'cease to reside in it; besides, while in his employment he would be to some extent under his control. He For these reasons Mr. Burton unbosomed himself to Mr. Fortescue. He withheld from the secretary no fact relating either to recent incidents or to the true condition of accounts between the estate of the late Mr. Leon and himself. defended himself, however, against the supposition that he had had any consciously dishonest intentions, having believed until recently that his title to Leon Manor being legal, was therefore also just. Mr. Fortescue expressed to Mr. Burton his perfect faith in the truth of this last statement, his high appreciation of the sacrifice made, and his conviction that he who had surrendered so much property for the sake of right would find a constant source of happiness during his future life in the reflections arising from that act. A horse was then ordered to be saddled and bridled and brought to the front entrance of the mansion; and, late as it was in the afternoon, being but an hour or two to sunset, the secretary mounted and rode away to Patuxent Town to fulfill at once the commission with which he had been intrusted. Mr. Fortescue easily secured a private interview with Charles Leon. The statement which he made to that young gentleman, and of which he afterwards informed his employer, was that a close and thorough analysis made by Mr. Burton of the great array of accounts between himself and the estate of Charles's father had convinced the exlawyer that an immense error had been made against the late Mr. Leon's heir, and that, upon payment to Mr. Burton by Charles Leon of the sum of three thousand four hundred and thirtyone pounds, sixteen shillings and fourpence, the whole of Leon Manor, with the slaves and all things belonging to it, was of right the property of the latter. Charles Leon was at first disposed to believe that this was but another effort on the part of Mr. Burton to force his generosity upon him; but, on Mr. Fortescue's assuring him that he had himself thoroughly examined the accounts, and that Leon Manor was in justice the property of the young clerk upon payment by him of the amount named to Mr. Burton, Charles yielded conviction to the statement which had been made to him. Of course he did not refuse to receive that which was of right his own; his sister, Mrs. Evelin, had, partly at the time of her marriage and partly subsequently, received the portion intended for her by her father. The remainder of our story may be rapidly told. Mr. Burton, who was still wealthy, purchased a large estate in a county westward of the Patuxent River, to which he removed with his family be tween two and three months after he had finally consented to do what was right. At the earnest solicitation of Charles Leon he had remained at Faywood until his new purchase had been made ready to receive his household. In his new home his days were passed with his wife and children peacefully and happily. The one grand act of justice which he had done purified his whole character; and he was ever afterwards much es teemed by all who knew him. In the autumn following the events of this story Charles Leon and Alice Sumter were married, and took possession of Faywood. They lived there long and happy lives, esteemed by the rich and loved by the poor. Some of their descendants have occupied high positions not only in the colonial but also in the State and national coun cils. Mr. After the alarm upon the second night of Burton's fête no ghost or pretended ghost ever disturbed the inhabitants of Faywood; but from the wonderful stories told in the neighborhood of the place while held by Mr. Burton has been sifted the true tradition which has given foundation to this story. If the reader has not already guessed who was the cause of the scenes of terror enacted at Faywood, a few words will inform him: Walter Waken the Hermit of Jack's Bay-Abert Fortescue and Sir Alfred Leighton were but different names of the same person, the last name being his true one. Sir Alfred while on his visit to Faywood with Mr. Evelin, a year or two before the occurrence of the principal events of our story, had learned by accident the secret of the hidden passages. It was during this visit also that be determined to make his hermit-abode on Jack's Bay. Disguised as an elderly man and under the assumed name of Walter Waken, he had in that hermitage prosecuted his studies in the natural sciences, his only assistant being his young and only brother, who was also deeply disguised. In another disguise as Albert Fortescue he had been the means of restoring to Charles Leon, the man who had saved his life, his rightful patrimony. In this undertaking he had again been assisted by his brother disguised as Jack Tony the page. In his own character he had bought the patent for five thousand acres of land, that his benefactor might have the funds necessary to pay Mr. Burton's claim. disapproving of the means by which his property had been obtained, might refuse to hold possession of it. Years afterwards, and long subsequently to his return to his own estates in England, he made known to Mr. Burton, to satisfy some scruples which had arisen in his own mind, his agency in those mysterious visitations, under a charge of secrecy, however. Mr. Burton, happy in his then thoroughly acquired uprightness of character, willingly promised to preserve the secret, and, more In his character of secretary Sir Alfred made Charles Leon acquainted, by letter, a year or two after their last interview, with his accidental dis-over, expressed his sincere thanks to Sir Alfred covery of the secret passages at Faywood; but he did not tell him of his own agency in the ghostly visitations, being fearful that the young gentleman, Leighton for the