■/ Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924020440008 Cornell University Library F 1233.U58 The present condition of Mexico imessage 3 1924 020 440 008 DATE DUE H**-- i 1 1 GAYLORD PRINTEDIN U.S.A. 37th Congress, ) HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. ( Ex. Doc. 2d Session. ] \ No. 100. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. MESSAGE FKOM THE PRESIDHIT OE THE UIITED STATES, IK ANSWEU To resolution of the House offhe 3d of March last, transmitting report from the Department of State regarding the present condition of Mexico. Apbii. 15, 1862. — Keferred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and ordered to be printed. Apuil 21, 1862.— Resolved, That ten thousand extra copies of the President's Message of the 14th instant, in regard to the present condition of Mexico, be printed for the use of the members of this House, and one thousand extra copies for the use of the State Department. To the House of Representatives : In compliance with the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 3d ultimo, requesting infonnation in regard to the present condition of Mexico, I transmit a report from the Secretary of State and the documents by which it was accompanied. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Washington, April 14, 1862. Department of State, Washington, April 14, 1862. The Secretary of State, to whom was referred the resolution of the House of Representatives of the 3d ultimo, requesting the President, " if not inconsistent with the public interest, to communicate to this house any correspondence or other information in his possession relative to the present condition of Mexico, and especially in relation to the alleged design of the allied powers now inva- ding that country to establish a monarchy there," has the honor to lay before the President the papers containing the information desired as specified in the subjoined list. Respectfully submitted. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. The President. IIST'OF DOCUMENTS EELATINO 10 MEXICAN AFF A I US, AOCOMPAKTIHQ THE President's message in reply to the resolution of the House of Representatives of March 3, 1862. Mr. Seward to Mr. Corwin April 6, 1861 Mr. Corwin to Mr. Seward May 29, 1861. Same to same Juue 29, 1861. Mr. Seward to Mr. Corwin June 3, 1861. Same to same June 24, 1861. Same to same July 30, 1861. Mr. Corwin to Mr. Seward June 29, 1861. Same to same July 29, 1861. Mr. La Eeintrie to ministers of foreign powers in Mexico. .December 20, 1860. Mr. Seward to Mr. Corwin August 24, 1861. Mr. Corwin to Mr. Seward August 28, 1861. Ml-. Seward to Mr. Corwin September 2, 1861. Mr. Corwin to Mr. Seward September 7, 1861. Mr. Seward to Mr. Corwin, (with one enclosure,) September 23, 1861. Mr. Corwin to Mr. Seward, (witli tbree enclosures,) September 29, 1861. Mr. Seward to Mr. Corwin October 2, 1861. Same to same October 21, 1861. Mr. Corwin to Mr. Seward October 29, 1861. Mr. Seward to Mr. Corwin November 11, 1861. Mr. Corwin to Mr. Seward November 29, 1861. Mr. Seward to Mr. Corwin. December 5, 1861. Mr. Corwin to Mr. Seward December 24, 1861. Same to same, (witb six enclosures,) December 24, 1861. Mr. Seward to Mr. Corwin January , 24, 1862. Mr. Corwin to Mr. Seward January 12, 1862. LIST OF DOCUMENTS 3 Same to same January 26, 1862. Mr. Seward to Mr. Corwin February 16, 1862. Same to same, (with one enclosure,) February 28, 1862. Mr. Corwin to Mr. Seward February 18, 1862. Mr. Seward to Mr. Corwin April 3, 1862. Mr. Romero to Mr. Seward, (witli twenty-eiglit enclosures,). . September 21, 1861. Mr. Seward to Mr. Eomero September 24, 1861. Mr. Romero to Mr. Seward, (with twelve enclosures,) September 30, 1861. • Same to same, (with one .enclosure,) October 30, 1861. Same to same, (with one enclosure,) November 23, 1861. Same to same, (with seven enclosures,) November 28, 1861. Same to same, (with two enclosures,) December 21, 1861. Same to same, (with nine enclosures,) January 24, 1862.. Same to same, (with three enclosures,) February 16, 1862. Same to same, (with one enclosure,) April 10, 1862. Mr. Sewai-d to Mr. Romero April 11, 1862.. The ministers of Spain, France, and Great Britain, to Mr. Seward, (enclosing convention Of the allied powers, signed at London, October 31, 1861,) November 30, 1861. Mr. Seward to Mr. TasSara, Mr. Mercier, and Lord Lyons . -December 4, 1861. Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams August 24, 1861. Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward September 14, 1861. Same to same September 19, 1861. Mr. Seward to- Mr. Adams September 24, 1861 Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward September 28, 1861. Same to same October 4, 1861. Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams October 10, 1861. Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward October 11, 1861. Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams October 12, 1861. Same to same October 14, 1861. Same to same ... 1 October 19, 1861. Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward October 24, 1861. Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams October 28, 1861. Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward November 1, 1861. Same to same ' November 8, 1861. Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams November 9, 1861. Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward November 14, 1861. Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams' November 21, 1861. Same to same November 25, 1861. Same to same December 18, 1861. Same to same January 8, 18'62. 4 LIST OF DOCUMENTS. Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward January 24, 1862. Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams '. February 19, 1862. Same to same March 3, 1 862. Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward February 14, 1862. Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams March 10, 1862. Mr. Seward to Mr. Dayton September 2, 1861. Mr. Dayton to Mr. Seward September 25, 1861. Mr. Seward to Mr. Dayton October 11, 1861. Mr. Dayton to Mr. Seward September 27, 1861. Mr. Seward to Mr. Dayton October 19, 1861. Mr. Dayton to Mr. Seward November 6, 1861. Same to same October 16, 1861. Mr. Seward to Mr. Dayton November 4, 1861. Same to same '. November 23, 1861. Mr. Dayton to Mr. Seward November 7, 1861. Mr. Seward to Mr. Dayton December 18, 1861. Mr. Dayton to Mr. Seward January 15, 1862. Same to same - February 13, 1862. Mr. Seward to Mr. Dayton March 3, 1862. Same to same March 10, 1862. Same to same March 31, 1862. Mr. Dayton to Mr. Seward March 31, 1862. Mr. Schurz to Mr. Seward September 7, 1861. Same to same September 14, 1861. Mr. Seward to Mr. Schurz October 14, 1861. Same to same October 14, 1861. Mr. Schurz to Mr. Seward October 4, 1861. Same to same October 9, 1861. Mr. Seward to Mr. Schurz October 28, 1861. Mr. Schurz to Mr. Seward October 15, 1861. Same to same ' November 3, 1861. Mr. Seward to Mr. Schurz November 9, 1861. Mr. Schurz to Mr. Seward November 7, 1861. Mr. Seward to Mr. Schurz November 11, 1861. Same to same November 23, 1861. Mr. Seward to Mr. Schurz December 6, 1861. Same to same December 11, 1861. Correspondence respecting the affairs of Mexico, presented to both houses of Parliament by command of her Majesty, 1862, containing 123 documents. COREESPONDEICE. Mr. Seward to Mr. Corwin. No. 2.] Department of State, Washington, April 6, 1861. Sir : The actual condition of afPairs in Mexico is so imperfectly understood here that the President finds it very difficult to give you particular and prac- tical directions for the regulation of your conduct during your mission. Our latest information was, in substance, that the provisional government of President Juarez, so long confined to the sea-coasts of the country, had finally overthrown its adversaries and established itself at the capital; that the opposing armies had been demoralized and dispersed, and that there was no longer any armed resistance in the States ; that an election for president had been held, in conformity with the constitution of 1857, and that the now provisional president had probably secured a majority of the votes, although the result was as yet not certainly known. The pleasure which those events have inspired is unhappily diminished by rumors that the government is without sufficient authority or hold on the public confidence to maintain order ; that rob- beries are of frequent occurrence on the high roads, and even that a member of our late legation in the country has been murdered on his way from the city of Mexico to Vera Cruz. You will apply yourself at once, with energy and diligence, to investigate the truth of this last-mentioned occurrence, which, if found to have been accurately reported, will not only be regarded as a high offence against the dignity and honor of the United States, but 'wall prove a severe shock to the sensibilities of the American people. The President is unable to conceive that any satisfactory explanation of a ti-ansaction so injurious to the character of Mexico can be made. He will, however, wait for your report concerning it, though with the deepest anxiety, before taking action upon the subject. I find the archives here full of complaints against the Mexican government for violations of contracts and spoliations and cruelties practiced against Ameri- can citizens. These complaints have been lodged in this department, from time to time, during the long reign of civil war in which the factions of Mexico have kept that country involved, with a view to having them made the basis of de- mands for indemnity and satisfaction whenever government should regain in that countiy sufficient solidity to assume a character for responsibility. It is not the President's intention to send forward such claims at the present moment. He willingly defers the performance of a duty which at any time would seem ungracious, until the incoming administration in Mexico shall have had time, if possible, to cement its authority and reduce the yet disturbed elements of society to order and haimony. You will, however, be expected, in some manner which will be marked with firmness as well as liberality, to keep the government there in mind that such of these claims as shall be found just will, in due time, be presented and urged upon its consideration. While now, as heretofore, it is a duty of this government to reason with that of Mexico, and deprecate a continuance of the chronic reign of disorder there, a crisis has unhappily arrived, in which the performance of this duty is embar- rassed by the occurrence of civil commotions in our own country, by which 6 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. Mexico, in consequence of her proximity, is not unlikely to be affected. The spirit of discontent seems, at last, to have crossed the border, and to be engaged in an attempt to overthrow the authority of this government in some parts of the country which adjoin the Mexican republic. It is much to be feared that new embaiTassments of the relations of the two countries will happen when authority so long prostrated on the Mexican side finds the power of the United States temporarily suspended on this side of the frontier. Whatever evils shall thus occur, it is much to be feared, will be aggravated by the intervention of the Indians, who have been heretofore with difSculty restrained from violence, even while the federal authority has been adequately maintained. Both of the governments must address themselves to this new and annoying condition of things, with common dispositions to mitigate its evils and abridge its duration as much as possible. The President does not expect that you will allude to the origin or causes of our domestic difficulties in your intercourse with the government of Mexico, although that government will rightfully as well as reasonably ask what are his expectations of their course and their end. On the contrary, the President will not suffer the representatives of the United States to engage in any discus- sion of the merits of those difficulties in the presence of foreign powers, much less to invoke even their censure against those of our fellow-citizens who have arrayed themselves in opposition to its authority. But you are instructed to assure the government of Mexico that these diffi- culties, having arisen out of no deep and peimanent popular discontent, either in regard to our system of government itself or to the exercise of its authority, and being attended by social evils which are as ruinous as they are unnecessary, while no organic change that is contemplated could possibly bring to any por- tion of the American people any advantages of security, peace, prosperity, or happiness equal to those which the federal Union so effectually guaranties, the President confidently believes and expects that the people of the United States, in the exercise of the wisdom that hitherto has never failed them, will speedily and in a constitutional way adopt all necessary remedies for the restoration of the public peace and the preservation of the federal Union. The success of this government in conducting affairs to that consummation may depend in some small degree on the action ot the government and people of Mexico in this new emergency. The President could not fail to see that Mexico, instead of being benefited by the prostration or the obstruction of fed- eral authority in this country, would be exposed by it to new and fearful dan- gers. On the other hand, a condition of anarchy in Mexico must necessarily operate as a seduction to those who are conspiring against the integrity of the Union to seek strength and aggrandizement for themselves by conquests in Mexico and other parts of Spanish America. Thus, even the dullest observer is at last able to see what was long ago distinctly seen by those who are en- dowed with any considerable perspicacity, that peace, order, and constitutional authority in each and all of the several republics of this continent are not e:^- clusively an interest of any one or more of them, but a common and indispen- sable interest of them all. This sentiment will serve as a key to open to you, in every case,' the pur- poses, wishes, and expectations of the President in regard to your mission, which, I hardly need to say, he considers at this juncture perhaps the most in- teresting and important one within the whole circle of our international relations. The President of the United States does not know, and he will not consent to know, with prejudice or undue favor any political party, religious clafes, or sectional interest in Mexico. He regrets that anything should have occui-red to disturb the peaceful and friendly relations of Mexico|with some of the foreign states lately represented at her capital. He hopes most sincerely that those relations may be everywhere renewed and reinvigorated, and that, the independ- THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO, 7 ence and sovereignty of Mexico and the government wMcli her people seem at last to have accepted, after so many conflicts, may be now universally acknowl- edged and respected. Taking into view the actual condition and circumstances of Mexico, as well as those of the United States, the President is fully satisfied that the safety, welfare, and happiness of the latter would be more effectually promoted if the former should retain its complete integrity and independence, than they could bs by any dismemberment of Mexico, with a transfer or diminution of its sover- eignty, even though thereby a portion or the whole of the country or its sover- eignty should be transferred to the United States themselves. The President is, moreover, well aware that the ability of the government and people of Mexico to preserve and maintain the integrity and the sovereignty of the republic might be very much impaired, under existing circumstances, by hostile or unfriendly action on the part of the government or of the people of the United States. If he needed any other incentive to practice justice and equality towards Mexico, it would be foimd in the reflection that the very contention and strife in our own country which at this moment excite so much domestic disquietude and so much surprise throughout a large part of the world, could probably never have happened if Mexico had always been able to maintain with firmness real and unquestioned sovereignty and independence. But if Mexico has heretofore been more unfortunate in these respects than many other modem nations, there are still circumstances in her case which justify a hope that her sad experience may be now coming to an end. Mexico really has, or ought to have, no enemies. The world is deeply interested in the development of her agricultural, and especially her mineral and commercial, resources, while it holds in high I'espect the simple virtues and heroism of her people, and, above all, their inextingiiish- able love of civil liberty. The President, therefore, will use