Colony, and, having submitted the same to his Excellency the Governor, to acquaint you that his Excellency is ready to take upon himself the duties of the said Office, in conformity to the Regulations annexed to the Treaties and Convention recited in the 54th Clause of the Act of Parliament passed in the 5th Year of the Reign of His present Majesty, and that his Excellency is desirous of taking the usual Oaths of such Office, at the Government-House, to-morrow, at two o'clock, at which hour his Excellency requests your attendance in your capacity of Chief Justice, in order to administer the same to him. D. M. Humilton, Esq. I have the honour to be, &c. J. REFFELL. No. 16.-Joseph Planta, Jun. Esq. to His Majesty's Commissioners. I AM directed by Mr. Secretary Canning to acquaint you, that you may promote Mr. Magnus to the Situation of First Clerk to the British Commissioners, and Mr. Bidwell to the Situation of Second Clerk, become vacant by the promotion of Mr. Magnus. These Appointments are to date from the 5th of July last, with the Allowances hitherto attached to those Situations, subject to the Regulations established as to leave of absence. Mr. Canning has also considered the Representations which were made to him, under your sanction, as to the inadequacy of Salary attached to the Situations, and I have to authorise you, in consequence, to pay, from the 5th of January next, to the Individual holding the Situation of First Clerk, a Salary at the rate of £500 a Year, and to the Individual holding the Situation of Second Clerk, a Salary at the rate of £350 a Year; these Allowances being subject to the existing Regu lations as to leave of absence; and I have further to authorise you to acquaint them, that, should their conduct obtain the approbation of their Superiors, and their health require a permanent retirement, at any time after a period of 12 Years' actual service at their Post, Mr. Canning will be disposed to recommend them, upon such retirement, for a Pension to an amount not exceeding one half of the Salary enjoyed by them in their Situation under the Commission. Mr. Canning approves of the Arrangement, that the establishment of the Clerks under the British Commissioners shall be entirely separate from that of the Clerks under the Mixed British and Foreign Commissioners; and that the Appointment and Regulation of the Salary of the Clerks under the Mixed Commission should be vested in the British and Foreign Commissioners jointly; subject, as far as the British Commissioners are concerned, to the final approval of His Majesty's Secretary of State. Mr. Canning also approves, that, in the event of the death, or af the absence of either or both of the Clerks of the British Commissioners, you shall procure such temporary aid as the Colony may afford, until the Vacancy is regularly filled up; in the first instance, by an Appointment by the Secretary of State, in the other instance, by the return to his duties of the Clerk who may have been absent. The Allowance to be made for temporary assistance on those occasions is left to your discretion; but you will take care, of course, that it shall not, on any occasion, exceed the regular Salary attached to the Situation. I should suppose, that, in most cases, it will not be necessary that the temporary Allowance should be placed on so high a scale. His Majesty's Commissioners. I am, &c. JOSEPH PLANTA, JUN. No. 17.-Mr. Secretary Canning to His Majesty's Commissioners. (Extract.) Foreign Office, November 25, 1826. I HAVE received your Despatches up to the 20th of September last. The subject of Mr. Hamilton's Despatch, marked General, of the 28th of August, having been referred for the opinion of His Majesty's Law Officer, The King's Advocate has reported, that the Treaties, the Commission, and the Provisions of the Act of Parliament for carrying the same into effect, as consolidated in the 5th Geo. IV. cap. 113, furnish the only safe guide for the exercise of jurisdiction by the Members of the Mixed Commission Courts. His Majesty's Commissioners. GEORGE CANNING. No. 18.-Joseph Planta, Jun. Esq. to D. M. Hamilton, Esq. SIR, Foreign Office, November 25, 1826. MR. SECRETARY CANNING has received your Letter of the 12th of August last, and I am directed to acquaint you, in answer, that Mr. Canning will have pleasure in recommending you for the Appointment which you solicit, of His Majesty's Commissary Judge in the Mixed Commission Court at Sierra Leone. In notifying to you this Appointment, I am directed by Mr. Canning to explain to you the manner in which your future retirement will be regulated, in consequence of your filling Situations of different rank in the Commission. You are already aware of the Regulation, that no Pension can be granted under the Commission, until the Person who may be permitted to retire shall have completed, at Sierra Leone, in Appointments by The King, under the Mixed Commission at that Place, a period of 6 Years' actual service. If an Officer in the Mixed Commission, having served in an inferior Situation, shall be promoted to a higher Post in that Commission, and shall be permitted to retire, previously to his having completed 3 Years' actual service, at Sierra Leone, in that higher Appointment, the D said Officer shall only receive the Pension allotted to the lower Situation in the Commission. If, however, the service of the said Officer, in the higher Situation, shall have exceeded the term of 3 Years, and his whole service under the Commission the period of 6 Years, and that he shall then be permitted to retire, he shall receive the Pension allotted to the higher Situation. These Regulations will apply to your case; and, as it is intended that this principle shall be acted upon as the general rule for Pensions to be granted for services rendered in the Situations of Commissary Judge, Commissioner of Arbitration, and of Registrar, under the Mixed Commission, I am directed to desire that you will deposit in the Archives of the Office at Sierra Leone, a Duplicate, which is herewith sent to you, of this Letter. I am, &c. D. M. Hamilton, Esq. SIR, JOSEPH PLANTA, JUN. No. 19.