(Translation.)

No. 25.-The Chevalier Amado Grehon to the Secretary of State. Philadelphia, December 4, 1820.

Sir,-It falls to my duty to present to the Government of the United States, the inclosed abstract of a new case of piracy, which I have lately received from my Court; and to request of you to subjoin it (that it may appear) to the list of others which has been presented to this Government by the Chevalier Correa, Minister Plenipotentiary of His Most Faithful Majesty. I embrace, &c.

JOSEPH AMADO GREHON.

The Hon. J. Q. Adams.

(Translation.)

Abstract from the Procès Verbal.

Philadelphia, December 4, 1820.

On the 5th of March, 1820, to the North of Cape St. Augustine, latitude 7 1-2 degrees south, the brigantine packet of His Most Faithful Majesty, named 'The Infant D. Sebastiano,' was attacked and pillaged by a brigantine pirate of American construction with an 'S' instead of a figure head; armed with 16 24-pounders, and a crew of about 100 men; the captain of which, who has lost a hand, the other officers, and three-fourths of the crew, are Americans, according to the formal evidence which has been given before the Intendant-General of the Police of the Court and Kingdom of Brazil, by the officers, crew, and passengers of the packet-brig, who, after having been outraged and pillaged, have returned in the same brig to Rio de Janeiro. JOSEPH AMADO GREHON.

(Translation.)

No. 26. The Chevalier Amado Grehon to the Secretary of State. Philadelphia, December 14, 1820.

Sir, I have the honour of again transmitting to you an authentic copy of twelve claims, requesting you to add them to the list of others which the Chevalier Correa de Serra, Minister Plenipotentiary of His Most Faithful Majesty, presented to your Government.

I expect the honour of your answer to this note, and also to the former which I addressed to you on the 14th instant, that I may be enabled to give an account to my Court. I am, &c. JOSEPH AMADO GREHON.

The Hon. J. Q. Adams.

(Inclosure.)-(Translation.)

Office of the General Accountant of the Royal Junta of Commerce, Agriculture, Manufactures, and
Navigation, July 27, 1820.

FRANCISCO MORATO ROMA, Accountant-General.

(Translation,)

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No. 27. The Chevalier Amado Grehon to the Secretary of State. Washington, April 1, 1822.

Sir, I am about to repeat, in writing, all that I had the honour to communicate to you in the interview of Saturday last, as well in compliance with your request as on account of its being in conformity with the orders of my Government, of which Verissimo Antonio Ferreira da Costa, attached to the Legation, was the bearer; and by which I am empowered to notify and show to the Government of the United States, and to the nation, what follows:

That the Portuguese Government has resolved to recognize the United States as its first Ally, by a Treaty which it is desirous of concluding forthwith, for the purpose of giving every possible impulse to reciprocal commerce, and to the industry of the two nations, and to guard the national independence, which constitutes the most sacred of all rights, against the direct or indirect attacks of Powers unfriendly to the Constitution freely chosen by the people; but, as a fundamental principle of the said Treaty, there should be a preliminary condition that the Government of the United States accede to the proposition made by the Chevalier Correa de Serra, ex-Minister Plenipotentiary of Portugal, in his note of the 16th July, 1820, of having recourse to Commissaries chosen by both Governments, for the purpose of arranging the indemnities justly due to Portuguese citizens for the damages which they have sustained by reason of piracies, supported by the capital and the means of citizens of the United States: an essential condition, which, in this way, repairing the past, secures also the future.

That the Portuguese States in the four quarters of the world can offer to the United States the most important advantages of commerce; the more so, because the relations which the Portuguese Government is disposed to establish with that of the United States, are founded in a perfect union against the common enemies of their industry and of their independence.

But, if all efforts on the part of the Portuguese Government should be fruitless towards obtaining from that of the United States a just and reasonable indemnity, which England does not hesitate to make in analogous cases of unjust captures, the Portuguese Government is fully determined to resort to the right of reprisals, and to adopt proper measures to indemnify itself for the losses which have been occasioned to their commerce by the acts complained of, as it has been manifestly made to appear, in the face of the world, that unworthy citizens of the United States have been parties in this perfidious practice; and it is very certain that the Portuguese Government has it in its power to exercise reprisals against the United States, by granting to

their rival Powers advantages in commerce, in cases in which it is disposed to give the United States the preference if, acting in good faith, they make indemnity for the past, and secure the future.