all proper influence to favor the restoration of order and authority in Mexico, and, so far as it may be in his power, he will prevent incursions and every other form of aggression by citizens of the United States against Mexico. But he enjoins you to employ your best efforts in con- vincing the government of Mexico, and even the people, if, with its approval, you can reach them, that the surest guaranty of their safety against such ag- gressions is to be found, in a permanent restoration of the authority of that government. If, on the other hand, it shall appear in the sequel that the Mexi- can people are only now resting a brief season to recover their wasted energies sufficiently to lacerate themselves with new domestic conflicts, then it is to be feared that not only the government of the United States, but many other gov- ernments, will find it impossible to prevent a resort to that magnificent country of a class of persons, unhappily too numerous everywhere, who are accustomed to suppose that visionary schemes of public interest, aggrandizement, or reform, will justify even lawless invasion and aggression. In connexion with this point, it is proper that you should be informed that the Mexican government has, through its representative here, recently complained of an apprehended attempt at invasionof the State of Sonora by citizens of California, acting, as is alleged, with the knowledge and consent of some of the public authorities in that State. You will assure the Mexican government that, due care being first taken to verify the facts thus presented, efiective means shall be adopted to put our neutrality laws into activity. The same representative has also expressed to the President an apprehension that the removal of the federal troops from the Texan border may be followed by outbreaks and violence there. There is, perhaps, too much ground for this apprehension. Moreover, it is impossible to foresee the course of the attempts which are taking place in that region to subvert the proper authority of this government. The President, however, meantime directs you to assure the Mexican government that due attention shall be bestowed on the condition of 8 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. the frontier, witH a view to the preservation and safety of the peaceable inhabit- ants residing there. He hopes and trusts that equal attention will be given to this important subject by the authorities of Mexico. These matters, grave and urgent as they are, must not altogether withdraw our attention from others to which I have already incidentally alluded, but which require more explicit discussion. For a few years past the condition of Mexico has been so unsettled as to raise the question on both sides of the Atlantic whether the time has not come when some foreign power ought, in the general interest of society, to intervene to establish a protectorate or some other foi-m of government in that country and guaranty its continuance there. Such schemes may even now be held under consideration by some European nations, and there is also some reason to believe that designs have been conceived in some parts of the United States to effect either a partial dismemberment or a complete overthrow of the Mexican govern- ment, with a view to extend over it the authority of the newly projected con- federacy which a discontented part of our people are attempting to establish in the southern part of our own country. You may possibly meet agents of this projected confederacy, busy in preparing some farther revolution in Mexico. Tou will not fail to assure the government of Mexico that the President neither has, nor can ever have, any sympathy with such designs, in whatever quarter they may arise, or whatever character they may take on. In view of the prevailing temper and political habits and opinions of the Mexican people, the President can scarcely believe that the disaffected citizens of our own country, who are now attempting a dismemberment of the American Union, will hope to induce Mexico to aid them by recognizing the assumed in- dependence which they have proclaimed, because it seems manifest to him that such an organization of a distinct government over that part of the present Union which adjoins Mexico would, if iDossible, be fraught with «vl1s to that country more intolerable than any which the success of those desperate measures could inflict even upon the United States. At the same time it is manifest that the existing political organization in this country affords the surest guaranty Mexico can have that her integrity, union, and iadependence will be respected by the whole people of the American Union. The President, however, expects that you will be watchful of such designs as I have thus described, however improbable they may seem, and that you wiU use the most effective measures in your power to counteract any recognition of the projected Confederate States by the Mexican government, if it shall be solicited. Your large acquaintance with the character of the Mexican people, their in- terests and their policy, will suggest many proper arguments against such a measure, if any are needful beyond the intimations I have already given. ■In conclusion, the President, as you are well aware, is of opinion that, alienated from the United States as the Spanish American republics have been for some time past — largely, perhaps, by reason of errors and prejudices peculiar to themselves, and yet not altogether without fault on our own part — that those States and the United States, nevertheless, in some respects, hold a common attitude and relation towards all other nations ; that it is the interest of them all to be friends as they are neighbors, and to mutually maintain and support each other so far as may be consistent with the individual sovereignty which each of them rightly enjoys, equally against all disintegrating agencies within, and all foreign influences or power without their borders. The President never for a moment doubts that the republican system is to pass safely through all ordeals and prove a permanent success in our own country, and so to be commended to adoption by all other nations. But he thinks also that that system everywhere has to make its way painfully through difficulties and emban-assments, which result from the action of antagonistical THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. d elements which are a legacy of former times and very different institutions. The President is hopeful of the ultimate triumph of this system over all ohstacles, as well in regard to Mexico as in regard to every other American State ; but he feels that those States are nevertheless justly entitled to a greater forbearance and more generous sympathies from the government and people of the United States than they are likely to receive in any other quarter. The President trusts that your mission, manifesting these sentiments, will re- assure the government of Mexico of his best disposition to favor their com- merce and their internal improvements. He hopes, indeed, that yom- mission, assuming a spirit more elevated than one of merely commerce and conventional amity, a spirit disinterested and unambitious, earnestly American in the conti- nental sense of the word, and fraternal in no affected or mere dijjlomatic mean- ing of the term, while it shall secure the confidence and good will of the government of Mexico, will mark the inauguration of a new condition of things directly conducive to the prosperity and happiness of both nations, and ulti- mately auspicious to all other republican states throughout the world. I am, sir, your obedient servant. Thomas Corwin, Esq., Sfc., ^., S)V. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Mr. Corwin to Mr. Seward. plxtract.J No. 1.] Legation oi- the United States, City of Mexico, May 29, 1861. gjjj. ##*»**** I deem it of the very first importance that our consuls at every port on the Gulf of Mexico should be at their respective posts, with careful and specific in- structions as to their treatment of vessels sailing under the flag of the Confed- erate States, or having papers from ports within those States, made out by ofiicers under their authority. Should the relations now existing, or which may hereafter exist, between the United States and the seceding States be such as to require of me any specific act ia relation to such state of things, I beg to be advised of it by the depart- ment as early as possible. The present government of Mexico is well affected towards us in our present difficulties, but, for obvious reasons, will be unwilling to enter into any engage- ment which might produce war -with the south, unless protected by promise of aid from the United States. I am, &c., THOMAS CORWIN. Hon. W. H. Sewakd, Sfc., Sfc., Sjv. Mr. Corwin to Mr. Seward. [Extracts ] No. 2.1 Legation op the United States, Mexico, June 29, 1861. gjjj. «*»#*#** The present time is most propitious for securing the advantages and prevent- 10 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. ing tlie evils wliicli I have suggested. The government here feels the strongest sympathy with the United States. •^^*# * * * * * * It has been my constant endeavor since my arrival here to possess the Mexi- can mind of the true causes of our difficulties, and thus enable them to estimate the danger to this republic which will result from any unfavorable termination of them. I am quite sure that whilst this government will endeavor to preserve peaceful relations with all the European powers on fair terms, it regards the United States as its true and only reliable friend in any struggle which may involve the national existence. That this should be so is somewhat remark- able, when we regard the deep prejudices engendered in the general Mexican mind by the loss of Texas, which they attribute to our citizens, and the com- pulsory cession of territory which was a consequence of our war with them. ^ ■' m « ■^# « »■"* #* I am, &c., THOMAS CORWIN. Hon. W. H. Seward, Secretary of State, U. S., Sfc., Sfc., !fc. Mr. Setoard to Mr. Corwin. [Extract.] No. 8.] Department of State, Washington, June 3, 1861. Sir: Information, which wears an air of authenticity, leads us to apprehend that a design exists, on the part of the insurgents of this couhtry, to gain pos- session of the peninsula of Lower California, to cut off our commerce with Mexico, to seize the Panama steamers, and, with the aid of the treasure so to be acquired, to extend their conquests to Sonora and Chihuahua. The design is understood to embrace an ultimate absorption of all Mexico. We are informed that the native-born population of California would, to a man, join the invaders in such a case. We shall immediately take care to have the commanders of our land and naval forces on the Pacific coast and ocean instructed to prevent this threatened violation of the territory and sovereignty of Mexico. The President desires you to bring the subject at once to the notice of the government of that republic. You will invoke its energetic and vigorous efforts to the defence of its own sovereignty in the peninsula. Secondly, you will assure that government of the cordial co-operation of this government, and will ask its consent, if there shall be need for the intervention of our forces, so far as to prevent the invasion, by the insurgent citizens of this country, from being made effectual ; it being in no case the purpose of this gov- ernment to retain any possession, or exercise any political authority within the limits of Mexico, beyond the defeat of the designs before described. Thirdly, the United States do not desire to acquire any part of Mexico. * * * * * * *» * * Thomas Corwin, Esq., Sj^., <^., i)V. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 11 3Ir. Seward to Mr. Corwin. [Extracts.] No. 11.] Department of State, Washington, June 24, 1861. Sir: Yoiir clespatch (No. 1) of the 29tli of May last has been received. The President approves your speech to the chief magistrate of Mexico, and is gratified with the very just and generous sentiments expressed by him in his reply. This government is highly pleased with the opinions and sentiments so full of generosity and of hope in regard to Mexico which you have expressed in your despatch. We pray God that they may be vindicated by the restoration of the peace, order, credit, power, and influence of that republic. Your suggestion to negotiate for religious liberty in behalf of American citizens in Mexico is cordially approved, and you are authorized to make it a subject as prominent as you may think discreet in the negotiations, in regard to which we have left you so liberal a range. We think favorably also of your suggestion to obtain a stipulation against the imposition of forced loans on American citizens in any emergencies, and you wUl negotiate accordingly. The President expects that you will in every case exercise your best judg- ment as to the measures necessary to prevent the insurgent armed vessels from finding shelter in Mexican ports, and also to prevent arms and other military stores being carried to the seceding States through Mexico. The consuls will be instructed to confer with you and follow your instructions. We are attempting to negotiate, through Mr. Romero, a postal treaty with the rejmblic of Mexico. You wiU be promptly advised of our progress. * * Thomas Ookwin, Esq., Sfc, S(c., Sfc. Mr. Seward to Mr. Corwin. [Extract.] No. 13.] ' Department of State, Washington, July 30, 1861. Sir : I communicate to you extracts from a despatch which has just been received from Mr. Dayton, our minister in France. I fear that Mr. Almonte's solicitude about our relations with the present gov- ernment of Mexico is excited by wishes personal rather than patriotic. I am unable to see how any good could happen to Mexico from overturning the pres- ent government and bringing in another which could give no better guarantees of stability and order. But I am too far from the scene to judge safely either for our own government or for that of Mexico. * * # ♦_* « * « # Thomas Corwin, Esq., S(c., S^., S(c. 12 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. Mr. Corwin to Mr. Setvard. [Extracts ] No. 2.] Mexico, June 29, 1861. Sir : 1 liave tlie honor to acknowledge tte receipt of your despatclies Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, with the papers referred to in them. * #■# * * # » * * Since my last despatches the country here has heen in a state of great disorder. Bands of armed men, in numbers varying from fifty to four thousand, hare been ravaging the country in this and two or three adjoining States, pushing their operations to the very suburbs of this city. These forces are made up of the fragments of the army commanded formerly by Miramon, and a portion of the worst of the liberal troops disbanded on the final conquest of this city in Decem- ber last — the latter generally organized for the mere purpose of plunder, and acting under chiefs taken from the forces of the church party, or, as they are called, reactionists. Marquez (the same ofiicer who ordered the infamous mas- sacre at Tacubaya) commands the reactionary forces, and has been hovering in the mountains near Mexico for the last week — sometimes within ten miles of the city. He is reported to have marched now to the neighborhood of Puebla. The government forces have pursued him for several hundred miles within the last two weeks without result. General Ortega commands the liberal forces. He is now in the city. Two days ago the congress (now in session) elected him chief judge of the supreme court. This was a merely revolutionary move- ment, as the constitution gives no authority of the kind to that body, but ex- pressly provides that the judges of that court shall be elected 5y the people. This act was done to pave the way, hoiyever, to make Ortega president, as it was supposed Juarez could be persuaded to resign, and in that event the newly- elected judge (by the constitution) would take his place. Every means of a peaceful nature is now being employed to induce Juarez to resign. I think the project will succeed, and Ortega will be the next revolutionary president. I entertain strong fears that this movement will fail of its intended effect. Having its origin in a revolutionary act, not warranted by th*e constitution, it will form a plausible precedent for another act of the same nature in favor of some other chief who may attain a temporary popularity in a similar emergency, which is very likely to arise soon unless Ortega shall be more fortunate than his prede- cessors for the last forty years. The great want of this republic is that public opinion which is so omnipotent with us, and thia again arises from the want of an enlightened people. Hence, in the last forty years Mexico has passed through thirty-six different forms of government ; has had seventy-two, or rather, up to this time, has had seventy-three presidents. Still, I do not despair of the final triumph