reformation which had been wrought within himself by the frights at Leon Manor. THE EXTRADITION OF ARGUELLES. BY GEORGE W. LAWTON. THE proposition to abolish slavery in the Island | talk to him about the mulberry and silkworm of Cuba, now agitated not only in the "Ever-faithful Isle" but also at Madrid, brings to mind our experience with the main question, and incidentally, as connected therewith, an affair in which Spain and certain of her slave-trade abettors were principally concerned. It is an historical matter, and one in which our government, to its great credit, did not content itself with declarations of abstract principles and precepts, but acted correctly, as a moral being, to right serious wrongs done to unoffending negroes by Spanish officers. I allude to the extradition of Arguelles. This case has not been unfrequently cited, and too often with disapproval, by eminent publicists, owing doubtless to a grave misunderstanding of all the facts involved, which are here given. To my lady reader the subject of extradition may have a repelling look; but permit me to assure her that it is really very interesting, and one to which an hour may be given without waste, especially if within that time she may have the benefit of a world of labor devoted to its illustration. Besides, every one travels or intends to, and is wide awake over a traveller's rights, and ready to sympathize with him when wronged, as he is sure to be before his journey ends. Horace Greeley gravely narrates from his own experience in Paris, how everybody's right to crop was on the pretence that he had become the surety of somebody who was to do something that he failed to do, ruthlessly broken in upon by a Parisian policeman who conducted him to the interior of the Clichy and locked all those inquisitive people out. Although Mr. Greeley was permitted for some time to look out at them and commune to himself about them and their industrious ways, they could not get within earshot of him. We will not, however, stop and discuss his adventures, as they illustrate only the trouble a traveller is of ten put to without evolving a case for extradition, nor mar his story by re-telling it, preferring the curious reader should consult the original, still, we presume, carefully preserved in the keep beneath the tower where, in times past, Mr. Greeley held forth. All publicists unite in declaring that no one ought, as a rule, to be compelled to travel against his will, and when he travels he carries with him. a natural right to enjoy himself after the manner of the country he is in, without being arrested and imprisoned therefor! and he may see what is to be seen, and buy what is for sale, and eat without being poisoned, and sleep without being robbed, and also remain single or get married, as love incites, without danger of being unwillingly divorced and his children put at large. But as sensible as these propositions may seem to the reader, it may not confidently be asserted they have always or that they even now are accepted by all peoples as self-evident. Indeed, there are yet places on this fair earth where the traveller cannot appear without being put into a bath-oven or over a roastingpit; and even if he avoids such localities, there are others into which he may stumble that put him promptly upon the defence of his portable property, or his personal liberty, or his life even, as others beside the brave Stanley may testify. But few if any of my readers purpose to emulate Stanley, Livingstone, or Cook, delighting rather to take a trip to Havana, London, or the Continent, with the reasonable expectation of not getting beyond enlightened laws and governments enforcing them, with opportunities to enjoy to the utmost all that lies in a heart innocent of offence to enjoy. But there is an annoyance to which the pleasureseeking traveller may be subjected, and which is the peculiar invention of the latter class of governments, and that is, being sought for by the far-reaching arm of state as a proper object of extradition; to be seized and withdrawn from the allurements of a foreign land and returned to the sober realities of his own clime, when, possibly, it may be disclosed, he is not a figurative Mr. Campbell, the well-to-do cattle dealer, off on a lark, but a real McGregor, a cattle-stealer in limbo. It is that difference that warrants the State's interference; but to the story of Don José Augustin Arguelles, a Spanish cavalier and traveller, in which we get a glimpse of Spanish administration, of slave-trade practices, and of laws, treaties, and national comity. In November, 1863, Arguelles was an officer in the royal Spanish army, and also Lieutenant-Governor of the district of Colon of the Island of Cuba. He had ingratiated himself in the favor of the authorities of the "Ever-faithful Isle," and was treated as one of the most reliable of lieutenants. Doubtless he enjoyed wielding the baton of power over his little sovereignty with all the punctilio of an old-time Peninsulares or Grandee of pure Catalonian descent. It appears, too, he had an eye to such ventures for profits as the situation afforded. The district of Colon slopes from the mountains that form the ridge or backbone of Cuba, southerly to the sea, and lies west-of-south of Havana. The mouths of rivers, creeks and bays separate the coast, opposite which is a chain of insignificant islands and reefs, including, however, the considerable island, Los Pinos. Between the mainland and reefs is a fair haven, well sheltered, with many passages to the open sea, more or less intricate, which afford expeditious exit to such lightfooted craft as do not wish to be searched or answer too troublesome questions. It is well known Cuba was in those days the one spot on earth over which an avowed