says that the Undersigned "stated the right of the Imperial Government to submit for the consideration of the Crown of this country the names of any individuals they might deem worthy of honourable distinction, and the motives which induced them to propose the conferring a title upon the notorious smuggler of human flesh, Jozé Bernardino de Sá." This complete inversion of the sense and expressions of the Undersigned indicates that the Imperial Government had proposed to the Crown of Brazil the conferring of a title upon a notorious smuggler; whereas, by virtue of his petition, they simply gave him permission, which has never been denied, to accept of a favour conferred by the Queen of Portugal. The Undersigned restricting himself to re-establish the fact and the clear and evident meaning of his note, has the honour, &c. J. Hudson, Esq. PAULINO JOSE SOARES DE SOUZA. No. 153. Mr. Hudson to Viscount Palmerston. - (Rec. Sept. 10.) MY LORD, Rio de Janeiro, August 14, 1851. WITH reference to my despatch of the 15th of March last, transmitting to your Lordship the copies of a correspondence which had passed between the Chief of Police of Rio Janeiro and Joaquim Breves, of the Island of Marambaia, who was notoriously in the habit of receiving newly-imported Africans at that island; I have the honour to report to your Lordship that Joaquim Breves having been found guilty of the crime of importing Africans into this country, appealed to the Relação of Rio Janeiro, who forthwith acquitted him, as your Lordship will perceive by the inclosed copy of the judgment of that court. Viscount Palmerston, G.C.B. I have, &c. JAMES HUDSON. (Inclosure.)-Sentence of the Court of Appeal in the case of Joaquim (Translation.) Breves. Rio de Janeiro, July 26, 1851. THE Court, upon a review and report of the record, in due form of law, judge the appeal admissible (at page 160) against the sentence (page 138,) inasmuch as the records do not show the existence of indications by virtue of which the said sentence ought to have been passed. The finding of Africans seized on the property of the pellant, of itself alone is certainly not sufficiently conclusive to point him out as having had part in the debarkation, and particularly as it appears from the record, not only that the first disembarkation took place upon another spot, but that when they were conveyed to the above-mentioned property the appellant was absent. And so much the more so is it inconclusive, it being further shown, as appears by the suit, that the said appellant lent his frank assistance to the persons sent to make the seizure, which otherwise he might have rendered difficult by concealing the Africans in the bush. At the same time, the interrogatory of the Ladino black produces no indicative proof, when he says that at the time of the landing of the Africans, he met with a man of the name of Joaquim, who took charge of them; not only because this simple designation is indeterminate, but because the appellant was then absent-terms in which the sentence is inapplicable to him; and if the Auditor of Marine might have thought the contrary, he ought to have confronted the 'person of the appellant with the informer, and have tried to arrive at the truth through the same interrogatory. Finally, that which has further been stated (at page 160) does not contain the nature of an indicative proof, and only presents conjectures which by mere possibility cannot be sufficiently conclusive for the pronouncing of a grave and infamous sentence. Therefore, and with reference to the records, and admitting the appeal, the Court reverses the above-mentioned sentence, acquitting the appellant, erasing the name of the appellant from the list of criminals, and the Municipality will pay the costs. VALDETANO, Reporter. A. PANTOJA, President ad interim. VELLOSO. VAZ VIERA. No. 157. Mr. Hudson to Viscount Palmerston.-(Rec. Sept. 10.) MY LORD, Rio de Janeiro, August 14, 1851. I HAVE the honour to inclose herewith copies of despatches which have been addressed to me by Her Majesty's Consulates at Pernambuco and Bahia, upon the state of Slave Trade within their respective Consular districts. Viscount Palmerston, G.C.B. SIR, I have, &c. JAMES HUDSON. (Inclosure 1.)-Vice-Consul Christophers to Mr. Hudson. Pernambuco, July 31, 1851. I HAVE the honour to inform your Excellency that I get reports of continued Slave Traffic being carried on in this neighbourhood, say in the province of Alagoas, especially, and further, it is represented to me that other cargoes are expected. Some days ago I heard from Garanhuns of 70 Africans being brought there under the protection of the police authorities, who are connected with and related to Senhor Lorenço C. A. Maranhão, who is charged as being the principal in the landing of those 600 at Peba. Garanhuns is 30 leagues in the interior, and bordering on Alagoas. I informed the President immediately, and at the same time he had other news of it. The President acted most promptly, dismissing at once Apolinario Florentino d'Albuquerque Maranhão and other authorities of the place, and ordering others to proceed to their duties in the matter, to capture the Africans, and to bring the criminals engaged to justice. I cannot say whether these poor creatures were some of those driven from the distant point of Peba, or whether they are out of another ship, reported to have landed 700 slaves since then at Porto de Pedras. I am told there is a person here lately arrived from Rio engaged in these negotiations. I learn that new Africans can be brought in the country at 100 dollars cash down, and 200 dollars, 300 dollars, almost any terms to get rid of them; this, if true, is a good feature, and shows that at least there is some fear of the higher authorities, and that the President is acting uniformly with his declarations. I beg to submit to your Excellency's decision the propriety or even necessity of having a small steamer to cruize along here for a time. The Triumfante Portuguese brig is loading here for Loanda. I am daily expecting to hear from Maceio, whence I generally get the most correct and special information. J. Hudson, Esq. SIR, I have, &c. HY. CHRISTOPHERS. (Inclosure 2.)