FACTS 
 
 FOR THE INFORMATION OF 
 
 U. S. Iffiarine Underwriters and Stockholders: 
 
 T JB E „,w 1E C KIN G SYSTEM 
 
 AS PURSUED ON THE BAHAMA BANKS; 
 
 AS WEIL AS OF THE FRAUDS THERE PERPETRATED j 
 
 And showing how the U S. Underwriters have been, and are now defrauded, 
 by the Ex U. S. Consub, 
 
 TIMOTHY DARLING AND JOHN F. BACON; 
 Including a Reply to a Pamphlet lately issued by them, entitled 
 " Charges made against the Underwriters’ Agents at Nassau, 
 N. P., Bahamas, with their Refutation.” 
 
 “ But ships are but boards, sailors but men: there be land rats and water 
 rats, water thieves and land thieves; I mean pirates; and then there is the 
 peril of waters, winds, and rocks.”—JUrrc/wnt of Venice. 
 
 The undersigned, the recently appointed Consul of the United 
 States at Nassau, New Providence, Bahama Islands, having lately 
 seen a pamphlet emanating from Timothy Darling and John F. Ba¬ 
 con, of the house of T. Darling & Co., Nassau, (both of which 
 individuals, previous to my appointment, were respeetively U. S. 
 Consuls at Nassau,) reflecting upon the course pursued by the 
 undersigned, in the discharge of his Consular functions for prevent¬ 
 ing the perpetration of frauds at Nassau, upon American commerce, 
 deems it expedient, that said pamphlet should have some notice taken 
 of it, as well as of the individuals who are its authors, lest from the 
 •plausible manner in which the same is concocted and endorsed hy 
 the optmons of Darling & Bacon’s friends, they may deceive Ameri¬ 
 can citizens and U. S. underwriters, as they have done heretofore, 
 ai}d thereby commit, with impunity, the like frauds, which I shall 
 presently expose. 
 
 . Before I entertained, the thought of applying to be appointed U. S. 
 Consul to Nassau, I had some knowledge of Nassau and of the sys¬ 
 tem pursued by the late Consuls, Darling and Bacon, in cases of 
 American vessels wrecked, and those going into Nassau, reported to 
 be in distress, as well as of the disposition there made of them and 
 
their cargoes, by Darling and Bacon, in their capacity of Consuls 
 and as alleged agents for U. S. underwriters. I will also venture 
 here to assert, that there is scarcely a Marine Insurance Company in 
 the United States, but which has suffered from the frauds I shall 
 presently detail; nor is there a lawyer, who has tried or heard tried, 
 cases to recover Marine insurance for vessels and cargoes, in any 
 wise connected with Nassau or the Bahama Banks or Islands, but 
 who can testify to the facts I am about to relate, viz. that, in every 
 disputed case the frauds are clearly perceptible, especially in cases 
 of American vessels wrecked and those putting into Nassau, reported 
 to be in distress; which latter, are in very many instances there con¬ 
 demned as unworthy of repair and sold, with their cargoes. 
 
 That such is the case there is abundant evidence to prove, not 
 only in the United States, but in other portions of the commercial 
 world, as will presently be shown. 
 
 Having applied, and having been appointed U. S. Consul to Nas. 
 sau, I embarked and arrived there on the 26th of October, 1849. 
 On the 31st October I called upon Bacon and presented to him the 
 communication I bore to him from the Secretary of State. On that 
 day, I saw Bacon, as likewise Darling, his co-partner, for the first 
 time. On the lst November, 1849, I assumed the duties of my 
 office, possessing the knowledge above stated relative to the course 
 pursued by Darling and Bacon, with the full determination of inves¬ 
 tigating the matter, and if confirmed, I felt it to be my conscientious 
 duty, in the faithful discharge of my Consular functions, to make the 
 effort to break up the system, and if possible to have justice done to 
 U. S. Underwriters as well as to American citizens, whose rights 
 were not previously protected, much less respected. I had not long 
 been in Nassau, before, not only my previous knowledge was con¬ 
 firmed, but many new facts were communicated to me by persons 
 who were cognizant of them, from being eye-witnesses to the perpe¬ 
 tration of the frauds. My informers were persons who were perfectly 
 disinterested in giving me the information, which fact is proven to 
 be so, because by availing myself of their information in my efforts to 
 break up the frauds perpetrated, my very informers, with others, 
 would be deprived of the opportunity to purchase wrecked cargoes and 
 vessels upon speculation, and of realizing large and handsome pro¬ 
 fits out of their purchases, by re-shipments and sales, as was the case 
 under the fraudulent system. These perfons also, I am pleased to 
 say, are among the few honest and conscientious persons that are in 
 Nassau. 
 
 Having had my previous knowledge confirmed, and being also in 
 possession of new facts, I determined to investigate the same further, 
 in order that those facts might also be confirmed. For this purpose, 
 as well as for the purpose of making myself familiar with Consular 
 duties, 1 determined to examine carefully the records and papers in 
 the archives of the Consula'e, .especially tliose which emanated from 
 Darling and Bacon. Previous to doing so, in perusing the “ New 
 
3 
 
 York Albion” of the 17th November, 1849, I came across a para, 
 graph in an article entitled “ Wild Sports in the Falldands,” sketched 
 during a survey of those Islands, by Captain Mackinnon, Royal 
 Navy,” in which article the writer, in comparing those Islands with 
 the Bahamas, says: 
 
 “It is believed that these Islands are frequently made use of by 
 fraudulent persons much in the same manner as the Bahama Banks 
 are in the West India seas—that is to say: ships are purposely 
 lost there to defraud underwriters. Many instances are known of 
 vessels being ‘ cast away ’ in the most unaccountable manner. 
 In several instances ships thus lost in some of the basin-like har¬ 
 bors have been sold for a ‘ mere song,’ recovered at little expense, 
 and are bearing rich freights across the seas 1” 
 
 The writer further says : “ The very fact of a Naval Officer being 
 on the spot would prevent such disgraceful proceedings, and save 
 thousands yearly.” 
 
 These facts, so far as the Bahama Banks are concerned, I can 
 confirm, and quoting similar language, say, the very fact of an 
 honr.st U. S. Consul (or honest agent for U. S. mderwriters,) at 
 Nassau, clothed with some little authority and protection by the 
 United States, [neither of which he has now, either under the law of 
 nations, (according to recent decisions of courts,) by treaty (except 
 in very few cases,) or by acts of Congress, as I can testify from 
 experience, and as can also be testified no doubt by many other 
 U. S. Consuls, who have felt in a foreign land the want of both,] 
 would not only prevent the perpetration of frauds at Nassau, and 
 save thousands of dollars, but would actually save underwriters and 
 others hundreds of thousands of dollars yearly. Now by the very 
 paragraph above quoted, the information I was previously in posses¬ 
 sion of, was donhly confirmed, and that too by a disinterested person, 
 a perfect stranger to me and to my informers, and an officer of the 
 Royal Navy of Great Britain, to which nation the Bahama Islands, 
 with its numerous deposit banks, rocks, reefs, cays and harbors belong. 
 Had I, previously to seeing that article, been ignorant of the frauds 
 which had been perpetrated as above stated, that article alone, un- 
 contradioted as it is to this day, would have caused me or any other 
 conscientious man to prevent the repetition of what is there stated as 
 the fact. After having perused the article quoted, I proceeded to 
 examine the books and papers in my office, which emanated from 
 Darling and Bacon while they were respectively U. S. Consuls at 
 Nassau, at which time they also alleged themselves to be, and did 
 act as, agents for all U. S. Underwriters. 
 
 Having examined the records as stated, I found [admitted to he the 
 fact under their respective signatures in their official correspondence 
 with the Department of Stale] that during the period they respective¬ 
 ly were U. S. Consuls and alleged agents for U. S. underwriters, they 
 condemned, as unworthy of lieing repaired, and sold thirty [30] Ameri¬ 
 can vessels which came into Nassau reporting to be in distress, and 
 
4 
 
 the fate they and their cargoes there met, under the hands of those 
 individuals, proved Darling and Bacon to be “more merciless to¬ 
 wards them than the winds of heaven ” had been. These vessels 
 had short voyages to perform, many being bound on coasting voy¬ 
 ages. On the other hand, within the same period of lime in which 
 these thirty American vessels shared the fate they did, but eighteen 
 [18] British vessels and one American vessel [the brigFrancis Amy, 
 
 -,] also put into Nassau in distress, and went to Messrs. John 
 
 Thomson & Co., (agents there for Lloyds, Glasgow, Liverpool, and 
 other underwriters in Europe, as well as for Underwriters in the U. 
 States,) under whose direction every vessel was spon repaired at rea¬ 
 sonable expense, and completed their voyages with their original 
 cargoes across the Atlantic, in perfect safety. Not one vessel or cargo 
 which so came there to them was condemned or sold, in the period of 
 time mentioned. This being the case, I had from this fact a know¬ 
 ledge that the fatality attending American vessels exclusively, was 
 not because they could not he repaired, or because the cost of repairs 
 would be more than the vessel would be worth under the admiralty- 
 rule. 
 
 The above fact is confirmed by Darling & Bacon’s own showing, 
 for, by some of the certificates of ship masters to be found in their 
 pamphlet, it is there alleged, in vindication of themselves, that some 
 of the vessels which put into Nassau in distress, were repaired by 
 John J. Finlayson, and that' his charges are “ moderate and fair.” 
 
 Notwithstanding the repairs put upon the few vessels alleged to 
 have been repaired, were done at “ moderate and fair ” prices, 
 thirty American vessels were, during the period referred to, con¬ 
 demned, abandoned, and sold as unworthy of being repaired, as 
 follows: By John F. Bacon, Consul, 1340, three brigs and two 
 schooners—total, 5. By Timothy Darling, Consul, 1842, two brigs 
 and three schooners—total 5. And by John F. Bacon, U. S. Consul, 
 1845, and Timothy Darling, his co-partner, tinder the name of T. 
 Darling ^ Co., one ship, thirteen Irigs, one hark, and/re schooners — 
 total, 20. Thus, it will be perceived, that after the copartnership 
 between Darling and Bacon was formed, just double the number of 
 vessels were condemned, &c., as were before the copartnership be¬ 
 tween Darling 6s Bacon existed. 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 SHIP. BARK. BRIGS. SCHOONERS. 
 