Christian sovereign ruled that afforded a market for negroes stolen from Africa by slave-traders. True, traffic in imported negroes was forbidden in the Spanish provinces by royal statute and treaty obligations; but its suppression depended almost wholly upon such exertions as the Captain-general and his lieutenants for the time being and from time to time put forth; and the less honorable of these officers found ample excuse for failures in the intricacies of the Spanish penal code. Indeed, it was not then denied by the Spanish government their laws were insufficient to suppress the hideous traffic, and slave-traders and their abettors made immense fortunes in the business. Their ships were built to hide away in the creeks and under the headlands of the African and Cuban coasts, and could swiftly elude pursuit by passing over or among reefs, which the larger draught vessels of the English and American squadrons, kept at sea to enforce the treaties against slave trade, could not thread. The coast of the district of Colon was a favorite resort of these smugglers of human flesh, and that afforded some employment to its otherwise idle officials. In 1863 Domingo Dulce was Captain-general of Cuba, and he, being a large-hearted and faithful officer, set about the effective enforcement of the laws against the slave trade. In truth, so vigorously did he administer the laws in that relation, that not a slave expedition landed its cargo on the coast during his term which he did not capture in whole or in part. But it was owing to his individual efforts mainly this was done, in which respect he was an exceptional Captain-general of Cuba. Well then may he have been pleased when one November morning in that year a despatch from his lieutenant, Don José Arguelles, announced he had captured a large cargo of negroes, which had been successfully landed and conveyed to a plantation within the district of Colon, although the vessel from which they landed escaped without her name and register being discovered, and that eleven hundred of these negroes were on their way to Havana, where in fact they arrived in due time. The generous-minded Dulce not only received the unhappy negroes and cared for them, but, greatly pleased with the zeal of his active assistant, he paid him fifteen thousand dollars as a governmental reward for making the capture; and also, as the fortunate Arguelles desired a brief respite after this extraordinary effort at duty, during which he could carry into effect a purpose of his to purchase the La Cronica, a Spanish journal published in New York, the confiding Dulce gave him in addition to his reward a leave of absence of twenty days in which to journey to the Continent and make his contemplated investment. The Don | went to New York with Senorita on his arm, and securing fashionable lodgings gave himself up to the delights of a foreigner at large, and to spending is money agreeably to his taste. But the capture of the eleven hundred negroes started a tripartite correspondence between the diplomatic agents of the United States, England and Spain; and we will leave the festive Don on Broadway for a while, and look into this diplo macy. those which shall be adopted by her Britannic Majesty." In pursuance with this understanding, Lord Lyons submitted a draft of such a communication. In it he pointed out that Africans were constantly imported into Cuba; and while General Dulce had acted in good faith in carrying out the treaty obligations of Spain, and there had been a considerable falling off in the numbers of importations, yet it must be borne in mind that he was liable to be removed at any moment, when in all probability the traffic would again resume its wonted vigor. Besides, General Dulce complains bitterly of the want of sufficient power conferred upon him, and of the inadequacy of the provisions of the Spanish penal code for suppressing the Cuban slave trade; and in order to put an end to it, the Spanish Government should take steps to amend the laws prohibiting the introduction of slaves into the island. The existing laws are admitted by the Spanish authorities to be insufficient for the purposes for which they were framed. They prohibit the seizure by the authorities of any newly-imported negroes, no matter how notorious may have been the violation of the Spanish laws in introducing them, if once they have been conveyed to a plantation in the island; and because nearly the whole of the population of Cuba, as well as the subordinate authorities, are more or less mixed up and interested in the slave trade, it is impossible to procure evidence to convict the parties engaged in the traffic; and the punishment provided by the code of slave dealers and their accomplices remains entirely inoperative. He closes the communication with these words, honorable alike to himself and the government he represented: Mr. Savage, the American Vice-Consul at Havana, wrote to Mr. Seward directly on the event, that eleven hundred negroes from Africa were brought to that city, captured from slavers in the district of Colon. Mr. Seward immediately notified Lord Lyons of the fact, who was then the British Minister at Washington. This brought up a proposition of a joint and concurrent appeal by England and America, which had been suggested by Earl Russell in October before, to be addressed to the Government of Spain for an amendment of her laws, which tolerated the bondage of imported Africans landed in Cuba after they had become in form the property of an owner of an estate in that island; and Mr. Seward now informed Lord Lyons that he had taken the instructions of the President upon the suggestion; and if Earl Russell, with his large experience of this evil and of the difficulty of obtaining a correction of