, Mr.
(tenet was desired by the President to detain
her till some inquiry and determina1
tion on the case might be had. Three or
four days after, she was sent out under
orders froin Mr. Genet himself. 44 The
j Government, thus insulted and set at defiance
by Mr. Genet"?to use the words of
! Mr. Je it Kit son?had 110 course left but to
consider him as acting against Lis instructions,
to give assurance to the British
minister that prizes made by vessels thus
violating the orders of our Government
should be restored or compensated, and to
notify Mr. Genet that the indemnity thus
: l l _i t_ - _ /*_ * - r
I prumiseo wouki or a lair manor 01 account
i against his nation. So stringent indeed
j was the policy puraued hy the Cabinet of
i wahhinoton for the preservation of our
i neutrality, that Mr. (iF.NET, in a violent
and insolent letter, dated September 12,
1793, addressed to Mr. Jefferson, states
that when he applied to the Secretary of
War, at the request of the government*
of the Windward Islands, "to receive
promptly some fire-arms, and some cannon,"
the Secretary had the " front" to
answer with "an ironical carelessness,
that the principles established hy the President
did not jiermit him to lend us mo mvrh
as a jnstol.,}
So much for the policy o! President
w ashinoton's Administration, adopted
I in the light of the law of nations alone.
The "crimes" act of 1794 was passed
byCongres* to carry out that jiolicy. The
. additional art of 1S1H was passed at the
1 recommendation >t VIi Minisns. to ren
, der that policy more effectual. Both these
i acts have been the subject of judicial interpretation.
We propose to present a
> brief analysis of a reported case under
' each act, to show that the late Secretary
' of the Navy, Mr. Mason, will probably
find no judicial authority but that of
j Commodore I'krkv to *tand between him
" and the grave charge of having openI
ly and recklessly violated not only the
11 1 '
THE REPUBLIC,
neutral duties and obligations of the Government,
but the very purport, spirit, and
letter of a constitutional law of Congress.
The Union thinks that Mr. Clayton has
urged this matter with the view, among
other things, of "reflecting" on the late
Administration. We are of opinion, on
the contrary, that Mr. Clayton, in his
lucid and masterly exposition of the
case, has treated the late Administration
with much more leniency and delicacy
than they deserved. It is certainly a "reflection"
on the late Administration to
suggest that they violated a constitutional
law; to prove it by the production of the
law and the judicial decision upon it is a
still more severe "reflection." We intend
to "reflect" upon Mr. Mason. We
intend to show that he has been guilty,
through irniornncp or carelessness, of what
our laws denounce as a crime, and visit
with penalties of fine and imprisonment.
The Union may possibly begin to suspect,
before the subject is disposed of, that
it would have been quite as well for the
opposition to have suffered it to rest on the
correspondence of Mr. Clayton, as to
have made it matter of grave accusation
and abuse against General Taylor.
In 2 Dallas's Reports, 321, we find a
very full report of a case tried in the circuit
court of the Pennsylvania district,
before Mr. Justice Patterson, in 1795,
on an indictment against Etienne Guinet,
for a misdemeanor in fitting out and arming
Lex J'lmeaux (The Twins) in the port of
Philadelphia, to be employed in the service
of the Republic of France against Great
Britain, both powers being at peace with
the United States. The indictment was
founded on the 3d section of the act of
1794, which provides a punishment of fine
and imprisonment for any one who " shall,
within any of the waters of the United
States, fit out and arm, or attempt to
fit out and arm, or procure to be fitted
out and. armed, or shall knowingly be
concerned in the furnishing, fitting out,
or arming of any ship or vessel, with intent
that such ship or vessel shall be
employed in the service of any foreign
prince or State, to cruise or commit hostilities
upon the subjects, citizens, or property
of another foreign prince or State,
with whom the United States are at
peace."
The proof was, that the vessel ai rived
in Philade<phia, mounting four guns and
two swivels, with a cargo of coffee and
sugar from the West Indies. She had
originally been a British cutter, and had
ten port-holes on each side, though only
four were open at this time. She was in
a rotten state, and was taken to a shin
yard to be repaired, where she attracted
the attention of Government.
