Brig was a second time detained by the Spanish Brig of War "Marte," on the 16th Instant, between Bahiahonda and Mariel. By the Enclosure in the Admiral's Letter it appears, that the Court of Admiralty made this Communication to the Mixed Commission, for the purpose of the latter offering any observations that might occur to them upon the Case in question, but that it was by no means their intention to submit it to the cognizance of the Commission.

Immediately after the receipt of this Letter, I waited upon the Captain General, who was nearly recovered from his indisposition, and I mentioned to him the necessity, under the present circumstances, of immediately appointing a Spanish Commissary Judge, in the room of M. Pinillos, in order that the Mixed Commission might take into consideration the Letter and Documents forwarded by Admiral Gaston; and I ventured to suggest to His Excellency Don Andres de Jauregui, a most respectable Gentleman, who, from his high character and conciliatory disposition, was peculiarly well calculated for the office. His Excellency, in the most obliging manner, acceded to my suggestion, and promised to appoint M. Jauregui without delay. And accordingly on the following morning (the 22nd) I received a Note from him, dated the preceding night, in which, after apprizing me of a Communication made to him by the Admiral, to the effect that my Letter of the 20th had been submitted by the latter to the Legal Counsel of his Department, he informs me, that he had appointed Don Andres de Jauregui, Commissary Judge, ad interim, in the room of Don Claudio Pinillos.

Copies and Translations of this Correspondence are enclosed.

On the 22nd, M. Jauregui took the oath prescribed by Treaty, and on the evening of that day we had our first meeting. After the perusal of the Correspondence which had passed, it appeared to us both, that this was a Case, the cognizance of which properly belonged to the Mixed Commission; but before we came to any resolution upon this point, I apprized my Colleague of the construction adopted at Sierra Leone, of the 13th Article of the Regulations for the Mixed Commissions, which treats of the mode of supplying the vacancies that may occur; it having been decided there, that, in the event of the absence of any of the Foreign Members, whose places could not be supplied, ad interim, the remaining individuals of the Commission should sit together as independent Judges; and I stated that, in pursuance of this construction, the British Commissioner of Arbitration being absent, his Spanish Colleague, M. Quesada, should be summoned to attend, and take his place with the two Commissary Judges.

After considerable discussion, it was at length decided, that the construction of the Article in question established at Sierra Leone, should also be adopted by this Mixed Commission; and that, at all events, it would be advisable to summon M. Quesada upon the present

occasion, as we should probably have to treat of the important subject of the powers of the Court.

It may not be immaterial to add, that we adopted the above construction in the contemplation of the Case of the absence of the British Commissary Judge, when many inconveniences would occur, the Treaty no where specifying, that his place is to be supplied by the Commissioner of Arbitration, which are obviated by that construction; but both M. Jauregui and myself were of opinion, that, in the present case of the absence of the British Commissioner of Arbitration, considering the 13th Article of the Regulations with reference to the 3rd Article of the same, which treats of the form of Process, it would be more conformable to the tenor of both, that the Commissary Judges should proceed as usual, and only in the event of a difference of opinion, call in the Spanish Commissioner of Arbitration.

I enclose a Translation of the Minute of the Proceedings of this day, as drawn up by the Secretary, for the purpose of being placed amongst the Records of the Commission; and also of the letter addressed to M. Quesada, the Spanish Commissioner of Arbitration, for the purpose of requesting his attendance. And I shall continue to enclose the Minutes of the Proceedings in this Case, in the order in which they are alluded to in this Despatch, together with the Letters and Documents to which reference is made.

On the morning of the 23rd the Court met, when the Spanish Commissioner of Arbitration, M. Quesada, took his seat with the Commissary Judges, having previously made some observations upon the construction put upon the 13th Article of the Regulations, in virtue of which he had been invited to attend the Meeting.

The Documents produced at the former Sitting were then again read; and, as a preliminary measure, I suggested the expediency, for many obvious reasons, of the Mixed Commission coming to a Resolution not to enter into direct communication with any other Authority or Department but the Captain General; which suggestion was immediately approved by the other Members, and adopted accordingly.

After due consideration of the Documents before the Court, and particularly of the Letter of the Admiral with its Enclosure, it was agreed unanimously, that the present Case was one which belonged properly and exclusively to the jurisdiction of the Mixed Commission;-and it was resolved that a Letter should be addressed to the Admiral, informing him that the Commission could not enter into direct communication with any other Authority but the Captain General, and hoping that he would speedily reply to the representation made upon the subject already by His Excellency;-adding, however, as a mark of respect to the Admiral, he having been pleased to address the Commission directly, that in their opinion, the Commanding Officer of the Marte, having detained a vessel with Negroes on board, and hav

ing brought her into this Port, ought to have come directly to the Mixed Commission with the Papers of the detained Vessel, in conformity to the first Article of the Instructions for the Cruisers of the two Nations; the examination of which Papers belonged exclusively to that Court.

The Admiral replied to this Letter by merely acknowledging its receipt.

Upon my return home after the Sitting of the 23rd, I found a Letter from the Admiral addressed to me, in consequence of that which I wrote to the Captain General on the 20th, and which had been transmitted by the latter to him; by which Letter, and its Enclosures, it was evident that the Court of Admiralty was resolved to continue to maintain the cognizance of the case.

Having observed in the opinion of the Fiscal of the Court of Admiralty, enclosed in the above Letter of the Admiral, that it was indirectly insinuated that I had, upon the present occasion, allowed my zeal to exceed its proper limits,—that a tone and manner towards me are used throughout, which are altogether uncalled for by my conduct, and that I am expressly charged with having taken upon me to attribute blame to the Court of Admiralty for the delay which had occurred in this Case; I thought it necessary in my answer to the Admiral, after stating that I could not venture individually to give an opinion upon the communication made in his Letter, the Case being before the Mixed Commission, to deny, in the most explicit manner, the charge which had been made against me.

