“I understand that several of the gentlemen belonging to the expedition are to start to-morrow overland for Port-au-Prince. It may not have occurred to these gentlemen that by so doing they will virtually place themselves in the position of spies, and if they are taken by Cabral’s people, they can be hung to the nearest tree by sentence of a drum-head court-martial, according to all the rules of civilized warfare. _For they belong to a nation that, through the orders of its Executive to the naval vessels here, has chosen to take part in the internal conflicts of this country_; they come directly from the head-quarters of Cabral’s enemies; they are without arms, uniform, or authority of any kind for being in a hostile region. They _are_, in fact, spies. They go expressly to learn everything connected with the enemy’s country, and their observations are intended for publication, and thus indirectly to be reported back to President Baez. Surely Cabral would have a right to prevent this, if he can.” It will be seen that the gallant Captain does not hesitate to recognize the existing rights of Cabral under the Laws of War, and to warn against any journey by members of the Commission across the island to Hayti,--as, if taken by Cabral’s people, they could be hung to the nearest tree by sentence of drum-head court-martial, “according to all the rules of civilized warfare”; and the Captain gives the reason: “For they belong to a nation that, through the orders of its Executive to the naval vessels here, has chosen to take part in the internal conflicts of this country.” Here is belligerent intervention openly recognized by the gallant Captain, and without the authority of Congress. If the gallant Captain wrote the letter, he showed himself a master of International Law whom Senators might do well to follow. If he did not write it, the instructive jest will at least relieve the weariness of this discussion. SUMMARY. Mr. President, as I draw to a close, allow me to repeat the very deep regret with which I make this exposure. Most gladly would I avoid it. Controversy, especially at my time of life, has no attraction for me; but I have been reared in the school of duty, and now, as of old, I cannot see wrong without trying to arrest it. I plead now, as I have often pleaded before, for Justice and Peace. In the evidence adduced I have confined myself carefully to public documents, not travelling out of the record. Dispatches, naval orders, naval reports,--these are the unimpeachable authorities. And all these have been officially communicated to the Senate, are now printed by its order, accessible to all. On this unanswerable and cumulative testimony, where each part confirms the rest, and the whole has the harmony of truth, I present this transgression. And here it is not I who speak, but the testimony.