On examination it was found that her
twenty ports had been opened, her upper
decks changed, and four iron guns on carriages,
with two swivels, were lying on
the adjoining wharf. A report on the subject
was made to the Secretary of War,
who directed that all the recent equipments
of a warlike nature should be dismantled,
and the vessel restored to the
state in which she came in. She left Philadelphia
with only the guns she brought
into port; but it was in proof that she came
to at Wilmington, where she received on
board from a pilot boat three or four carriage
guns, and two or three hogsheads containing
muskets. The pilot boat returned tc
Philadelphia for the purpose of transporting,
among other things, six guns without
carriages, lying on a wharf there; but before
the shipment could be effected the
marshal seized the guns and boats, and apprehended
the parties. Ovinet was clearly
connected with the transaction, by proot
satisfactory to the jury of an efficient agency
in the equipment of the vessel. There
was no proof of any intent beyond that
which was to be inferred from the facts.
On these facts, under the charge of Mr.
Justice Patthrhon, the case was submitted
to the jury, who returned a verdict ol
guilty. From the charge we copy the ma
terial passages:
Much ha* be?n Maui ti|>on the construction o
the third end foarth section* of the art nj Con
grrsa, but the court ia clearly of opinion, lha
the 3d section wm meant to include all cases o
vessels, armed within our ports by one of the bel
liferent powers, to act as rruizern against nnothei
lielligerent power in pence with the United States
I Converting a ship from her original destination wilt
intent to < (immit hostilities; or in other words, coo
| verting s merchant ship into a vessel of war, mua
be deemed an original outfit; for the act would
1 otherwise, liecome rogatory and inoperative. It 11
the conversion from the. peaceable use to the war
| like purpose thai c/mstitutes the offence
The c.ircuiTisianoes clearly prove a eonverstor
from the original commercial design of the vessel
! to a design of "rinsing against the enemies of France
! and, of course, ag.onst a nation at peace wiUi th<
United States, since the United States are at pcan
I .L .11 .L. _l J ?
wim mi inr wnm. w
No man would proclaim on the house-top tha
he intended to fit out a privateer; the intention mur
be collected from ill the circumatancea of the trana
action, which the jury will investigate, and ot
which they muat decide But if they are of opinion
that it was intended to convert this veaael from i
merchant whip into a cruwer, every man who win
knowingly concerned in doing ao m guilty in tin
contemplalion of the law.
If the defendant haa been concerned in the of
fence, there ia no doubt that it ia effected a* far at
it waa in hia power to complete it. The illegal out
fit of the veaael waa accompliahed; and that an ad
dnional nunilierof cannon wna not aent toaugmcn
her force, waa not owing to hia rcajiect to the lawa
| but to the vigilance of the public police.
The case1 to which we have rtferret
under the act of IK IK, in that alluded t<
by Baron Roenwf and Mr. Secretary
Clatton, in their correspondence?thato
the United Slates vs. tynncy, H Peters R
445 The defendant was indicted tint^ci
the third section of the art in question
corresponding to the third section ol th?
act oi' 1794; and the cause came on to be
tried before the Circuit Court of the United
States, for the district of Maryland, in
April, 1830. The offence charged in the
counts to which the evidence applied was
substantially to this effect: that John
D. Quincy was knowingly concerned
in fitting out, in the port of Baltimore,
a certain vessel called the Bolivar, otherwise
Las Damas Argentinas, with the intent
that she should be employed in the
service of the United Provinces of Rio de
la Plata, to commit hostilities against the.
subjects oi his Imperial Majesty ol brazil,
with whom the United States were at .
peace, against the form of the act of Congress
in such case made and provided. It
was in proof that the Bolivar was originally
a Maryland pilot boat, of sixty or seventy
tons; and that, at the defendant's request,
she was fitted with sails and masts larger
than those required for a merchant vessel,
and was altered in a manner to suit her
carrying passengers, and with a port for a
gun. She sailed from Baltimore for St.
Thomas, with provisions on board, thirtytwo
water casks, one gun-carriage and
slide, a box of muskets, and thirteen kegs
of gunpowder. At St. Thomas she was
fitted as a privateer, and sailed for St.
Eustatia, having changed her name to
Las Dumas Argentina#. From St. Eustatia
she proceeded under the command
of the defendant and the Buenos Ayrean
flag, and captured several Portuguese,
Brazilian, and Spanish vessels.