 I 1 18 10 —total, 30. 
 
 _ Now, of these vessels, which were so condemned and sold, Dar- 
 ling and Bacon bought, at their own sale, the schooner Julia Ann, and 
 “ directly and openly ” the brigs Galveston and Pedraza, which ves¬ 
 sels they afterwards, had repaired at Nassau; the two latter, no 
 doubt, by Finlayson, whose charges for the same to the new owners 
 were “moderate and fair,” but to the underwriters the estimated re. 
 
5 
 
 pairs exceeded the admiralty-rule, and therefore these vessels were 
 condemned and sold as unworthy of being repaired for the original 
 owners or the underwriters. These vessels made voyages several 
 years afterwards for Darling & Bacon. 
 
 Again, among other of the above condemned vessels, is the 
 schooner Hudson, schooner Ann Still, brig Francis, and bark 
 George Henry. 'The schooner Hudson was bought by British sub¬ 
 jects, was by them afterwards repaired in Nassau, no doubt also at 
 “moderate and fair” charges, and, after having been repaired, 
 was sent to New York, was there sold, and obtained a new 
 American Register, and from the time of her condemnation in March, 
 1845, to the 26th of January, 18.50, [at which time she was “ lost” on 
 one of the Bahama reefs,] she performed voyages,—being for nearly 
 Jive years after her condemnation and sale. The schooner Ann Still 
 was likewise repaired at Nassau after her condemnation and sale. 
 She also was purchased by a British subject, and was converted 
 into a brig. The brig Francis was likewise condemned, sold, pur¬ 
 chased and repaired at Nassau, and made voyages for years after 
 her condemnation. She also obtained a new American Register. 
 The bark George Henry was also condemned and sold as unworthy 
 of repair, and I find by Darling & Bacon’s own showing, set forth 
 in their aforesaid pamphlet, [and sworn to, to give weight to asser¬ 
 tion, by Daniel Sargent, the brother-in-law of Darling,] was “in the 
 month of January, 1849,” sold by Darling & Bacon to “ Messrs. 
 Palacios & De Ynza,” both of which gentlemen are British subjects. 
 These gentlemen subsequently sold her to a gentleman by the name 
 of John W. Finder, also a British subject, who subsequently sold her 
 to the aforesaid Daniel Sargent, who subsequently sold her to Alfred 
 G. Benson, Jones & Johnson, New York, and Charles T. Dilling¬ 
 ham, the present master thereof, after which she obtained a new 
 Register as an American vessel, since which time she has been per¬ 
 forming voyages, and I am informed she is now on her way to San 
 Francisco, California. 
 
 These facts were in my possession previous to the publication of 
 Darling & Bacon’s pamphlet, and they aho, by their own pamphlet, 
 have confirmed many of the facts here set forth. That so many 
 American vessels, together with their cargoes, were condemned 
 and sold at Nassau, by Darling & Bacon, may appear surprising, is 
 but natural; when the fact is known, that after the copartnership 
 between Darling and Bacon was formed, there was united in said 
 firm of T. Darling & Co., the Consulate, alleged agents for U. S. un¬ 
 derwriters, and auctioneers. Thus it will be perceived that it was to 
 their interest to condemn and sell every vessel and cargo which came 
 there in distress, or reported to be in distress, in order that they 
 might make their/ee per cent, commission as Consul and agents for 
 underwriters, as well as five per cent, commission as auctioneers, being 
 ten per cent, upon'the proceeds of sales of all vessels and cargoes, 
 together with the opportunity, at the same time, of purchasing at 
 
6 
 
 their own sales vessels and cargoes on specuhlinn, which they did 
 in purchasing “directly and openly” the brigs Pedraza and Galves¬ 
 ton, &c., and numerous parts of cargoes of these and other con¬ 
 demned vessels, as well as of those which were wrecked, many of 
 which cargoes they reshipped to the United States, on their own ac¬ 
 count, and realized thereby large profits. This also accounts for 
 just double the number of vessels being condemned, &c., after the 
 partnership was formed, added to which fact, in very many in¬ 
 stances, the masters of the condemned vessels were part owners 
 of the vessels, and were fully insured in nearly every case, and 
 the fact of the Consul and alleged agents for U. S. underwriters, 
 making the disposition they did of them, was a sufficient guarantee 
 that the master would have no difficulty in obtaining their insurance 
 from the underwriters. 
 
 These are some of the frauds which I found had been perpetrated 
 at the Nassau Consulate by my predecessors, some of which, as I 
 before stated, I was in possession of before I entertained the thought 
 of making application to be appointed Consul at Nassau. These 
 facts, after my appointment and arrival at Nassau, were again 
 brought to my knowledge, and were subsequently confirmed by the 
 investigation I made. Whilst engaged in making the investi¬ 
 gation, Darling and Bacon had the assurance (througli several of 
 their friends who figure in the pamphlet as their warmest advocates,) 
 to make to me offers of the most advantageous and lucrative kind, 
 hoping thereby to seduce me to iheir party, and win me to their con¬ 
 nections. This I declined doing. Having failed in their attempt to 
 corrupt me, they then aimed at intimidating me by persecution. 
 
 Such was the state of things existing at Nassau when I assumed 
 the duties of the Consulate on the 1st of November, 1849,and although 
 1 was on the Island but a short time, as they state, yet I was there 
 sufficiently long to discover who were honest and conscientious men 
 from those who were directly the contrary—to discover which fact 
 does not require much penetration or any length of time any where, 
 but especially in Nassau. 
 
 Finding that the fatality spoken of existed exclusively among Ameri¬ 
 can vessels, I asked myself the question—Why could not American 
 vessels putting into Nassau in distress, or those reported to be so, 
 be repaired there in like manner as British and other vessels? 
 Why could not those vessels which were condemned and sold as un¬ 
 worthy of repair have been repaired by the alleged agents for the 
 Underwriters before they v/ere condemned and sold? When, «/<er they 
 were condemned and sold, some of the very same were bought by 
 Darling & Bacon at their own sales, “directly and openly,” by their 
 friends and others, and were repaired for the new owners by their 
 friend and generally supposed partner, Finlayson, no doubt at mod¬ 
 erate and fair prices ? If the new owners could afford to repair 
 them, could not the Underwriter's much better afford to do so ? Why 
 did not Darling & Bacon re-ship the cargoes on account of underwri- 
 
T 
 
 ters, instead of their own, and let the underwriters make the profits 
 they made ? By re-shipping they would have saved the underwriters 
 5 per cent, agents’ commission, 5 per cent. Auctioneer commission, and 
 15 per cent, duty on vessel and cargo— total 25 per cent, had these 
 alleged agents had the interest of his principals at heart, which 
 every honest man is bound to have when he undertakes to represent 
 another by virtue of an authority or otherwise. If Darling & Bacon, 
 and speculators, can purchase condemned vessels and their cargoes, 
 as well as cargoes of those which have been wrecked, and can ship 
 them to the United States to be re-sold on their account, and realize 
 large profits out of the purchase and re-shipment, why could not the 
 same have been done by them for the benefit of the underwriters ? 
 Should sot competent and disinterested persons be upon all surveys of 
 vessels and cargoes ? Should not competition he allowed in all cases 
 where repairs are to be put upon vessels ? Is it not the duty of the 
 agent to liave the same done at as reasonable prices as the same can 
 be done ? Ought not every agent, acting for his principal, do as 
 much to promote the interests of his principal as he. would to promote 
 his own ? These questions require no hesitation to answer, nor any 
 penetration to know, why the alleged agents did not act for the un¬ 
 derwriters IS they should have acted. The answer is, because had 
 Darling an! Bacon pursued a different course they would have been 
 promoting tie interests of the Underwriters, and injuring their own. 
 They would have lost 5 per cent, agency commission and 5 per cent, 
 auctioneer commission—added to which they and their friends would 
 lose also the opportunity to buy condemned vessels and have them 
 afterwards rspaired at “ moderate and fair” prices, as well as oppor¬ 
 tunities to purchase cargoes and re-ship them and profit thereby. 
 Not contentwith such proceedings, they even undertook and have 
 awarded eno-mous salvage to the wreckers out of the proceeds of sales 
 of vessels an! cargoes over which they had control, without leaving 
 the same to In' settled by arbitration, or by disinterested persons. 
 By their modi of settling salvage. Darling & Bacon, according 
 to Maclure, “ larned” in general the respect of the wrecking popu¬ 
 lation.” The vreckers even admit this, and have openly avow- 
 ed that Darling and Bacon gave them always what salvage they 
 wanted. Darlinj and Bacon have also been known to pay masters 
 whose vessels toeie “ lost” part of the salvage allowed by them to 
 the wreckers, undsr an agreement with the wreckers, by which it 
 would appear that'he master was promised a quid pro quo for losing 
 his vessel, which ishot improbable, as w^l be shown hereafter. 
 
