Richmond Enquirer

Washington, Oct. 10.--It appears from the Federal Gazette, that there is at least one person who disapproves of the late transactions at Pensacola, relative to the arrest of Col. Callava. We shall not quarrel with him for that, being of the belief that every man has a clear right to his own opinion. But why should we be blamed, for venturing ours? We wish the affair had never taken place; but we cannot undertake to censure a proceeding which intelligent Americans on the spot concur in approving. The mistake of those who most find fault on this occasion, appears to be in considering Col. Callava as the Representative of the Spanish government; whereas the fact is, that, if he had any commission from his government to act as such after the surrender of Pensacola, it was not made known to general Jackson, or to our government. He stood in the same light as other private citizens, and enjoyed no immunity which all did not.

With regard to the case of Judge Fromentin, alluded to by the writer in the Gazette, we have not the materials upon which to form a decided opinion.

It is very certain that the powers of a Spanish Governor and Captain General, devolved on Gen. Jackson by the act of Congress, are very extensive, and incompatible with our notions of the necessary separation of the powers of government--all of which, it is said, a Spanish Governor unites in his own person; and, acting in a judicial capacity, we can conceive that Gen. Jackson had an authority which it was not for Judge Fromentin to resist. This, however, depends on the extent of the powers of the late Spanish Governor, with which we are not sufficiently acquainted to speak with any certainty. The writer in the Gazette says authoritatively, and apparently from direct information, that it is not true that Judge Fromentin acknowledged that he had not the right, or was not bound, to issue the habeas corpus. On this point we can only say, if Judge Fromentin has been unjustly or illegally dealt with by the Governor, he has the ability, and we doubt not the disposition too, to cause his rightful authority to be respected.
[Nat. Int.