esq., a citizen of the United States, but for many years a resident of Valparaiso, to fill his place in the interim, and notified the same to the government of Chile.

Mr. Ward is a gentleman of character, and a merchant of high standing in the community where he resides, who possesses ample qualifications, and will, I am sure, give great satisfaction to the business community of Valparaiso.

By the mail steamer which will leave in a few days after Col. Potter, who sails in the United States frigate Raritan to Callao, I shall forward you another despatch.

And remain, very truly and respectfully, your obedient servant, BALIE PEYTON.

Hon. DANIEL WEBSTER,

Secretary of State of the United States.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,

Santiago de Chile, March 7, 1851.

On the 19th day of October, 1850, the undersigned, envoy extraor dinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States of America near the government of Chile, had the honor of addressing to his excellency Señor Don Antonio Varas, minister of state and foreign relations of Chile, a brief note submitting to him the facts, as stated by Z. W. Potter, esq., United States consul for the port of Valparaiso, in relation to the impressment by the local authorities of Valparaiso, of four mariners, three Chilenos and a Frenchman, from the United States whale-ship "Addison," of which Captain Henry E. Lawrence was master, which vessel was at the time, to wit: on the 15th of October last, in the port of Valparaiso; the said seamen having been transferred immediately from the deck of the said whaler, against the will and remonstrance of the said captain thereof, and placed to serve on board the Chilean armed vessel called the "Chile," and by her taken to sea the morning next following.

In his note the undersigned presented the facts of the case merely, which he considered grave and important, to the consideration of his excellency, without comment, in the full hope and confidence that such measures would have been adopted in relation thereto, by the government of Chile, as were due to the honor of the flag and the interests of the citizens of the United States.

To this note his excellency replied, under date of the 24th of October; and the undersigned regrets that the conclusions of law and fact at which his excellency appears to have arrived are by no means calculated to diminish the gravity and importance of this case.

It appears from the information in his possession, that his excellency felt himself justified in controverting the facts as set forth by the United States consul, and the application of the principles of law to the facts as the same were supposed to be understood by the undersigned.

Perceiving the importance which the case might be made to assume,

the undersigned, upon the receipt of said note of his excellency, lost no time in requesting Z. W. Potter, esq., United States consul at Valparaiso, to prepare in a legal form a full and complete statement of the case; which was accordingly done, but the evidence was not received by the undersigned in time to lay the same before his excellency anterior to his departure from the metropolis on a tour to the south of Chile; and since his return, other pressing engagements have intervened and delayed the reply which he has been solicitous to make to his excellency's note until the present time.

From the facts stated by persons either wholly disinterested, or as nearly so as the nature of their avocations will permit, it appears that the "Addison" entered the port of Valparaiso for a temporary purpose, and was on the eve of her departure with a full crew and every prospect of success in the pursuit of her enterprise; that the master of the vessel having lost a number of his crew, by desertion, at Talcahuano, gave orders forbidding any of his men to visit the shore; ordered the ship to be ready for sea the same day; applied to the American consul for her papers, which he obtained, paid charges, and took leave of the consul; hurried on to his merchants, (Loring Brothers & Co.,) who had cleared the vessel, and requested them to make out his account in order that he might go to sea immediately. And while engaged in this last matter of business, which required but a few moments to despatch, the maritime governor came inquiring for the master of the "Addison," and on learning which was he, addressed him, inquiring whether he had not four Chilenos on board of his vessel; and on being answered in the affirmative, stated the purpose of his visit, which was to go on board and investigate some complaint which they had made of ill-usage on the part of the master. He was asked by one of the merchants whether he would not go on board of the "Addison" without the captain, as he was engaged in business. He replied no, that the master must go with him on board; indeed, he then and there declared his intention of taking off the sailors, as is established by the evidence of Mr. F. Gabler, of the firm of Loring Brothers & Co., a highly honorable and disinterested

man.