 Such, I say, was he state of things which existed at Nassau upon 
 my arrival there, atd such the course pursued by my predecessors. 
 I determined such astate of things should exist no longer, if I could 
 prevent it, especially as I conceived myself to be, by virtue of my 
 office, the guardian aid protector of American interests, and respon¬ 
 sible, not only to my ;overnment, but to my countrymen for my acts. 
 Knowing full well tlat I had not in myself any power or express 
 
8 
 
 authority to prevent the frauds spoken of above, and feeling if I re¬ 
 mained passive, or suppressed the same, I would be equally as guilty 
 as though I had directly participated in them, as well as be violating 
 the trust reposed in me by my government, I had but this course to 
 pursue—either to sanction the perpetration of the frauds by sup¬ 
 pressing them, and thus become an accomplice, or take the respon¬ 
 sibility upon myself of informing U. S. Underwriters (whose agents 
 Darling & Bacon clamed to be at the time they perpetrated the 
 frauds spoken of, as well as at the time they issued the pamphlet 
 referred to,) of the course pursued by Darling & Bacon towards 
 them, in order that they might remedy the evil which existed.^ The 
 latter course was adopted, and U. S. underwriters were put in pos¬ 
 session of all the facts, with evidence to confirm them. The U. S. 
 government was also put in possession of the same facts. Having 
 done this, as well as having done all in my power to protec; Ameri¬ 
 can interests, I felt that I had performed the duty I owed niy fellow 
 countrymen and my government as a faithful officer of the U. S. 
 Government, as well as a conscientious man. Had I beena stranger 
 on a visit to Nassau 1 would have acted as I have done, ind would 
 have felt it to be a duty I owed to the United States, as well 
 as to my fellow countrymen. Such should also be the feelings of 
 every true and sincere American citizen. For having djne sirnply 
 what was ray duty to do, in making the effort to protect American 
 interests, as well as by giving the Underwriters in the Uiited States 
 the information above, in return for so doing, I have been lelrayed 
 through the treachery and •perfidy of some of the New Tork Under¬ 
 writers, who have violated the confidence reposed in liem, which 
 should have been held sacred, and which I had every rason to hope 
 would have been so held, especially as it was given them :br their pro¬ 
 tection and the promoting of their interests. I regret to iave to state 
 that instead of the information being used by them for :he purposes 
 intended, some have made the same the instrument wl«reby to ruin 
 me, as well as to defeat the purposes intended. Witi the same pro¬ 
 priety might any sane individual who has a weapoi placed in his 
 hands for the protection of his life, use that weapoi upon his bene¬ 
 factor, and with it deprive his benefactor of life. The cases are 
 parallel, and the enormity of the crime and the ingrititude the same. 
 Nevertheless, I have been treacherously letrayedieAo the hands of 
 my enemies, as well as their enemies, and that toqby my own coun¬ 
 trymen, by individuals who are the agents, guardfins and professed¬ 
 ly the protectors of the stockholders interested inlnarine insurance. 
 
 Some of the New York underwriters to whom liis information was 
 given, instead of availing themselves of it for lieir protection, and 
 co-operating with me, used the same, as I before sid, for the purpose 
 of accomplishing my ruin, by having placed larling & Bacon in 
 possession of documents containing the facts, aswell as pursuing a 
 course calculated to defeat me in my efforts to jrotect their rights in 
 common with others, as well as' deterring me|irom performing my 
 
9 
 
 Consular functions as a faithful officer of the government. With 
 the evidence thus furnished Darling & Bacon, their confederates 
 and accomplices in the frauds above set forth, instituted suits for 
 lilel against me in Nassau. 
 
 These suits are instituted in one of the West India Islands, where 
 (since the general emancipation of slaves,) negroes are upon an 
 eqmlily with the' whites, and enjoy all the privileges of the whites by 
 sitting on juries, being members of the Legislature with the title of 
 Hon. preceding their names, practicing as lawyers in the courts, &c. 
 In the court from which the writs against me emanated, my peers 
 are likely .to be, and would no doubt be composed eniircly of negroes 
 or negroes and wreckers, “ whose general respect” and confidence 
 Darling & Bacon have “earned,” by giving them such salvage as 
 they asked. To one of the writs which issued against me, is the name 
 of a lawyer whose parents on the maternal side were not whiie, 
 whilst on the paternal side he can boast of them having been wreck¬ 
 ers. Again, under this system of amalgamation and Nassau juris¬ 
 prudence, the negro cook and servants of the plaintifTs are likely as 
 not to be upon the jury in the cases against me, and are also as like¬ 
 ly to render verdicts against me for the damages laid in each case, 
 which is $25,000, total $100,000, because the eftorts I have made 
 to protect my countrymen not only affects the plantiffs, but nearly the 
 whole male population of the Bahamas, as well as the public reve¬ 
 nue. Some estimate may be formed of how lucrative the system is 
 from the damages laid in each case. 
 
 Again, Darling & Bacon have identified their feelings and inlerests 
 with the negroes and wreckers, and have earned their “general re¬ 
 spect,” and have also made Nassau their domicil, whilst I was looked 
 upon as only a temporary sojourner. Whilst I remained in Nassau, 
 the course 1 pursued (and intended to pursue during my temporary 
 residence there) was not one which would promote the interest of the 
 “ wrecking population” and the speculators in wrecked and con¬ 
 demned vessels and cargoes, nor would it make me many friends 
 among that class, much less would I “earn the general respect of the 
 wrecking population,” still less would [ have justice shown me 
 among such a class who would constitute the jury as well as wit¬ 
 nesses against me, especially, when the Notary Public (who is also 
 Ihe Hon. Attorney General) is “ready and willing” at all times 
 to note and extend protests against me, for not suppressing the Jranis 
 his clients perpetrated, as well as for making the effort to prevent his 
 dishonest clients from defrauding co-owners and underwriters out of 
 vessels and cargoes, by bartering and selling the same to the 
 wreckers for a part of the salvage allowed by Darling & Bacon. 
 This functionary publicly stated as the counsel for some of these 
 clients, in defending them for a violation of the Colonial Laws of 
 the Bahamas, that the “ship masters would have had a perfect right 
 to have thrown the Consul or any other person overboard, that they 
 would have served me right to have done so, for having gone on 
 
10 
 
 board” of the vessel lately under the command of one of them, not- 
 withstanding, I went on board after the master had sold her to the 
 wreckers—when vessel and cargo were in possession of the wreckers, 
 and upon complaint under oath from the crew and passengers of the 
 abandoned ship, which I had a right to do and which I was in duty 
 bound to do under acts of Congress. This is his construction of acts 
 of Congress and the advice and opinion of the learned counsel for the 
 defendants—the Hon. Attorney General, who is also the counsel for 
 some of the plaintiffs in the actions againstme. This is also the “ pro- 
 tection” the Consul at Nassau obtains when he “ appeals to the au- 
 , thorities of this country to aid him in discharging his Consular func- 
 tions.” Instead of being aided and protected, the frauds are encour. 
 aged, and the Consul is insulted by one of the crown officers for le. 
 golly as well as conscientiously discharging what the acts of Congress 
 and the instructions to Consuls, &c., expressly enjoin upon him as 
 strictly within his Consular functions. With such a counsel for the 
 plaintiffs, and negroes and wreckers as jurors and w'Anessos, justice! 
 would soon be meeted out to mein Nassau,by giving to the plaintiffs 
 who have “earned their general respect,” judgments sufficiently large 
 to enable them to persecute me, as well as drive me away from Nassau. 
 
 Such is the tribunal, such is the system of jurisprudence which is 
 practiced and recognized at Nassau, and such are the jurors and 
 witnesses. The justice! I might expect, under such a system of 
 jurisprudence, with my peers of such a complexion, can readily be 
 imagined. Such “extremes” I have not, nor will I ever recognize ; 
 such a system is not now (and I sincerely trust never will be) recog¬ 
 nized by the State of Maryland—the state which gave me birth—a 
 State proud to be classed with the Great Southern family of slates, 
 whose institutions and measures, in common with her own, she will 
 maintain and advocate to the last. I am proud to own her as my 
 parent, and, although I am but an humble individual, I am entitled 
 (and proud I am) to avow it, that my “hand and my heart” have been 
 and will ever be with the South, in defence of her institutions, guar¬ 
 anteed to her by the Constitution, be the aggressors who they may. 
 The views I now briefly express I have alway.s entertained; they have 
 been confirmed and strengthened by a residence in a land where 
 amalgamation and abolition are seen in perfection—where the whites 
 and negroes are “free and equal” in every respect—“where the 
 whites and blacks, like the keys of a piano, are mingled together 
 in harmonious confusion”—in fact, where the negroes, in many in- 
 .stances, rank above the whites, not on account of their superior attain¬ 
 ments, but from motives of policy. I do not here wish to be under, 
 stood as viewing the negro race as brutes, or wish them so to be 
 treated, but that they were never intended by the Author of the 
 universe to be upon an equality with the whiles, is not only my 
 opinion, but tbe opinion of thousands “whose good opinion is worth the 
 having.” In plain terms, having been born in the South, and enter¬ 
 taining the views and feelings of the South, I was determined I would 
 
11 
 
 not be made the mdim of a people whose feelings as well as system of 
 jurisprudence are directly the reverse of what I had been accustomed 
 to recognize, I determined that no such tribunal should take cogni¬ 
 zance of me or of my acts, especially as what is charged as libel, 
 was done in my Official capacity as United States Consul, which 
 I maintain was my duty to do as a faithful officer and conscien¬ 
 tious man. I deny the right of the court, or authorities at Nas¬ 
 sau, to take cognizance or have jurisdiction over me, for the 
 reason above stated, and because I have not violated any of the laws 
 by which the people of Nassau are governed, and furthermore be¬ 
 cause the facts which are called libels, were not published by me 
 in Nassau, but were made known to parties in the U. States, who 
 were the sufferers by the frauds there perpetrated and were also the 
 parties who had a right to know the facts. In consequence of those 
 suits I came to the U. States to seek aid and protection from my 
 government, hoping that I would have been protected from those suits 
 as well as from the insults heaped upon me while at Nassau. Al¬ 
 though the course I have pursued is approved of by my government, 
 as well as by all the underwriters in Boston, and all in New York, 
 (e.xcept Walter R. Jones, 0. H. Jones, Jos. Walker and Jos. Ho.xie, 
 agent,) as will be hereafter shown, protection, I am informed, cannot 
 be given me by my government. This being the fact, I tendered 
 my resignation as U. S. Consul at Nassau, which has been accepted. 
 The U. States cannot protect me, because the Laws, &c. of the U. S. 
 (except in a very few instances) or the Law of Nations do not grant 
 to Consuls any protection whatever, and this fact may, to some, appear 
 strange, but it is no less true, that U. S. Consuls have not the pro¬ 
 tection that the cook, hoot-llack, or the other servants of a Minister 
 or Charge d''Affairs have, tbe Consul’s only protection being what is 
 given him by the laws of the nation where he resides, which is tan¬ 
 tamount to none at all—as experienced in my case, and in cases 
 which recently occurred in Cuba, St. Domingo, and other places. 
 Although American Consuls have no protection in foreign countries, 
 and the authority vested in them being but limited, notwithstanding 
 this fact, the Consul is looked upon, as well as conceded to be the 
 gnardian and protector of American interests (in the absence of Min¬ 
 isters, &c.) and responsible (although not legally but) morally to his 
 government for any dereliction of what is not legally his duty under 
 Acts of Congress or his instructions. If the Consul perform only 
 his legal functions defined by Acts of Congress and his instructions 
 to be such, he would have but little to do, and American commerce 
 would suffer as well as the interests of his fellow countrymen like- 
 wise. As I before stated, U. S. Consuls are not legally bound (yet 
 in conscience they are,) to protect the interests of individual citizens 
 of the United States; yet, should the Consul not do so, he is at once 
 censured, and “serious charges and complaints” are lodged against 
 him with his government, as well as find their way into newspapers, 
 to his great disparagement, when, in fact, he is innocent, and legally 
 