We cite this case merely to show the
circumstances under which Quincy was
indicted. The main point of the defence
turned upon a question which does not arise
in the case of the United States. It was
contended that this was a commercial and
not a privateering enterprise in its inception;
and that the question of intent was
a question exclusively for the jury. The
intent admitted, and there was an end of
the defence. Now, in the case of the
United States, there was no attempt to
conceal the fact that she was to be fitted
out, equipped, and armed as a war steamer,
for one of two belligerent parties, with
both of whom the United States was at
peace. The intent here is hardly a question
for a jury, in any aspect of the case;
it is an inference of law from the admitted
facts?as much so as the intent to murder
is a legal inference from the deliberate use
of a deadly weapon. "It was not only" as
Baron Roenne says, in his note of April
19 to the Secretary of State, "generally be1
1 _ 11 iL .i it A- /IT 'i_ J
lieveu an.: Known inai me steamer 'uniiea
States' was destined for the naval service
of the German Empire, but the tact was
officially announced to the Government of
the United States, and the latter did not
hesitate to grant the desired facilities in
fitting the steamer out as a war steamer."
We have now examined this case by
the light of a well-established Executive
and'Legislative policy, and of well considered
judicial decisions. We have proved
that, in issuing the orders of the "23d of
February, Mr. Mason not only violated
well-defined neutral obligations and duties, |
but was guilty of infringing a positive stat.
ute of the United States.
It appears, then, that the Government !
changed hands none too soon. A few
i weeks later, and we might have been in:
volved in consequences too serious to be ,
. contemplated without a shudder If Gen>
eral Cas? had been elected to the I'resi
dency, with his unbridled lust of war, we
t are persuaded that nothing could have >
saved us from the horrors of a sanguinary !
collision with the European powers. As:
it wan, the late Administration left us what
might well have proved a mont fatal legacy.
By the wiadom and the firmness of President
Tayi.or, wc have escaped from an
imminent calamity.
1 The value of the Union's heroics against
(General Taylor may he ascertained by
weighing what that journal now says of
the President with the diatribes its senior
f t
editor was wont to fulminate, through the :
columns of the RichmowI Enquirer, against j
General Jackson. Terms equally vile and
f reproachful with those now used against:
t (reneral Taylor, were liberally woven
[ into the woof of the Enquirer's denuncia- '
r tions of the possible election of General
J Jackson as a curse and a disgrace to the
country. He was charged with having
, resorted to "shifting," "temporizing,"
1 "quibbling," and "equivocating expcdi- ,
ents"?with having adopted an "equivocating"
and "amalgamating policy." The
? name alone of Jackson sufficed to evoke I
i _ _ . ... ...
, apparitions of halters, gibbets, and death, j
( The imagination of our contemporary was a
t sea of blood, reflecting the career of Gen.
j Jackson in shapes of dismal omen. Never,
theless, upon his election to the I'resi)
dency, no journalist posted in hotter haste
* ! to lay its homage at the feet of power, and
! none in our day ever rendered a more ob'
serpiious obeisance to the behests of place
; than that over which he now presides.
The spirit of fault-finding which now
animates the Union is only equalled in
1 intensity by its subserviency to the last
> Administration. Then it could find nof
thing to condemn; now it sees nothing to
f praise. Its laudation was as fulsome as its
abuse is gross. With it there w no interr
mediate conditions between the extremes
, of good and evil. It acknowledges no
* ( gradations in the scale of excellence be
tween saint and devil; and in General
Jackson both extremes were found in one
and the same individual, as "circumstances
altered cases."
Of what avail are the praises or detractions
of such a press? Its studied panegyrics
were impotent to keep its party in
power, and its more elaborate invectives
will prove as ineffectual in bringing it
back.
In its fury it has accused General Taylor
of having made soldiers, who fought
in the battles of the country, especial objects
of proscription.
"Even those who stood by him on the
Rio Grande," exclaims the Union, "and
served with Scott in the valley of Mexico,
111ay pieau meir services in vain, mey
made him what he is. They won the
victory, but the spoils of victory are not
for them; for their leader is demonstrating,
with hitter irony, that services on the
battle-field are no qualifications for civil
station."
