Trial of Pedro de Zulueta, jun., on a Charge of Slave Trading, under 5 Geo. IV, cap. 113, on Friday the 27th, Saturday the 28th, and Monday the 30th of October, 1843, at the Central Criminal Court, Old Bailey, London A Full Report from the Short-hand Notes of W. B. Gurney, Esq.

10387. _Chairman._] The charge is, that she was engaged in carrying goods to a person engaged in the slave trade; not that she was engaged in the slave trade herself?--I most ce...

Then he is asked, “If it is meant to insinuate by these observations that you ever had any other connexion with the slave trade, than being the shipping agent of goods which wer...

Now there is not a statement, there is no pretence, why the witnesses for the defendant could not have been here at the present time. To say that there were no means of knowing...

Mr. _Kelly_. To that I have no objection, and I do not object to the question of my learned friend; but it is the only way I have of warning Captain Hill not to give us other pe...

Mr. Serjeant _Talfourd_. In this prosecution there are two propositions which the prosecutors are bound to establish; the first is, that this vessel was employed for an illegal...

Do you remember whether the wind was fair for going to Cork or Falmouth?--Yes; it was a fair wind back, if the skipper had been disposed to run back.

Gentlemen, I must observe that I am not counsel for Captain Jennings. Captain Jennings, for aught I know, though he is an Englishman, and there is no charge against him, may hav...

It was observed, also, that the vessel afforded the means of having slave decks placed. Where a vessel leaves a place, such as Spain, or some place where she may leave with impu...

Mr. _Kelly_. I am quite prepared to produce any document in the handwriting of the prisoner at the bar, which is in his possession; but as to any document that may bear the sign...

Gentlemen, I have read to you, I believe, every word of the statement of Mr. Zulueta which is material to the question. I wished to read it, because I wish that there should not...

10450. Have you referred to your own copy of the letter?--Yes, and it is not in our copy; but I can conceive our saying to the captain of the vessel, go into the Salthouse Dock,...

6903. Did he immediately avail himself of the services of the British squadron to remove the goods from New Cestos, the place to which they were consigned, to Monrovia?--It woul...

But, Gentlemen, let us see what are the circumstances upon which the prosecutor calls upon you to infer, not only that Zulueta & Co., and particularly the prisoner at the bar, p...

Gentlemen, you have already heard from one of their Lordships, and you know it is a matter of history, that the British government has long exercised its energies and its mighty...

7286. And it would generally happen that those forts would be built upon an unhealthy part of the coast?--It is almost impossible to select any part of the coast of Africa as be...

5360. Are they universally Europeans, educated in England?--I believe every one has been educated in England, and is an European; there is one of them that was born in the West...

7208. Sir _R. H. Inglis_.] What is the average passage across the Atlantic, from the Bight of Benin to the Havannah?--From five to six weeks; but I think it is done in less time...

5026. Mr. _Forster_.] Will those seizures be matter of complaint on the part of the owners?--I do not know that any of those seizures have been matter of complaint; some of the...

Do not tell us what he told you: what I ask you is, whether a return is not sometimes made in ivory and palm oil, and dye-woods?--The question calls for an answer which I cannot...

7146. What year was this in?--This was in 1839. The master of the vessel, rather than be sent to England, told me he would prove that the vessel was Spanish property, and gave m...

5221. Do you think they would bring a larger price?--There have been vessels sold at the West Indies, but there was not any material difference in price; it would depend a good...

1. John Foote. 2. William Jackson. 3. Robert Nagle. 4. Charles William Knight. 5. Michael Jones. 6. Richard Jessop. 7. William Hawksworth. 8. James Gillard. 9. Edward Findlay. 1...

5102. How then is it possible to prevent the ships being applied to that purpose for which they are worth more than for any other?--Spanish ships are prevented from being used f...

6555. _Chairman._] When you say “lawful trade,” you mean trade which you would consider as free from any connexion with the slave trade?--Trade which is altogether unconnected w...

5503. How could Messrs. Zulueta consider that illegal which was publicly allowed to be done by the custom-house authorities in this country?--The criminality depends upon the gu...

It would be in the course of a fortnight?--It might be so, I cannot say: there are parties who do not call for their book in a year, or not at all.

5171. What other items had they reason to complain of besides the one you have mentioned, of the heavy duty upon the article?--With regard to translating documents. I pressed th...

5565. You believe that they are more difficult of conversion than other Africans?--It is quite impossible, if I may say so of any body; there never was an instance known of a Kr...

Then Mr. _Forster_ says, “You acted in this transaction merely as agent in the usual manner, as you would have acted for any house in any part of the world?--Exactly; if Martine...