12 
 
 there is no cause to complain of him. If, on the other hand, the 
 Consul should make the effort to protect American commerce and 
 the interest of his countrymen, by assuming the responsibility, he is 
 placed in the same Invidious situation, and must get out of any dif. 
 ficulty be falls into the best way he can. Thus, is he between two 
 fires, either step will involve him in difficulty and perhaps ruin 
 him. I speak this from e.xperience; other U. S. Consuls no doubt 
 can corroborate this. 
 
 Such is the invidious and trying situation of all U. S. Consuls. 
 The difficulties I am involved in, I could have escaped, had I been 
 a traitor to my country, and violated my conscience by walking in 
 the footsteps of my '‘ilhsirious! predecessors,” by connecting myself 
 with them as they proposed, or by sanctioning and suppressing 
 the frauds they and their confederates had been perpetrating as well 
 as wished to continue perpetrating. Such a course I was not willing to 
 pursue. From experience I have now found (and I assert it with¬ 
 out fear of the contrary being maintained) that inasmuch as U. S. 
 Consuls have no protection afforded to them by the U. States, frauds 
 may be perpetrated in foreign countries with the utmost impunity 
 by fraudulent and dishonest citizens of the U. States and their ac¬ 
 complices;, and I know of no place better calculated, or which holds 
 out greater inducements for the perpetration of frauds, than Nassau 
 and the Bahama Banks. There owners and underwriters may be 
 defrauded, openly, in the presence of the U. S. Consul, and should 
 the Consul interfere for the prevention of fraud, directly or indi¬ 
 rectly, a threat of a libel suit, from the dishonest ship master and 
 his confederates, will now be sufficient to deter him from interfering 
 for the protection of the interests of his countrymen, or even from giv- 
 ing them the slightest information which might enable the parties 
 injured to protect themselves, as well as punish the pirates. Such a 
 threat, I say, is sufficient to deter the Consul from performing his 
 conscientious duty—which duty custom has made legal, and the 
 threat so made will most assuredly be put into execution against 
 any Consul who dares to interfere in a manner otherwise than to 
 facilitate the perpetration of fraud. Yeti, for having assumed the 
 responsibility by giving parties, whose rights were injured, informa¬ 
 tion, have been betrayed, as I before stated, and that too by some of the 
 very parties I have been endeavoring to serve. Although some of the 
 New York Underwriters have acted in this treacherous and per¬ 
 fidious manner towards me by having betrayed me, I am pleased 
 to state, that there are others (who comprise the majority of the 
 New York Underwriters) who appreciate the efforts I made at 
 Nassau in behalf of all. They have done me the justice to 
 approve of the course 1 pursued, and in this approval it will be 
 seen they were not influenced solely by the Information derived 
 from me—but that the evils complained of existed at Nassau (and 
 do yet exist) for “ many years past.” This is the opinion, grounded 
 upon experience, of the Boston Underwriters, and of all the New York 
 
Underwriters, with the exception of Mr. Walter R. Jones and some 
 three others, as will be shown hereafter. Mr. Walter R. Jones is 
 the President of the N. York Board of Underwriters, and as such 
 h?. was put in possession of the frauds which were perpetrated at 
 Nassau. He is therefore the Tildas, and upon him the responsibili¬ 
 ty rests for having violated the confidence reposed in him. Mr. 
 Jones, with three other Underwriters in New York, it will be per¬ 
 ceived, did not act with the majority of the other Underwriters in 
 New York, and having declined so doing, he, with others, have 
 made themselves the advocates of Darling & Bacon, and also ap¬ 
 proves of their course. Mr. Jones as well as his friends in the ‘’■mi¬ 
 nority” may have their pnuaie reasons for pursuing the course they 
 did, as well as the course they intend to pursue. Darling & Bacon, 
 by their aforesaid plausible pamphlet, have shown that a Mr. Jones (a 
 nephew of the aforesaid Walter R. Jones) is joint owner of the afore¬ 
 said bark George Henry, with Alfred G. Benson and others, of New 
 York. Said bark George Henry is one of the 30 American vessels 
 which Darling & Bacon condemned and sold at Nassau as un¬ 
 worthy of repair. This vessel, as before stated, was afterwards 
 repaired by the new owners, and obtained a new American Register 
 as an American vessel. She is still in existence. A. G. Benson is 
 also the particular friend of Darling & Bacon—and receives the 
 consignments of Darling & Bacon’s condemned vessels, and the car¬ 
 goes of the same, which they purchase and re-ship on speculation. 
 This Benson has also played a conspicuous part in the conspiracy 
 against me, which discovery I have lately made. The part he is 
 playing against me will be seen hereafter. I again repeat it, such is 
 the system which (prior to my appointment and arrival at Nassau as 
 U. S. Consul) was pursued by Darling & Bacon, &c. Such acts 
 as I have mentioned I charge to he fraud, which if they be not, I 
 am ignorant of what fraud consists. These frauds are within 
 the knowledge of every person in Nassau, even of many, if not all 
 of the advocates of Darling & Benson who have made the efibrt to 
 sustain them by their volunteer “ opinions.” Did it not involve my 
 friends in Nassau in libel suits, which would be instituted by Dar¬ 
 ling & Bacon and their confederates, I could procure from them as 
 (confirmatory of all I have stated) many more statements of facts 
 than there are opinions in Darling & Bacon’s pamphlet. This I do 
 not choose to do for the reason stated, besides the facts I allege and 
 the frauds I charge to have been committed at Nassau by Darling 
 & Bacon are sustained by the documents from the Underwriters who 
 have been sufferers under their hands. They speak from experience ; 
 and the expression from them, as well as from the Department of 
 State, emanated thence after their plausible pamphlet had been 
 issued and distributed. 
 
 Now a few facts relative to the few vessels which have been re¬ 
 paired at Nassau, both before as well as after condemnation and sale. 
 By Darling & Bacon’s own showing, Finlayson is their man who has 
 
14 
 
 done all the repairs upon the' few vessels which have been repaired 
 in Nassau. He is also the individual who repaired the vessels bought 
 by Darling & Bacon and their friends. To the new owners his 
 charges may have been “ moderate and fair,” but when these vessels 
 are repaired on account of the Underwriter, the charges are just the 
 reverse, as the Underwriters can testify. Again, when the vessels 
 which have been condemned and sold as unworthy of repair, on 
 account of the Underwriter, are afterwards repaired by Finlayson for 
 Darling & Bacon, these individuals, perhaps, did go through the 
 form of tendering the vessel to the Underwriters, upon the Underwri- 
 I ters paying to them the charges for repairs, which they take good care 
 shall be sufficiently large to deter the Underwriters from receiving the 
 vessel and paying the charges. Should the underwriters, however, 
 receive the vessel and pay the charges for repairs. Darling & Bacon 
 are equally as pleased as if the Underwriters reffised receiving the 
 vessels, because, did the Underwriters pursue the former course, Dar 
 ling & Bacon would realize handsome profits out of the charges for 
 repairs; if the latter, the vessel is theirs, at “moderate and fair 
 prices.” This is another mode in which Underwriters are defrauded 
 by them and this Finlayson, who, a.feto years ago, was the apprentice 
 of an old colored ship-carpenter in Nassau, who, after his term of 
 apprenticeship liad expired, became a protege of Darling & Bacon, 
 and,_as theircat’s-paw,” has, with Darling & Bacon, realized_/br- 
 iunes out of the Underwriters, whilst on the other hand, Finlayson’s 
 old master, with other ship-carpenters in Nassau, are poor, and are 
 not even afforded an opportunity of making proposals for the repairs 
 which might he necessary to be put upon vessels. If competition was 
 allowed. Darling & Bacon and Finlayson would find a different result, 
 and Underwriters would have some ju.stice done them. It is also 
 well known in Nassau, that Finlayson has not made his money by 
 huilding vessels in Nassau, but that the same was made (since Dar¬ 
 ling & Bacon went there) by repairing the few vessels Darling & 
 Bacon allege to have had repaired. Even among the number al¬ 
 leged in their pamphlet to have been repaired by Finlayson, are two 
 which were not repaired. Darling & Bacon allege they were “ hove 
 out” with care, at “ moderate and fair charges,” One of these ves¬ 
 sels is the brig Talleyrand. She also is one of the 30 vessels con¬ 
 demned and sold as aforesaid. Again, the materials of many of 
 these condemned vessels have been found so good that the timber, 
 &c., from them have been used in huilding wrecking vessels, (the only 
 vessels now built at Nassau)—one being on the stocks in the ship¬ 
 yard of Finlayson’s old master at the time I was in Nassau, and the 
 timber used was from the condemned brig Pioneer, of Boston, which 
 vessel was condemned and sold in Nassau a short time before my 
 arrival there. The aforesaid bark “ George and Henry,” it will 
 be seen from said pamphlet, was, after her condemnation, also 
 repaired at Nassau, not for the -Underwriters but for the new 
 owners. The date when the repairs were done upon this ves- 
 
15 
 
 sel Darling & Bacon do not give. Again, three of the vessels 
 alleged to have been repaired at Nassau, were repaired after my 
 arrival in Nassau, by Finlayson, under the direction of Darling 
 & Bacon. Again, an instance is not known of any vessel after 
 it had been condemned and sold at Nassau, and after having been 
 repaired by Darling & Bacon, ever having been received by the Un¬ 
 derwriters—the Underwriters refusing to pay the charges for repairs 
 on account of their being so enormously high. If the Underwriters, 
 who could much better afford to repair vessels, refuse to accept them 
 on account of the enormous charges for repairs, how is it that 
 Darling & Bacon can afford to pay these enormous bills for these 
 repairs ? The answer has been given already. 
 