of free government in Mexico. Progress has been made. The signs of regenera- tion, though few, are still visible. Had the present liberal party enough money at command to pay an army of ten thousand men, I am satisfied it could suppress the present opposition, restore order, and preserve internal peace. These once achieved, the leaders of this party would adhere to the written constitution and enforce obedience to law ; and industry, secure in its rewards, would soon take the place of idleness and crime. Education of the right kind begins to be felt as a necessity, which in time would, under sucli auspices, expel from the minds of the people religious superstition, and make the supremacy of either religions or political despotism impossible. I am persuaded that the pecuniary resources to effect these objects at this time must come from abroad. This country is ex- hausted, as might be expected, by forty years of almost uninterrupted civil wa». She looks now, and has looked for some time in vain, for help from other nations THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 13 England presses her, and claims from her the scanty resources at her command, to pay the interest on a debt of about sixty-two millions due to British subjects. France urges with equal pertinacity the claims of French subjects, into whose hands bonds issued by the Zuloaga and Miramon governments to the amount of some fifty millions have fallen. These last were put out at a time when the liberal government was contending against the above-named self-constituted dictators in that struggle which terminated in their final overthrow six months ago. These bonds, it is said, were sold to French subjects here for sums vary- ing from one-half of oAe per cent, to four or five per cent., and are now claimed as a debt of the republic, to be paid in full. Meantime there is not one dollar from day to day in the treasury, and only yesterday another heavy forced loan was made to raise money to pay troops to protect the citizens of this capital and its neighborhood from pillage and slaughter. I state the foregoing facts as uni- versally admitted, in the hope of obtaining from the department instructions permitting me to negotiate a treaty which, for ample equivalents, may stipulate for the payment by us of a sum varying from five to ten millions in money or United States stocks, to be paid in instalments to this government, which would enable it to keep on foot a sufiicient force to save it from ultimate sub- jugation, perhaps to one of these European monarchies, or, it may be, from a partition of its territory amongst them all. The sale of territory is the last expedient to which this government will resort : perhaps it would be refused under any circumstances. If, however, this could be effected, I presume at present it would not be a popular measure with our government. If this should be adopted, I would strongly recommend Lower California as the most eligible for both parties. This territory is of no value to Mexico ; its population does not exceed twelve thousand. A glance at the map wUl show its importance to us in a naval or military point of view, in the event of an attack upon our Pacific possessions by any naval power, or any attempt upon us or Mexico in that quarter by a lawless force. I have reason to know that this territory is much more valuable than is generally supposed in mineral resources. Another expedient, and perhaps one more likely to be favored by both govern- ments, is this : The Mexican tariff is now under revision by a committee whose labors will be submitted soon to Congress. In conversation with one of the leading minds here, he suggested that for a sum, to be stipulated in a treaty, to be paid in instalments, Mexico would agree to admit all articles the growth or manufacture of the United States at a rate fifty per centum below the duties to be paid by other nations, with a stipulation that no change shall be mad6 in favor of other nations without a payment by such nations of an amount equal to that paid by us, calculated upon the proportion which the commerce of such nation with Mexico has borne for the last five years to ours. I wish to be understood here as only suggesting the 6utlines of an arrangement, or rather the leading principle which should be adopted, if a measure of that kind is thought expedient. It has been supposed that the church property, which has been secularized and made available to the government, would furnish an ample fund to enable the government to preserve itself and pay the interest and principal of the public debt. This fund has been entirely, or almost entirely, exhausted in the last three years' struggle, and is no longer a resource to be calculated upon. If the liberal government here is not sustained, and the church party get possession of the capital again, the following consequences may be calculated on as inevitable : First. It is most probable that, as heretofore, the liberal government will take refuge in some one of the States favorable to it, and wage another protracted war for supremacy, the end of which must be considered as doubtful when we take into view the exhausted condition of the States favorable to the liberal party ; or, secondly, the respective States will form combinations regulated by territorial and neighborhood ideas, and set up a number of small confederacies, 14 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. say four or five. Looking at the geographical and political map of the republic, it is not likely, in the event of a disintegration, that there would be less than four separate political organizations. Eada of these would be too weak to stand alone against the temptation to seek a protectorate somewhere. Ambitious chiefs would soon be found, like Santa Anna, of San Domingo, who would throw their power down at the feet of some European government. I have strong reasons for the belief that England, Prance, and Spain are each looking to such a result. England desires to possess (as she now very nearly does, owing o our neglect of our interests in this quarter) the commerce of the Gulf States as well as that of the western coast. Spain, in her rising fortunes, cannot but de- sire to repossess herself of her lost American colonies. The recent movement on San Domingo is ample proof of this. The towering ambition of Napoleon to regulate Europe, when it shall have been gratified in that quarter, will seek to dazzle the world by impressing upon this continent the idea of French glory and Erench supremacy. Indeed, I have seen, in a recent number of a creditable journal, a statement that France and England now have under consideration the project of intervention in Mexican affairs. How wiU any or all of these ideas, if realized, affect the great idea of free government on this continent ? Surely American statesmen should be awake to even a suspicion that such portentous events are possible. Had our madmen allowed the majestic march of freedom to progress, Spain would not now have shown her flag in San Domingo, nor would it ever have been suggested that any possible event could make Mexico again a rich appanage to any Eiiropean crown. Unhappy as our domestic situation may now be, I feel an assured confidence that the northern United States are equal to the successful termination of the struggle at home, and at the same time able to secure our interests and promote successfully the cause of human progress on this entire continent. These opinions have led me to re- gard our present connexions with Mexico as of more importance than they may seem to be to those who are in the midst of the great rebellion which very properly engrosses the chief attention of the government at this time. My duty, 1 have supposed, was to guard our interests here, as they are connected directly or remotely with those ideas which are now in conflict in the United States. The present time is most propitious for securing the advantages and prevent- ing the evils which I have suggested ; the government here feels the strongest sympathy with the United States. ***** Xt has been my constant endeavor since my arrival here to possess the Mexican mind of the true causes of our difficulties, and thus enable them to estimate the danger to this republic which will result from any unfavorable termination of them. I am quite sure that whilst this government will endeavor to preserve peaceful relations with all the European powers on fair terms, it regards the United States as its true and only reliable friend in any struggle which may involve its national existence. That this should be so is somewhat remarkable, when we regard the deep preju- dices engendered in the general Mexican mind l3y the loss of Texas which they attribute to our citizens, and the compulsory cession of territory which was a consequence of our war with them. * * * * * « *« Very respectfully, your obedient servant, > THOMAS CORWIN Hon. W. H. Seward, Secretary of State, U. S. of America. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 15 Mr. Corwin to Mr. Seward. No. 3.] Legation of the United States, City of Mexico, July 29, 1861. Sir : In my last despatch to tlie department under date of 29tli ultimo, No. 2, I suggested the probability of an armed European intervention in the affairs of Mexico, or a partition of its ten-itory. Since that time events here have given greater plausibility to those fears. On the 17th day of this month the Mexican congress passed a decree suspend- ing the payment of all debts of every sort due from the government for the term of two years. The English and French ministers immediately sent in their protests respec- tively, copies of which, marked G 1 and 2, I transmit herewith. At the expiration of the time mentioned in these protests, the legations of both these powers took down their flags and signs, and advised the department of foreign affairs here that all diplomatic intercourse with their respective gov- ernments and Mexico was at an end. England and France seem to be acting in concert in this movement. They either intend to frighten Mexico into a repeal of the obnoxious decree, or they take this step as the best and quickest means to initiate such movements as will end in possible occupation of the entire mari- time frontier of the republic, which would inevitably lead to the possession of the whole of the interior. I beg the department to consider whether, ij" it he -possihle, our duty and in- terest do not require of us to prevent the consummation of this scheme. If the interest of the debt due to English bondholders could be secured, say for five years, that alone would put a stop to every attempt of the kind sug- gested above. The bondholders' debt is now about sixty-two millions, bearuig an interest of three per cent, per annum. The interest on this debt would amount to less than two millions a year. If Mexico should offer any equiva- lent acceptable to our government for the guarantee of the payment of this in- terest for five years, would it not be our interest to close with such a proposi- tion'? England and Spain are now in possession of the best of the West India islands, (for I consider San Domingo is certain to fall into the hands of Spain before our re- bellion is quelled,) and Mexico a colony of England, with the British power on the north of our possessions, would leave on the map of this continent a very insignificant part for the United States, especially should the present unnatural rebellion end in the final severance from us of eight or nine, or all of the slave States. Mexico, I am persuaded, would be willing to pledge all her public lands and mineral rights in Lower California, Chihuahua, Sonora, and Sinaloa, as well as her national faith, for the payment of this guarantee. This would probably end in the cession of the sovereignty to us. It would be certain to end thus if the money were not promptly paid as agreed on. By such an arrangement two consequences would follow: First, all hope of extending the dominion of a separate southern republic in this quarter or in Central America would be ex- tinguished, and any further attempt in all time to come to establish European power on this continent would cease to occupy the minds of either England or continental Europe. . If the republics of Mexico or Central America could maintain themselves against southern filibusters or European cupidity, I should not desire either to intei-meddle in their concerns or add any of their territory to ours, except, perhaps. Lower California, which may become mdispensable to the protection of our Pacific possessions. The reasons, however, for a departure from this rule, arising out of our present 16 THE PEESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. apparent weakness, stimulating aggression, as well by filibusters as Europeans, seem to demand serious consideration. The United States are the only safe guardians of the independence and true civilization of this continent. It is then- mission, and they should fulfil it. This task would have been comparatively easy but for the madness of the south, plunging us into our present difficulties. Europe is quite wQling to see us humbled, and will not fail to take advantage of our embarrassments to execute purposes of which she would not have dreamed had we remained at peace. I repeat these suggestions as my reasons for desiring instructions on the points stated above, relating to aid to Mexico in sotne form suitable to her present exigencies. Her late suspension, leading to the cessation of diplomatic relations with England and France, may, perhaps, have been imprudent. She could not pay the debts, however, and maintain her government ; and perhaps it was as well to say she would not pay for two years, as to promise to pay, and subject herself to the mortification of constantly asking further time. She is .impoverished to the last degree by forty years of civil war. I cannot find in this republic any men of any party better qualified, in my judgment, for the task than those in power. If they do not save her, then I am quite sure she is to be the prey of some foreign power, and they, I fear, cannot without our aid. I say our aid, for she will look in vain for help elsewhere. Mr. J. T. Pickett is here in the character of commissioner from the so-called " Confederate States." I believe the secretary of foreign affairs has given him a private interview at his house. I have the positive assurance of the president that this government will not entertain any propositions coming from that quarter which may seem to recognize these States in any other light than as a part of the United States. . Well-informed Mexicans, in and out of the government, seem to be well aware that the independence of a southern confederacy would be the signal for a war of conquest with a view to establish slavery in each of the twenty-two States of this republic. I have judged it proper to forward to our ministers at Paris and London the protests of the French and English ministers to the decree of the Mexican con- gress, in the hope that they will offer their good offices to mitigate the unfriendly feeling of the British and French cabinets towards this country. I have nearly completed the arrangement for two treaties with the cabinet. They will probably be submitted to congress before its adjournment, which is fixed for the 30th instant, but may be postponed for a few days. I have so doubt of their ratification, but it will come too late for the present mail. One of these is a treaty for the extradition of criminals, the other is a postal convention. The latter is in aU essentials quite the same with that, a form of which reached here from Mr. Romero. The former is, in substance, like those we have concluded with other powers. I am deeply impressed with the necessity of having our consul at Vera Cruz at his post. I forwarded his exequatur to the vice-consul at that place some weeks since. I am satisfied that the public interests require the best officers at all the ports on the Gulf, as well as in the West India islands. I beg to call your attention to a paper addressed by Mr. La Reintrie, acting as special agent of this legation under instructions fi-om Mr. McLane, to all the foreign ministers at this place, under date of December 20th last. It must or should be in the State Department, as well as the instructions of Mr. McLane, on which it is based. I wish to know if the government concurs fully in the views and principles therein set forth. I hope the government will immediately take steps to insure a mail twice a month between New York and Vera Cruz. As New Orleans is now a closed port, we can only receive advices once a month this a British steamer, and that by no means certain. The commerce of the THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. 