-Vice-Consul Wetherell to Mr. Hudson. Bahia, August 2, 1851. I HAVE the honour to inform your Excellency that the prices of slaves have risen considerably in this province, owing to the total cessation of importations from the coast of Africa. Within the last 6 months I have it from the best authority that the value has increased 25 per cent., and advertisements for the purchase of new slaves are appearing in the newspapers, offering advanced prices. As far as I am able to learn, none of the slaves landed in Alagoas during the month of June last have been brought hither; it is supposed they have been distributed throughout that province, as only a few stragglers have been captured by the authorities. No less than 4 vessels* have sailed during the past month for the coast of Africa, laden with the usual description of cargoes, and others are loading, so that there seems strong reason for suspicion that the immense profit attending a successful importation of slaves is inducing the men-stealers to resume their nefarious transactions. The information obtainable, especially under existing circumstances, is too vague and insufficient to admit of any particulars being * 3 Sardinian, 1 Portuguese. given which would enable plans to be adopted to counteract the slave-dealers' proceedings. I can confidently assure your Excellency that no vessels have been fitted for the Slave Trade in this port for a lengthened period. Tranquillity prevails throughout this city and province. Her Majesty's steam-sloop Conflict is in the anchorage. Your Excellency's despatch of the 14th ultimo has been received. J. Hudson, Esq. I have, &c. JAMES WETHERELL. No. 158. Mr. Hudson to Viscount Palmerston. - (Rec. Sept. 10.) MY LORD, Rio de Janeiro, August, 14, 1851. HAVING heard that the sentence pronounced by the Vice-Admiralty Court of Rio de Janeiro against the notorious slave-dealer Manoel Pinto da Fonseca, in the case of the slave-ship Tentativa, had been quashed upon appeal to the Relação (Court of Appeal) of Rio de Janeiro, I conceived it to be my duty to address the Brazilian Government upon the subject; and I have the honour to inclose the copy of a note which I accordingly addressed to M. Paulino. Viscount Palmerston, G.C.B. I have, &c. JAMES HUDSON. (Inclosure.)-Mr. Hudson to Senhor Paulino de Souza. Rio de Janeiro, August 6, 1851. THE Undersigned, &c., having understood that the notorious slave-dealer Manoel Pinto da Fonseca was indicted in due course by the Auditor of Marine of Rio de Janeiro, and was by that judge found guilty of the crime of importing Africans into this empire in the vessel Tentativa; and that upon the appeal of that slave-dealer to the Relação of Rio de Janeiro, that Court of Appeal acquitted that notorious slave-dealer of the above-mentioned crime; and as the slave-vessel Tentativa and her cargo were notoriously the property of the above-mentioned slave-dealer, the Undersigned, desiring to acquaint his Government with the reasons which have guided the Relação of Rio de Janeiro in this case, has the honour to address himself to his Excellency Senhor Paulino José Soares de Souza, &c., requesting his Excellency to enable the Undersigned to inform his Government with regard to the facts of this remarkable judgment. Senhor Paulino de Souza. The Undersigned, &c. JAMES HUDSON. No. 160. Mr. Hudson to Viscount Palmerston.-(Rec. Sept. 10.) MY LORD, Rio de Janeiro, August 14, 1851. I HAVE the honour to transmit herewith to your Lordship the copy of a note which, in obedience to the instructions contained in your Lordship's despatch of the 5th ultimo, I have addressed to the Brazilian Minister for Foreign Affairs, upon the subject of the establishment at Rio de Janeiro of a Mixed Commission empowered to investigate the cases of negroes suspected of being held illegally in slavery in Brazil. Viscount Palmerston, G.C.B. I have, &c. JAMES HUDSON. (Inclosure.)-Mr. Hudson to Senhor Paulino de Souza. Rio de Janeiro, August 9, 1851. THE Undersigned, &c., having duly transmitted to his Government a copy of the note which the Undersigned had the honour to receive from his Excellency Senhor Paulino José Soares de Souza, &c., on the 26th of April last, returning to the Undersigned the draft of a Convention for the establishment of a Mixed Commission at Rio Janeiro, which should be empowered to investigate the cases of negroes suspected of being illegally held in slavery in Brazil, and to declare whether such negroes are or are not free; stating that the Imperial Government, in common with those of all other independent nations, execute their own laws in their own country, and will cause them to be executed by means of their own tribunals and authorities; that the Imperial Government cannot, therefore, allow the creation of a Commission wherein foreign judges shall have votes, and exercise jurisdiction within the Empire of Brazil; and that the creation of such a Commission being the principal object of the proposed Convention, it could not be admitted, and the Imperial Government accordingly declined to enter into any examination or discussion of the Convention which the Undersigned submitted to his Excellency Senhor Paulino José Soares de Souza. The Undersigned is now instructed to say in reply, that the functions which Her Majesty's Government wish to see performed by the Mixed Commission which they have proposed to the Brazilian Government, would consist, not in trying and sentencing Brazilian subjects for a breach of the Brazilian laws against Slave Trade, but simply in determining whether negroes who might be brought before such a Commission, were entitled to be free, as having been introduced into Brazil in violation of a Convention by which Brazil bound herself, and remains bound to Great Britain, to prevent the introduction of slaves into the Brazilian Empire. The fact of an immense number of slaves having been introduced into Brazil after the conclusion of and in violation of the stipulations of that Convention, is not disputed by the Government of Brazil; and the right of Her Majesty's Government to claim that such slaves shall be restored to freedom is equally undeniable. It is, moreover, to be observed, that the Convention which Her |