GENERAL HISTORY. 



[81 



55th year of his majesty's reign, 

 intituled, " An Act to provide 

 for the support of captured slaves 

 during the period of adjudication." 

 — That being deeply interested in 

 upholding and maintaining the de- 

 cisions of the tribunals of this 

 country, most earnestly do entreat 

 his Royal Highness, that he will be 

 graciously pleased to take effec- 

 tual measures to provide that the 

 Spanish subjects, who are ac- 

 tually in possession of sentences 

 of restitution, may receive the 

 full amount of the property de- 

 creed to be restored to them. 



Lord Castlereagh said, that he 

 had no doubt but that he should 

 be able to present the subject in 

 such a light as would give satis- 

 faction to the House, and to the 

 hon. and learned gentleman him- 

 self. He would first make a few 

 observations as to the general 

 grounds of the right upon which 

 the arrangement was entered into. 

 There could be no doubt that it 

 was perfectly competent for one 

 sovereign to contract with ano- 

 ther as to the claims of their 

 subjects with a view to adjust- 

 ment. If any other principle 

 were admitted, all claims of 

 subjects might individually be- 

 come an object of negotiation 

 which could never be brought 

 to a close. All writers upon 

 the law of nations were agreed 

 as to that point. It could be 

 proved by two practical cases 

 exactly in point which had ob- 

 tained the sanction of parliament. 

 One was, the treaty negotiated at 

 Viennainl815,bywhich 300,000/. 

 was stipulated to be paid to the 

 king of Portugal in compensation 

 for the same kind of injury as 

 that to which the motion referred. 



Vol. LX. 



Some of the cases respecting 

 Portuguese vessels captured by 

 British cruizerswere then actually 

 in progress before the courts. 

 In the treaty with America in 

 1783, the subjects of this realm 

 were to bring their complaints 

 for unjustifiable capture of ships 

 before the American tribunals. 

 In some cases they obtained jus- 

 tice ; in others it was denied ; for 

 which reason the sovereign en- 

 tered into a stipulation for their 

 adjustment, and the American 

 government itself undertook to 

 satisfy the claimant in cases 

 where justice could not be ob- 

 tained from the tribunals. 



The hon. and learned gentle- 

 man had represented the great 

 hardship and injustice of stepping 

 in between individuals and the 

 tribunals which had given judg- 

 ment in their favour. This he 

 wished to be kept particularly in 

 view by the House, for he could 

 show them that the claimants 

 were deprived of no right they 

 had possessed either in equity, or 

 by statute. Now in equity the 

 claimants were entitled to no- 

 thing. The statute of Julj' 1815 

 was passed for purposes of huma- 

 nity, that slaves found in captured 

 vessels might be immediately re- 

 lieved from their unhappy situa- 

 tion, and not obliged to wait the 

 issue of a long litigation. With 

 this view it was enacted, that if 

 the capture should be afterwards 

 declared illegal, an equivalent 

 should be given for the slaves by 

 the treasurer of the navy. As 

 this act could only operate pros- 

 pectively, not one case of those 

 in question could be brought 

 within its operation. There were 

 altogether 21 cases in different 

 [G] stages, 