Mr. _Kelly_. I do not know why we are to listen to these speeches, or even to this evidence. Unless something of this, so well known to this gentleman so constantly visiting tha...

5473. So that there are in the colony of Sierra Leone persons who exercise an influence over different portions of the population, according to the tribe that they come from?--Y...

6829. And also in the southern states of the North American Union?--I have no reason to believe that any slave trade whatever exists there, except the slave trade from one part...

5294. Mr. _Evans_.] Do you think that the Mixed Commission Court has sufficient power for the objects for which it is instituted?--I think that they have. They have been rather...

How long have you known Mr. Pedro de Zulueta?--I have known the house for a great number of years, and always heard it spoken of in the highest terms. Mr. Pedro de Zulueta I hav...

On that day, between two and three o’clock in the afternoon, I was sitting at my desk in the private room of Zulueta & Co.’s office, 22, Moorgate Street, in the City of London,...

7080. Mr. _Forster_.] In your former evidence, in answer to question 6674, in reference to the importance of British settlements for the suppression of the slave trade, you say...

6691. Is it your opinion then that the slavers would have the same facility in procuring slaves at the place or near the place where a British factory was established, as in any...

Mr. _Kelly_. We shall have no dispute on those facts. That vessel, purchased under circumstances which will probably appear more clearly in evidence. It is stated by my friend t...

Then he is asked, “Is not there a document officially published daily in London and at Liverpool, stating the daily entries at the Custom-house of all goods shipped, with the de...

6637. Mr. _Wortley_.] Has not there been an improvement of late years in the class of vessels employed in cruizing?--Very great; I believe that for some years they have been rep...

Then it goes on: “Though the process of hypothecating a vessel may be usual between British merchants, is it usual to cover a transaction of Spanish slave trade with the British...

Now, let me try that in all its parts; let us see if there is any thing in the mode in which the transaction was carried into effect, which ought fairly to lead a Jury to infer...

6777. _Chairman._] You mean by legitimate commerce, the exchange of manufactures for produce?--Exactly; and I stated that there was no legitimate commerce, because there was no...

“The right and privilege heretofore exercised of suing in Vice-Admiralty Courts for the forfeitures or penalties incurred by the contravention of this law, are set forth in the...

There are then several questions: in answer to which he states, “That he never had any thing to do with slave transactions.” Those I leave to my learned friend to read. Then que...

The absurdity which appears on the face of such a statement as this just made, involving as it does the cutting off communication with half the world at least, and leaving the c...

For the purpose not certainly of clearing up the question, but of sophisticating a very plain case, it will perhaps be asked, whether, if a man should avow himself before a Comm...

Pedro de Zulueta the younger, of No. 22, Moorgate Street, in the City of London, merchant, and John Lawford, of Drapers Hall, in the said city, gentleman, attorney to the said P...

As explaining the practical operation of the law, then, I shall look upon the summing up of the learned Judge, not with a critical eye, in order to decide whether the law has be...

6974. _Chairman._] Have you had any opportunity of knowing the domestic condition of the Kroomen or the Fishmen; whether they are under the obligations of slavery to any parties...

I began by showing the facility afforded by the law to any individual whomsoever, who may choose to undertake a prosecution, not only without the consent, but against the record...

We pass the question, though not absolutely to be lost sight of, that, in Sierra Leone, the newly liberated African is a burden to the British Government as well as to himself;...

TRIAL OF PEDRO DE ZULUETA, JUN., ON A CHARGE OF SLAVE TRADING, UNDER THE 5 GEO. IV, CAP. 113, _On Friday the 27th, Saturday the 28th, and Monday the 30th of October, 1843_, AT T...

10482. You feel that at the present moment the law is in an unsatisfactory state, that doubts have been raised upon the subject, which as merchants you are desirous of seeing qu...

In the course of their investigations, questions have arisen connected with its past management and administration, more especially on the subject of the party spirit of a pecul...

3. And the jurors aforesaid, upon their oath aforesaid, do further present that the said Pedro de Zulueta the younger, Thomas Jennings, and Thomas Bernardos, after the 1st day o...

Mr. _Kelly_. Yes, my Lord; I will state what is quite unconnected with the objection I have taken. This indictment charges the prisoner with having equipped a vessel, and shippe...

And thus, after having laid down that the Act requires a proof of innocence in the party accused, a knowledge of something innocent intended--which, if not given, must leave the...

Then there comes the transaction of chartering. The vessel was chartered subject to this proviso at the end of it, and the charter-party is negotiated entirely by Zulueta. Whate...

5430. Then where is the value of the restriction you would impose?--The value is this, and it is not of great value, that if that vessel, whilst sailing under the name of Zuluet...