The African Slave Trade.

ARTICLE 4. No merchant vessel of either of the contracting parties, under the convoy of a public vessel of her own nation, shall, under any circumstances whatever, be captured, or visited by, or from, any public vessel of the other nation, as being engaged, or on suspicion of being engaged, in the slave trade.

ARTICLE 5. No search shall be made by, or under the orders of, the commander or boarding officer of any public vessel of either party visiting any merchant vessel of the other, as being engaged, or under suspicion of being engaged, in the slave trade, excepting such as may be necessary to ascertain if there be slaves on board for the purposes of the said traffic, or other proof that the said vessel is so engaged. No person shall be taken out of the said visited or captured merchant vessel of either nation, by the commanding officer of the visiting vessel, or under his order. Nor shall any part of the cargo of the said visited vessel be removed out of her, until delivered over to the officers, or tribunals, of her own nation.

parties, that the commanders and commissioned | And the same duties herein described shall devolve officers of either nation, duly authorized, under the upon every commander, or commissioned officer, regulations and instructions, of their respective of the royal navy of Great Britain, by whom, or Governments, to cruise on the coast of Africa, of by whose order, any merchant vessel of the UniAmerica, or of the West Indies, for the suppres- ted States, or navigating under their flag, shall be sion of the slave trade, shall be authorized, under visited for the said purposes, and upon the boardthe conditions, limitations, and restrictions, here- ing officer by whom the visit shall be effected, on inafter mentioned, to capture and deliver over to the high seas, or any where without the territorial the duly authorized and commissioned officers of jurisdiction of Great Britain. the other, any ship or vessel carrying on such illicit traffic in slaves, under the flag of the said other nation, or for the account of their subjects or citizens, to be sent in for trial and adjudication by the tribunals of the country to which such slave ship or vessel shall belong. And the said commanders and commissioned officers shall be further authorized to carry, or send in, any such slave-trading ship, so by them captured, into the ports of the country to which such slave-trading ship shall belong, for trial by the tribunals, and conformably to the laws, of said country. But the slave ship, so captured, shall not be sent into the ports, or tried by the tribunals of the captor. ARTICLE 3. If any naval commander or commissioned officer of the United States of America, shall, on the high seas, or any where without the territorial jurisdiction of the said States, board, or cause to be boarded, any merchant vessel of Great Britain, and visit the same as a slave trader, or on suspicion of her being engaged in carrying on the illicit traffic in slaves, in every case, whether the said visited vessel shall be captured and delivered over, or sent into the ports of her own country for trial and adjudication, or not, the boarding officer shall deliver to the master or commander of the visited vessel a certificate in writing, signed by the said boarding officer with his name, and the addition of his rank in the service of the United States, and the name of the public vessel of the United States, and of her commander, by whose order the said visit shall have been ordered; and the said certificates shall declare, that the only object of the said visit is to ascertain whether the said British merchant vessel is engaged in the slave trade, or not; and if found to be so engaged, to take, and deliver her over to the officers, or the tribunals of her own nation, for trial and adjudication. And the commander of the said public vessel of the United States shall, when he delivers her over to the officers or tribunals of Great Britain, deliver all the papers found on board of the captured vessel, indicating her national character, and the objects of her voyage, and with them a like certificate of visitation, in writing, signed by his name, with the addition of his rank in the Navy of the United States, and the name of the public vessel commanded by him, together with the name and rank of the boarding officer, by whom the said visit was made. This certificate shall, also, specify all the papers received from the master of the vessel detained, or visited, or found on board the vessel, and shall contain an authentic declaration, exhibiting the state in which he found the vessel detained, and the changes, if any, which have taken place in it, and the number of slaves, if any, found on board at the moment of detention.

ARTICLE 6. When a merchant vessel of either nation shall be captured, as being engaged in the slave trade, by any commander, or commissioned officer, of the navy of any other nation, it shall be the duty of the commander of any public ship of the navy of the nation to which the captured vessel shall belong, upon the offer thereof being made to him by the commander of the capturing vessel, to receive into his custody the vessel so captured, and to carry, or to send, the same into the ports of his own country, for trial and adjudication. And at the time of the delivery of the said vessel, an authentic declaration shall be drawn up, in triplicates, signed by both the commanders of the delivering and of the receiving vessel, one copy of which shall be kept by each of them, stating the circumstances of the delivery; the condition of the vessel captured, at the time of the delivery; the number of slaves, if any, on board of her; a list of all the papers received, or found on board of her at the time of capture, and delivered over with her, and the names of the master or commander of the captured vessel, and of every person on board of her, other than the slaves, at the said time of delivery; and the third copy of the said declaration shall be transmitted with the said captured vessel, and the papers found on board of her, to one of the ports of the country to which the said captured vessel shall belong, to be produced before the tribunal appointed, or authorized, to decide upon the said capture; and the commander of the said capturing vessel shall be authorized to send the boarding officer, and one or two of his crew, with the said captured vessel, to appear as witnesses of the facts in relation to her