Was not Col. Alexander McClung sent
charge to Bolivia, one of the heroes of
Monterey who were cut down in storming
the enemy's batteries? Did not Colonel
Mitchell, appointed marshal of Minesota,
receive a dangerous wound before the
Black fort of Monterey? Did not Major
Crittenden receive honorable mention for
his services at Buena Vista? Was not
Col. Peyton, minister to Chili, applauded
by General Worth for his gallantry at the
taking of the Bishop's palace? Did not
Col. Payne and Calhoun serve faithfully
and gallantly in Mexico? And was not
Capt. Bell, who lost an arm within sight
of General Taylor, appointed Indian agent
in Arkansas, Cass and Butler democrat
though he is? These are instances which
now occur to us. There are doubtless
others, but these are enough to show that
the Union''s rage is blind.
Quick Passages.?TheUnited States mail steamer
Falcon, which arrived at New York on Tuesday,
made one of the shortest passages on record?
performing the run from New Orleans, via Ila- I
vana, in seven duys und seventeen and a quarter
hours, remaining at the latter port nine and a quar- j
ter hours.
The Falcon had the advantage of one of the most
powerful double engines.
Frotn the Richmond (Fa.) Whig.
THE REMOVAL OF THE RICHMOND COL
LECTOR.
We have nothing to say to the mournful jere
iniauo ui in* uiiiijuuci UII nic icn IUIC piusuipiiuii
of the late collector. It may magnify, to its heart'a
content, the extraordinary ancestral and personal
qualities of that gentleman?it may expatiate upon
his amiable ana unoffending deportment?upon
his forty-two years of office-holding?and it
may glorify him into the most illustrious of all
the martyrs that have bled for liberty. It may
make good the assertion that he and his family are
the "just creditors of the United States to the
amount of some hundreds of thousands of dollars."
But we pass by all this. We have no objection to
the (inquirer's exciting the sympathy of its Democratic
brethren for Captain Nelson, and thereby
secure for htm the fattest office in their gift.
Our purf?ose is different. That paper, yesterday, I
commuted the indiscretion which the day before it
omitted. It undertakes to question the propriety
of the removal. On that point we join issue with ;
it; and we contend that tne Administration could ;
not, consistently with thepublic interests, and the !
declarations of General Taylor's Inaugural, have i
acted otherwise.
A very few words will suffice.
The removal wits made upon the solicitation and i
remonstrance of business men in Richmond, of both
political parties. We understand that gentlemen of
both parties, extensively engaged in the commerce
of the city, testified to the inefficiency of the col- ;
lector, and urged his removal There has been no '
spirit of accommodation in the customhouse. It
has lieen the habit to close the doors at 3 o'clock,
ami clearances could not be obtained after that hour,
unless at the solicitation of a favorite. This has
often produced delay and expense, and we have |
heard it complained of grievously for years. And
then many petty vexations and annoyances have
made many of the largest importers determine never
to ship another box of goods to this port so long as
the late collector was in office. We heard one say
yesterday that it was easier to get a whole cargo
through the custom house at New York than a
single article in this city,
Tl... ..e ir
eient to justify the removal. It was injurious to
the trade of the city?it wa* injurious as well as
vexatious to individuals Public officers are paid 1
by th< public for the public convenience and general
welfare, and not solely for their individual comfort. I
This is Genera! Taylor's doctrine, and all who run j
counter to it must look out.
But there are loud complaints on another score
By law, fines imposed by the collector go, one-half ]
to the, informer, and the other half to the public
treasury. It is the duty of the collector to fine for
violations of the law ; hut where it is obvious that j
no fraud was intended, the Secretary of the Trea- j
sury invariably remita the fine. Numerous in- i
stancea of thia kind have occurred. The Secretary I
haa ordered the fine to lie refunded; the collector
refwirta that the fine, or the half of it, which goes to
die informer?hr l?eing the infrrrmrr? has l>een up- |
jntmrutinl?that is, deposited in his breeches pocket; j
sun the party unpisily mulcted haa to liear the loss.
This haa hern a common practice here; and Democrats,
us well as Whigs?we can give the names if
required?believe it has been pursued?that persons (
have been fined where there was not a shadow of |
fraud, merely to swell the collector's fees.
