drawn up, declaring the extinction of slavery at St. Vincent's, approving of the proceedings of the Governor-General, and praising the conduct of the proprietors mentioned by the latter as having liberated their slaves. The Governor-General's second letter had not yet reached his Excellency's hands when I had my interview with him. The Viscount de Sá is turning in his mind the best means of extinguishing slavery in some of the other Cape de Verd Islands, a question to which, as your Lordship will have perceived from my despatch of the 27th of October last, his attention has some time been directed. I have, &c. The Earl of Clarendon. SIR, HENRY F. HOWARD. (Inclosure 1.)-Consul Miller to Mr. Howard. St. Vincent, Cape de Verds, February 24, 1857. I HAVE the honour to transmit herewith a copy of a despatch from his Excellency the Governor-General of these islands to the Ministro de Marinha e Colonias of Portugal. I feel much pleasure in the act of transmitting this document, and hopefully trust that the good intentions contained in it may be realised. His Excellency Major Antonio Maria Barreiros Arrobas has taken advantage of a propitious moment to do an act which redounds the greatest credit to him. Upon his arrival here a few days ago he found that of the slaves that originally existed here, the cholera had only left a few, and for these he has obtained their liberty. The Island of St. Vincent, therefore, at the present moment has not a single slave in it, and his Excellency is desirous that henceforth there shall be none, so that at least one island of the group may be exempt for ever from the curse of slavery. I sincerely hope that it may be in your Excellency's power to assist in gaining for this place the honourable distinction which Senhor Arrobas desires to obtain for it. I have, &c. H. F. Howard, Esq. THOMAS MILLER. (Inclosure 2.)-The Governor-General of the Cape de Verd Islands to the Minister of Marine and the Colonies. (Translation.) Government Office, Island of St. Vincent, ILLUSTRIOUS AND EXCELLENT SIR, February 24, 1857. IN my despatch of the 21st instant, which I had the honour of transmitting to your Excellency by the steam-packet Teutonia, I informed your Excellency that on arriving at this island my first care was to learn the number of slaves still existing, after the invasion of the cholera; and that having learnt that only five individuals remained in a state of slavery, I had determined to free them at my own expense, and that their masters had refused any remuneration, and had given them their liberty gratuitously: these slave-owners, who are worthy of the highest praise for their creditable act, and as an example for others, are, as I informed your Excellency, the following-Antonio Ignacio Nobre, who freed two slaves; José Gabriel Cordeiro; Antonio Joaquim Martins, and Dona Maria Martins Burnay, all of whom freed their slaves. All the other slaves either died or were freed by their masters during the prevalence of the cholera, by virtue of vows made by the slave-owners in the time of peril; previous to the epidemic there were 34 slaves. It has just come to my knowledge that there is another individual in the Island of St. Vincent, who, having been the slave of a priest in the Island of St. Antão, was abandoned by his master during the famine, and told by him to consider himself free, and to look out for his own livelihood; this slave engaged himself as a free man, to work at the Island of St. Vincent, and, I am told, has been here for nine months. About a month ago the priest demanded that he should be given up to him again. As I consider the man to be free, by the declaration of his former master, and owing to his having abandoned him, I have caused his letters of manumission to be given to him. If I have done wrong I am willing to compensate his master, should he be able to prove that his slave ran away from him. In my above-mentioned despatch I requested your Excellency to be pleased to submit to His Majesty the urgency of causing slavery to be declared abolished in this island, thus freeing our laws from a stigma. I will now, in addition to that despatch, offer some considerations to prove that great inconvenience may arise through failing to proclaim, without delay, the abolition of slavery in the Island of St. Vincent. The laws, and the Treaty with England, allow Portuguese settlers changing their residence from the Portuguese State of Guinea to the Island of St. Vincent, to bring 10 slaves each, and, further, that any person may, in going from one island to another, take with them two slaves, bona fide household servants, and supposing that 10 settlers should remove their place of residence to the Island of St. Vincent, and that 20 inhabitants of the other islands should come to reside temporarily in this island, each bringing with him two slaves, bona fide household servants, there may shortly be in the Island of St. Vincent 140 slaves or more, and things would then return to a worse state than before. Now the abolition of slavery can be decreed, without affecting acquired rights in the Island of St. Vincent, inasmuch as at present there are no slaves here; but should this measure be delayed, the result would be a loss to the owners of slaves who may arrive subsequently at this island, or to the Treasury that may have purchased their liberty; and, besides, it would establish a precedent to the prejudice of any measure to be adopted in another island, inasmuch as the owners of slaves in the other islands would have a right to compensation under the same circumstances, and the slaves alone of the Archipelago are worth upwards of 400 contos of reis (88,8887.), and the State has not this sum to give to the slave-owners. For this reason, and because it is always urgent to proclaim the emancipation of mankind, I would press upon your Excellency to be pleased to cause, with as little delay as possible, the abolition of slavery to be declared in this island; and also to commend the four slave-owners who have just given their slaves liberty. SIR, God preserve, &c. ANTO. MA. BARREIROS ARROBAS. No. 445.