BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. A PROCLAMATION. Whereas, there is reason to believe that a military expedition is about to be fitted out, in the United States, with intention to invade the island of Cuba, a colony of Spain, with which this country is at peace; and whereas, it is believed that this expedition is instigated and set on foot chiefly by foreigners, who dare to make our shores the scene of their guilty and hostile preparations against a friendly power; and seek, by falsehood and misrepresentations, to seduce our own citizens, especially the young and inconsiderate, into their wicked schemes,-an ungrateful return for the benefits conferred upon them by this people in permitting them to make our country an asylum from oppression-and in flagrant abuse of the hospitality thas xtended to them. And whereas, such expeditions can only be regarded as adventures for plunder and robbery, and must meet the condemnation of the civilized world, whilst they are derogatory to the character of our country-in violation of the laws of nations-and expressly prohibited by our own, our statutes declare, "that if any person shall, within the territory or jurisdiction of the United States, begin or set on foot, or provide or prepare the means for any military expedition or enterprise, to be carried on from thence Against the territory or dominions of any foreign prince or state, or of any colony, district, or people, with whom the United States are at peace, every person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and shall be fined not exceeding three thousand dollars, and imprisoned not more than three years." Now, therefore, I have issued this my proclamation, warning all persons who shall connect themselves with any such enterprise or expedition, in violation of our laws and national obligations, that they will thereby subject themselves to the heavy penalties denounced against such offences, and will forfeit their claim to the protection of this Government or any interference in their behalf, no matter to what extremities they may be reduced in consequence of their illegal conduct. And therefore I exhort all good citizens, as they regard our national reputation, as they respect their own laws and the laws of nations, as they value the blessings of peace and the welfare of their country, to discountenance, and, by all lawful means, prevent any such enterprise; and I call upon every officer of this Government, civil or miliary, to use all efforts in his power to arrest, for trial and punishment, every such offender against the laws of the country. Given under my hand, the twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, and the seventy-fifth of the independence of the United States. By the President: W. S. DERRICK, MILLARD FILLMORE. Acting Secretary of State. $2,000. BOND. No. Be it known to all men, that I, General Narciso Lopez, Chief of the "Patriotic Junta for the promotion of the political interests of Cuba,” established in the United States of North America, and the contemplated head of Provisional Government and commander-in-chief of the revo-‐ lutionary movement about to be now undertaken through my agency and permissive authority, for the liberation of the people of Cuba from the tyranny and oppression to which they are now subject by the power of Spain, and to be prosecuted by me till superseded by a superior executive officer, or such form of government and authority as the people by thei: free will and choice shall prescribe, do, by these presents, to subserve the cause and object aforesaid, make and execute this obligation, on behalf of the people of Cuba, by whatever designation of nationality or form of body politic they shall hereafter assume, to wit: I do, by these presents, for and on behalf of the said people of Cuba, and their successors in government forever, and for value received, promise to pay to or bearer, in equal annual instalments, at one, two. three, four, and five years, the sum of Two Thousand Dollars, with six per cent. interest from date, payable rateably on each annual instalment until both principal and interest be fully paid and discharged. And I, the said General Narciso Lopez, in virtue of the authority and for the promotion of the object aforesaid, do by these presents pledge to the said bearer, the public lands and public property of Cuba, of whatever kind, and the fiscal resources of the people and government of Cuba, from whatever source to be derived; and do further pledge the good faith of the people and Government of Cuba, in perpetuity, for the faithful and complete discharge of this obligation. In testimony whereof, I, the said General Narciso Lopez, do hereto affix my signature and seal of the said Provisional Government, which is further witnessed by Ambrosio José Gonzales and José Maria Sanchez Yznaga, members of said "Patriotic Junta," and the Hon. Cotesworth Pinckney Smith, Judge of the Supreme Court of Errors and Appeals of the State of Mississippi. This done and executed in the city of New Orleans and State of Louisiana, one of the United States of North America, on this 30th day of April, A. D. 1850. J. SANCHEZ YZNAGA, AMBROSIO JOSE GONZALES, C. P. SMITH. NARCISO LOPEZ. $2,000. Mr. Derrick to Commodore Parker. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, 23d August, 1851. SIR: This Department has been officially informed by the Consul of the United States at Havana, that fifty persons taken from boats off the coast f Cuba, were brought to that city on the night of the 15th instant, and were the next morning tried and shot. Information derived from other ources renders it probable that many of them were citizens of the United States. This is sufficient to warrant and require an immediate inquiry into the facts and circunstances attending so suminary and sanguinary a punishment. The President consequently directs that you will proceed at once to Havana in the vessel under your command. On arriving there, you will obtain an audience of the Governor and Captain-General of Cuba, and will hen express to him the regret of the President that the persons referred to should have been deemed guilty of an offence requiring, in the judgment of The Spanish authorities, so severe a punishment. You will also inform him hat it is expected that, if citizens of the United States were among the persous shot, the offence with which they were charged was satisfactorily proved. You will accordingly request of him a copy of the proceedings of the Court which sentenced the prisoners. It is presumed that those proceedings will show the names of the accused; the countries where they were born or to which they owed allegiance; the position of the boats at the time when they were captured; the course they were taking, and whether the persons on board of them were armed. If, Lowever, these facts should not be stated, or if you should not obtain a copy of the proedings, you will endeavor to ascertain the same facts from other sources. Mr. Owen also apprizes the Department that the United States Mail Steamer Falcon, Lieutenant Rogers commanding, was several times fired over by a Spanish steamer and boarded on her last voyage from Chagres to Havana. Although the Captain-General expressed regret for this occurrence and promised that it should not be repeated, it seems somewhat doubtful whether the captain of the steamer was or was not obeying the orders some superior officer in the course which he pursued. You will endeavor to ascertain the truth in relation to this, and also whether or not the flag of the Falcon was hoisted at the time the firing took place. of s You will assure the Captain-General that everything within the power of this Government has been and will continue to be done, towards discharging the obligations of the United States to Spain. You will also assure him, that if, hereafter, unhappily, citizens of the United States should be so forgetful of their obligations of obedience to the laws of their own country," and of regard to the rights of Spain, as to be engaged in hostile expeditions against the island of Cuba, the President earnestly desires that they will not be punished except upon the clearest proofs of guilt and without an obvious necessity. A contrary course on the part of the Spanish authorities will be sure to increase the difficulties in the performance of the duties of the United States as a friendly neutral power, and might render the discharge of those duties impracticable. This Department will expect to receive from you a full report upon the subjects of this instruction. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, To Commodore FOXHALL A. PARKER, &c., &c. Commodore Parker to Mr. Webster. U. S. FLAG-SHIP SARANAC, SIR: I have the honor to report, that, in obedience to the instructions of the President, contained in your letter of the 23d ultimo, I got unde: weigh from Norfolk, and arrived at this port on the morning of the 4th inst. I immediately addressed a note to the Captain-General, requesting an interview with him, at his earliest convenience; to which he promptly replied, and fixed the hour for the interview at half-past seven o'clock on that evening. I called on him at that hour, and the following is a synopsis of the information which I obtained from him in relation to the various subjects alluded to in your instructions. He regretted the necessity of executing the prisoners captured in the boats on the Cayes of the Island, but deemed it an act of necessary severity in the circumstances, and he felt it to be his duty to make an example of them, in order to deter others from making a similar attempt. He stated that he considered them as pirates, and that they had been so denounced in the proclamation of the President of the United States. That they were tried in a summary manner, and "full proof made of their guilt," and of their participation in the invasion of the island by Lopez. He did not consider himself at liberty to furnish me with the proceedings on the trial, but would send them to his own government, and to the Spanish Minister at Washington, who would do whatever was right in the matter, or