“The treaty of Washington proved almost a dead letter, as regarded one of the contracting parties. And the abuse of the American flag became too notorious, in promoting and abetting the slave-trade, to make it necessary for me to refer further to it--more particularly in addressing one who, himself, witnessed that abuse when at its height. “The zeal and activity displayed by yourself and brother officers, and the seizures which were the results of them, at once changed the face of things. The actual loss which the traffic has sustained, and still more the dread of those further losses which they anticipated, on seeing the U. S. squadron prepared to confront them at those very haunts to which they had been accustomed to repair with impunity, and determined to vindicate the honor of their insulted flag, which they had too long been allowed to prostitute, struck terror into those miscreants on both sides of the Atlantic. And from the date of those very opportune captures, not a vessel illicitly assuming American colors has been seen on the coast; and, as it was upon the abuse of that flag, aided by the facility which the system of granting sea-letters afforded, that the slave-traders have mainly relied for the prosecution of their nefarious traffic, the suppression of that abuse by the joint exertions of Her Majesty’s squadron with that of the United States, has given a blow to the slave-trade which, combined with the change of policy on that subject on the part of the Brazilian government, will, I hope and believe, go far, if not to extinguish it altogether, at least very materially to circumscribe its operations. “The effect of what I have above stated has, as you know, for some time past, shown itself very sensibly at this place: money is exceedingly scarce--slaves hardly find purchasers. Failures of men who have hitherto figured as among the chief merchants of this city, have already occurred, and others are anticipated, and a general want of confidence prevails.