I subsequently received a reply from Admiral Gaston, containing a representation of the Fiscal, explanatory of the observation to which I had alluded; with which explanation I expressed myself to be perfectly satisfied.

I did not submit Admiral Gaston's Letter of the 23rd to the Mixed Commission till the 25th, the 24th being a holiday; and at a Sitting held that day, it was resolved, and it was now evident that the Court of Admiralty was determined not to relinquish the cognizance of the present Case, that an energetic Remonstrance should be addressed to the Captain General upon the subject; and that His Excellency's protection should be solicited, for the purpose of reinstating the Commission in the free exercise of their powers, of which they had been deprived by the Marine Department; adding a formal Protest against all the Proceedings of that Department in the Case.

On this and the following day (26th) Communications were received from the Captain General, stating that he had required the opinion of Counsel respecting the Resolution of the Court of Admiralty, notified to him by the Admiral in a Letter dated the 23rd, which was to the same purport as that transmitted to me under the same date; and

that he had been advised to consent to the disembarkation of the Negroes, and the Deposit of the same, as decreed by that Court.

On the 30th of June the Mixed Commission again met, but having learnt that the Captain General, although he had not yet replied to the Representation of the 25th, was seriously engaged in the consideration of the subject of it, they agreed that a renewal of the same at the present moment would be injudicious.

On the same day a Letter was received from His Excellency, in which he states, that, in conformity with the opinion of Counsel whom he had consulted respecting the Representation of the 25th, he had come to the decision, that the present Case properly belonged to the Mixed Commission, and that he had accordingly written to Admiral Gaston, requiring the Court of Admiralty to cease in the cognizance of the same, and to send him the original Documents and Proceedings, in order that he might transmit them to the Commission.

The latter, in reply, expressed their acknowledgments for the zeal with which His Excellency had endeavoured to maintain the Court in the full exercise of their powers.

The Captain General again addressed the Commission on the 7th of July, and transmitted a Letter which he had received from Admiral Gaston with all the original Proceedings in the Case; in which Letter it was proposed that a Concord, or Joint Proceeding, should be established between the Commission and the Court of Admiralty.

At a Sitting held on the 8th this proposal was taken into consideration; when, it appearing to the Court that all the objections to entering into direct Communications and Discussions with other Tribunals existed in greater force to the proposal of a Joint Proceeding; and that there were besides two invincible obstacles arising from the different Forms of Process of the two Tribunals, and from the different Courts to which their respective appeals lay; it was resolved, that a Letter to this effect should be addressed to the Captain General, in which the original Proceedings of the Admiralty should be returned, as they were not yet sent to the Commission for the purpose of their entering upon the consideration of the Case, in conformity with their powers.

On the next day, a Letter was received from the Captain General communicating the opinion of Counsel, which His Excellency had adopted, that the whole original Process and Documents should be remitted unconditionally to the Mixed Commission, for the purpose of their proceeding to the adjudication of the Case.

On the 10th the Court met, and, after taking into consideration the last Letter with its Enclosures, it was resolved that a Letter should be addressed to the Captain General, acknowledging the receipt of the original Process of the Admiralty, and the other Documents; another

to request His Excellency to take measures for the attendance of the Commander of the Brig of War before the Court, for the purpose of being examined on the morning of the 12th (the 11th being Sunday), and also to have the goodness to provide the Court with an Officer (both which requests were instantly acceded to); and a third, recording the solemn Protest, which the Court considered it to be their duty to renew upon the occasion of entering upon the free exercise of their powers, against all the Proceedings of the Marine Department in this Case. In this last Letter, the Commission also suggested to the Captain General the expediency of changing the depositary of the Negroes the owner of the Romano, for many reasons, not appearing to be a fit Person for that charge; and His Excellency was entreated to take upon himself the charge of appointing another depositary, and of adopting other requisite measures, the Court being entirely destitute of means for that purpose.

Subsequently the Captain General wrote to the Commission, forwarding a Letter from the Admiral, with Enclosures, in which, upon the occasion of consenting that the Commander of the Marte should attend to give testimony before the Mixed Commission, the legal Counsel of that Department enter into some observations respecting the Court of Admiralty's Jurisdiction, of which it was hoped that Court would. not be deprived by the Commission :-to which observations it was replied, that the latter had not as yet exceeded their powers, and would be careful not to do so in future.

You will perceive, throughout the whole of the Proceedings and Correspondence of the Marine Department and the Mixed Commission, during the discussion respecting the Court to which the cognizance of the present Case properly belonged, that it was the constant endeavour of the former to keep out of sight the most material circumstance of the detention of the Maria de la Gloria, by His Catholic Majesty's Brig Marte, and to consider her solely as the Prize of the Spanish Privateer, Romano ;-from whence it was deduced that, as the latter did not belong to the Royal Navy, and consequently was not provided with the Instructions annexed to the Slave Trade Treaty, the Case could not be brought under the cognizance of the Mixed Commission, and necessarily belonged to the Court of Admiralty:-and, moreover, that as the Romano was a Privateer fitted out, and provided with Letters of Marque, at this Port, it belonged to the Marine Department exclusively, to judge of the legality or illegality of the conduct of her Captain, in making the present or any other Prize whatever.

The Mixed Commission, on the contrary, always kept in view, and alleged that the Maria de la Gloria had been detained on the Coast of this Island, as a suspicious Vessel with Negroes on board, and brought, into this Port by the Spanish Brig of War Marte, duly provided with the Instructions annexed to the Treaty; the first Article of which