17 Gulf would be mucli more secure liacT we two vessels sailing in those waters once a month. I must also ask your particular attention to papers forwarded to the depart- ment on the 23d March last by Colonel Waller, exculpating Colonel Natzmer, vice-consul at Minatitlan, from the charges on which he was removed. I know Mr. A. C. Allen well, (the consul at that place,) he is a gentleman on whose truth and honor I am sure I can rely. He has satisfied me that Natzmer is not guilty of any act inconsistent with his official duty. His statement is with the papers alluded to. I trust Colonel N. will be restored. I have received from the department the President's proclamation, under date of April 19, 1861. I am, very respectfully, your most obedient servant, THOMAS CORWIN. 29th, 1 p. M. P. S. — The mails per British steamer are just at hand, but I have not a single communication or paper. A passenger states (as I am informed by the consul at Vera Cruz) that an American steamer was in sight as the British steamer was leaving Havana. No mail is expected from Havana until 15th August, when the steamer Union leaves there, her mails reaching this city on the 26th of that month, before which time it will therefore be impossible for me now to get any advices. My latest despatches from the department are those I acknowledged on the 29th ultimo. Respectfully, THOMAS CORWIN. Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington. Mr. La Reintrie to Ministers of Foreign Powers in Mexico. San Angel, (near Mexico,) December 20, 1860. Sir : I have the honor to advise you of my arrival at this place in the charac- ter of special agent of the legation of the United States in Mexico, with instruc- tions from the honorable Robert M. Mc Lane, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States, to communicate with the representatives of foreign powers now residing in the city of Mexico, and to make known to them the policy of the government of the United States with respect to Mexico, under the present deplorable circumstances which afflict this republic. You are aware that proposals have already been made by the government of Great Britain to the two parties now contending for political power and ascend- ency in Mexico, with the object of bringing about a pacification of the country. These efforts, however, have thus far failed of the desired end — both parties declining the proferred intervention and meditation, because neither are willing to compromise the great principles at issue in the pending civil war. The liberals, who had taken up arms in defence of the right of the people to govern themselves, and to live under a constitution that guarantees political equality to every citizen of the republic, were unwilling to confide the adjust- ment of these sacred rights to a foreign intervention and mediation. On the other hand, the conservatives were unwilling to surrender their organization, or to subject the government of General Miramon to any foreign intervention that did not guarantee to them the ascendency and triumph of principles which are H. Ex. Doc. 100 2 18 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. in direct antagonism with the eq^nality of the citizen and the form of a repubh- can government. At a later period the governments of France and Spain have both, with more or less formality, renewed the efforts which Great Britain originally made, and the same obstacles which rendered the efforts of Great Britain unavailing have attended these subsequent efforts. I am, therefore, instructed to inform you that all these matters have been fully and duly considered by the government of the United States, and that the policy heretofore adopted by the liberals in their intercourse with European powers, in relation to these negotiations for peace, has been approved and adopted by it, and that it has determined to resist any forcible attempt to iinpose a particular adjustment of the existing conflict against the will and sanction of the people of Mexico, and, also, any forcible intervention, by any power, which looks to the control of the political destiny thereof. This determination on the part of the government of the United States has already been explicitly, though respectfully, declared to all the powers of Europe. The government of the United States does not deny to the European powers the right to wage honorable warfare for a sufficient cause, anywhere, or against any nation ; nor does it deny their right to demand redress for injuries inflicted on their respective subjects, and, if need be, to enforce such demands; but it does deny them the right to interfere, directly or indirectly, with the political independence of the republic of Mexico, and it will, to the extent of its power, defend the nationality and independence of said republic. This settled policy of the government of the United States, I believe, is well understood by all the representatives of European jjowers in Mexico. It is also fully understood and appreciated by the constitutional government at Vera Cruz ; and, under my instructions, it becomes my duty to cause it to be well understood by all those who, from their public character and the circumstances that characterize the political condition of the republic, are charged with the responsibilities of political power and authority, in order that said policy may neither be misunderstood nor misrepresented to the prejudice of either Mexico or of the Unilted States. I am further instructed to state, in the most explicit manner, that the govern- ment of the United States earnestly desires the pacification of Mexico, and that it will recognize and support any government that is adopted and accepted by the free choice of the people thereof, and that it will always encourage the friendly efforts of any foreign power that have for its objects such a result — notwithstanding its resolution to abstain from all direct participation in any such mediation, and its adherence to the relations already established between it and the constitutional government of the republic. Having complied with the spii-it of my instructions from the minister of the United States, I have, in conclusion, to request your acceptance of my con- sideration and respect. HENEY ROY DE LA REINTEIE, Special Agent United States Legation in Mexico. This communication was sent to all the representatives of foreign powers in Mexico, to wit: Mr. Dubois de Saligny, France; Jlr. J. F. Pacheco, Spain; Mr. George B. Mathew, England; Mr. E. de Wagner, Prussia; Mr. Clementie, Nuncio of the Holy See; Mr. F. N. del Barrio, Guatemala; F. de P. Pastor, Ecuador. H. R. DE LA REINTRIE. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 19 Mr. Seward to Mr. Cor win. No. 16.] Department of State, Washington, August 24, 1861. Sir: In your despatch of the 29th ultimo, nnmbei-ed 3, you call my attention to a circular from Henry Eoy de la Eeintre, under date of December 20, 1860, to all the representatives of foreign powers in Mexico, which purports to have been written by direction of your predecessor, Mr. McLane, and you desire to know whether this government concurs in the views and principles therein set forth. To answer this question broadly in the affirmative would be to commit it to opinions expressed by the writer of that paper concerning the merits of domestic political parties in Mexico, in transactions which, since that paper was written, have been fully completed and ended. Again, although I am very sure that this government cherishes the actiial independence of Mexico as a cardinal object to the exclusion of all foreign po- litical intervention, and is willing to take decided measures favoring that inde- pendence, as is seen in another despatch to you of this date, yet the present moment does not seem to me an opportune one for formal reassurance of the policy of the government to foreign nations. Prudence requires that, in order to surmount the evils of faction at home, we should not unnecessarily provoke debates with foreign countries, but rather repair, as speedily as possible, the prestige which those evils have impaired. Perhaps it will be sufficient for me to say that it is our wish and our pur- pose, so far as our action may bear upon the question, that the people of Mexico shall, in every case, be exclusive arbiters of their own political fortunes, and remain free and independent of all foreign intervention and control whatever. I hardly know how it can be necessary for the government of the United States to say this in view of the policy and principles set forth in the instructions under which your mission to Mexico was begun. The postal convention made in this city, on the 31st July, having been ratified by the Senate of the United States, now awaits ratification by the government of Mexico. I send you a copy for your information. I am, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWAED. Thomas Corwl\, Esq., i^., i^c, Sfc. Mr. Corwin to Mr. Seward, [Extracts.] No. 4.] Legation of the United States of America, Mexico, August 28, 1861. Sir: Your instructions touching Lower California, alluded to in your despatch No. 11, have not been received here. If not destroyed on their way I may hope to get them either by the Spanish steamer Union, which passes from Havana to Vera Oruz once a month, the mail from which is due here to-night, or by the British steamer which comes from Havana to Vera Cruz every month, whose mail will be due here the 30th instant. Nothing has occurred here to change the relations between Mexico and the United States since my last despatch. The liberal government still maintains its power, though its dominion is disputed by armed bands of reactionary troops 20 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. in different parts of the republic. The piirsuit of these robber bands in various directions compels the government to keep up a considerable military force, the expense of which has drained the last dollar from the treasury, and the govern- ment has often been compelled to bon-ov from individuals sums varying from $30,000 to $100,000, at enormous rates, for the purpose of moving a battalion or one or two regiments against the roving bands of the reactionary party. Many plans have been suggested by the friends of the government, and one or two by the department of foreign affairs, in conversation, for present relief of a pecuniary nature. None of ihese, however, were of a character which I deemed practicable, and therefore I have as yet presented to the government no propo- sition for a treaty which has for its basis the payment of money to Mexico by the United States. I have no doubt that any treaty which would give the present government from five to ten millions of dollars in monthly instalments of, say, a quarter of a million, would enable it to crush the last hope of the church party as well as to restore comparative safety from robber bands who infest the roads and rob travellers in all directions. Such a sum would also enable the government to arrange the foreign debt, the non-payment of the interest on which has caused the English and French ministers to discontinue diplomatic relations, till furtlier orders, with Mexico, and which at present threatens to end in foreign inteivention, which was alluded to in my despatch No. 3, under date of July 29, 1861. I am extremely anxious to obtain the views of the department on the subject proposed in that despatch, and hope to receive them by the mails of to-morrow or next day. Mr. Pickett, commissioner from what he denominates " the Confederate States," is still here. He and three southern persons, sojourning in this city, were engaged last night in rejoicing over the victory at Bull Eun and Manassas Gap. The sketch of that battle in the New York Herald of the 23d of July reached here yesterday. The paper came here from Havana by private con- veyance. Mr. Pickett has learned that Mexico had granted the United States the privilege of marching troops through Mexican tenitory to Arizona. He has infoi-med the government here that this will be considered as offensive to the "Confederate States," as New Mexico had placed herself under the protection of those States. He has said in private conversation that " if this decree is not annulled Mexico will lose the Htate of Tamaulipas in sixty days." By looking on any map of Mexico it will be seen that Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Ooahuila, Chihuahua, and Sonora, all adjoin Texas or New Mexico. Tamaulipas is easily approached by her port, Tampico, on the Mexican gulf, and also by land from Texas. All the others of these States can be reached by land from Texas or New Mexico. Guaymas is the great port on the Gulf of California from and to which shipments are made for the States of Sonora and Chihuahua, and also to our territory of New Mexico, including Arizona. It is, therefore, reasonable enough to conclude that United States troops from Cali- fornia could be landed at Guaymas in seven days by steamers, and with a safe passage through Sonora could confront any rebel force operating in Arizona or New Mexico proper, and also be in a position to act against any fillibustering enemy which might attack any of the Mexican States bordering on Texas. It is no doubt the design of the " Southern Confederation," whenever it can, to seize all of these States, indeed, to possess itself of the entire Terra Caliente of Mexico, that being well adapted to slave labor. If Mexico should be attacked under the pretence that she had justly offended the Confederate States, by the grant of passage through Sonora, every obligation of honor would seem to re- quire that our troops should be ready to enforce our laws against fillibustering expeditions from our territories against the territories of a nation with whom we are at peace. Such troops would at the same time be efficient to restore our lawful dominion in Texas and New Mexico. Upper California, Oregon, and "VYaf=hington Territory could furnit)ints preliminary to treaties settling the claims of each power. In a conference with Mr. Doblado the night before his departure, he informed me that the points he should insist on were : First. The recognition by each and all of the three powers of the present government of Mexico. Second. A pledge not in any event to attempt a dismemberment of the present territory of Mexico. Third. A pledge not to interfere in the domestic government of Mexico, or make any effort to change the existing fundamental laws of the republic. These propositions seem to me to embody precisely the engagements entered into by these powers with each other in the treaty which has been published by themselves ; and if there be no secret understanding behind the treaty, I doubt not Mr. Doblado will succeed in securing the proposed preliminary ar- rangement. If he fails in this, however, hostilities are inevitable. Should these points be satisfactorily arranged, then no difficulty can arise except such as may grow out of the details to be adjusted as to the amounts due to each of the intervening powers, and the securities to be given by Mexico for their future payment. The amounts may, I think, be easily and fairly adjusted, but the security for the payment of present dues and future interest wUl be more diffi- cult of adjustment. The only security acceptable to any of the claimants is a mortgage on the revenues from imposts. To make this security such as will no doubt be earnestly insisted on, Mexico will be required to surrender, for a limited period, a very great proportion of this class of her revenues, which she cannot do without imminent danger to her internal peace, unless the United States will step in and make her the loan proposed in the proposed treaty, a copy of which I have heretofore transmitted for the criticism of the government at Washington. If the parties here shall not agree as to the securities to be received by each, and Mexico shall not be able to give what is demanded for want of the loan pro- posed by us, then war may ensue, and the subjugation of this country to Euro- pean domination may and (in such case) probably will be the result. In the project of the treaty which I forwarded to the department, I had strict regard as to the whole amount, to the sum named in my instructions, that is the payment of the interest at three per cent, on sixty-three millions for five years, making a total of nine millions four hundred and fifty thousand dollars, to be secured on the public lands in four of the States of Mexico. In the treaty I proposed, about the same amount would be loaned to Mexico, payable in instalments, so as to answer the exigencies of the government here, and at the same time secure both governments against any prodigality in the use of this loan, whilst the security given for it included all the public lands and mineral rights in the whole republic, as also the entire unadministered national property, called the " church property," estimated here at not less than twenty millions. To secure the faithful appropriation of this security to the payment of interest and principal of the loan, a mixed commission to administer and apply properly the proceeds of these two funds was provided. In order not to distress the United States treasury, I insisted on the option to advance this loan in cash, or in bonds at par, bearing an interest of six per cent., believing, as I then did and do now, that the proceeds of the lands, mineral rights, and church property would, after the first year, either pay the cash to be advanced, or, if the government chose to advance the loan in bonds, to take up these bonds as fast as issued. In the meantime I further provided that Mexican bonds should be deposited in the treasury, equivalent in amount to each advance by our government, bearing six per cent, interest, which, if the funds provided THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 51 to take them up should be as available, as I believe they would, for their redemption, would readily sell in the market at par, so that if the entire arrange- ment should be faithfully carried out, the proposed loan could operate no injury to our national credit, whilst the great end in view, the security of the national life of Mexico, would be attained. I am thus particular in stating the points of interest in the treaty I proposed, because I wish the government to see that I have kept in view the substance of my instructions, and because I am sure the time is approaching when we may be obliged to do in substance what we first proposed, that is, to pay the interest on the sum stated above, or abandon Mexico to such a fate as the three powers, now here in force, shall choose to ■award her. The prompt and friendly manner in which the government here granted us the right to march troops and convey provisions and munitions of ' war over her territory, to aid in quelling the rebellion on our frontier, contiguous to hers, furnishes, I think, a strong motive to a return of this generous act. Such has been the conduct of this government towards the commissioner of the- " Confederate States," that Mr. Pickett recently sent here, from Vera Cruz, a letter which, I am informed, was so abusive in its terms that it was forthwith, returned without a reply. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, THOS. COKWIN.. Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State of the United States, Washington. Mr. Seward to Mr. Corwin. No. 43.] Department of State, Washington, April 3, 1862. Sir : Your very interesting despatch of February 28 has been received. You have already been informed that the Senate advised the President adversely to the projected treaty with Mexico, in both of the forms in which it was sub- mitted to them. Under these circumstances the President is unabled to suggest to you any other mode for contributing to the deliverance of our sister republic from the embarrassments by which she is surrounded which would be accept- able to the Senate. The House of Representatives has called for the papers relating to the case, and we may perhaps find some plan for rendering assistance not incompatible with the rights of other parties in the debates which the report from this depart- ment may elicit. Meantime I desire to direct your most earnest attention to the necessity of guarding, if possible, against any such pledge of the resources of Mexico to foreign powers as might affect our cause injuriously, or impair the ability of the people of Mexico to sustain the free government established by their own choice. You will not leave the government of Mexico in doubt for a moment that the government and people of the United States are indifferent concerning the perils by which they are menaced. I am, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Thomas Corwin, Esq., Sfc, Sfc., Sfv. 52 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. Mr. Romero to Mr. Seward. [Translation.] Mexican Legation in the United States of America, Washington, September 21, 1861. Mr. Secretary : I have tlie honor to transmit to you the copies, which are mentioned in the enclosed index, of the documents to which I referred in the conference with which you favored me this morning, and in those held on pre- vious days, relative to the attitude that the mmisters of Prance and England, residing in Mexico, and their respective governments have taken towards that republic. I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to you, sir, the assurances of my very distinguished consideration. M. ROMEEO. Hon. William H. Seward, Sfc., Sfc., Sfc. [Translation.] MEXICAN legation IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Index of the documents which, on this date, this legation transmits to the Depart- ment of State of the United States in regard to the suspension of relations hy the French and English ministers residing in Mexico with the government of that republic. No. From whom and to whom. Date. Contents. 1 2 3 Mr. Zamacona to Mr. Eomero ... Mr. Zamacona to Mr. Fuente 1861. July 29 do July 17 July 18 July 19 July 20 July 21 ....do.... ....do.... July 22 July 23 Instructions. Do. Law of suspension of payments. — (See British Parliamentary Document.) Circular explanation of said law, con- taining the programme of the new cabinet. Asking if the law was authentic which had appeared in the newspapers. — (See British Parliamentary Docu- ment.) Do. do. > Enclosing copy of the law, and ex- plaining its contents. In reply to the note as to whether the law was authentic. In reply to the note as to whether the law was authentic. — (See British Parliamentary Document.) In reply to note No. 9.— (See British Parliamentary Document.) Asking the repeal of the law of the 17th of July within 48 hours. — (See British Parliamentary Docu- ment.) 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Sir Chas. Wyke to Mr. Zamacona. Mr. de Saligny to Mr. Zamacona. Mr. Zamacona to Sir G. Wyke and to Mr. de Saligny. Mr. Zamacona to Mr. de Saligny. Mr. Zamacona to Sir C. Wyke ... Sir C. Wyke to Mr. Zamacona . .. Same to same .o..... ......... THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. Index of documents — Continued. 53 No. From whom and to whom. Date. Contents. 1861. 12 Mr. de Saligny to Mr. Zamacona. July 23 In reply to note No 7. 13 Same to same July 24 Asking the repeal of the law within 24 hours. U Mr. Zamacona to Mr. de Saligny. July 25 Saying that only the congress can repeal the law. 15 Mr. Zamacona to Sir C. Wyke. . . ....do-... Saying that only the congress can repeal the law. — (See British Par- liamentary Document ) 16 Mr. de Saligny to Mr Zamacona. ...-do.... Cutting off relations. 17 Mr. Zamacona to Mr. de Saligny. ....do.... In reply to No. 16. 18 Sir C. Wyke to- Mr. Zamacona... ....do... Suspending relations. — (See British Parliamentary Document.) 19 Mr Zamacona to Sir C. Wyke... ....do.... In reply to No. 18 —(See British Par- liamentary Document.) 20 Sir C. Wyke to Mr. Zamacona... July 26 In reply to No. 19.— (See British Par- liamentary Document.) 21 Mr. Zamacona to Sir 0. Wyke... July 27 In reply to No. 20.— (See British Par- liamentary Document ) 22 Mr. de Saligny to Mr. Zamacona. July 26 In reply to Nos. 14 and 17. 23 Mr. Zamacona to Mr. de Saligny. July 27 In reply to No. 22. 24 Mr. Zamacona to Mr. Komero Aug. 29 Instructions. 25 Mr. Zamacona to Mr. Fuente ....do.... Do. 26 Mr. Fuente to Mr. Bomero Sept. 6 ■ Informing him of the determination of the French government. 27 Mr. Fuente to Mr. Zamacona Sept. 4 Interview with Mr. de Thouvenel. 28 Mr. Fuente to Mr. Thouvenel do. .. Suspending relations. Washington, September 21, 1861. No. 1. [Translation. — Elxtract.] MEXICAN REPUBLIC, MINISTRY OF FOREIGN RELATIONS. No. 32.] National Palace, Mexico, July 29, 1861. The copy which I enclose to you of the instructions that on this date are transmitted to the plenipotentiary of the republic at Paris will acc[uaint you with the present state of the diplomatic relations of this government with the representatives of France and England. You will notice that these instructions have principally two object3 : to rectify the inexact reports which the two func- tionaries mentioned will make to their governments in regard to the political situation of Mexico and the character of the measures recently adopted, and to facilitate the success of the labors which will be undertaken by our representa- tive at Paris, so that they may be seconded by the diplomacy of friendly nations. For a favorable result to these two objects your services may be very useful in your sphere of action, since there are within it springs which may be applied to the prosnerous tennination of our efforts in Europe; and there are also means by which the question to which the decree of the 17th instant has given rise may not be rendered unnatural to the view of friendly nations. Some docu- ments accompany this note, whose publicity in the country where you are would be very proper, and a copy of the correspondence which this department has lately had with the English and French legations also accompanies it. Although 54 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. a copy of this correspondence has been furnished to Mr. Oorwin, and I suppose that he will transmit it to his goverament, it would be proper for you to procure a conference with the Secretary of State, and to give him an idea of the diplo- matic question which has just arisen in Mexico, by showing him the documents in relation thereto and making to him the appropriate explanations. * * In addition to which, it is excusable to recommend to you to cultivate with care the sympathies of the government near which you reside, and to strengthen in it a conviction in regard to the similarity of interests which, in questions with the powers of Europe, binds Mexico and the United States to each other. I reiterate to you the assurances of my respectful consideration. MANUEL M. DE ZAMAOONA. The Charge d'Affairs of the Mexican Republic, at Washington. Washington, September 21, 1861. A true copy. KOMEEO. No. 2. [Translation. — Extract. ] MEXICAN REPUBLIC, MINISTRY OF FOREIGN RELATIONS. Instructions addressed to his excellency Senor Don Juan Antonio de la Fuente, minister plenipotentiary of Mexico at Paris. The decree of the 17th of July and the circular accompanying these instruc- tions will acquaint Mr. Fuente with the measures by which the new ministry formed on the 13th of the same month has deemed it its duty to begin the administrative reorganization of the republic. The necessity for temporarily suspending payments, and for giving unity and regularity to the national debt, has been felt not only by the government, but by the whole country ; and hence it happened that the idea which had been broached at the time that the govern- ment resided at Vera Cruz was proposed at the beginning of the year by the press of the capital, and was recognized as so proper that several writers dis- puted with each other as to the originality of the proposition. While this was going on in the discussions of the press, Mr. de Saligny confidentially began them with the minister of relations by offering him, although in exchange for important condescensions, to afford to the republic not only a truce for the pay- ment, but even a relief as regarded the most important of the debts due to France. The great extremities in which the government has found itself, through the necessity of undertaking a campaign on a grand scale against the reaction, have compelled it to reflect on all the means suitable for affording it resources ; and, as one of them, it proposed in the congress, at the close of May, the suspension of all payments, including that arising from diplomatic conventioas. The chamber recoiled at that time from the idea of interrupting the fulfilment of international compacts, and only voted for the suspension of other ordinary pay- ments, and ample authority to the government to provide resources for itself. The public situation at that period had rendered this very difficult. The THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 55 reactionary bands, concentrated nnder the command of Marquez, had gathered in the valley and state of Mexico, and the public mistrust and the paralyzation of all business concerns rendered very difficult to the government expedients for obtaining resources. There was, therefore, no other salvation for society and public order but by employing its auth6rity in extreme and hateful measures, which extended to the imprisonment of the leading capitalists, for the purpose of compelling them to make heavy exhibits. The reaction, meanwhile, braced up by some small triumphs, threatened at a short distance even the capital of the republic, whose suburbs some of its small lurking ban.ds succeeded in pene- trating. The government, of its own impulse, and on account of public opinion, which was strongly excited, had to put in motion numerous forces in pursuit of the rebels, and to organize the national guard of the district, in order to take into the field the garrisons of regular troops. The costly expenses of equipping and setting in motiou the forces, and of arming the national guard, absorbed enor- mous sums, and this at a time when the ordinary resources of the government were uncollectible, and the chief part of them absorbed by the appropriations for the payment of the foreign debt. The character of the political situation rendered unavailable, also, the revenues from nationalization, the amount of which is in proportion to the probabilities of consolidation which are offered by the reform. The enemies of this government, meanwhile, do not confine themselves to de- vastating the richest and most populous districts of the republic, while organized into numerous movable bands, but bring into play very ramified machinations, one of which is to involve in their influences the diplomatic representatives. This was very easy with respect to the one from the French empii-e, who, hav- ing inherited the relations of Mr. Gabriac, keeping in his own house several personages of the reaction, and interested, as is asserted, in the success of some of the business engagements entered into with the usm-pers of the public au- thority, had many points of contact and many affinities with the persons who personified at the capital the retrograde principle. Hence it has happened that within the last few months all the embarrassments which ill will could suggest have been stirred up against the government, and that the attempt has been successful in having his views innocently seconded by the minister of. England, who, although without any sufficient cause, is found involved in a political at- mosphere rather uncongenial to the piinciples which this government is develop- ing. In order to render the minister of England an instrument to the views of Mr. Saligny and of the reactionary party, it has been sufficient to strongly im- bue him with prejudices in regard to what is called the anarchical character of the progresista party, and to the propriety of a system of compromise which he thinks suitable for giving stability to liberal institutions. Seeing the policy of Mexico through the deceitful prism of the society which forms aroimd the two diplomatists an exceptional and eccentric minority, both predict the inevitable advent of a neutral party, which in reality does not exist in the republic ; and not seeing beyond the capital, they do not take into account the interests which the reform has established over the whole surface of the nation, nor the tenacity of the states in maintaining certain principles, nor the promptitude with which they unite and harmonize when they believe these principles to be attacked. Be this as it may, under the inspiration of that erroneous policy and of the interests before mentioned, the two ministers referred to have maintained within the last two months an attitude rather unfriendly towards the government, and their bad disposition has even had the effect to defeat an arrangement which had recently been made with the parties interested in the English and French con- ventions, by appropriating to them the revenues from nationalization. At the middle of this month the situation of the government had become exceedingly difficult. Its exertions to place considerable forces in the field had 56 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. exhausted its resources. A long ministerial crisis, whicli kept the cabinet in- complete, rendered languid the action of the government. The pressure of the public spirit and of the congress, which demanded, not without reason, move- ment and activity, was very strong ; and the president, in conjunction with the members with whom he completed at last his ministry, comprehended that the time had arrived for setting about the administrative reform with firmness and resolution, as the only means of re-establishing the prestige of the revolution, and of providing the government with the elements necessary for restoring to the country the peace and security which it has so long needed. Under the influence of this determination, a proposition, expressed, with very little variation, in the