 Having now e.vposed some of the frauds perpetrated at Nassau, 
 and shown how cunningly they have been devised as well as how 
 they have been perpetrated, I propose here briefly to notice Darling 
 & Bacon with reference to their numerous certificates of opinion, to 
 be found in their aforesaid pamphlet, by which their friends have 
 made the effort to bolster up Darling & Bacon. Darling, it is 
 well known, was appointed United States Consul at Nassau in 
 1842. In reply to the interrogatories propounded to him, (as well 
 as to all United States Consuls,) asking of what State he was a 
 citizen ? he replied to the interrogatory in his official com¬ 
 munication to the Department of State, that he was a cilhen of 
 Maine, Calais, Washington county. See his letter No. 1, December 
 1st, 1842, on file in Department of State. Again, after he had en¬ 
 tered upon the duties of his office, he asked leave of absence from 
 the Secretary of State (the Hon. Daniel Webster) for the purpose of 
 visiting the United States, and as an inducement that his request 
 might be granted, he e.vpre.ssed his desire to be in the United States 
 to witness the ceremony that took place in Boston, relative to the 
 Bunker Hill monument. In this communication, he stated he was 
 present upon a former occasion, &c., and then “ his youthful mind 
 caught a little of that true and lofty spirit of patriotism, which the 
 scene, the day and the orator contributed,” in which he says to Mr. 
 Webster it was needless to say what hi.s feelings upon the occa¬ 
 sion were. See letter No. l7, February 4th, 1843, on file in 
 Department of State. Leave of absence was granted, and Darling 
 came to the United States, but whether a similar patriotic fire was 
 kindled in his bosom a second time this deponent saith not. 
 
 Darling, whilst he was U. S. Consul, could not then hold a com¬ 
 mission as Auctioneer, and having occasion to employ one from time 
 to time to sell condemned vessels and their cargoes, as well as the 
 cargoes of wrecked vessels, he applied to a gentleman in Nassau 
 who held a commission as auctioneer, to act for him. Darling stated 
 as one of the terms of contract, that he was poor and that he came 
 to Nassau to make all the money he could—ho had heard that per¬ 
 sons were backward in attending sales at the hour advertised, that he 
 wanted the sale to begin at the very hour named—that he (Darling) 
 
16 
 
 would be there and buy every thing he wanted cheap, and further 
 as soon as he bid on an article, it was to he knocked down to him. 
 His proposal was indignantly declined, and this gentleman has 
 nothing to do with him. 
 
 Upon his return to Nassau, he continued to pursue the course 
 above named until 1845, when Bacon was re-appointed Consul, and 
 Darling, howling like a whipped hound, gave way to Bacon. Dar¬ 
 ling having then ceased to be the U. S. Consul, ceased also to be an 
 American citizen! and lost all feelings of patriotism, if any he ever 
 had. He then undertook to show, and did actually prove to the au¬ 
 thorities of the Bahamas, that he was only an American citizen so 
 long as his interests prompted him to be one, and that, in reality, he 
 was as good a British subject as any person in Nassau; he alleging 
 that he was born in St. Stephens, New Brunswick. He is even con. 
 firmed to be a British subject by the learned! opinion of his counsel 
 the Hon. Attorney General. Sinrultaneously with this. Darling & 
 Bacon entered into co-partnership, under the style of T. Darling & 
 Co., and called their house an American house ! Darling being then 
 recognizedjas a British subject, he was entitled to enjoy, and did from 
 that time forth enjoy all the privileges and immunities of a loyal 
 subject by holding office by virtue of appointment from the Gover¬ 
 nor of the Bahamas, sitting on juries with his colored and wrecking 
 fellow-s, as well as being entitled to hold the much desired commission 
 as Auctioneer (no person other than a British subject can legally 
 exercise the functions of an auctioneer, if they do so, they violate 
 the law and are liable to fines and penalties.) Darling accordingly 
 availed himself of this powerful auxiliary to put money into his 
 and Bacon’s pocket, and Darling' & Bacon, (as T. Darling & 
 Co.,) both were auctioneers, whilst Bacon was Consul as an 
 American citizen. Thus was the office of Consul, alleged agents 
 for United States Underwriters, Auctioneers and speculators united 
 in T. Darling & Co. This will explain lohy so many American 
 vessels were condemned and sold with their cargoes, at Nassau, by 
 Darling & Bacon, both of whom were defrauding United States Un¬ 
 derwriters, whilst Bacon, the Christian! Bacon, at the same time 
 was also violating the laws of the Bahamas. The above is the true 
 character of the above natned individuals. Bacon is the man whose 
 friend and spiritual adviser, Maclure, says stands “without re¬ 
 proach,” “ one of the excellent of the earth,” whose “ character 
 stands in the most enviable position,” whom Maclure knows from 
 his “ own experience,” (in matters of wrecked and condemned ves¬ 
 sels, no doubt,) that Bacon has “ earned! in general the respect of the 
 wrecking population.” Darling is the man to whom Maclure “ can¬ 
 not say” to his “face all that he could wish to say,” a “devoted 
 Christian,” a man “ devoted to all that is good,” to lose him out of 
 Nassau would be an “irreparable loss.” 
 
 The eulogy of Maclure speaks for itself, and I would be doing them 
 injustice not to annex it. I therefore annex it with the accompany- 
 
17 
 
 ing documents, which will perhaps be read with the same “ indignant 
 astonishment” by others as the charges and libels against Darling & 
 Bacon created in Alaclure and’other friends of Darling & Bacon’s 
 sensitive bosoms. This Reverend Sir William “Pertinax Mac- 
 Sycophant” Maclure, who appears so thoroughly to have divested 
 himself of the sanctity of his official character, and gone out of his 
 way to attack an unoffending stranger for discharging what has been 
 admitted was his duty, I trust I shall stand excused for speaking of 
 such conduct in the only terms worthy of it, in terms of sovereign, 
 unmitigated, unqualified and unalloyed contempt, and to handle him, 
 to use a metaphor well known in the “ Slates,” “ without mittens.” 
 Prom the warmth and ardor with which the Rev. gentleman ! has 
 stepped into the defence of his much injured friends, he appears to 
 have dismissed the cold caution so truly characteristic of his wily 
 countrymen. He appears to have imbibed a little of the fervor, not 
 a rare plant on the other side of the channel. Has he not gone over 
 by some wrecking vessel and licked the blarney-stone ? , 
 
 What is most amusing in the panegyrics of the Rev. gentleman! 
 is the mode in which he, after exhausting language in epithets 
 in Darling, Bacon & Go’s praise, he caps the clima.x by saying that 
 his friend Bacon (who is one of the “ sheep of his pasture and people 
 of his flock,”) has “earned (mark the word—has “ earned I”) in gen¬ 
 eral the re.spectof the'lorecking ! population 1” Praise, according to 
 the Rev. eulogist, can go no further. “ The force of nature can no 
 further go.” Bacon “ has earned! in general the respect of the 
 wrecking population he stands “ without reproach ;” he is one of 
 the excellent of the earth, (why not the salt thereof?) “ as a man of 
 business and a Christian in every sense of the word,” and “ anxious 
 to lefriend!” “ all who belong to his country.” He “stands in the 
 most enviable position” because he has “ earned ! the general respect 
 of the wrecking population ! 1!” and that known to be the fact from 
 the “ experience” of the Rev. gentleman ! And yet by the course 
 Bacon has been pursuing he has “ studied the interests ! of the un. 
 derwriters,” and is “ anxious!” to lefriend ! them. This is really- 
 avoiding both Scylla and Charybdis. “ Oh faultless monster of per¬ 
 fection 1!!” I should almost suspect the Rev. director to be on as 
 good terms with his wrecking hearers as his friends Darling & Ba¬ 
 con are, and as the good Cornwall curate I once read of, who lived 
 on a coast in England, which like Nassau was subject to the same 
 excitement in case of a wreck being announced. History does not 
 say that in Cornwall they hoisted the national flag in honor of such 
 an auspicious event, but history, and what is better, truth says Dar¬ 
 ling & Bacon at Nassau (although on no other occasion,) did, in every 
 instance when a lureck was announced during their respective Con¬ 
 sulates, hoist the American ensign, not for the purpose as it does in 
 every clime of “ scattering from its every undulation the defiance of 
 the'free and the gratitude of the delivered,” but as an emblem, of 
 congratulation to themselves and to the wreckers. To themselves 
 
18 
 
 to the tune of ten “par cent, commission, besides the “ trimmings,” and 
 to the wreckers’ salvage and “ pickings” sufficiently large to retain 
 “ the general respect” so well “ earned !” from them. 
 