Thia practice has provoked bitter, and we think |
just complaints. Tnc collector may, by law, be
entitled to half of the fine as informer, though we i
doubt whether his rights are to lie perfecteo until \
the Secretary <>t the 1 reasnry ha* acted upon the |
application for remission. Certain it ia, that by i
right and justice, when the Government declare*
that it ha* not been wronged, and ought not to
exact a fine from an individual, tin officer ought not
to take an innocent citizen'* property.
Thi* view i* univeraally entertained here, out of
the custom houae, and we have not yet *een the
man who doea not approve the removal. If every
act of General Taylor'* Administration ahall meet
with xuch general approbation a* this doea, he will
go out of nffi- e the moat popular President that ever
occupied the Chair of State.
Peace Conner**?A Cong re** composed of
friend* of peace, from all quarter* of the civilized
world, i* to convene at Pari*, in the month of August
next, to consult on the beet means of securing
the adoption of a lietter mode of nettling international
dispute* than i* at present employed. We
have received from FJiliti Homtt an address "to the
friend* of peace in America," on the subject, in
wbieh it is staled that M. de Lamartine, M Horace
Jay, Councillor of State, Paris, F Bastiat, M
Wolowskt, M P Bowet, members of the National
Assembly, the celebrated Cobden, M. P , and a
nurnlier of others, amongst the wisest and lieat men
in Europe, h?ve given a most cordial support to the
project.- Brill wurrt .
Dkmoi ratic asn Faze Son. coalition.?The
N. Y. Evening Poet invites the attention of it* I
readers to a series of resolution* presented to the
Democratic General Committee on Tuesday evening
by the Hon. Benjamin P Butler, and unanimously
adopted. They indicate a disposition on
the |?arl of the most prominent memlwrs of the
Democratic paity in the city to renew then old political
association*, provided the principles of federal
policy which lie at the Iwim: of the frei soil organization
in this Suite, are to sustain the new
structure, the object being to defeat the Whig jiarty
in the State this fall
.foreign (JorrcBponbfnce.
ITALIAN AFFAIRS.
The American Ship Ambassador.? Indemnity for a
shot.?Consulship at Genoa.?lit Commercial Capabilitiei.?General
Hamarino.?Arts Minister of
Foreign Affaire.?Count balbo^s Mission to the
tope.?French inlervenJum.?Camp at St. Maurice?Austria.?
Venice.?Home.
Gbnoa, May 36, 1849.
It may have reached you through the newspapers,
(hat, during the late bombardments of this
city, the American Ship Ambassador was struck by
a bomb or cannon shot, which caused some scattering
of splinters, and a little dumage (o her hull and
timbers. The fact having been communicated to
our Chargf at Turin, it was unofficially mentioned,
as 1 understand, to the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
who immediately sent orders to this place to cause
accurate surveys to be made of the damage that had .
been done to friendly shipping, with a view to indemnity
in every such case. Ample indemnity, I
am informed, has since been made in the case of
the Ambassador, without the formal presentation
of any claim, and in consequence merely of the cursory
suggestion in that behalf of our Charg?. It
might not be amiss, if the American Government
were equally on the alert, to render similar satisfaction
for injuries and losses sustained by their own
citizens, to whom a claim for "indemnity" for any
considerable amount is generally u sure forerunner
of ruin.
There is no consul here at present?the lately appointed
official not having yet made his appearance.
And this suggests a word that I would gladly
whisper, if I could make a whisper audible across
the Atlantic, in the ears of the new Administration.
Sufficient attention has never been paid hitherto to
our consular selections. The consulate here is just
now of no great importance, and I do not wish to
recommend myself for it in the event of a change;
but it is capable of being made of much usefulness
to our commerce, if a man could be found to fill it
who commands the confidence of the merchants
and manufacturers at home. There is no hftt?r
place in the Mediterranean for a depot of Ame- '
rican manufactured cotton of the cheaper and
more substantial kinds, which would find a profitable
and growing market in the Levant, along ,
the coast of Africa, and in the Black Sea, whose
waters are constantly ploughed by a myriad of the
small Genoese craft, which carry on an active and
extensive commerce in every description of the "assorted
cargoes" which ure to be found in the free
port of Genoa. I have no doubt that the cotton
and tobacco shippers wonld find it greatly to their
advantage to have an American merchant of high
character consul at this pert, to say nothing of the
great commercial and manufacturing establishments
of the Eastern and Middle States. There are
channels of trade here, yet unopened, which would
lead enterprise to wealth.