With this avowed intention, made known in his first interview with Captain Lawrence, at the outset, he took him from his business, carried him on board the ship, in his own boat, which was ready manned awaiting him at the wharf, under the pretext of inquiring into a matter of the internal police and discipline of the ship, over which he had no jurisdiction, but really with the settled purpose of forcibly taking off a portion of the crew, to be sent on board the vessel of war "Chile." Not only so, but it appears from the statement of the American consul, that the maritime governor had so far imposed on and deceived the governor of the province as to induce him to acquiesce in this scheme, and had actually, at this time, an order (a verbal order) from the intendente of the province, directing him to transfer the seamen from the Addison to the Chile; which order he concealed from the master of the whaler, lest a remonstrance on his part might induce the intendente to revoke the order, as he doubtless would have done had he been informed of the facts in time.

The subsequent conduct of the maritime governor is in accordance with the views and motives which he proclaimed at the outset, and his subsequent declarations such as might have been expected. But compare the statement and conduct of the maritime governor with that of the master of the whaler, if there were no other testimony in the case which is the most probable? Here is a whaling vessel with a full complement of men, well equipped and supplied with all things necessary for the business, just commencing the voyage under the most auspicious and flattering circumstances, having fallen in with a school of whales and taken one in sight of the port, after having been for seven months without taking or seeing a whale. The men are forbidden to go ashore; the inconsiderable business of the ship (the delivery of a small quantity of oil, and the purchase of a stove) is despatched; the whale is cut into and secured; orders are given by the captain to weigh anchor and have all things in readiness to sail; he obtains his ship's papers from the consul, and her clearance from the custom-house officers, was hurrying his merchant to make out his accounts, and would have been off for his vessel in fifteen minutes, exulting in the prospect, almost the certainty, of freighting his vessel in a few days with the rich cargo for which he had sailed half around the globe, braving every hardship and danger, and which had before eluded his search, and which, if neglected for a few days only, might not again present itself for months, if ever. Is it probable, is it reasonable to suppose that a person in the situation of Captain Lawrence would fail to avail himself of this tempting opportunity? And for what? Why, for the purpose of entering into a plot so complicated that none but an adept in chicanery could have conceived, and yet so wicked that the wickedness is lost in its imbecility; which is nothing less than a scheme on the part of the master of the whaler to seduce the maritime governor into the commission of an apparently illegal act, in order that he might make a false claim against the government of Chile-a claim against a government situated many thousands of miles from home, relying, as it is supposed, upon the power of his government to enforce a claim so iniquitous, and which, to be considered even plausible, must involve in the guilt of perjury all those on board, who would be required to substantiate the claim.

And what is there in the history of the government of the United States, in its intercourse towards other nations, which would justify the suspicion that any man, however weak or wicked he might be, could, for one moment, entertain the hope of inducing that government to become a party to a transaction so disreputable? His excellency does justice, and no more than justice, to the government of the United States, when he says: "I know very well that in protecting the claims of its citizens, it acts upon principles of the purest justice." This is known to the whole world, and to no persons better than to the masters of American vessels. Its indulgence, its forbearance in asserting the just claims of its citizens, especially against States less populous and powerful than itself, is proverbial; and whatever cause of complaint, in this respect, there may have existed on the part of some of its own citizens, the government of the United States has certainly not, in any case, pursued a course which was cal

culated to stimulate her citizens to make unfounded claims against friendly powers, relying on their government to enforce them.

If avarice is to be attributed as the motive of action on the part of Captain Lawrence, the temptation was to be found in the sea rather than on the land; amongst the numerous schools of whales which were congregated in the vicinity of Valparaiso, where, in a few lucky days, he might have expected to freight his ship with a full cargo, and return home richly rewarded for all his toils and privations, rather than to spend his time and means in laying the foundation of a claim which, even if just, could not be considered equal in value, as a matter of speculation, to a cargo of sperm oil, and which, according to the usual course of diplomacy in such cases, might require much time to adjust and settle.