 A half mast elevation union down I should deem much more con- 
 genial to the feelings of the unfortunate and absent underwriters 
 and to owners who are not “fully insured,” whose property falls 
 into the hands of land-sharks but little differing from their brethren 
 on the high seas, from .whom this property has just been rescued. 
 To resume ray story: At Cornwall, just as at Nassau, some of the 
 wrecking population,” as in duty bound, attended the “ grave di¬ 
 vine’s” church, and were busily engaged in their devotions when, on a 
 particular stormy Sunday, a wreck was announced, which started 
 Darling & Bacon as well as their friends, who have also “earned the 
 general respect of the wrecking population.” A rush, on this cry 
 of wreck, was made for the door of the church, when the “ grave 
 divine,” with more than ordinary unction, cried out, “ Dearly be¬ 
 loved brethren, before we part, only three words more, let us all 
 start fair,” and, gathering up his canonicals, away they all rushed 
 to the shore together. I hope I do not do this “consecrated cobler” 
 injustice, but I will call to his classical recollections, (if any he hath,) 
 the maxim “noscitur a sociis,” which being translated for the benefit 
 of the country menibers and the “wrecking population,” (the educa¬ 
 tion of some of whom, like Gen. Leslie, in Cromwell’s army, may 
 never have gone beyond the letter G,) “a man is known by the com¬ 
 pany he keeps.” In giving the Rev. William Maclure, “the P. P. 
 of this parish,” my “vade in pace,” I borrow but to return it to him, 
 a part of the language of his own .extravagant and hauiiful letter, 
 and “pray him make what use he pleases of this.” He may put it 
 in his “pipe and smoke it,” and thus let it pass off with the other 
 incense which he appears to be daily offering up at the shrine of the 
 objects of his worldly idolatry. 0 shade of John Knox, forgive him! 
 Again, borrowing his own language, I am constrained to say, “As 
 to yourself, my dear sir, I cannot say to your face all that I could 
 wish to say.” One word more before I leave you. Like most of 
 your countrymen, you may cherish a more tender recollection of its 
 poetry than your country, and 1 therefore give you a specimen from 
 the best of your national bards, a portrait which is singularly appli¬ 
 cable to you, nt this time especially; in fact, a living daguerreotype 
 of you, and I put it to your candor (if any of that homely virtue you 
 possess) as well as to those who know you well, to say whether the 
 likeness be not a speaking one—’tis this: to 
 
 “ Learn three-mile prayers and half-mile graces, 
 
 With well spread looves [palms] and long wry faces. 
 
 Grunt up a solemn, lengthened groan. 
 
 And damn all parties hut.your own.” 
 
 Once more—“As to yourself, my dear sir, I cannot say to your 
 face all that I could wish to say.” 
 
19 
 
 Of many of the other advocates of Darling, Bacon & Co. I shall, 
 on account of their “ being too small deer,” let pass. The ma.xim 
 “noscitur sociis” defines their position, and as “they have been lovely 
 in their lives, in their deaths they shall not be divided.” Henry 
 Capern, “ Baptist Minister, Agent of the Baptist Missionary Society, 
 London, England,” who, with Maclure, forms a brace of “ Conse¬ 
 crated Coblers,” I will here inform you that your friend Darling 
 has contradicted your “ opinion,” when you say that he “ with un¬ 
 varying consistency professed himself a citizen of the U. States.” 
 To be plain with you, one of you must lie. Darling has avowed 
 his birth-place to be in St. Stephens, N. B., and has the learned 
 opinion of the Attorney General upon the subject he has also 
 been “ privileged ” as a British subject. Privileges which none 
 but a British subject can enjoy. “Professed,” you say,—that 
 may be so. He professes in the United States to he an American 
 citizen, in the Bahamas he professes and enjoys all the privileges 
 of a British subject. This fact is also known to both of you, as 
 well as to other advocates of your Christian! friends. In the language 
 of that inspired volume which should ever be the guide of both of 
 you, in parting with you, I must remind you to “Judge not and ye 
 shall not be judged, condemn not and ye shall not be condemned.” 
 “ For with the same measure that ye mete withal, it shall be meas¬ 
 ured to you again.” “ Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out 
 of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the 
 mote that is in thy brother’s eye.” To John R. Bacon, son of 
 John F. Bacon, (like true patriots on the other side of the water,) 
 be it known “ he left his country for his country’s good.”— 
 He, I doubt not, is “ willing and ready ” to swear to any thing. He 
 has been figuring of late in the U. States in the Webster “ Watch 
 and Chain ” letters. His friend A. G. Benson became a subscriber 
 to the Watch, and the gforesaid John R. Bacon became the bearer 
 of it, to the Hon. Daniel Webster, in order that he might, by that 
 means approach this great statesman and thereby hope to obtain the 
 influence of this gentleman in their behalf. This youngster followed 
 me to the United States, his employers. Darling & Bacon, having 
 chartered a wrecking vessel for the purpose of sending him to the 
 United States to watch my movements here as well as to deceive 
 underwriters and others. To the others, who state Darling does not 
 •appear by the Register of wrecking vessels to be the owner of any, 
 I would remind you there are more loays of owning wreckers than 
 by having the names of all the owners inserted in the registers. To 
 the Card'of Wm. L. Stone and others, a reply was given,by Capt. 
 Bicknell and Keene, both of whom were in Nassau at the occurrence. 
 Their reply refutes the allegations set forth in Stone’s Card. The 
 refutation by these gentlemen is confirmed by the Boston Underwri- 
 ters, in whose offices Stone’s and many of the other vessels were in¬ 
 sured. For the benefit of the underwriters 1 would say that Stone, 
 Alexander, Cousins, Holmes and Cook, are only waiting for another 
 
and letter opportunity to “ lose” any vessel wliich may be under 
 their command, especially when they are “ fully covered by insur¬ 
 ance” and “when freights are low.” Again I assert, upon good 
 grounds, that one-half at least of all the American vessels which 
 are wrecked on the Bahama Banks, and those which go into Nassau 
 reported to be in distress, are caused by design and not accidentally. 
 In asserting this I do not mean to disparage all or class all as dis¬ 
 honest ship masters. There are exceptions to all eases, and there 
 are many who cannot be tempted by any overture which might be 
 made to them to defraud underwriters. In Nassau there are more 
 than sufficient honest and conscientious individuals to save the town, 
 a few more than were requisite to save the “ Cities of the Plain.” 
 Even among the wreckers there are some (who are owners of them) 
 who would not falsely play that they might wrongly win. Some 
 few owners of such vessels I believe to be honest, but there are 
 many I could name who are directly the reverse. 
 
 In conclusion, I again stale it as a positive fact, based upon 
 experience, as well as from practical observation, that my successor 
 at Nassau, if he makes any effort to protect American interests, will 
 have the same difficulties to contend with that I have had, in conse¬ 
 quence of Darling & Bacon having made it to their interest to “ earn 
 the general respect of the wrecking population,” by having awarded 
 to them just such salvage as they demanded, without any difficulty 
 arising between them in the settlement of the same after nine years’ 
 experience, which fact Darling & Bacon avow in their circulars, to 
 be found in the possession of all the wreckers. So long, therefore, as 
 Darling & Bacon remain at Nassau they will continue to make it to 
 the wreckers’ interest (for the purpose of promoting their own inter¬ 
 est,) for them to have control overall vessels and cargoes coming into 
 Nassau in distress or wrecked. This effort will be made by Darling &. 
 Bacon, even should the underwriters send an agent to Nassau to reside 
 there for the purpose of looking after their interests. This agent of 
 the Underwriters would have no authority to interfere, unless every 
 Underwriter in the United States made him their agent, and unless a 
 clause is inserted in every policy to the effect that if any accident or 
 disaster happened, which might compel the vessel to make Nassau, 
 the master must go the underwriter’s agent. Even in that case, 
 lefore the agent could, under that clause, (if inserted in the policy,) 
 demand the control, he would have to prove that the vessel or cargo 
 is insured in one of the offices he represents, and unless this can be 
 done, the ship-master has the entire control of vessel and cargo, and 
 can make such disposition of it as he pleases, without being bound 
 to go to any house or person, and he may even go so far as to defraud 
 the underwriter, perhaps in the presence of the agent, and the terror 
 of “ libel suits” will have the effect of deterring the agent from inter¬ 
 fering or informing the principals, because there may be some among 
 his principals who may feel more interested in the master and his 
 confederates than in the agent or Consul. Such, I say, has been the 
 
21 
 
 state of things for the last nine years at least at Nassau, which, 
 although the Underwriters have fell and suffered severely under, yet 
 they knew not until lately how it was they were wronged. Such 
 will continue to be the course which will be pursued at Nassau, 
 unless there is a complete revision of the whole Consular system, or 
 unless the United States gives her Consuls some protection and au¬ 
 thority in foreign ports, as well as constitute them legally the guar¬ 
 dians and protectors of the interests of the United States as well as of 
 its citizens, in the absence of the Minister, &o. To these facts I 
 have already called the earnest attention of the underwriters, as well 
 as to the practice at Nassau in cases of dereZici-property, as well as 
 to the heavy duties, cargoes of vessels which are wrecked, stranded, &c. 
 on the Bahama Banks, have to pay. This law relative to derelict-pro- 
 perty, it is well known’, is the offspring of barbarism, and the same is 
 practiced under at Nassau at this time, although the vessel is known to 
 be an American vessel from her name and where she belongs—the 
 names and places of residence of the persons for whom the cargo is 
 intended being clearly perceptible upon the cargo. Notwithstanding 
 this, the Court of Vice-Admiralty at Nassau, under that barbarous 
 law, in consequence of the same being abandoned, claim vessel and 
 cargo, and have entire control by disposing of the same, paying duties, 
 awarding salvage, &c., which, by this process, leaves but a little 
 balance, if any, for the Underwriter or owner—which balance is 
 scarcely worth the trouble to recover. Although the U. S. Consul 
 claims the same for the Underwriters, his claim is not regarded unless 
 he has express authority to act in each particular case. Cases of 
 this kind frequently happen, and the rights of the respective claim¬ 
 ants to the property, have been decided by the Court in favor of the 
 Crown. It seems to me, such should not be so in this enlightened 
 age. Again, the Bahama Legislature, in its wisdom, have passed 
 laws causing all wrecked, derelict, stranded, &c., cargoes to pay 15 
 per cent, duty, with an incidental duty upon that amount of 5 per 
 cent., when, on the other hand, if the very same articles were not so 
 deteriorated in value by the accidents aforesaid, but were regularly 
 imported in Nassau, they would only pay a duty of 5 per cent. 
 Thus for being unfortunate, the Underwriters and other citizens of the 
 United States have to suffer. This is literally “ paying for heating 
 the poker.” , 
 
 In this manner the greater part of the revenue of the Bahamas is 
 derived. Even upon my own household furniture, my private libra¬ 
 ry, clothing, &c., coat of arms of the Consulate, as well as upon my 
 flag, I had to pay duties. 
 