General Ramarino, who disobeyed orders by neglecting
to place his division of the army in a position
to defend the Sardinian frontier opposite to
Pavia on the 20th of March, was sentenced on the
third instant by a military court to be hanged
This sentence was so far mitigated by the King, as ,
to permit the victim to be shot. The general interposed
an appeal to the Court of Cassation, on
the ground that an armistice is a time of peace, and
that, therefore, according to the laws of the country,
the decision of a military tribunal had no validity
till the sentence had been sanctioned by the
civil courts. It was decided, however, on well es
tublished principle!, that an armistice ia a time of
war; and the sentence, as modified by the King,
was carried into effect on the 22d instant. It is
due to the memory of this unfortunate man, whoae
culpable neglect of duty not only changed the fortunes
of the campaign, but probably postponed the
independence of the Italian race for an indefinite
period, to state that he met death with manly courage.
He walked to the scene of his death, exhorted
the soldiers to obey the obligations of military
discipline, and to serve their King with fidelity
; then, taking his position, uncovered his head
and ordered his executioners to take deliberate aim
and to fire.
There has been another change in the foreign
office?the eighth that has occurred within a
twelvemonth. The Marquis Massimo d'A/soi.io
has been called to the Presidency of the Supreme
Council of Sardinia, and the post of foreign affairs.
M . d'Azkulio is a man of talents and avowed liberalism.
His writings, with those of Ghoberti and
Balbo, gave the first impulse to that general movement
throughout Italy, which last year aimed to
wrest the independence of the Italian peninsula
from I lip fwliAiix s?r^c4 a?wi *- - -r A
- ??.Vww u..u "fpyiint ut Austria.
If thut effort had not run into every conceivable
cxcrsa of demagogical fervor, it would doubtleaa
have lieen successful.
One of the first acta of the new miniater was to
aend Count Bai.so on a miaaion to the Pope, with
the view of diaauading him, on hia anticipated restoration,
from entering on a reactionary movement to
the prejudice of thoae constitutional liberties in the
papal States, which he was the first to concede to
his subjects. In despair of realizing the independence
of Italy, M. d'Azeglio will exert himself, in
conjunction with France, to rescue those constitutional
forms of government which were granted by
the res|>eclivc Italian sovereigns, and which are now
so much endangered by the ascendency of Austria.
A body of 30,000 imperial troops have entered
Leghorn; and another body of 17,000 have taken
possession of Bologne.
What new events may grow out of the French
intervention, in consequence of the late elections,
cannot be foreseen. Certain it is that the probability
of a joint harmonious occupation of the State* of
the Church by the Imperial end French troops is
very much diminished.
The Sardinian Government hes formed n ramp
of 2S,000 men, at St. Msunee, under the Duke of
Genoa, for eterciae and improvement; that they
may be ready to meet those menacing possibilities
which charge the political atmosphere.
No progress has been made towards a peace between.
this country and Austria, saving that the.re
has been a proposition from the Cabinet of Vienna
to accept one-half of the war indemnity which
they claimed at the outset. But this government
has not as yet consented to reopen negotiations on
the subject; waiting to learn what may be the poli
n
r.y 01 p rnnce in rrgaril to the intervention of Rueem
in Hungary, before it will renew negotiation* at
Milan with a view to peace.
Unfortunate Venice, though invented by aea and ,
land with a formidable force, still hold* out
We have not a* yet any certain new* of the en
try of the French tioop* into the city of Rome, hut
we are led to believe that General Oudinot will not
be able to come to term* with the triumvirate, and
that he will yet I* obliged to take the city by force.
Jldiru
Anti Momopoi.t OowTEnmonr.?The Trenton
Advocate publishes a call to the citizen* of New
Jersey, opposed to the monopoly principle now exlating
in the State, in the hand* of the director* of
the Camden mid Amlwiy Railroad, and Delaware
and Knritan Canal f'ompaniex, to meet at the Capitol
of the State, in the city of Trenton, on Wednea- (
day, the fith day of Septemlier next.
|