These are the earnest sentiments and views of the Portuguese Government, which have been communicated to me, with orders to make them known to that of the United States and to the nation. I have, therefore, the honour, Sir, to communicate them to you for that purpose; and I shall be happy if the result of this communication (which I expect from a just and liberal Government, such as is that of the United States) may be conformable with the sentiments and the desire of the Portuguese Government. I have, &c.

The Hon. J. Q. Adams.

JOSEPH AMADO GREHON.

No. 28. The Secretary of State to the Chevalier Amado Grehon. Department of State, Washington, April 30, 1822.

Sir, Your letter of the 1st instant has been submitted to the consideration of the President of the United States, by whom I am directed to assure you of the great satisfaction with which he has received the friendly declaration of the Portuguese Government towards the United States, and the disposition manifested by them to promote the mutual interests and the amicable intercourse between the two countries, by a Treaty founded upon principles favourable to the commercial relations and industry of both. The President desires that you would, in return, make known to your Government the sentiments of friendly reciprocity which animate the Government of the United States towards Portugal, and the earnest wish of the President that the relations of the United States with that nation may continue on terms of the most entire reciprocity. I am, at the same time, directed to state, that the proposition of the Chevalier Correa de Serra, in his note of the 16th July, 1820, for the appointment of Commissaries chosen by both Governments to arrange indemnities claimed by Portuguese citizens, for damages stated by them to have been sustained by reason of piracies supported by the capital and means of citizens of the United States, cannot be acceded to. It is a principle well known and well understood, that no nation is responsible to another for the acts of its citizens, committed without its jurisdiction, and out of the reach of its control. Of the numerous piracies which have within these few years annoyed the commerce of every maritime nation, a much greater number have been committed by the subjects of other Powers than by the citizens of the United States. The lawful commerce of the

United States themselves has suffered by these depredations, perhaps, more than that of Portugal. When brought within the jurisdiction of the United States, the pirates have been punished by their laws, and restitution has been made to its owners of property captured by them. Should any citizens of the United States, guilty of piracy, be captured by the Portuguese Government, the United States will in no wise interfere to screen them from punishment.

The citizens of the United States are amenable also to the tribunals of their own country, as the people of Portugal are to theirs, for any wrong done by them to the subjects of other nations. For acts of so aggravated a nature as piracy, the authority of the Government of the United States itself is not competent to withdraw them from the jurisdiction of their natural judges, or to subject them to a trial, consisting partly of foreigners, and without the intervention of a jury. These principles of protection and security to individual rights are, doubtless, well understood, and will be duly appreciated in Portugal, under the liberal system of government now established in her dominions.

The laws and the tribunals of the United States are adequate to the punishment of their citizens who may be concerned in committing unlawful depredations upon foreigners on the high seas, at least to the same extent as the laws and tribunals of other nations. The legislation of the United States upon this subject was even rendered more severe and effectual for the suppression of such offences during the residence here of the Chevalier Correa de Serra; and justice, conformably to the established principles of the laws of nations, has always been rendered by the Courts of the United States to the Portuguese subjects, whose property, after capture by piracies of privateers, has been brought within the jurisdiction of this nation. It will continue to be so rendered in all cases which may occur hereafter.

Of the advantages to the commerce of the United States, in the four quarters of the world, which it may be in the power of the Portuguese Government to offer, it would be acceptable to receive a more particular specification than is contained in your letter. The Government of the United States would then be able to judge of their value, and of the consideration with which they may be returned. It is not perfectly understood who are meant in your note, by the ፡ common enemies of their industry and their independence,' and I am directed to ask of you a precise explanation of that expression. The Government of the United States, while willing cheerfully to meet and reciprocate any commercial arrangements with Portugal propitious to the interests of both nations, will not solicit, and cannot grant, any exclusive favours, to the prejudice of any other Power whatsoever.