 As above stated, I did, during my residence atNas.sau, and do now 
 again, call the earnest consideration of the Underwriters and stock¬ 
 holders, as well as others interested, to the various subjects contained 
 herein, having been, and now being, influenced by no other motive 
 than to promote the interests of the United States and its citizens. 
 
 E. Beatty Graff, (of Baltimore City,) 
 
 Late U. S. Consul at Nassau, N. P., Bahamas. 
 
22 
 
 1 will here submit the following documents, and “pray” Darling 
 & Bacon and their friends “make what use of” them they “please,” 
 and to all of them say: “ I cannot say to your face all that I could 
 wish to say.” The following is an extract of a letter from a friend 
 of mine in New York, who saw Captain Chapman of the schooner 
 E. Freeman, after he had arrived in New York from Jacmel. The 
 above vessel arrived in N. York, about the 4th or 5th of April, 1850. 
 Upon the arrival of the vessel, the captain reported as below, which 
 report was published in the newspapers. The Report was subse¬ 
 quently confirmed by Captain Chapman to that friend, who subse- 
 quently bad an interview with Captain Chapman. The occurrence 
 mentioned below happened after 1 had left Nassau, (whilst I was in 
 the U. States, and) within the jurisdiction of the Nassau Consulate. 
 The first intimation I had of it was through the newspapers. Hav¬ 
 ing called the attention of my friend to the report, he replies as fol¬ 
 lows : “ This report had not escaped my observation, and I called 
 down to see Captain C. the other day, with regard to this matter, 
 and if possible to find the name of the wrecking sloop. He could 
 not tell me her name, but said that the master boarded him and 
 called him one side, wishing to know if his vessel was fully covered 
 by insurance, and stating that Coffee was then very high at Nassau, 
 and if he (Captain C.) would allow it, he would give him $1000 and 
 they would put the vessel where ‘not a plank would be saved.’ 
 To this proposition, of course. Captain C. refused to listen, and or¬ 
 dered the wrecker out of his vessel peremptorily. He told me the 
 story in very indignant terms, and said if he had been prepared, he 
 would have shot the wrecker as if he had been a pirate. The ‘E. 
 Freeman’ belongs to and is insured at Provincetown. The captain 
 appears to be a very honest man, and the right kind for the under¬ 
 writers.” 
 
 The original of the following letter was found by me lying be¬ 
 tween the leaves of one of the Consular records, on the day previ¬ 
 ous to my leaving Nassau for the United States, viz: the 4th of 
 March last. This letter is in the handwriting of John R. Bacon, 
 and it is now well known to me, as well as to my friends in Nassau, to 
 refer to myself. This letter was in my pocsession from the 1st Nov. 
 1849, to 4th March, 1850, without my being aware of it. It shows 
 that a conspiracy was formed against me, as well as gives names of 
 some of the parties. 
 
 Copy of a letter mitten by young Bacon to his father, John P. Bacon, who 
 
 at the time the same was written was still United States Consul at JVassau. 
 
 Dear Father : I send you the book and the Register. I will 
 copy the letter for you if you will write it in the book. 
 
 If you can write some of the letters to-day, it would be of great 
 advantage. Would it not be better to say to; Croswell to draw on 
 Benson for all expenses ? Mr. D. says it would be better to spend 
 $1,000 than to loose all, and he is very anxious to have Benson co- 
 
23 
 
 operate with your friends immediately, which can only be done by 
 your letters going on in the George Henry. 
 
 I have nothing to do to-day of consequence, and if I can help, do 
 let me do it, as I am convinced our main hope is in immediate e.\er- 
 tion. 
 
 I hear that Chipman has been twice this morning to see the new 
 man, who is reported to be quite ill. 
 
 A schooner came in this morning with derelict property. I board¬ 
 ed her. Yours, John. 
 
 Nassau, 29tli October, 1849. 
 
 Note of explanation to the above Letter. 
 
 The book referred to is one of the Consular records, viz: the 
 book containing copies of letters, &c., written by the Consul to the 
 Secretary of State. The letter referred to was Bacon’s last official 
 letter written to the Secretary of State. The register, was the reg¬ 
 ister of the aforesaid bark George Henry, then at Nassau and ready 
 to sail for New York. The letters which wmuld be of such '‘-great 
 advantage” were to Croswell, Benson, &;c., of New York, to have 
 me rejected by the United States Senate, as I have subsequently 
 learned. Croswell is the editor of an Albany newspaper [the Ar¬ 
 gus] & friend of Bacon. Benson is Alfred G. Benson, of New York, 
 and a friend of Bacon cfe Darling. Mr. D. is Timothy Darling, co¬ 
 partner of John F. Bacon, late the United Slates Consul at Nassau. 
 Chipman is Dr. Chipman, of Nassau, who was on that day attending 
 me, i. e. the “ new man,” who was sick in bed, and had never seen 
 Bacon or Darling, nor had I then been recognized by the Governor. 
 I did not assume the duties of the Consulate until lit November, 
 1849. I arrived in Nassau 26th October, 1849. , 
 
 E. Beatty Graff. 
 
 [Copy.] 
 
 Baltimore, January 25th, 1850. 
 
 To the Editors of the American : 
 
 The undersigned, having arrived this day from Nassau, N. P., 
 and noticing in the New York Journal of Commerce, of the 12th 
 instant, a publication signed by Wm. L. Stone and others, reflecting 
 on Mr. E. Beatty Graff, U. Slates Consul at Nassau, N. P., and 
 knowing the statements therein made to be false, consider it but an 
 act of justice to Mr. Graff to pronounce it such. We know that 
 Mr. Graff does not claim to be agent for all the underwriters, and 
 by right, to take charge of all American vessels and properly in 
 whosesoever hands it may be found; for one of us (Captain W. H. 
 Bicknell, late of barque Turbo,) had the misfortune to be wrecked 
 near Nassau, and on his arrival at that place called on Mr. Graff, 
 as Consul, and was informed by him that he had the perfect right to 
 give his business to any house he preferred. We consider Mr. Graff 
 
24 
 
 a competent and honorable man, and recommend him to the con¬ 
 fidence of his fellow-countrymen. 
 
 W. H. Bioknell, 
 
 Late master of barque Turbo, of Boston. 
 
 Samuel R. Keene, 
 
 Master of schooner Milton, of Baltimore. 
 
 [Copy.] 
 
 Boston, 6th April, 1850. 
 
 EI. Beatty Graff, Esq. 
 
 Consul of the U. S. Nassau, at Baltimore; 
 
 Dear Sir,—I have the pleasure to send you herewith a declara¬ 
 tion of opinion from the Insurers of this city, touching the practice at 
 Nassau, and in relation to your official conduct, so far as they have 
 had an opportunity to become acquainted therewith. 
 
 You will readily perceive that it was impracticable to prepare a 
 document for general use, that would go so strongly against your 
 opponents, as the individual views of some of the officers would 
 have gone, as there are many companies whose practical knowledge 
 of abuses has not happened to be so great as others. 
 
 In my professional relation to the affairs involved, I am, in fact, 
 better informed than any one President can be, and I authorize you 
 to state, if you have occasion, that it is my decided opinion that the 
 efforts you made at Nassau, and the opposition you met, were just 
 such as were to be anticipated, and fully confirm my belief that the 
 interest of American commerce demands the efficient and energetic 
 action of an honest Consul at Nassau. I hope you will resume your 
 post there, and that our Government will sustain you entirely in the 
 position you have taken. Respectfully, 
 
 Your ob’t serv’t, 
 
 [Signed.] John S. Tyler. 
 
 [Copy.] 
 
 Whereas, the undersigned. Presidents of Insurance Companies in 
 the city of Boston, have heretofore, during several years past, noticed 
 with regret, that American vessels which put into Nassau, N. P., in 
 distress, have frequently been condemned and sold under such cir- 
 cumstances as justified the belief that the sales were not necessary, 
 and that the cargoes of such vessels, have frequently been sold at 
 said Nassau, without necessity, and we have also observed that the 
 amount of charges for wharfage, storage, duties, commissions and 
 salvage have become greater at said port than any other port or 
 place on this side the globe. 
 
 And whereas, the undersigned have recently had from E. Beatty 
 Graff, Esq., the recently appointed Consul of the United States for 
 said port of Nassau, an exposition of sundry facts and circumstances 
 bearing upon the premises, and the said Graff has stated to the un- 
 
25 
 
 dersigned the measures adopted by him with reference to one or two 
 cases* which occurred while he was present at Nassau, and submit¬ 
 ted various documents in explanation of his motives and conduct. 
 
 And whereas, the said E. Beatty Graff, Esq., hath requested from 
 the undersigned an expression of opinion in the premises. 
 
 Now ie it kiwion, to all whom it may concern, that the under- 
 signed are of opinion, and do firmly believe, that there has been of 
 late years, and indeed for many years past, repeated instances of 
 sales of vessels and cargoes at the .port of Nassau, to the great injury 
 of insurers and proprietors of such vessels and cargoes, under circum¬ 
 stances which'did not justify such sales, and we are further of opin¬ 
 ion that the measures adopted by the said Graff, as exhibited by him¬ 
 self and sustained by the documents bearing upon the cases which 
 occurred while he, the said Graff, was at Nassau, were proper mea¬ 
 sures, and strictly within the line of his official duty. 
 
 Signed, John G. Nazro, President Tremont Ins. Co. 
 