The African Slave Trade.

capture and detention, before the said tribunal. The reasonable expenses of which witnesses, in proceeding to the place of trial, during their necessary detention there, and for their return to their own country, or to rejoin their station in its service, shall be allowed by the tribunal of trial: and in case of the condemnation of the captured vessel, be defrayed from the proceeds of the sale thereof; and in case of the acquittal of the said vessel, they shall be paid by the Government of the capturing officer.

seizing and delivering up the persons and vessels concerned in that traffic, for trial and adjudication, by the tribunals and laws of their own country.

ARTICLE 7. The commander or commissioned officer of the navy of either of the contracting parties, having captured a merchant vessel of the other, as being engaged in the slave trade, if there be no public vessel of the nation to which the said captured vessel belongs, cruising upon the same station, to the commander of whom the said cap-ited, for every vexatious or abusive exercise of the tured vessel may be delivered over as stipulated in the preceding article, shall carry or send the said captured vessel to some convenient port of her own country, there to be delivered up to the competent tribunal for trial and adjudication. And the said captured vessel shall there be libelled, in | the name and behalf of the captors; and in case of the condemnation of the said vessel, the proceeds of the sale thereof and of her cargo, if also condemned, shall be paid to the commander of the said capturing vessel, for the benefit of the captors; to be distributed according to the established rules of the service of the nation to which such capturing vessel shall belong, for the distribution of prize money.

ARTICLE 8. The captain or commander and crew of the said vessel, so captured and sent in for trial and adjudication, shall be proceeded against conformably to the laws of the country, wherein to they shall be so brought upon the charge of piracy, by being engaged in the African slave trade; and the captain, or commander, the boarding officer, and other persons belonging to the capturing vessel shall be competent witnesses to the facts relating to the said charge and to the capture of the said vessel, to which they shall be personally knowing. But every such witness, upon the criminal trial for piracy, shall be liable to be challenged by the person accused, and set aside as incompetent, unless he shall release and renounce all his individual claim to any part of the prize money, upon the condemnation of the vessel and cargo.

ARTICLE 9. It is agreed between the high contracting parties that the right of visiting, capturing, and delivering over for trial the vessels engaged in the African slave trade, and assuming their respective flags, is mutually conceded to the officers of their respective navies, on the consideration that they have, by their respective laws, declared their citizens and subjects, actively participating in the said traffic, guilty of the crime of piracy.

That no part of this Convention shall be so construed as to authorize the detention, search, or visitation, of the merchant vessels of either nation, by the public officers of the navy of the other, except vessels engaged in the African slave trade, or for any other purpose whatever than that of

ARTICLE 10. It is further agreed that this right of visiting, detaining, and delivering, over for trial, vessels engaged in the slave trade, shall be exercised only by the commissioned officers of the navy of the parties, respectively, furnished with instructions from their respective Governments, for the execution of their respective laws for the suppression of the slave trade. That the boarding officer, and the captain, or commander, of the vessel exercising these rights, or either of them, shall be personally responsible in damages and costs to the master and owners of every merchant vessel so by them delivered over, detained, or visright. In the case of every vessel delivered over, as herein stipulated, for trial, the tribunal shall be competent to receive the complaint of the master, owner, or owners, or of any person on board of such captured vessel, or interested in the property of her cargo at the time of her detention, and on suitable proof of such vexatious or abusive detention or visitation, to award reasonable damages and costs to the sufferers, to be paid by the said commanding or boarding officer, or either of them, so charged with vexatious or abusive detention, or visit. And the high contracting parties agree that their respective Governments shall, in every such case, cause payment to be made of all such damages and costs so awarded, to the persons so entitled to receive them, within twelve months from the date of such award. And if any case of such vexatious or abusive detention, or visit, should occur, in which the vessel detained or visited shall not be delivered over for trial and adjudication, as herein provided, the commander and boarding officer by whom such vexatious and abusive detention or visit shall have been made, shall, also, be responsible in costs and damages to the sufferers, upon complaint before the competent Admiralty Court of the country of the said commander and boarding officer. And the respective Governments shall, in like manner, cause payment to be made of any damages and costs awarded by said court, within twelve months from the date of the award.

ARTICLE 11. A copy of this Convention, and of the laws of the two countries actually in force, for the prohibition and suppression of the African slave trade, shall be furnished to every commander of the public vessels, instructed to carry into effect such prohibition. And in case any such commanding officer of the Navy of the United States, or of Great Britain, shall deviate in any respect from the dispositions of this treaty, and from the instructions of his Government conformable to it, the Government which shall conceive itself to be wronged by such conduct shall be entitled to demand reparation; and in such case the Government of the nation, to the service of which he may belong, binds itself to cause inquiry to be made into the subject of the complaint, and to inflict upon him, if he be found to have deserved

The African Slave Trade.

Mr. Adams to Mr. Middleton.-No. 17. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, July 28, 1823. SIR: At the close of the last session of Congress, a resolution was adopted by the House of Representatives, almost unanimously, requesting "the President of the United States to enter upon, and to prosecute, from time to time, such negotiations with the several maritime Powers of Europe and America, as he may deem expedient, for the effectual abolition of the African slave trade, and its ultimate denunciation as piracy, under the law of nations, by the consent of the civilized world."

In pursuance of this resolution, instructions for carrying it into effect have been given to the Ministers of the United States destined to the Republics of Colombia and Buenos Ayres, and to the Minister who has recently departed for Spain. But, as a negotiation for co-operation to effect the suppression of the African slave trade, had already been commenced with Great Britain, a special instruction upon the subject was forwarded to Mr. Rush, together with a full power, and a draught of a convention, to be proposed, in substance, to that Government, and which he has been authorized to conclude.

A copy of that instruction and draught are herewith enclosed; the general terms of which you will communicate, at such time, and in such manner, to the Imperial Russian Government, as you shall think proper.

You will, also, communicate to them the purport of the resolution of the House of Representatives above cited, and copies of the laws of the United States prohibiting the slave trade. You will particularly invite their attention to the two sections of the act of the 15th May, 1820, by which this offence, when committed by citizens of the United States, is subjected to the penalties of piracy.

the law of nations, we cannot, according to our Constitution, subject our citizens to trial for being engaged in it, by any tribunal other than those of the United States.

The admission of the crime as piracy, by the law of nations, would seem necessarily to subject the perpetrators of it to capture, by the armed force of every nation. And this might endanger the lawful commerce of the maritime nations, by subjecting them to the abuses of vexatious searches, without some special provision to guard against them.

This is the object of the stipulations proposed in the draught herewith transmitted; requiring that all vessels of one nation, which may be captured as slave traders by the cruisers of another, should be delivered over for trial to the tribunals of their own country.

You will see that Mr. Rush is instructed to correspond with you upon this subject. If the draught of the articles enclosed should lead to the conclusion of a convention between the United States and Great Britain, a communication of it to the Russian Government will be made as soon as possible, and we shall propose that His Imperial Majesty's accession to it, if agreeable to him, shall be invited.

In the mean time, you will informally suggest to his Ministry, that it will be the desire of the Government of the United States to proceed in this matter, in perfect good understanding and harmony with them; and you will farther intimate that, as this has now become a general concern of the whole civilized world, and as Great Britain is negotiating, jointly and severally, with each and every of her allies in Europe, apart, and again with them altogether, while she is also separately treating with us, we wish it to be con sidered whether it would not be expedient on all sides, that communications should be made to us of all the jointly concerted measures, while they are mere proposals; and not that the knowledge of them should be withheld from us, until they are matured into positive treaties.

I am, with great respect, sir, yours, &c.
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

HENRY MIDDleton,

Envoy, &c., at St. Petersburg.

Mr. Adams to Mr. Everett-No. 10. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, Aug. 8, 1823. SIR: At the close of the last session of Con

mously, by the House of Representatives, "That the President of the United States be requested to enter upon, and to prosecute, from time to time, such negotiations with the several maritime Powers of Europe and America as he may deem expedient for the effectual abolition of the African slave trade, and its ultimate denunciation as piracy, under the law of nations, by the consent of the civilized world."

The proposal that this principle should be re-gress, a resolution was adopted, almost unanicognised by the general consent of civilized nations, recommended by the resolution of the House of Representatives, appears to be substantially the same with that made by Great Britain, at the Congress of Verona. It was not acceded to by any one of the other Powers there assembled, and the conferences on this subject terminated there by a mere renewal of the joint declaration against the traffic, of the Congress at Vienna. So long as the trade shall not be recognised as piracy by

In pursuance of this resolution, instructions for

The African Slave Trade.

carrying it into effect have been given to the Ministers of the United States, destined to the Republics of Colombia and of Buenos Ayres, and to the several Ministers of the United States in Europe.

As a negotiation for co-operation to effect the suppression of the slave trade had already been commenced with Great Britain, a special instruction upon the subject has been forwarded to Mr. Rush, together with a full power, and a draught of a convention to be proposed in substance to the British Government, and which he is authorized to conclude.

