m'engagerais à l'exécuter avec tout le zèle, l'économie, et la célérité possible, ayant à cet égard tous les moyens à ma disposition. Veuillez, s'il vous plaît, avoir la complaisance de me fixer le plus promptement possible, sur la somme que vous désirerez prendre dans mon expédition, son départ devant avoir lieu avant la fin de Mars prochain. En attendant votre réponse je vous offre mes services en cette Ville pour tout ce qui peut vous être agréable. J'ai l'honneur, &c. SIR, BERTHIER. (Inclosure 2.)-Sir Charles Stuart to the Baron Pasquier. Paris, 26th June, 1821. THE inclosed Copy of a Circular Letter, which has been addressed to the principal commercial-houses in this Capital, offers a proof of the open infraction of the French Laws for the abolition of the Slave-trade, which cannot be contested; and confirms the assertions contained in the several Communications I have already addressed to your Excellency upon this subject. Although I cannot doubt the immediate application of the existing Law to this flagrant Case, a permanent remedy is not to be expected until further Enactments of the Legislature shall provide against the recurrence of such practices. I have, &c. H. E. the Baron Pasquier. CHARLES STUART. No. 8.-Sir C. Stuart to the Marquess of Londonderry.—(Rec. July 5.) (Extract.) Paris, 2d July, 1821. I INCLOSE the Answer, which the Baron Pasquier has just returned, to my several Communications upon the subject of the illegal speculations which have been undertaken lately from French Ports, for the conveyance of Slaves from the Coast of Africa to the West Indies. I have, &c. The Marquess of Londonderry, K.G. CHARLES STUART. (Inclosure.)-The Baron Pasquier to Sir Charles Stuart. MONSIEUR L'AMBASSADEUR, A Paris, ce 28 Juin, 1821. J'ai reçu avec la Lettre que votre Excellence m'a fait l'honneur de m'adresser avant hier, la Copie d'une Circulaire qui parait avoir été envoyée à plusieurs maisons de commerce de Paris, et dont l'objet est de proposer ouvertement une expédition à la Côte d'Afrique, pour la Traite des Nègres. Je me hâte de transmettre cette pièce au Ministre de la Marine, et je l'invite à faire toutes les dispositions nécessaires pour rechercher et poursuivre devant les Tribunaux les Personnes qui osent violer si manifestement les Loix de l'Etat. J'ai l'honneur, &c. S. E. Le Chevalier Stuart. PASQUIER. No. 9.-The Marquess of Londonderry to Sir Charles Stuart. SIR, Foreign Office, 27th August, 1821. I HAVE the honour to inclose for your Excellency's information, the extract of a Letter from Lieutenant Hagan, of His Majesty's Brig Thistle, to Captain Kelly of His Majesty's Ship Pheasant, relative to two French Vessels engaged in the Slave-trade on the Western Coast of Africa; and I have to request that your Excellency will take an opportunity of communicating this intelligence to His Most Christian Majesty's Government. I likewise inclose for your Excellency's information, the Extract of a Letter from Mr. Kilbee, at The Havannah, announcing the arrival there of a French Slave Brig. I have, &c. H. E. Sir Charles Stuart, G.C.B. LONDONDERRY. No. 10.-Sir C. Stuart to the Marquess of Londonderry.-(Rec. Sept. 27.) I INCLOSE the last Communication, in which fresh instances of the violation of the Laws abolishing the Slave-trade have been carried to the knowledge of the French Government, together with a short Note from Baron Pasquier, being a mere acknowledgment that it has come to hand. I have, &c. The Marq. of Londonderry, K.G. SIR, CHARLES STUART. (Inclosure 1.)—Sir Charles Stuart to the Baron Pasquier. Paris, 6th September, 1821. I HAVE the honour to acquaint your Excellency, that the information which has reached His Britannick Majesty's Government, in the course of the last month, shows, that on the 8th November two French Vessels were employed in the Slave-trade on the Coast of Africa, between Sierra Leone and Cape Palmas; the one being the Catherine, seized by the order of Sir George Collier in February last (having changed her Crew, except the Mate, and the Prize Crew being supposed to have been overpowered by the French remaining on board,) and conveyed to one of the West India Islands for the purpose of being sent to Barbadoes; she will remain two months on the Coast of Africa, and it is believed that her Cargo is now on shore at the Gallinas: the name of the other Schooner is the Laurette of Nantes, De la Cluse, Master. A Letter from The Havannah, of the 10th June, announces the arrival, on the 6th of May, of a French Brig, l'Aimable Henriette, T. A. Brint, Master, with 246 Negroes, consigned to Messrs. Blair, Aixpurna, & Co. I have, &c. H. E. the Baron Pasquier. CHARLES STUART. (Inclosure 2.)-The Baron Pasquier to Sir Charles Stuart. MONSIEUR L'AMBASSADEUR, Paris, 19 Septembre, 1821. J'AI reçu la Lettre que votre Excellence m'a fait l'honneur de m'adresser rélativement à de nouvelles infractions aux Lois sur la Traite, qui paraissent avoir été commises par des Batimens Français. J'ai l'honneur de la prévenir, que je me suis empressé de transmettre ces informations au Ministre de la Marine. J'ai l'honneur, &c. S. E. Le Chevalier Stuart. SIR, PASQUIER. No. 11.-William Hamilton, Esq. to Sir Charles Stuart. Foreign Office, 28th September, 1821. I HAVE the honour to transmit to your Excellency the Copy of a Dispatch (dated 16th April,) with its Inclosures, received from the British Commissioners at Sierra Leone, containing some general observations and information on the present state of the Slave-trade between Sierra Leone and the Line: In communicating to your Excellency the commands of their Excellencies the Lords Justices of the Kingdom, that you take an early opportunity to call the attention of the French Government to this subject, I have to point out to your Excellency the very frequent infractions of the Treaties for the abolition of the traffick in Slaves, by Vessels navigating under French Colours, and to request that you will not fail strongly to impress on the minds of the French Ministers, the injurious and disgraceful conduct of their Officers, in permitting such repeated infractions of those Treaties by French Subjects. I have, &c. H. E. Sir Charles Stuart, G.C.B. SIR, WILLIAM HAMILTON. No. 12.