-The Earl of Clarendon to Mr. Howard. Foreign Office, March 16, 1857. I HAVE received your despatch of the 8th instant, stating that the Governor-General of the Cape Verd Islands having procured the liberation of the few remaining slaves who were in the Island of St. Vincent, and having recommended the Portuguese Government to abolish, as soon as possible, the state of slavery in that island, the Viscount de Sá Bandeira has caused a Decree to be prepared, declaring the extinction of slavery at St. Vincent's, and approving the proceedings of the Governor-General, as reported in your despatch. I have to instruct you to inform the Portuguese Minister for Foreign Affairs that Her Majesty's Government have learnt with much satisfaction that the Portuguese Government are determined to take measures for the abolition of slavery in the Cape Verd Islands. I am, &c. H. F. Howard, Esq. CLARENDON. No. 448.-Mr. Howard to the Earl of Clarendon.—(Rec. March 24.) WITH reference to my despatch of the 8th instant, I have the honour to transmit herewith a translation of a Portaria issued on the 10th instant by the Viscount Sá da Bandeira, and published in the "Diario do Governo" of the 11th, prohibiting the delivery of passports for the conveyance of slaves to St. Vincent's from the other islands or from the continent of Guinea, thus abolishing de facto, as it is observed, the condition of slavery in that island, until such time as it shall be abolished de jure by legislative enactment. The Portaria likewise contains the King's approbation of the conduct of the Governor-General, as well as of the inhabitants of St. Vincent's who had liberated their slaves. The Viscount de Sá mentioned to me yesterday that he intended presenting a Project of Law to the Cortes, providing for the legal abolition of slavery at St. Vincent's, and in such other of the Cape de Verd Islands as might be in similar circumstances. WHEREAS a Portaria, under date of the 20th October last, having been issued to the Governor-General of the Cape de Verd Islands, instructing him, with reference to the peculiar circumstances of those islands, to state when it would be possible to proclaim the abolition of slavery in one or more of those islands; and the said Governor-General having, in a despatch dated 21st February last, stated that there were no slaves in the Island of St. Vincent, inasmuch as those who had escaped the cholera had been liberated by their masters, with the exception of five, who, at the instance of the Governor, had been just liberated by their masters; and the said island being thus, de facto, without slaves; His Majesty the King has been pleased to direct that instructions be sent through the Marine and Colonial Department to the abovementioned Governor-General, to issue the proper orders to the effect that no passports be granted for the conveyance of slaves from the other islands, or from the continent of Guinea, to the Island of St. Vincent, revoking so far the Portaria of the 21st February, 1851, and thus abolishing, de facto, the condition of slavery in that island, until such time as it shall be abolished, de jure, by legislation. His Majesty further commands it to be stated that the conduct of the Governor-General in carrying out the Royal intentions has merited his Royal approbation, as also the humane and disinterested conduct of the inhabitants of the Island of St. Vincent who owned slaves. SA DA BANDEIRA No. 449.-Mr. Howard to the Earl of Clarendon.- (Rec. March 24.) I HAVE the honour of transmitting herewith a translation of a note of the 9th instant which I have received from the Marquis de Loulé, communicating to me, for the information of Her Majesty's Government, with reference to his previous note of the 25th ultimo, a copy of the Portaria addressed on the 17th of the latter month by Viscount de Sá da Bandeira to the Governors-General of Angola and of Mozambique, and to the Governor of St. Thomas and Prince, directing that the conveyance of slaves from one part to another part of the same province should only be permitted in strict accordance with Article V of the Treaty of July 3, 1842, for the Suppression of the Slave Trade. Translations of the Marquis's note of the 25th February, and of the Portaria of the 17th of that month, were respectively forwarded to your Lordship in my despatches of the 2nd March and of the 23rd February. I likewise beg to inclose a copy of the note of the 12th instant, by which I acknowledged the receipt of his Excellency's communication of the 9th. Copies of my notes of the 24th August and 3rd October last, therein alluded to, accompanied my despatches of the 28th of the former, and of the 5th of the latter month, respectively. The Earl of Clarendon. I have, &c. HENRY F. HOWARD. (Inclosure 1.)-The Marquis de Loulé to Mr. Howard. (Translation.) Palace, March 9, 1857. WITH reference to the latter part of the despatch of the Minister of Marine, a copy of which I had the honour to transmit to you on the 25th ultimo, it is now my duty to send to you, for your information and that of your Government, the inclosed translation of a Portaria, marked Circular, which was addressed by the above department, under date of the 17th of February last, to the GovernorsGeneral of Angola and of Mozambique, and to the Governor of the Province of St. Thomas and Prince, to the effect that the conveyance of slaves from one part to another part of the same province be only permitted in strict accordance with Article V of the Treaty of the 3rd of July, 1842, for the entire abolition of the Slave Trade. H. F. Howard, Esq. SIR, I avail, &c. MARQUIS DE LOULE. (Inclosure 2.)-Mr. Howard to the Marquis de Loulé. Lisbon, March 13, 1857. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of the note which your Excellency was so good as to address to me on the 9th instant, inclosing to me a translation of the circular Portaria issued on the 17th of February last by his Excellency the Minister of Marine to the Governors-General of Angola and Mozambique, and to the Governor of the Province of St. Thomas and Prince, directing that the transport of slaves from one point to the other of the same province should only be permitted in strict conformity with Article V of the Treaty of the 3rd of July, 1842, for the suppression of the Slave Trade. In reply, I beg to acquaint your Excellency that I had already forwarded, on the 23rd of February last, to Her Majesty's Principal |