But independently of the internal evidence growing out of the nature of the transaction itself, the statement of the master of the whaler is sustained and corroborated, in all its material facts, by the officers and several of the crew of the whaler, who, together with the master, made their statements under oath; and also by R. Loring, William W. Snelling, and F. Gabler, of the house of Loring Brothers & Co., Z. W. Potter, United States consul for Valparaiso, and John Keen; the latter of whom are gentlemen of character, whose testimony is given without interest or bias. If these disinterested persons are to be believed, it is impossible to believe the statement of the maritime governor when he attempts to justify himself by stating:

1st. That he repaired on board the whaler, accompanied by the captain, in his own boat, in the character of a mediator.

2d. On the mole, previous to embarking, he met the consul of the United States, to whom he stated the object proposed; and the captain, far from denying it, agreed with the maritime governor in the

measure.

This statement is positively contradicted by both the American consul and the captain of the whaler.

3d. It being agreed upon to receive, on the next day, three seamen, the captain of the whaler not wanting a fourth.

4th. The maritime governor communicated the circumstances to the intendente on the same day, when there was no idea of reclamation by Captain Lawrence. And yet it is asserted that such was the intention of the captain of the whaler from the inception of the matter. Much stress is laid upon the supposed delay of the master of the whaler in making complaint to the consul. It is asserted that he went ashore immediately after the visit of the maritime governor to the whaler, and instead of there directing himself to his consul to complain of the supposed grievance, he awaits the sailing of the Chile, insists afterwards on not accepting the seamen, which, with the desire of shunning disagreeable controversy, had been offered to him in lieu of those taken off, in compliance with the agreement as before stated.

All of which is positively disproved by undeniable testimony. So far from the master of the whaler having applied to the maritime governor to go on board his vessel in the character of a mediator between himself and a portion of the crew, he, the maritime governor,

sought and required him to go on board, having previously obtained an order from the intendente for the transfer of the sailors, which he concealed, and which is inconsistent with the defence which he subsequently made. It is not true, as stated, that he informed the American consul of the object of his visit to the whaler.

It is not true, as stated by him, that the master of the whaler delayed making complaint until after the sailing of the "Chile," on the following day, but that no time was lost by the master of the whaler in laying his case before the consul; that within two hours after the occurrence he visited the consul on board the U. S. corvette Preble, then in port, and laid the case before him; that at an early hour next morning he visited the consul before he was out of bed, and requested his interposition and protection; that his object in calling on the consul, as is manifest, was to aid him in reclaiming the mariners in order that he might go to sea, and not in getting up a claim against the government of Chile. It appears that the maritime governor sought, as a pretext to defend his conduct, to discover some illegality in shipping the seamen; that he came with Mr. Péna, the secretary of the marines, to the office of the consul, for the purpose of examining the ship's papers, which proved to be regular; and he then, for the first time to the knowledge of the master of the whaler, stated that the seamen were removed with his approbation, which was flatly contradicted by him.

The bearing and manner of the two men, on this occasion, when face to face, was such as to leave no doubt of the facts of the case. According to the statement of the United States consul, the intendente frankly admitted that he issued the order for the removal of the seamen from the whaler to the "Chile;" stated that he had been deceived and misled by the statement of the maritime governor, and expressed his sincere regret at the occurrence; stated that if the "Chile" were in the harbor, the four men should instantly be restored to the Addison; and assured the consul, at the same time, that he had given, or would give, to the captain of the port, orders to have four men ready at any moment, to replace those taken off; and when the Chile returned, an offer was made, on or about the day of 1850, by the direction of the intendente, to restore the four men to the "Addison." It is manifest that Governor Blanco was satisfied of the error into which he had been led by the misrepresentation of the maritime governor, which he did not attempt to conceal, but for which he was anxious to make all the atonement in his power.

In concluding this review of the facts, the undersigned begs leave to state that the character of Captain Lawrence appears to be irreproachable; and his conduct in this unfortunate affair was such as to meet the approbation of his countrymen at Valparaiso; and that his bearing in stating the case to the undersigned, when, in pursuance of the advice of the United States consul, he visited Santiago for that purpose, was that of a conscientious and honest man, acting under a sense of duty to his country, whose flag he considered had been insulted, through him, to his employers and to himself.

As an evidence of his scrupulous adherence to the truth, he omits to state an important fact, which is established by Mr. Gabler, to wit: