141. " " Aug. 28 topher captured by 392 H.M.S. Cygnet and Aigle 392 Case of the St. Chris topher 181. Count Ste. Aulaire to the Earl of Dec. 12 Destruction of Pierre 394 207. Mr. Browne to the Earl of Aber- June 24 Replies to queries on deen Slave Trade and Slavery in the Danish colonies 401 220. Sir H. Wynn to the Earl of Aber- Nov. 4 New regulations for treatdeen ment of slaves in Danish colonies 412 HANSE TOWNS. 239. The Earl of Aberdeen to Colonel Jan. 10 Julius and Edward........ 412 Hodges 248. Colonel Hodges to Mr. Bandinel 269. The Earl of Aberdeen to Colonel | Aug. 11 Ditto 414 415 Hodges TEXAS. No. Date. SUBJECT, 435. Mr. Ashbel Smith to the Earl of Aug. 1 Endeavours of British Aberdeen Page subjects to procure the abolition of Slavery in Texas 415 436. Captain Elliot to the Earl of July 13 British subjects trading Aberdeen in slaves between The 438. The Earl of Aberdeen to Mr. Sept. 11 Endeavours of British Ashbel Smith subjects to procure the abolition of Slavery in Texas 416 418 440. Captain Elliot to the Earl of July 25 Replies to queries on 418 441. The Earl of Aberdeen to Captain Oct. 14 Disposal of Negroes capElliot tured on the coast of Brazil in Texian vessels 419 6 British subjects trading in slaves between The Texas Ditto July 17 456. The Earl of Aberdeen to Mr. Oct. 31 Ditto Kennedy VENEZUELA. 1843 473. Mr. Wilson to the Earl of Aber- Aug. 4 deen AUSTRIA. No. 1.-The Earl of Aberdeen to Baron de Neumann. Foreign Office, February 23, 1843. THE Undersigned, &c. has the honour to acknowledge the receipt of the note, and of the inclosures thereto, which the Baron de Neumann, &c. transmitted to him on the 19th November last, renewing a claim on behalf of Mr. Buschek, an Austrian subject, for indemnification from Her Majesty's Government for losses sustained by that individual, in consequence of proceedings against the British vessel the Winwick, at Gibraltar. The Undersigned forwarded that communication to Her Majesty's law-advisers. and requested them to take the whole subject under their consideration; and to report their opinion thereupon, for the information of Her Majesty's Government. The Undersigned has now the honour to state to the Baron de Neumann, that Her Majesty's law-advisers have reported, that it appears to them that Mr. Buschek, the owner of the goods shipped on board the Winwick, is not entitled to demand compensation for his losses from Her Majesty's Government: and that the statement now sent from Baron Neumann does not disclose any reasons which should induce Her Majesty's Government to alter the opinion which they had previously formed on this subject. In confirmation of that opinion, the law-advisers observe, that the arguments in the last letter of Baron Neumann are chiefly limited to an endeavour to show, that on a consideration of the circumstances in which the mulatto woman, Lauriana, was taken from Brazil by Mr. Natterer, she would have been considered as free by the law of that country, on her return thither. Notwithstanding the arguments brought forward by M. de Neumann, the law-advisers still consider it to be a matter of doubt, whether in strictness of law the mulatto woman in question would have been entitled to her freedom on her arrival in Brazil, even if she had then been in a situation to insist on it. They refer, however, upon this point to a letter addressed by Mr. Natterer to Mr. Buschek, and proved in the course of the cause before Her Majesty's Privy Council; and they observe, that this letter made it plain that the great object in sending the woman back to Brazil, was to avoid the payment of her price to her former owner there. They remark that this matter has undergone a judicial investigation in the Vice-Admiralty Court at Gibraltar, in which Court the vessel was condemned, and that the case has been tried anew before the highest tribunal in this country, which, while it reversed the sentence of the Court below, on the ground of want of proof of guilty knowledge, on the part of the master and crew, declared at the same time that there was probable cause for the seizure, and rejected the claim of the owner for damages and costs. And they finally give their opinion upon these grounds, that this is not a case in which Her Majesty's Government can justly be called upon to make compensation to any party whatever injured by the seizure; whether that party be a British subject or a foreigner. The Undersigned has only to regret that he is not enabled to transmit to the Baron de Neumann, for communication to his Court, an answer more in accordance with the request which the Austrian Government has supported in this case. The Undersigned, &c. Baron de Neumann. ABERDEEN. No. 2.-Baron de Neumann to the Earl of Aberdeen.—(Rec. July 10.) Londres, le 8 Juillet, 1843. NICHOLAS ZAR, capitaine du brig marchand Autrichien " Febo," a été inculpé d'avoir donné passage de Constantinople à Tunis à 4 femmes esclaves. La Cour Criminelle de Rovigno en Dalmatie, voulant procéder dans cette affaire, désire avant tout obtenir de la part du Consulat Anglais à Tunis les éclaircissements nécessaires sur les différents points consignés dans la note ci-jointe en copie, qu'elle a adressé au Gouvernement de Trieste, en date de Rovigno, 12 Mai, 1843. C'est dans ce but que le Soussigné, &c. a l'honneur de recourir à l'obligeance de son Excellence M. le Comte d'Aberdeen, &c. et de la prier de vouloir bien lui communiquer dans le temps la réponse qu'aura fuite le Consul de Sa Majesté Britannique à Tunis. Le Soussigné, &c. S.E. Le Comte d'Aberdeen, K.T. NEUMANN. (Inclosure.)—M. Weilenbekman to the High Imperial Royal Government of the "Litorale," Trieste. (Translation.) SIR, Rovigno, May 12, 1843. Ir appears from the papers transmitted hither by the High Imperial Royal Government at Trieste, and from the valued note of the 28th April, of the current year, but more particularly from the deposition in court of the mercantile Captain Nicolo Zar, that he on his arrival at Constantinople from Tunis with his brigantine, denominated Febo, the property of his uncle Dominico Zar, and with a cargo of some chests of bonnets, addressed to the Turkish merchant, Said Haji Binhajit, entered on the 24th of March, of the current year, into a negotiation with that merchant, about a cargo for Tunis: that both of them proceeded to the counting.house of Stephen Scopinich, and there agreed about the freight; that Santo Rizzo, Scopinich's partner, drew up there a charter-party, which, being here inclosed, is found to be signed by the freighter, by Captain Nicolo Zar, and by the witness Joseph Arnarin, the broker of the port, as also by the firm of Scopinich and Rizzo, and dated April, 12, 1842; that the cargo consisted of timber, and a variety of goods; and that there were also some passengers, namely, 3 old Turks, 3 Turkish boys, about 14 or 15 years of age, the wife of an employé in the Turkish marine with a child, and 4 young women of from 15 to 16 years; that the cargo was consigned to a merchant at Tunis, of the name of Binhajit; and that when the freighter had seen all these passengers on board, on the 28th of May of this year, the brigantine set sail for Tunis, having for her clerk Constantino Nicholich, who was embarked at Constantinople, where he resides with his grandfather Stephen Scopinich. It having been discovered, on the arrival of the vessel at Tunis, that the 4 young women who went on board at Constantinople, were slaves, and Captain N. Zar affirming that he did not and could not know their condition to be such, seeing that he had taken and kept them on board as free passengers in common with the rest, it is necessary, prior to proceeding against N. Zar, in conformity with the Supreme Resolution of June 25, 1826, to ascertain the circumstances of the embarkation of these women as well as what the captain and the other persons implicated knew about this matter. Hence your High Imperial Royal Government is requested to be pleased to apply to the Imperial Royal Austrian Internunciature at Constantinople, to procure, in the ordinary method, the Turkish merchant, Said Haji Binhajit, to be minutely examined as to whether he is acquainted with the captain of the Austrian merchant marine, Nicolo Zar, managing the brigantine Febo; what dealings he has had with him; whether he had engaged him last year in the spring; for what cargo and whither bound; showing to him, if he should prevaricate, the said deposition of the captain, and the charter-party; what persons they were whom he was hired to convey; whether any and what women had been among the persons embarked; whether any among the women had also been slaves, telling him, in case of prevarication, that 4 slaves had been discovered among them at Tunis; what understanding there had been on this subject between him and the captains; in what language they had conversed together; what objections or doubts, if any, Captain Zar had uttered respecting those females; whether his crew, and which portion of it, had had any part, knowledge, or interest therein; whether any other persons, and which, had been parties to the negotiation about the freight of the vessel for the conveyance of the female slaves to Tunis; and which thereafter had been the steps taken, and the instruments made out, for the embarkation and the departure of the vessel for Constantinople. The like particular interrogatory is also solicited of the persons who participated in the stipulations and conclusions of the contract, or charter-party, namely, Stefan Scopinich, Santo Rizzo, and Giuseppe Arnarin, as also of Constantino Nicolich, who acted as ship's clerk during the voyage; and this latter to be furthermore questioned touching the circumstance whether, and by what means, it had been known on board of what condition the women therein embarked were, and that they were slaves; whether and what Captain Nicolo Zar himself had known, said, and confidentially imparted, concerning this matter; what had been his manifest, bills of lading, and other ship's papers; what were the circumstances of the landing at Tunis, and of the disembarkation of those females; and in what manner the captain had behaved on that occasion; also whether the captain and crew had been aware of |