same terms as the decree of the 17th, annexed to these instructions, was drawn up and presented to the congress on the same day (July 13) on which the cabinet was completed. Before |he proposition w'as perfected there was no failure to discuss the propriety of preparing for the sus- pension of payments on diplomatic ground. But two considerations inclined opinions to the opposite extreme. In the first place, the recent conduct of the ministers, most especially that of Mr. Saligny, led to the presumption that, instead of condescension and prudence on their part, there would be resistance and impediments, created purposely, and that, in case of the measure having finally to be carried into efFect, they might give to it a most aggressive and shameful character. On the other hand, the circumstances in which the government was found on the 13th dgy of July were extreme. The resources with which it had fitted out General Gonzalez Ortega for the field — thanks to forced exactions imposed on many capitalists^ — gave out on the 15th day of the same month, and the troops of the government, who pursued the reactionary masses ill their course to the south, would have had at least to remain immova- ble, and to abandon Ouemavaca and the neighboring towns, no less than the federal district and State of Mexico, to the depredations and atrocities of the rebels. The subsidies obtained by force and by imprisonment could no longer be depended on ; and the government had no other reliance for preventing the catastrophies and anarchy which were threatening the most interesting portion of the republic than the funds existing in Mexico and in Vera Cruz, intended for the payment of the foreign debt. A momentary seizure of them would have produced a like alarm, and would leave the government in the same complica- tions, and deprive it of the excuse which is afibrded it by the purpose deter- mined on of attacking the radical arrangement of the treasury and of the public debt. The government believed that it ought not to lose a moment in proceed- ing to that reform which was the complement of all the others, and that the idea of putting order in the administration, and of re-establishing legal bounda- ries between the financial powers of the confederacy and of the States, had arrived at such a seasonable juncture that it should not delay one moment in carrying it into practical operation. The government was not deceived. The national representation — a faithful expression of all liberal shades of opinion — carried the proposition of the executive by a vote of one hundred and two against four. The government had resources ; it was able to provide General Ortega with them, and to reduce the rebels to the extreme condition in which they are now placed at the south, dwindled down to an insignificant number, and surrounded by the constitutional forces in a district which is hostile to them, and where it is probable they will be brought to an end by desertion and the want of resources. The government has been enabled to breathe, and to devote itself immediately to the arrangement of the offices and to the forma- tion of the estimates, which will be published next week. The present minister of relations, immediately after going into the cabinet, entered into frank and confidential relations with all the diplomatic representa- tives, especially with those of France and England, but without speaking to them concerning the proposition which was under discussion in the congress, although it was a public matter. As soon as the decree was communicated by THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO, 57 tlie department of tte treasury to the depai-tmcnt of relations, the minister of this department proceeded to have a confidential talk with Messrs. Wyke and Saligny before communicating to them by official letter the suspension of pay- ments which had been decreed. The minister of relations reached the English legation at the moment in which Mr. Wyke had just sent him a communication expressing siu'prise that the decree should have been promulgated without giving him previous notice. In regard to Mr. de Saligny, the minister of relations found him shut up, and preparing, probably, the communication which he soon afterwards addressed to him, to the same effect. By means first of a visiting card, and then of a brief note, the minister of state made known to Mr. de Saligny that he desired to have a private conference with him before communi- cating to him officially the decree in regard to the suspension of payments. This conference took place on the following day after Mr. de Saligny had on the evening previous sent an official expression of surprise in the same terms as that which had been sent by the English minister. In the conference with the minister of Fi-ance, he began by laying down, as a question preliminary to all others, the delivery, which he had claimed for some days back, of the funds proceeding from the Penaud convention, which had been deposited in the de- pository of the provident fund. The correspondence relative to this affair, copies of which are transmitted to Mr. Fuente, will sufficiently enlighten him on the matter; but it should be added that Mr. de Saligny, feigning not to un- derstand the true reasons which have prevented the delivery of that fund, claims it by alleging a verbal promise which he says was made to him by the minister, Mr. Guzman, and even by Mr. Juarez, and by attaching importance to an order which he asserts that he obtained from Mr. Zarco. Mr. Guzman and Mr. Juarez deny having ever made such a promise, and they protest that they merely promised the replacement in the depository of the provident fund of the Penaud money, which on a day of urgency had been temporaiily with- drawn. As to the order of Mr. Zarco, there is no evidence of it in the depart- ment, and the present secretary of relations promised Mr. Saligny that, in case that order should be shown, the funds' which he claimed would be delivered to him, and would not be included in the suspended payments. This took place at the conference which has been referred to, between the minister of relations and Mr. de Saligny, before the suspension was communi- cated officially to the latter, and the French minister left it to be understood in that conference that, on this preliminary question being adjusted, it would not be impossible to enter into colloquy in regard to the other points respecting the debt to France, and repeated the intimations which he had already given to Mr. Zarco, in regard to the need of Mexico for a breathing spell in order to pay her debt, and to the strong disposition which he, Mr. Saligny, had previously had to second the government in this respect. The day on which this conference took place was a holiday, and on the following day there was a discussion in the government relative to the delivery of the Penaud fund, it being taken for granted that the decree in regard to the suspension of payments had already been communicated to the English and French legations on the preceding evening. When the secretary of relations was preparing to make known to the minister of France the terms on which the delivery of the thirty-nine thousand dollars proceeding from the Penaud con- vention could be arranged, the insulting and threatening reply of Mr. de Saligny to the first note which the department of relations had addressed to him was received, and the character of that reply at. once rendered all cordial understand- ing impossible. That reply was followed by others which Mr. Fuente will find in the coiTespondence, of which a copy is transmitted to him, and which ter- minated in the suspension of official relations between the two legations and the government, and in the exchange of private notes, of which copies are also transmitted. 58 THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. In tMs correspondence Mr. Fuente will find disclosed the principles which justify the conduct of the government as regards the suspension of the diplomatic conventions. It not having been possible to adjust this question in a reasonable way with the representatives of France and England in Mexico, the direct efforts which are being made for this purpose near the governments of those two coun- tries assume a great importance ; and the government of Mexico, on seeing this necessity spring up, has had occasion to congratulate itself on the suitable choice which it has made, of Mr. Fuente, to represent it in France at a juncture like the present, when so much is expected of his proverbial patriotism and intelli- gence. The government, being in need of a representative at London, and it not being possible for it to send one with the promptitude which this case demands, has gone so far as to expect from the condescension of Mr. Fuente that, in addition to his present important functions, he will accept those of envoy extra- ordinary and minister plenipotentiary ad interim at London, especially accredited for the adjustment of the question to which the decree of the 17th of July has given rise. The government earnestly desires that Mr. Fuente may be able to make the personal fulfilment of this trust compatible with the duties which he is discharging at Paris, and which now have an important application to the efforts that the suspension of payment under the French convention renders necessary near the government of the Emperor. * * * * • # # « * * # # ^ * The preliminaries relative to what ia personal in the matter being thus arranged, the following suggestions in regard to the steps which are rendered necessary in France and England, in the present state of the relations of Mexico with those two countries, have been deemed appropriate. First of all, it is important to modify the impression which may be made on the governments of England and France by the adulterated reports that their legations will transmit by this packet. In regard to this matter, the English and French ministers, but more especially the latter, besides picturing to their governments the suspension of payments in the hues of an actual spoliation, will endeavor to misrepresent the other provisions of order and economy which are contained in the decree of the 17th of July, and to weaken the confidence which the new system might inspire with respect to the Mexican government. The two ministers, whose estimates in regard to the condition of the country are singularly inaccurate, will assuredly say to their governments, for they say so even here, that the liberal party in Mexico is incapable of governing and administering the republic; that there are symptoms of dissolution in the existing government; and that the early advent of some entity which shall personify compromise and the principle of order is inevitable. To Mr. Fuente, who fortunately knows so well the policy of Mexico, it is not necessary to point out how artificial, unsubstantial, and impracticable is this policy of com- promise which was imposed by the coup d'etat of 1857 and the events of Christmas, 1858, nor to say that the interests which have been created by the reform and the aspirations of the states which maintained the revolution for three years and made it triumph over colossal resistance form an insuperable obstacle to its development. They will likewise exaggerate the extortions and atrocities of which they may imagine the foreign residents in Mexico to be victims. Mr. Fuente must know that the government has hastened to afford reparation for damages which may have been occasioned to a few foreigners by the seizures of property for public use which have taken place during the late period ; and that the assassi- nation of Mr. Beale, an English subject, which occurred at Napolcs, and what a few foreigners may have suffered in their persons, are the work of the reaction, which atrocities the government is very anxious to put an end to, in providing itself with the necessary means of action. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 59 Mr. Fuente will try to correct the exaggerated idea which will not fail to be transmitted to Europe in regard to what is called the squandering of the national estates. Mr. Fuente is very well aware of the depreciation which these have suffered during the three yeai-s of the revolution ; the considerable portion of the debt which, agreeably to law, has been extinguished with them ; the deductions which it has been requisite to make in order to obtain some redemptions for cash, and which in the federal district alone and in two other dioceses amounted to ten millions of dollars ; and the existing rates for the payment of the public debt contained in the new decree. If Mr. Fuente deems it opportune, he can call attention to the circumstance that the men who have called loudest in the press for purity in operations of nationalization are exactly those who now form part of the ministry, and can remark that to obstruct now their reparatory action would be equivalent to obstnicting the correction of the abuse in the name of the abuse itself. The representative of Mexico should bear in mind that the French residents in the republic are those who have gathered the best fruits of nationalization, and that at this time, beginning with some of the rich bankers of the capital, they deplore the conduct of the French minister, and are even talking of drawing up a representation against him if the complications which he is exciting on purpose are increased. It should not be forgotten that, in order to have him do this, Mr. de Saligny is moved by the influences of the clerical party, some of whose members are yet sheltered in the French legation, and keep up a regular correspondence with Marquez and other leading rebels. It is of great importance that a correct idea should be formed in Europe of what the reaction in Mexico is, of its absolute want of political tendency, and of the hateful excesses to which it has abandoned itself, among which figure a series of assassinations that, though committed on obscure persons, are not less odious than that of Mr. Ocampo. It would conduce also to the object of these instructions if the position in which this government was placed at the middle of this month were well under- stood, and how its purpose to provide means of action under every event has been the salvation of the capital and of the neighboring States, threatened with an inundation in which nobody would have suffered so much as the foreigners, who are the especial object of hatred to the clerical party. No more than Justice will be done to the government ; but it is very important that it should be done, if the sovereigns of Europe are convinced of the firm and decided purpose which animates the present administration of the republic to shun the inveterate abuses which have rendered political revolutions in Mexico barren. It is important to place strongly in relief the spirit of order and morality which preceded the promulgation of the decree of the 17lh, as well as to vindi- cate the decree against those who ascribe to it despoiling tendencies. It is very proper to call attention to the character of the institution created under the name of the Treasury Board. In the appointment of its members (the approval of whom is pending in the congress) the government has disregarded political shades, and has only sought integrity and business talent. In the hands of this board the revenues of nationalization will not be barren; and since among them there are many bills which have reached maturity, and capitals of chaplaincies which will mature in a short time, the suspension of payments may be nominal for foreign creditors, and if they second the exertions of the board they may begin to make early collections of much importance. It would be well to let those who are interested in the debt, and their respective governments, under- stand that the government of Mexico is not blindly smitten with the idea which pervades the decree of the 17th, and that it will accept any other that is com- patible with its views of order and general adaptation, and with its need of re- sources for the pacification of the country. In discussing the means of provi- ding them, the idea may have evolved from the necessity under which the gov- 60 THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. ernment found itself of increasing the duties of importation in case the revenue from maritime customs continued to he appropriated for the public debt, making the most of the contrary measure which the government has adopted in its lib- eral amendment to the tariff, and which it is going to submit for the approval of the congress. As the English and French legations have no confid-ence in its justice at the bottom of the question, it is not strange that they should be Anxious to present it in the light of an outrage on France and England to publish the decree with- out any previous notice. Mr. Fuente's intelligence is too great to render it re- quisite to insist on the necessity which