 Thomas Lamb, Pres. Washington Ins. Co. 
 
 C. Curtis, Pres. Neptune Ins. Co. 
 
 John Clark, Pres. Equitable Safety Ins. Co. 
 
 Thos. S. Smith, Pres. Merchants’ Ins. Co. 
 
 Francis Welch, Pres. Franklin Ins. Co. 
 
 Samuel Quincy, Pres. Hope Ins. Co. 
 
 J. H. Adams, Pres. N. E. Mutual Marine Ins. Co. 
 
 C. W. Cartwrioht, Pres. Manufacturers’ Ins. Co. 
 
 John L. Dimmock, Pres. Warren Ins. Co. 
 
 S. U. Swett, Pres. National Ins. Co. 
 
 John Williams, Pres. Coasters’ M. M. Ins. Co. 
 
 Robert B. Williams, Pres. United States Ins. Co. 
 
 Lemuel Pope, Pres. Boston Ins. Co. 
 
 Dated at Boston, the 3d day of April, A. D. 1850. 
 
 The document emanating from the New York underwriters is 
 precisely similar to the foregoing one from Boston, and dated at New 
 York, the 17th day of April, A. D. 1850, and signed as follows : 
 
 The Sun Mutual Ins. Company, by A. B. Neilson, President. 
 
 Union Mutual Ins. Company, by N. M. Beckwith, President. 
 
 The New York Ins. Company, by B. McEvas, President. 
 
 The Astor Mutual Ins. Company, by Zeb. Cook, President. 
 
 The Nashville Ins. & Trust Company, by A. B. Holmes, Agent. 
 
 The undersigned concurs in the belief expressed in the foregoing 
 document, in so far as reghrds the necessity of the frequent condem¬ 
 nation and sale of vessels and property arriving at Nassau in distress; 
 but as he is ignorant of the nature of the statements and documents 
 alluded to as having been presented by Mr. Graff, he must accept 
 
 * The ship Nathaniel Kimball, of Gardiner, Wm. L. Stone, master and part 
 owner, (which vessel and cargo was abandoned by the master and crew to the 
 wreckers), and brig Peruvian, of Sedgwick, Brooks, Cousins, master and port 
 owner, condemned and sold at Nassau. 
 
the opinion and belief, in so far as such belief, &c., is inferred from 
 said statements and documents. 
 
 Office of the General Mutual Insurance Company. 
 
 Alfred Ogden, V. President. 
 
 N. B. This document, as well as the one from Boston, emanated 
 from the respective offices after the contents of the plausible pamph¬ 
 let of opinions, issued by Darling & Bacon, were known to them. It 
 will be perceived that the offices in New York which do not concur 
 with the other New York offices, as well as those in Boston, (although 
 those in New York which do not concur were, and are now in pos¬ 
 session of the same facts in common with others,) are the Atlantic 
 Mutual Ins. Co., Walter R. Jones, President, also President of the 
 New York Board of Underwriters; the Mercantile Mutual Ins. Co., 
 Jos. Walker. President; the New York Fire and Marine Ins. Co., 
 0. H. Jones, President; the Columbus & Lexington Insurance Co., 
 J. Hoxie, Agent; the Insurance Company of North America, 
 Weight & Dibblee, Agents. 
 
 The following letter from the Secretary of State, will show that 
 I have simply performed faithfully the duties which I felt was de¬ 
 volved upon me by virtue of my official character as United States 
 Consul, and although I am well aware that it is not the custom of 
 the Department of State to give such letters for publication, nor 
 have I its sanction to that effect; nevertheless, under the circumstan¬ 
 ces, I consider it due both to myself, and my friends to publish the 
 same without its approbation, in connection with the preceding docu¬ 
 ments. 
 
 [Copy.] 
 
 Department of State, 
 Washington, Wth April, 1850. 
 
 E. Beattv Graff, Esq., Baltimore. 
 
 mf ,—I have to acknowledge the receipt of your communications 
 dated respectively April 6th and 10th, 1850. 
 
 Your resignation of the appointment of Consul for the U. States 
 at Nassau is hereby accepted. 
 
 Though you have deemed it proper to resign the post confided to 
 you, yet the Department has never doubted that you were influenced, 
 in your official conduct at Nassau, by an earnest desire to promote 
 the interests of the United States and its citizens. 
 
 The course pursued by you, so far as known to this Department, 
 in bringing to light the frauds which have heretofore existed at that 
 port, it gives me pleasure to state, meets the approbation of the De¬ 
 partment. 
 
 I am sir, very respectfully. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 John M. Clayton. 
 
 (Signed,) 
 
27 
 
 The following is a literal copy of Maclure’s letter to Darling, 
 prepared, no doubt, expressly to meet the case as well as the points 
 at issue. It will be perceived that Macluro also seems familiar, not 
 only with the condemnation of American vessels and the wreckim^ 
 system at Nassau, but also with the manner in which his friend^s 
 have transacted their business. Without commenting upon this 
 unparalleled a.n& most extraordinary effusion, I herewith submit the 
 same to an intelligent American public, and ask their careful peru¬ 
 sal of the same. 
 
 [Copy.] 
 
 Nassau, New Providence, 4(/i March, 1850. 
 Tijwthy Darling, Esq. 
 
 I have perused with attention, and I must add, indignant astonish¬ 
 ment, notorial copies of documents purporting to be written and 
 signed by E. Beatty Graff, United States Consul at this- port, and 
 addressed to certain Insurance offices in New York and Philadel¬ 
 phia, preferring charges against John F. Bacon, Esq., and yourself, 
 of a character calculated and designed (if believed) to injure your 
 standing as men of probity and commercial integrity, and do you 
 damage, especially with the Underwriters in the United States. On 
 the perusal of these documents I have deemed it not merely my 
 duty but as an act of bare justice, at once to transmit to you this short 
 letter, intimating the view I entertain of these documents, and of 
 the position which you and the other gentlemen referred to occupy 
 in this community. The statements made in the documents I con¬ 
 scientiously believe to be of the most base and unwarrantable char¬ 
 acter, and this conviction I ground, not merely on the fact of my 
 long personal knowledge of the character of all you, and the very 
 high standing which you all hold in the Society of Nassau—but oi 
 the thorough want of acquaintance with your characters, which the 
 person who makes these charges can possibly possess, and the inter¬ 
 ested motives which I believe to have actuated the individual who 
 alone could have furnished him with the calumnious information, 
 Mr. E. B. Graff, who thinks proper to make these charges, has till 
 very recently, been a perfect stranger here. He can know little of 
 the characters of the men who provided him with the ground-work 
 of his assertions, and far less of the characters of those whom he 
 sets himself to malign. The company with whom he seems to be 
 in the habit of associating, are not likely, so far as I can see, either 
 to dignify his position as Consul or afford him the most correct or un¬ 
 biased information, if he is desirous to obtain it. It is now thirteen years 
 since I arrived in this Colony from Scotland, to be the Pastor of the 
 Presbyterian Church of St. Andrew, in this city; and my know¬ 
 ledge therefore of the people here is of no limited description. 1 
 have been intimately acquainted for these thirteen years with the 
 Hon. John Gray Meadows, whose name figures in these papers in 
 
no very favorable light, and I have only this to say of him, that he is 
 the foremost man in our community for intellect, public spirit, commer¬ 
 cial standing and reputation, and high and honorable feeling. He is 
 about the first man in our House of Representatives, and the wisest 
 and most talented counselor whom the Executive possesses. No 
 man has a sounder judgment than Mr. Meadows, or more relied on 
 by the public—and if you could possibly secure the benefit of his 
 services in the survey of a vessel, it would be of itself a guar¬ 
 antee that you had done your duty, and that the Underwriters’ 
 interests would meet with the best and most unbiased consider¬ 
 ation. J. F. Bacon, Esqj, I have known with equal intimacy 
 for about ten years, and to suppose that such as he would be 
 guilty of a dishonest act, would no more be credited by the good 
 and honorable of our community, than that light is darkness. He 
 is a man who stands “without reproach”—one of “the excellent of 
 the earth,” and whetherwiewed as a than of business, a gentleman 
 and Christian in every sense of the word, or a lovqr of his own coun¬ 
 try, and institutions, and anxious to befriend all' who belong to it— 
 the character of Mr. Bacon stands in the most enviable position. I 
 know from my own experience that he has studied the interests of 
 the Underwriters, while by his fair and gentlemanly bearing, he has 
 earned in general the respect of the wrecking population. As to 
 yourself, my dear sir, I cannot say to your face all that I could wish 
 to say. My language would be deemed the language of exaggera¬ 
 tion. The idea of dishonesty being imputed to Mr. Darling, has 
 caused a recoil among all here whose good opinion is worth the 
 having, such as only the basest calumny could occasion. You, sir, 
 could not be spared in our community as an able, energetic man of 
 business—you occupy a very high place indeed—you rank among 
 the highest in our commercial circle—you have secured the confi¬ 
 dence and esteem of all; but poor' is even that position, compared 
 with the standing you have won yourself as an amiable, upright, 
 consistent, honorable-minded Christian man. As a devoted Chris¬ 
 tian-devoted to all that is good, you have proved yourself among 
 the best benefactors that this city has ever seen, and to lose you 
 would indeed be an irreparable loss to the highest interests of Nas-, 
 sau. It is only saying' what every one knows here, that you are es¬ 
 teemed and beloved by all alike, high and low, rich and poor. The 
 Underwriters, the interests of America, enjoy in you a singularly 
 able and staunch advocate and friend—and, in short, to speak of 
 Darling & Co. in Nassau, is to speak of all that is upright, honest, 
 and worthy of respect—in a word, that is “honorable and of good 
 report.” Pray make what use of this you please. It is my con¬ 
 scientious and well established judgment of you all, and not mine 
 only, but the opinion, I may say, of the whole community. 
 
 Believe me, dear sir, yours most sincerely, 
 
 'William Maclure, 
 Minister of St. Andrew’s Church.