Alexandria Gazette & Daily Advertiser

From the Boston Chronicle.

SPAIN AND THE PATRIOTS.

The numerous advertisements of the marshal of this district concerning property taken as would appear from the subjects of the king of Spain, by vessels under the Patriot flag, and the numerous enquiries which this subject has excited, induced us to apply for information to a gentleman of the law, particularly conversant with the various causes to which the above advertisements apply;—from whom we have received the following communication:

Messrs. BALLARD & WRIGHT,

Gentlemen—In answer to your letter, requesting some information of the state of the various cases in our courts between the subjects of the king of Spain, and the inhabitants of the provinces claiming to be independent I very readily give you the following facts:

The first case of any consequence was the polacre brig Divina Pastora. This vessel, in a disabled condition, armed in the harbor of New-Bedford, in the month of December last. She was commanded by Daniel Utley claiming to be a citizen of Buenos Ayres. He stated that the Pastora was a prize to the Buenos Ayrean privateer Mangoree, commanded by captain Barnes. That said Mangoree sailed from Buenos Ayres to Port-au-Prince, with a commission from the supreme director of the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata to cruize against the property of the European subjects of the king of Spain:—That she touched at Baltimore in the United States, where the said Utley joined her, and sailed from thence on the cruise in which the Pastora was captured.—That after taking possession of the Pastora, he, (Utley) became sick, was nearly blind, and therefore unable to navigate the vessel which during his sickness, was driven about pretty much at the pleasure of the winds and the waves, until finally it was necessary to seek a port in the United States for the preservation of the cargo, and the lives of the prize crew.

Immediately on her arrival in the waters of the United States, the Spanish Consul filed a libel claiming the Pastora and her cargo as the property of the subjects of Ferdinand VII., denying the right of the United Provinces to issue commissions of letters of marque, and insisting that the pretended capture was at all events tortious and illegal, because the Mangoree was fitted out in the United States of America.

The case was decided by Judge Davis, in favor of the Consul, chiefly on the belief which his honor entertained, that there was an alleged American interest in the privateer, which vitiated all other proceedings. From this there was an appeal to the Circuit Court of the United States, and a judgment by consent there rendered, on which the case will be carried by appeal to the Supreme Court at Washington.

The cargo of the above vessel wa
Sold by the Marshal, with consent of parties, and the proceeds invested by Order of Court, in the funds of the United States, for the benefit of whom it may hereafter concern. Another vessel prize to the same privateer, arrived in distress in Rhode Island; and similar measures were pursued with regard to her.

The next case which has got into the newspapers, is concerning the ship said to have appeared off Portland.

A few days since, five men arrived in this town, having in possession about three thousand dollars in gold, and one thousand in silver. They were arrested on a charge of piracy—one was admitted state's evidence, one was discharged by the examining magistrate, and three are now confined in jail, waiting for trial in October, by the Circuit Court. The money was bailed by the Spanish Consul, and has been seized by the Marshal, under authority of Court.

This ship has given occasion to several advertisements, because legal process respecting her crew and cargo has assumed a variety of shapes.

The ship will undoubtedly a Spanish vessel, and her cargo the property of European Spaniards. She was unquestionably captured by a certain armed vessel called the Congresso, sailing under the flag of Buenos Ayres and claiming to hold a commission for the Supreme Director of the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata. The prize was manned and ordered to Buenos Ayres—how she came off Portland is for judicious investigation.

Somebody on board broke open her cargo—put it into different vessels—turned the residue of the crew over to an American sloop, which was paid for receiving them, and the prize was abandoned at sea.

Wherever any part of the original cargo has been discovered, the Spanish Consul has libeled it, and an advertisement has of course appeared in the papers, and the owners of the privateer have followed it into Court and claimed its delivery to them as being their prize of war.

The United States District Attorney also has instituted process against two small schooners, the Abbey and the Betsey, for having illegally received part of the cargo of the ship, in contravention of the 27 and 28 sections of the collection law. These various libels are pending before the District Court of the United States.

There is yet another case of considerable consequence, which has figured in the long Advertisements of the Marshal by order of the Court.

The schooner Rio de la Plata was fitted out at Buenos Ayres, and sailed on a cruise, sometime in June last, armed and commissioned by the Supreme Director of the United Provinces of South America. She fell in with and captured on the high seas, a certain Spanish Polacre brig, the Neustra Senora del Bueno Successo, bound from Havana to Barcelona, on board of which she put a prize crew, leaving one or two of the original crew as prisoners on board, and ordered her for Buenos Ayres.

This vessel was wrecked at sea, and a Marblehead fishing boat fell in with her and took off the people and about six thousand dollars in value of goods, when the prize sunk within sight. The Marblehead men returned with the cargo and crew, and arrived safe in port. On landing the cargo, it was libeled for the salvors, to obtain a reasonable compensation; the prize master libeled for the owners of the privateer, and the Spanish Consul filed his claims for the original Spanish owners.

I believe these are the chief cases which have come into our courts. They have occasioned much discussion as to the right of Spanish provinces to issue commissions of war, and as to the part of American interest, or the effects of an interposition by Courts of the United States.

There can be no doubt that our citizens have no right to engage in the capture of Spanish property under the flag of the Patriots; and that such interference will be fatal to any case in which it should be proved. But it is also believed that no court of this country will eventually decide that the Spanish provinces are to be considered in a state of rebellion; or that their subjects—fairly engaged in maritime capture, are to be treated as pirates. I believe the eventual decision of the supreme court at Washington when those cases are regularly presented to them, will be considered as a future rule, and the law when promulgated from that high authority will settle the judicial relations of the U. States with their provincial neighbors.

The existence of these litigations ought in no instance to be considered as involving any national right of the U. States. The parties are in all respects private citizens who exercise a privilege common to all the world.

It is the general determination by our courts, and the litigation by individuals, which will be of importance in fixing the character which the Spanish provinces bear in the U. States.

I remain yours, &c.