has existed on one part to act thus, and on the right, on the other, which every debtor has to declare, without the pre- vious consent of his creditor, the simple fact that he suspends his payments for want of ability to make them, designating at the same time certain guarantees of security. In regard to this it will not be useless to repeat to Mr. Fuente that every step of the government and every private conference which has taken place in the matter has been marked by the same moderation and forbearance as are to be observed in the written correspondence. The foregoing directions are applicable to the question, as well in its relations to the government of England as in those to the government of France ; but there are some duties to be per- formed by you which have a respective fitness for each of these two countries. In England, besides correcting the erroneous ideas which may be conveyed by Sir Charles "Wyke in regard to the condition of Mexico and to the future and tendencies of the present government, it would be very proper to present the question in its true light to the view of the bondholders and English merchants. The attention of the former might be called to the great inequality existing be- tween the parties interested in the English convention and the bondholders by exhibiting the prospect that a general adjustment of the public debt could not but remedy to some extent this inequality. It would nCt be impossible to imbue the minds of the holders of Mexican bonds with the idea that the prosperity of this republic and the consolidation of its government are intimately allied with their interests. ******* As to what relates to France, it would be very proper to render evident the paltriness of the remainder to which the French convention is reduced, this being the only acknowledged and liquidated debt, as the Penaud agreement re- lates in great part to claims whose amount has not yet been fixed ; and the con- vention recently made with Mr. Zarco has not even been approved by the con- gress. It may contribute much towards counteracting the ill offices of Mr. Saligny to represent them as the continuation of Mr. Gabriac's system and as part of an intrigue, with the design that a diplomatic complication may bring matters to the recognition of the shameful Jecker business. In this there is an interested effort in behalf of an individual, who is not even a Frenchman, con- trary to the real interests of others who are subjects of the empire, creditors of Mexico, and settled in this country. ******* For the completion of these instructions an idea must be given to Mr. Fuente of the political situation in which this country is placed at the present time. ***««** The reaction is represented in the bands of suspicious persons whom Mejia yet keeps in his hiding places in the mountain, and in those led by Marquez, who is still surrounded by the forces of the government, with the commanders of which some of the rebel chieftains have begun to enter into understand- ing. Some other parties, which appear here and there, are nothing more than bandits, who will come to an end now, when the government, provided with resources, can organize a pursuit of malefactors. The reaction, as a political tendency, is not very perceptible, and it is even suspected that it has been trans- THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 61 formed by invoking principles less equivocal and names less tateful than those of Marquez and Zuloaga. * # # # # While the forces of the government are intimidating or pursuing the reaction, the ministry, in permanent council, is occupied with the administrative details, to which the decree of the 17th and the circular that accompanies it have re- lation. ****** MANUEL MA. DE ZAMAOONA. Mexico, July 29, 1861. A true copy. LUCAS DE PALACIO Y MAGAEOLA. Washington, September 21, 1861. A true copy. KOMERO. No. 3. [Translation.] Decree. The citizen Benito Juarez, constitutional president of the United Mexican States to the inhabitants, know ye : That the sovereign congress of the union has deemed it well to address me the following decree : Article 1. Prom the date of this law, the government of the union will recover the complete product of the federal revenues, deducting from them only the expenses of the administration of collecting, and all payments are suspended for two years, including the assignments for the loan made in London and for the foreign conventions. Art. 2. The maritime custom-houses and all the other collecting offices of the federal revenues will surrender all their products into the general- treasury, being exclusively subject to the orders of the ministry of finances. On the loth and on the last day of each month, they will forward to the ministry a state- ment of their receipts and disbursements. Art. 3. Within the term of one month, the government will form and publish an economical estimate of aU public expenses, based on the estimate of the 3lst December, 1855, conveniently reduced. The government is to subject itself to this economical estimate from the 4ay of its publication, and congress only has the faculty of making changes afterwards. Art. 4. The payments in this estimate are to be made in the following man- ner : 1. The armed force in campaign and in garrison; the material of war; the invalids and disabled soldiers. These payments are to be made complete, but no surplus can be admitted. 2. The civil list in active service, and the military list not in service. These payments, if under $300, are to be made complete; if above $300, they are to be made in strict and equal proportion. 3. The classes pensioned by the nation are to be paid in strict and equal pro- portion, if the classes above mentioned have been paid before, as is ordered by the decree. Art. 5. If an order, not included in the estimates, is sent to the general treasury by government, an observation must be made by a cornmunication of the government; if repeated, the treasurer is to communicate it immediately to 62 THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. congress. If the treasurer does not make the observations here mentioned, he is to be destituted immediately. Art. 6. A superior committee of hacienda is instituted, composed of one president and four memljers named by government, with the sanction of congress. Two of them, at least, must be creditors of the nation. Art. 7. The attributes of the junta are the following : 1. To pay the loan made in London and the foreign conventions. 2. To pay the creditors not comprised in the law of the 30th No'^ember, 1850. 3. To pay legal and posterior credits against the nation up to the 30th June of this year, including those comprised in the law of the 17th December, 1860. 4. To receive the payment of what is due to the nation, if it be unknown to the collecting offices. 5. To administer and sell the nationalized clergy property, and to execute all the attributes of the law of disamortization and nationalization. 6. To make arrangements, with the sanction of government, with all the per- sons interested in, or that have any business relative to, nationalized property. 7. To distribute all the funds collected amongst the creditors of the nation. The product of the suppressed convents is to be applied to the creditors of the conducta of Laguna Seca, and after covering the estimates of the nunneries, the remainder is to be distributed to the creditors in the foreign conventions. Art. 8. In order that the junta may be able to fill the attributes conferred upon it by government, the following is assigned to it : All the "pagares" existing in the special disamortization office; the product of all pending redemption ; the capitals not redeemed belonging to the nation, the buildings of the suppressed convents, the lands, and ail existing materials. In the States and territories all the lands, convents, and buildings comprised in the law of nationalization, and all the products, except the 20 per cent, belonging to the same States and territories. The buildings and capitals expressly ex- cepted by government are not comprised in this article. Art. 9. All this property will form a fund distinct of public credit ; the em- ployers in the district, the chiefs ("gefes superiores") of the finance department in the States and territories are to forward immediately to the junta the titles, deeds, notices, and corresponding documents. Art. 10. In the special law published for the conversion of public debt, the part to be delivered by the States is to be fixed and regulated. Art. 11. The government is authorized to publish a decree taxing tobacco; this tax is to be collected for the federal treasury in all the republic. Art. 12. The government is authorized to increase, during the remaining months of this year, the alcabala of one-half per cent, more on national pro- ducts, excepting the articles of agricultural and manufacturing industry specified in the decree of the 24th September, 1855. Art. 13. The duty of " contra-registro " on foreign goods is increased to double in the district ; this increase is to be paid as long as the government may deem it necessary to fulfil the object of the following article. Art. 14. With the new product of the acabala, the "contra-registro" and the tax imposed upon tobacco, the government will pay with preference all the debts contracted from the 29th of last May, and all those that it may contract for the re-establishment of public tranquillity, leaving extant all the orders that have been given on account of " refacciones " for the payment of the money taken in Laguna Seca. Art. 15. The governors of States, and the employes of the collecting de- partment, have no intervention whatever in the federal revenues. Art. 16. The government is authorized to reform and organize within one THE PKESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 63 montli all the offices on such a base tlint their estimates be reduced, and is authorized to increase the salaries of some employes, and to reduce their number. Given in the sessions hall of the congress of the union on the 17th of July, 1861. GABINO BUSTAMANTE, Dejmhj President. FEANCISCO CENDEJAS, Secretary. E. ROBLES GIL, Deputy Secretary. For which I order that it be printed, published, circulated, and given due respect. Given in the natiocal palace in Mexico, the 17th July, 1861. BENITO JUAEEZ. No. 4. [Translation.] Secretajyship of State and of the office of foreign relations, Mexico, July 18, 1861. Most Excellent Sib : The persons whom the most excellent the president of the republic has honored by calling them to form his present cabinet esteem, as is just, this mark of confidence ; but they comprehend that they need besides that of the nation, in order to labor with a probability of success in the develop- ment of reform, in the arrangement of public administration, and in the pacifica- tion of the country ; and they wish, therefore, that their practical views for obtaining these results may have the greatest publicity. Neither the most excellent the president nor his ministers deceive themselves in regard to the public situation ; but, on the contrary, they believe that the bold purpose of confronting it in all its difficulties is the chief title which they can present to the sympathy of the nation. In order to fonn this purpose, the present ministers have had an example in the serene and fervent faith of the chief magistrate of the republic in the future of Mexico, and an incentive in the conviction which they entertain that there are not wanting in the country elements to raise it from its present prostration, and that it only needs the work of organization which accidental circumstances had hitherto rendered impossible for the government. The present one has now a very firm will to undertake it ; and, seconded, as it doubtless will be, by the good sense of the country and by the kindness of friendly nations, it expects finally to overcome the obstacles which have heretofore prevented administration from being organized and con- solidated in Mexico, and the fruits of political revolutions fr-om being witnessed. The confidence, therefore, and hope of the government to control the present situation is not alone based on the firmness of its purposes, but on the acknowl- edged patriotism of the representatives of the nation, and on the prudence of Mexicans and of foreigners who have linked their interests with the fate of the republic. The new cabinet, in laying down the ideas which are to serve as a rule for their administrative movement, cannot lay claim to the merit of originality, nor do anything else than give official form to the instinct of reor- ganization, morality and economy which for some time past has been developing itself among the majority of Mexicans. In vain have the people washed with their blood all the political principles ; in vain have they sought from them fruits of prosperity and welfare ; in vain have they just effected a great revolu- tion which shall in the future be an escutcheon of pride for Mexico as honorable as that of her independence. The instinct of the nation, enlightened by decep- tions and frustrated hopes, has comprehended that revolutions will be barren, and that the elements conquered on political and social ground will afford no fruit unless the work be crowned with administrative revolution. The reform 64 TEE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. which the Mexican people have proclaimed and put in practice leads to the con- quest of great material and moral measures for the public prosperity ; but the revolutionary and reformatory labor has still to enter its last and final, its organic period, in which the great Mexican revolution will yield fruit to the country, to civilization, and to mankind. The revolution must now assume a new phase ; it is no longer characterized by the antagonism of two political principles. An immense majority of the nation is on the side of liberty and progress ; and the monuments of tyranny and fanaticism having disappeared, the reform places its foot on the ground of administration. Administrative questions of order, of safety, almost of police, are those which occupy the public mind to the exclusion of others. To ex- terminate the reactionary bands whose number is not suiScient to give them political character, they themselves not claiming this, and who are now reduced to bodies of rascally conspirators against the property, honor and lives of the citizens ; to reorganize and expedite the administration of justice, in order that the law may be inexorably applied to the enemies of the public peace ; to re-es- tablish security on the principal routes of communication ; to regulate the postal service ; to abolish, as soon a^possible, all irregular and vexatious imposts ; to give encouragement to all branches of the national prosperity ; and to render visible and palpable the revolution whjch the Mexican people have effected — these are the objects which at present preoccupy the national mind. For the attainment of them the treasury question has a special importance. Generalized as are opinions and interests throughout the republic in favor of liberal refoi-m, it is only requisite to provide the legitimate power, with efficient means of repression against certain interests, in a minority, which are opposed to the national tendency. The country does not lack those elements of action which the government needs, and all that is necessary is to organize them under a foreseeing, methodical, and economical administration. For this eminently practical work the government has not to go back into the speculative sphere, nor will follow any other inspiration than that of a solicitous and honored father of a family, who wishes in good faith to put the domestic finances in order. The nation has material and moral elements enough to pre- vent its leading a hfe of anxieties and discredit ; it needs nothing more than order, economy, uprightness, to escape from these troubles and disgraces ; and the government, in adopting resolutely this system, has no other merit than that of taking for the rule of its future conduct a detennination which the blows of adversity have commended to the general approval of the nation. The new ministry does not believe in the necessity of making a profession of political faith, because, in its judgment, the period is beginning to arrive when politics is no longer to be the question of the day. Mexico belongs decidedly and irrevocably to reform and democracy, and it will be sufficient for the govern- ment to declare, although the antecedents of the citizen charged with the execu- tive power would excuse him even from this, that it professes all the principles of the progresista creed and which are contained in the constitution and in the laws of reform. This is already a fact, and it has only been necessary that it should be drawn from the confusion and elevated to the rank of a solid and regulated institution. Ill order that the legitimate