-Viscount Sidmouth to Sir Charles Stuart. Foreign Office, 30th October, 1821. I HAVE the honour to transmit to your Excellency the Copy of a Letter from the Colonial Department, inclosing a Letter from Mr. Warrington, His Majesty's Consul at Tripoli, on the Coast of Barbary, on the subject of the trade in African Negro Slaves, which appears to be there carried on under the protection of the French Flag. Although the Decrees of the French Government, of the 8th January 1817, and 15th April, and 24th June 1818, on the subject of the Slavetrade, are so vague, that it is difficult to say this precise trade comes within any positive prohibition which has hitherto been communicated to this Government, yet is this traffick totally indefensible, on the only pretence on which any exception can justly be founded; viz. the physical necessities of the Colonies. Your Excellency will take an early opportunity of laying these Papers before the Government of His Most Christian Majesty, and move them to institute such inquiries into the facts alleged as may lead to the effectual prevention of such improper and illegal trade for the future. H. E. Sir Charles Stuart, G.C.B. I am, &c. SIDMOUTH. (Inclosure 1.)-Henry Goulburn, Esq. to William Hamilton, Esq. SIR, Downing Street, 9th October, 1821. I AM directed by Earl Bathurst to transmit to you, for the information of the Marquess of Londonderry, the accompanying Copy of a Letter from His Majesty's Consul General at Tripoli, inclosing certain Documents, from which it appears that an illegal traffic in Slaves is carried on from that Regency under the French Flag. William Hamilton, Esq. I have, &c. HENRY GOULBURN. (Inclosure 2.)-Mr. Consul Warrington to Earl Bathurst. MY LORD, Tripoli, 10th July, 1821. A CIRCUMSTANCE has this morning transpired, which I consider my duty to inform your Lordship. Spiro Andonopolo has many Years resided at, and enjoyed the protection of the British Flag in, Tripoli. I regret to find he has been trafficking in Black Slaves, and I lament that any one here would encourage a fellow-subject of mine in such illegal acts, and would promote the said traffick by embarking those unfortunate creatures on board a French Vessel. This affair being of the greatest importance, I have made every inquiry, and sorry am I to say, that the French Flag continually conveys Black Slaves under the name of Passengers, which in itself denotes a conscious knowledge of the impropriety of the act. I beg to refer your Lordship to the accompanying Paper produced at my Office. Carrying Slaves for sale, I am aware, is not tolerated nor sanctioned by various Governments; I therefore take the earliest opportunity of making the same known to your Lordship. I have, &c. Earl Bathurst, K.G. HANMER WARRINGTON. (Inclosure 3.),-Declaration of Spiro Andonopolo. Tripoli, 10th July, 1821. THE British Consul General having, this 10th of July 1821, refused to legalize a certain Document, because 12 Black Slaves are specified in it, I am particularly anxious to clear my conduct, and assure the said Consul General of my having been ignorant that the English Laws prohibit the traffick in Negroes in the Mediterranean. I had shipped the said 12 Blacks on board a French Bombarde, the French Consul having desired the Slaves to be embarked as Passengers, assigning as a reason, that if they were embarked under the denomination of merchandize, the Master would not be responsible for their death, though the French Consul was fully aware that the said Slaves were purchased by me and embarked in the French Bombarde to be sold at Navarino. That the above is the truth, I declare in my justification, in the presence of the undersigned Witnesses. SPIRO ANDONOPOLO. Witnesses to the Declaration and Signature. No. 13.-Sir Charles Stuart to the Marq. of Londonderry.-(Rec. Nov. 25.) (Extract.) Paris, 22d November, 1821. I HAVE not failed to make known to the French Minister the circumstances connected with the Infraction of the Slave-trade, to which your Lordship's several Instructions have adverted, by addressing to the Baron Pasquier, the Notes,under date of the 6th September (transmitted to your Lordship in my Dispatch of the 24th September) and of the 2d October, of which I enclose a Copy, calling upon the Government to give effect to the existing Laws against the Slave-trade, or to make the Supplementary Enactments which are necessary to complete the suppression of that Commerce; and it is only within these few days that I have received the accompanying Answer. The Marq. of Londonderry, K.G. CHARLES STUART. (Inclosure 1.)-Sir Charles Stuart to the Baron Pasquier. SIR, Paris, 2d October, 1821. THE Papers I have the honour to inclose are extracted from the Correspondence of the Commissioners His Britannick Majesty's Government have charged with the execution of the Treaties for the abolition of the Slave-trade, and they contain the revolting description of the enormities at this moment practised upon the Coast of Africa, which call so loudly for the interference of the several Governments under positive engagements to abolish the Traffick, that I consider it my duty to lose no time in placing the subject under your Excellency's view. Among the Vessels which are stated in this narrative to be employed on the Coast, your Excellency will observe that the speculations of the Slave-traders in Nantes and St. Malo bear a conspicuous part, and that their operations are described with circumstances of detail, which appear to bring the Offenders within the range of the existing Legisla tion. As the Custom-house Books in those Ports afford the means of verifying these statements, I flatter myself that His Most Christian Majesty's Government will take advantage of the opportunity, to prove to the world their determination to enforce the Law, and that by acting up to the spirit as well as the letter of their engagements, these |