§ MR. MUNTZasked the noble Lord under what Act of Parliament the English vessel Black Cat had been for several days, and still was, detained in the river Thames, and all explanation refused by the Customs?
§ VISCOUNT PALMERSTONreplied, that the Black Cat was detained by the Board of Customs, in consequence of an application made by the Portuguese Minister, who represented that she was lading with military stores, intended for purposes of hostility on the coast of Portugal, and therefore equipped and fitted out in contravention of the Foreign Enlistment Act. He did what was his duty in a case of that kind; he made a communication to the Treasury, and suggested that the Treasury and the Board of Customs should take such steps as the legal advisers of those departments thought proper, and the Black Cat had in consequence been detained. Whether the detention would be authorized by further investigation, so as to lead to permanent detention, or whether the owners could produce such proof as should satisfy the Customs that there was no ground for detaining the vessel, he was not able to say; he had done all that his duty required, in referring the application 886 of the Portuguese Minister to the proper quarter.