the call of the Government of the United States. The execution was delayed from half-past seven o'clock, A. M., to eleven. in order to give the prisoners an opportunity of writing to their friends, during which period they made the declaration that they constituted a part of the forces of Lopez. These particulars, he stated, were given for my personal satisfaction, inasmuch as he was not invested with diplomatic powers; -but referred our Government to the Spanish Minister at Washington, in whom diplomatic powers were vested by her Majesty's Government. As to citizenship, he said that a majority of them claimed to be citizens of the United States; but they were from various countries, and that it was of no consequence to what nation they had belonged, as they were captured in the waters of Cuba, with arms in their hands, endeavoring to escape in boats from an expedition in which they had engaged against the island of Cuba. In relation to such persons as may be hereafter captured, and who are not embraced in his recent proclamation giving security of life to such as deliver themselves up to the authorities, the Captain-General declares that he will be compelled, however reluctantly, to deal with them in accordance with his instruction, which are in accordance with the laws of his own and all other countries in relation to pirates. As to the matter of the steamer "Falcon," he would repeat what he had said to the American Consul (who was then present) that, in the present condition of the island, a Spanish cruizer has a right to ascertain the character of merchant vessels in the waters of Spain; that one expedition had already landed from a steamer, and that reinforcements were daily expected. The Spanish cruizer had fired three unshotted guns to leeward to show the friendly character of the vessel of war, of which no notice was taken by the Falcon," and that the firing of the shotted guns was rendered necessary 46 by the course pursued by the "Falcon." The General of Marine was on board, and it was to be presumed that the shot was fired by his order. He declared that he had requested Mr. Rogers, the commander of the "Falcon," to call on him and give him a correct statement of this affair, but that he had not done so. He expressed some surprise that Lieutenant Rogers did not come to at once, as the man-of-war was only doing what, by the laws of nations, she clearly had a right to do. On the day succeeding this interview, I addressed a note to the CaptainGeneral requesting permission to visit the prisoners now confined by the Spanish authorities, in answer to which I received a communication which, with my letter, I herewith enclose. From the best information I can obtain, the boats containing the fifty men who were executed, were on the Cayes very near the shore of the main land. It appears to have been the purpose of this detachment, in the desperate condition to which they were reduced, to put to sea in the hope of being picked up by some friendly vessel. On the morning of the 4th inst., I communicated off the Moro Castle with the "Albany," Commander Platt, and ascertained from him that the Captain-General had released William Scott Haynes, (of Tennessee,) one of the leaders of the expedition, and James A. Kelly, of New Orleans, formerly of Bayou Sara, a captain in the same. They were also provided with a suit of clothes and sixty dollars each in money. They are now on board the American ship "Norma" in the har ber, to sail to-morrow for New York. At the solicitation of Commander Platt, a young man (whose name I did not learn) from Albany, New York, was released, and is now on board the "Albany." Yesterday a young man named Henry Sandford or Summers, formerly a captain, I hear, of one of the steamboats on Red river, was liberated, and sailed to-day for New Orleans. I have not, as yet, been able to obtain the names of those confined here, er of those shot, but shall use every exertion to do so as soon as possible. I was informed this morning by the Captain-General, that all of the party have been captured. He also informed me that those confined here would embark on Monday next for Spain. Last evening I received a communication from the Captain-General, stating that, from the passengers of a schooner just arrived from New Or leans, he had learned that the steamer "Alabama" had been purchased for $10,000, in New Orleans, and was to leave with eight hundred armed men; and that the Pampero had left with two hundred. There is much excitement here, particularly among the Catalan population, in consequence of a number of Spaniards having been driven from New Orleans by the mob; but I hope it may pass off without any serious results. This morning news arrived of the ill-treatment of Spaniards at Key West, which has increased the excitement. Any further information which I may be able to learn here will be immediately sent to the department. I have the honor to be, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant, FOXHALL A. PARKER, The Hon. DANIEL WEBSTER, Secretary of State, Washington. Commanding Home Squadron. |