A necessary preliminary to the conclusion of the proposed convention, should it meet the assent of the British Government, will be the enactment of a statute declaring the crime of African slave trading piracy by the British law. In that event, it is proposed, by proper co-operation, that the influence of the two Powers should be exerted to obtain the consent of other nations to the general outlawry of this traffic as piracy. In the mean time, to give at once effect to the concert of both nations, it is proposed that the armed vessels of both, duly authorized and instructed, shall have power to capture the slave-trading vessels which may assume the flag of either, and, if not of their own nation, to deliver over the captured slave trader to the officers or tribunals of his own country for trial and adjudication.

This principle is essential, as connected with that of constituting the traffic piracy by the law of nations. So long as the offence was considered as of inferior magnitude, the Constitution of the United States forbade the submission of it, when charged upon their citizens, to any foreign tribunal; and when the crime and the punishment are aggravated to involve the life of the accused, it affords but a more imperative inducement for securing to him the benefit of a trial by his countrymen and his peers.

It appears that at the conference of Verona the proposition was made by the British Government that the slave trade should be recognised and proclaimed as piracy by the law of nations. We have therefore reason to hope that the proposal now made to them, on the part of the United States, will be favorably considered by them. In that case, further communications on the subject with other Governments will ensue.

In the mean time, to fulfil the intentions of the House of Representatives, in relation to the Netherlands, you will communicate to their Government a copy of the resolution, together with copies of the laws of the United States prohibiting the slave trade, with particular notice of the two sections of the act of the 15th of May, 1820, by which the crime of being concerned in the African slave trade, when committed by citizens of the United States, is declared to be and is made punishable as for piracy. And you will announce the readiness of the American Government, should it suit the views of His Majesty, the King of the Netherlands, to enter upon a negotiation, for the purpose of carrying into effect the object of the resolution of the House of Representatives-namely,

the denunciation of the African slave trade as
piracy, by the law of nations.

I am, with great respect, sir, yours, &c.
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.
ALEXANDER H. EVERETT, Esq.,

Chargé d'Affaires U. S. to the Netherlands.

Extracts of a letter (No. 6) from Mr. Adams to General Dearborn, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States, at Lisbon, dated

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, Aug. 14, 1823. "At the close of the last session of Congress, a resolution was adopted, almost unanimously, by the House of Representatives, That the President of the United States be requested to enter upon, and to prosecute, from time to time, such negotiations with the several maritime Powers of Europe and America as he may deem expedient, for the effectual abolition of the African slave trade, and its ultimate denunciation as piracy, under the law of nations, by the consent of the civilized world.'

"A negotiation for concerting measures of cooperation to effect the suppression of the African slave trade had already, for several years, been pending with Great Britain, for which reason a special instruction has been transmitted to Mr. Rush, together with a full power, and a draught of a convention to be proposed, in substance, to the British Government, and which he is authorized to conclude.

"Should this proposal meet the assent of the British Government, a necessary preliminary to the conclusion of the convention will be the passage of an act of Parliament, declaring the crime of African slave trading, when committed by British_subjects, piracy. An act of Congress to that effect, as relates to citizens of the United States, has been in force, as you are aware, these three years. When the crime shall have been constituted piracy by the statute law of both countries, each with reference to its own citizens or subjects, the principle offered by the projected convention is, that the armed vessels of each, specially empowered and instructed to that end, shall be authorized to capture slave-trading vessels assuming the flag of the other, and to deliver over the captured vessels to the public cruisers, or to the tribunals of their own country, for trial. This plan is offered as a substitute for that which was offered to us by Great Britain, which was predicated on the treaties already concluded between that Power and Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands. The leading principle of those treaties was the mutual concession of the right of maritime search, in time of peace, to the armed vessels of both, cruising for slave traders, and a mixed court of commissioners and arbitrators, sitting in colonial possessions of the parties, for the trial of the delinquents. To this system the United States have steadily declined to accede, for two reasons: One, because they had an invincible repugnance to subject their merchant vessels

"At the conferences of Verona, the British Government appears to have proposed, that the African slave trade should be declared piracy by the law of nations. This is the same proposition recommended by the resolution of the House of Representatives of the United States. The ulti-Representatives respecting the slave trade, which mate object of the United States and of Great Britain, therefore, is the same.

Mr. Rush to Mr. Adams, giving him the substance of France will consent to the proposal of the Presia conversation with Mr. Canning.

LONDON, October 9, 1823. "This latter subject, (the slave trade,) he said, it was his wish to take in hand with me himself, and thus keep it detached from the general nego-lution."