it, will pre-orders of the Spanish Government or by the decipare the draft of such a communication as he shall think may properly be addressed to the Spanish Cabinet, the President will with great pleasure authorize me to communicate with the Spanish Government in the same sense and spirit with "Eleven hundred slaves, as is well known to the Government of the United States, have been recently seized by the Captain-general of Cuba after they had been successfully landed and conveyed to a plantation in that island. Attempts will doubtless be made to procure their restitution on the ground that they have been illegally seized by the captain-general; but if one of these negroes is given up to the slave dealers, either by the sion of a judicial tribunal, her Majesty's Government trusts the Government of the United States will unite with her Majesty's Government in addressing a serious remonstrance on the subject to the Spanish Government." Lord Lyons enclosed to Mr. Seward in the fore-treaty with Great Britain, the traffic to be piracy going communication copies of papers passing and an offence against public law. Not only did between Sir John Crampton, the British Minister these grounds exist for the action of our governs at Madrid, and the Spanish Minister of Foreign ment, but the President and Mr. Seward were Affairs, in which Mr. Crampton particularized the also united in an earnest desire that these negroes substance of the communication submitted to Mr. captured by Arguelles might be saved, and also Seward, and also pointed out the "measures to that the traffic itself be effectually and forever supwhich her Majesty's Government would call the pressed. With this view Mr. Koerner was directed attention of her Catholic Majesty," viz., an enact- "To address a communication in general terms ment declaring the slave trade to be piracy, and to the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, setting a modification of the code that a legal and not forth the treaty stipulations between the United a discretionary punishment for violations of the States and Great Britain on this subject, and statSpanish laws against slave trade would be insured; ing that it would afford the utmost satisfaction in which subject Mr. Crampton informs Earl Russell this country if any obstacles existing in Cuba to in another enclosure, "The Marquis of Miraflores the complete suppression of the slave trade should promised he would take into consideration, and be removed." assured me that good will would not be found wanting on his part to do all that was possible to put an end to the slave trade." On receipt of these papers Mr. Seward replied to Lord Lyons that he had, in accordance with his previous note, instructed our minister, Mr. Koerner, at Madrid, to address the Spanish Government a representation in the same sense as that made by her Majesty's Government in the communication sub-making the slave trade piracy and an offence mitted. This action of the government was influenced in a great measure by the Ninth Article of the treaty of Washington of August 9, 1842, between Great Britain and the United States, which stipulates that the parties will unite in all becoming representations and remonstrances with any and all powers within whose dominions such markets for African negroes are allowed to exist, and that they will urge upon all powers the propriety and duty of closing such markets effectually at once and forever. Spain at this time was bound by treaty with Great Britain to suppress the traffic in African negroes. The treaty was concluded at a time and under circumstances which seemed to impose a peculiar weight of moral obligation upon her to see that her stipulations were carried into full effect. But in these just expectations the British Government had been signally disappointed, owing doubtless to the fact that a great - part of the revenues of Spain have been derived hitherto from the Island, and its prosperity was represented to depend upon a continued supply of imported slave labor. The United States had no treaty with Spain on the subject of the slave trade; but by its statutes it declared, long before its Mr. Koerner, obeying these instructions, addressed a note to the Spanish minister containing a copy of the Ninth Article of the treaty of the United States with Great Britain, and pointing out the difficulties attending the complete suppres sion of the slave trade in the Island of Cuba through defects in its penal code, and calling attention to the policy of the United States in against mankind; also assuring the Spanish Minister, because the United States were moved by the purest motives, and in consideration of the very friendly and cordial relations existing between them and Spain, and of the treaty between them and Great Britain, the engagements of which it was the highest duty and pleasure of the President to carry out, they united with Great Britain in suggesting the revision of the penal code concerning the unlawful introduction of slaves into the Island of Cuba as will best accomplish the object her Catholic Majesty's government had in view when those laws and regulations were enacted. Mr. Koerner also said: "It is almost equally unnecessary for me to inform your Excellency that it would afford the utmost satisfaction to the President and the people of the United States if any obstacle existing in the Island of Cuba to the complete suppression of the African slave trade should be removed by the considerate action of the government of her Catholic Majesty." But now we must turn again to Arguelles; for at this juncture and while this cautious and friendly correspondence was going on, committing the United States to a direct interest and action in the welfare and freedom of the eleven hundred |