-Joseph Planta, Jun. Esq. to William Smith, Esq. Foreign Office, November 25, 1826. MR. SECRETARY CANNING has received your Letter of the 14th of August last, and I am directed to acquaint you, in answer, that Mr. Canning will recommend you for the Appointment which you solicit, of His Majesty's Commissioner of Arbitration, in the Mixed Commission Court at Sierra Leone, which Situation has become vacant by the promotion of Mr. Hamilton to be His Majesty's Commissary Judge in that Court. In respect to the Pension, which may hereafter be granted to you, I have to refer you to the Letter, which, by Mr. Canning's direction, I have, under this date, addressed to Mr. D. M. Hamilton upon this subject, the Regulations contained in which will be equally applicable to you both, in your respective Situations. William Smith, Esq. I am, &c. JOSEPH PLANTA, JUN, SIERRA LEONE. (Separate.) No. 20.--William Smith, Esq. to Mr. Sec". Canning.-(Rec. May 22.) SIR, Sierra Leone, March 15, 1826. I HAVE the honour, herewith, to transmit to you a certified Return, taken from the Register in this Office, of the Number of Slaves emancipated from the 5th day of January 1825, to the 5th day of January 1826. The Total number registered amounts to 1701. I deem it also my duty to forward a Return of the Number of Slaves landed from the Spanish Brigantine, Ninfa Habanera, amounting to 228. These Slaves having been put on board the said Vessel, after capture, by the Caboceer of Popo, at the instance of the Captors, the Judges of the British and Spanish Court of Mixed Commission did not decree their Emancipation; they were, however, delivered over to the Colonial Government. I have the honour to be, &c. The Right Hon. George Canning. No. 21.-George Rendall, Esq. to Mr. Sec". Canning.-(Rec. June 2.) I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch, dated the 7th of October 1825, enclosing, for our information, Copies of two Letters which had passed between the Foreign Office and the Colonial Department, on the subject of filling up, ad interim, Vacancies which may occur in the British Judgeships in the Mixed Commission at Sierra Leone. I have the honour to be, &c. The Right Hon. George Canning. GEO. RENDALL. No. 22.-D. M. Hamilton, Esq. to Mr. Sec. Canning.-(Rec. Oct. 17.) I HAVE the honour to enclose, herewith, a Return of the Slaves emancipated by the Courts of Mixed Commission established in this Colony, for the prevention of illicit Traffick in Slaves, during the period from the 5th of January to the 5th of July, of the present Year. By this Document you will observe that 1492 Slaves have been emancipated by those Courts in that period. I have the honour to be, &c. The Right Hon. George Canning. D. M. HAMILTON. Mem. The Enclosure contains the Names and Particulars of Emancipation and Registry of Slaves, from No. 6738 to 8227 inclusive, amounting to 1490 Slaves; 2 having died before they were registered. No. 23.-Joseph Planta, Jun. Esq. to William Reffell, Esq. SIR, The Salary attached to this Situation is £1000 a Year, but it is diminished by one half in those cases in which a Person holding the Ap pointment under the Commission, enjoys at the same time any other Situation, with Salary or Emolument, under His Majesty's Govern ment. If, at any period, after 6 years' actual service at Sierra Leone, in your present Appointment under the Commission, you should be desirous of retiring, the Secretary of State will be disposed, upon due consideration of your services, to recommend you for a Pension, not exceeding in amount the sum of £500 a Year. William Reffell, Esq. I am, &c. JOSEPH PLANTA, JUN. SIERRA LEONE. (Spain.) No. 24.-G. Rendall, Esq. to Mr. Sec". Canning.-(Rec. June 2.) SIR, Sierra Leone, January 10, 1826. I HAVE the honour to enclose, for your information, the Report of the Case of the Spanish Schooner Segunda Gallega, whereof Agustin Capera was Master, brought in here for adjudication on the 31st of October last, having been captured in Latitude 6. 13. North, and Longitude 3. 18. East, on the 29th of the previous Month, by His Majesty's Ship Maidstone, Commodore Bullen, C. B. with 285 Slaves on board. The Court passed Sentence of condemnation on the Vessel, and emancipated the Slaves, on the 23d of November 1825. I have the honour to be, &c. The Right Hon. George Canning. GEO. RENDALL. (Enclosure.)-Report of the Case of the Spanish Schooner Segunda Gallega, Agustin Capera, Master. THIS Vessel arrived in the Harbour of Sierra Leone on the 31st of October 1825, with 276 Slaves on board, consisting of 132 men, 20 women, 105 boys, and 19 Girls. On the 2d of November, the Ship's Papers were brought into Court, duly attested, by William Gray, Lieut. of His Majesty's Ship Maidstone, Charles Bullen, C. B. Commodore, and Proceedings were commenced in this Case; a Monition was prayed and issued, citing all Persons having any right, or pretended right, to the said Vessel and Slaves, to appear and make claim, which was afterwards returned, certified as duly served. In Commodore Bullen's Declaration it is stated, that "on the 29th of September 1825, in or about Latitude 6. 13. North, and Longitude 3. 18. East, he detained the Schooner Segunda Gallega, sailing under Spanish Colours, armed with 1 gun, 12-pounder, commanded by Dho |