power may not descend to the level of the van- dalic bands who destroy the republic, it will not contend against them by devastating and destroying, but by repairing and organizing. It is an error to suppose that every attempt at organization ought to be postponed until society has no enemies to battle against. The labors of organization are exactly those which will bring about a final triumph over the enemies of society; and only the power which succeeds in organizing society will place on a secure basis the conquests of the revolution. The government, therefore, instead of contending from revolutionist to revo- lutionist—instead of adopting robbery and spoliation as a means of action, THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 65 wishes to confine itself to the system of tutelary powers which save society without harming it. The peculiar character of the epoch into which the revolution has entered and of the cabinet which has just been organized consists in this, and the gov- ernment earnestly desires that this character may be put as much in relief as possible in the eyes of the nation. Notwithstanding this, and that the ministry professes with faith, with plenitude, and with fervor the principles of reform, this will not be the only word which it will inscribe on the frontispiece of its work, but it will add those of reorganization, order, economy, and morality. But it does not write them as they have been so often written in political programmes ; it employs them as the outcry of national opinion, which has opened a road for itself at last to official regions ; it utters them not as a mere word, but as the echo of an intimate and vehement conviction, not as a promise, but as a fact, as a series of measiires which from this very day begin to be put in practice. If the government succeeds in having the firmness, depth, and penetration of its resolutions for creating and moralizing the public administra- tion understood from the tone of its voice ; if it succeeds in causing to be per- ceived the novelty of this tendency from its dominant and almost exclusive character ; if it succeeds in having its labors considered as a powerful effort to satisfy the instinct of order and reorganization which has been foi-med in the country under the influence of experience and of misfortunes ; if it obtains that in this manifestation may be seen the announcement of the day, long waited for, and which must arrive at some time, in which the spirit of economy and repara- tion may transform what for a long while has been in our society a chaos in which no political principle could fructify, it is certain that the measures with which it inaugurates its new march, after the halt which circumstances have compelled 4t to make for a few days, will be considered not as a new revolu- tionary convulsion, but as the first sign that matters in Mexico are beginning to be composed and to be placed on a solid basis. It has heretofore sufficed that the nation, plunged into a morass, should make unusual exertions to get out of it, but succeed only in sinking deeper at every step. It is now time that it should seek a firm spot whereon to place its foot, so as to gather up all which it has been able to save from the flood, and to secure its own interests and those of the foreigners who have confided in its integrity. The government cannot furnish peace, safety, and progress to the inhabitants of the republic, nor observe hereafter scrupulous fidelity in its compacts, if it is not allowed to breathe for a moment free from the burdens which have op- pressed it, to gather up its resources, and to regulate those sacrifices which it has never ceased to make, but which have been barren to the coimtry and its creditors for want of regularity. Between chaos and administrative reorgani- zation, between the revolutionary tempest and the prosperous futm'e whfeh the reform promises to the republic, it is necessary that there should intervene a day of reclusion, of review, of classification, in which the country might unite all its elements and organize them, in order to apply them immediately to the- fulfilment of its engagements. This work, far from alarming any legitimate interest, ought to inspire faith and to tranquillize everybody, since it is equivalent to placing the obligations of the republic on a solid and permanent guarantee, ,which they have never had. The creditors of Mexico have been living in an edifice with- out foundations, and the government now wishes not to dislodge them, but that they should leave the place disencumbered for a few days, in order that the building may be strengthened, which was threatening ruin. This is the meaning and this will be the practical result of the annexed decree, which, on the proposition of the ministry, has just been carried by a vote of the H. Ex. Doc. 100 5 66 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. federal congress. It tends to put in play the means whicli intelligent opinion has for some time past indicated as the only efficacious ones for creating a public treasury in Mexico, and for rendering the exertions of the government in re- establishing order and peace not unfruitful ; it tends to render impossible here- after the abuses which have made barren for the people, properly so called, the reforms proclaimed and carried into effect during the late period ; it tends to turning to profit the treasures which yet remain of the national states by apply- ing them to the important object of paying off the public debt ; it tends to place on the government itself a wholesome restraint by means of the foi-mation qf a budget which will be the most economical of all which have been prepared ; it tends to impose restrictions and conditions on the administrative power, as far ,as reason will permit ; it tends to pass the level of proportionate distribution over all citizens whom the nation has to remunerate for any service ; it tends to abolish every preference which is not based on the public convenience ; it tends to limit the power's of the states and of the federal government in treasury mat- ters by re-establishing the legal bounds which disappeared diu-ing the revolu- tion, and without which there is no possible order or administration ; and it tends, finally, to insure the compensation of the judicial power, without which civil guarantees will be ever nominal, and impossible that stern and inexorable justice which should be applied to the disturbers of the public peace. Society, for whom these advantages are in preparation, for which it has hun- gered and thirsted for some time, will not complain if, in return, some sacrifice is demanded of it. Nor will the susceptibilities of the local authorities be hurt, if they are inspired alone by their patriotism, to which the republic appeals through the voice of the federal government, and if they consider that this is the first which begins by imposing restraints and clogs on itself in order that it may be quick only for the welfare of the nation and in economising its revenues. The government has succeeded in having the national representation do jus- tice to these %'iews, and it experiences more pleasure than it would feel in speaking of a beneficent proposition exclusively its own in declaring that the movement to which the annexed decree is due has done nothing more than anticipate the chamber's inclination for order, morality, and economy. In this it naturally reflects national opinion, which sees that the, time has arrived for measures suitable for guarding against the ruin to which the republic has been drawing nigh, and from which no merely political revolution could save it. The congress not only has accepted, but has completed and perfected this idea of the govern- ment, which may be called revolution in administration — administrative reform which comes to crown political and social reform. If the idea be seconded by the state authorities, if it be seconded by public opinion, which has preluded it for some days past, if it be seconded, as is to be hoped, by the friendly nations whose experience has counselled Mexico for so long a time to enter into the path of economy and order, this country, from which other nations of the earth have expected so much, will commence finally to pay its contingent to universal civili- zation. There will be security, peace, and prosperity in Mexico; the adminis- tration of justice, properly organized and compensated, will render the laws effective; the reactionary bands, placed between the energetic pursuit of the armed force and the inflexible action of the courts, will cease to devastate the land; the general police will re-establish security on the public roads; trade and commerce will be revived ; capital, which in some countries cannot aspire to ^ more than a paltry interest, and which in others is at present threatened by great convulsions, will move without fear to the republic, at the same time that colonists are coming to settle in it and to render fruitful a thousand schemes of material improvement which the public insecurity keeps barren. The govern- ment does not wish to flatter the nation with pleasing prospects only, nor must it speak further than of the first labo'rs undertaken after the reorganizat^n of the cabinet, because its purpose is that deeds shall serve as a programme. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 67 At tte very time of proposing the annexed decree, it has taken steps that before long will afford security on the roads of the interior and Vera Cruz, and will re-establish the regular postal service on these two highways. Into the pur- poses of the ministry enter measures of security on a large scale, and the realization of which is intertwined with that of the annexed decree, because the question of security is also a question of resources. For the purpose of using all the regular force to pursue the remains of the reaction, the government is laboring earnestly in perfecting the establishment of the national guard in the district, aud in purging it from the abuses which on other occasions have corrupted it, and which lately began to be visible. The government, which has the firm purpose of extirpating forever from the army of the republic the thousand corruptions which have made of the military budget the cask of the Danaides, and of putting an end to the shameful contracts which only have served to build up great ifortunes on the ruins of the public treasury, could ill permit those same abuses to be implanted in the order of citizen militia. Yielding to the indications of public opinion, and wishing to lose not a minute in giving impulse to the branches of public prosperity, at the same time that it is engaged in forming propositions and in gathering statistical data necessary to put in practice the constitutional principle in regard to the abolition 'of internal custom-houses in the republic, the government has proposed in the congress to suspend that part of the decree of the 8th of April of this year, in which it has been provided that the payment of duties of importation may be made with fifteen per centum additional in shares of the interoceauic railroad, and it has formed a plan for the amendment of the tariff' in a liberal sense, setting out most especially to improve in good faith the condition of commerce, which has been so much damaged by smuggling. The ulterior labors of the ministry will have reference to reforms equally modest, but no less absolute and important. The government is confident of realizing them, and is firmly resolved to do so by organizing, so to speak, the reform, and by making it fruitful through the medium of administration, provided it meets with support and sympathy in the country, and with kindness and a spirit of equity in friendly nations, as is to be expected from their own interest and from that which they take in the civili- zation of the human race. Should it be thus, the government will have con- tributed in its sphere to the salvation of the republic ; in the contrary case, it ■will succumb with the consciousness of having embarked in a noble enterprise, and with the dignity of taking no step backward in its radically organizing tendencies. The federal government relies, for the realization of the measures to which the annexed decree relates, and of others which are to follow, on the efficient co-operation of your excellency, whose patriotism cannot but impel you to unite in a reform which will render fecund all the others that the nation has con- quered, and whose practical barrenness is being made an argument of bad faith against the progresista revolution. The undersigned avail themselves of this opportunity of tendering to your excellency the assurances of their distinguished consideration. God, liberty, and reform. ZAMAOONA. RUIZ. , BALCAECEL. ZAEAGOZA. NUNEZ, His Excellency the Governor of the State of . Washingto.m, Septemher 21, 1861. X'A true copy. '^ KOMERO. 68 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. No. 5. Sir C. Wyhe to Senor Zamacona. MExrco, July 19, 1861. Sir : A printed paper, as strange in compilation as in the nature of its con- tents, was this day hawked about the principal thoroughfares of the city, and has now, I see, been rejjrinted in the columns of this evening's " Siglo." According to the wording of this document, it would appear that congress has thought fit to make a free gift of other people's property to the government of the republic, by suspending, for the space of two years the payment of all assignments, as well to the London bondholders as to the parties interested in the foreign conventions. Until I hear from you to the contrary, I am bound to consider this announce- ment in the light of a falsehood; for I cannot bring myself to believe that a government which respects itself could sanction a gross violation of its most sacred obligations to other nations, and then proclaim the fact of their having done so in a manner which, if possible, aggravates the offence. That the representatives of those nations who are thus slighted and injured should be allowed to learn, in the first instance, by handbills circulated in the streets, that you have repudiated your engagements, is as unaccountable as the policy which could dictate a measure alike fatal to the character and credit of the repi^blic. I will not dwell on other obnoxious paragraphs of this publication, as at present I cannot believe it to be authentic ; for when your excellency did me the honor of calling on me to-day ypu in no way alluded to a subject which would otherwise surely have formed the chief topic of your conversation. Awaiting a reply at your earliest convenience, I avail, &c. 0. LENNOX WTKE. No. 6. [Translation ) MEXICAN EEPUBLIC, DEPARTMENT OP INTERIOK AND FOREIGN RELATIONS. Legation of France in Mexico, Mexico, July 20, 1861. Mr. Minister : There has for thirty-six hours been circulating through the principal streets of the capitol, under the signature of his excellency the presi- dent of the republic, a printed document, as extraordinary in form as in sub- stance, and which has been repubhshed by several dailies among others, by the "Siglo XIX" of yesterday. It treats of nothing less than a law approved the 17th July, by congress, and sanctioned on the same day by the president, in which, by the first article, without making mention of other completely inadmissable provisions, the sus- pension of payment upon the foreign conventions for two yeai-s is ordered. It seems to me superfluous to say ta you, Mr. Minister, that 1 have had no hesitation in considering this document as apocryphal and false. In fact, I would have thought that I was doing injustice to your government by believing it capable of _acting thus, disregarding its most sacred obhgations THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 69 b in regai-d to the lawful property of anotlier, and taking part in an attempt, as audacious as insensate, upon the rights and dignity of France ; an attempt the more insulting even, if that be possible, because of the absolute silence observed by the government towards the minister of his imperial Majesty upon this pretended law of the 17th of July, before and after the vote in congress, and the approval by the president. I am, therefore, persuaded, Mr. Minister, that you will hasten to disavow an act which, without speaking of the terrible and inevitable consequences to which it will expose Mexico, will only compromise in the gravest manner its character for loyalty and its credit. And in the hope of prompt and satisfactory reply from your excellency I avail myself of this occasion to renew to you my as- surances of most distinguished consideration. A. DE SALIGNY. His Excellency Mr. Zamacona, Minister Jbr Foreign Relations of the Republic of Mexico. Mexico, My 27, 1861. True copy. • LTJOAS DE PALACIO T MAGAROLA. Washington, September 21, 1861. Copy. ROMERO. No. 7. [Translation ] MEXICAN LEGATION AT THE UNITED STATES OF AMEKICA. Mexican Republic, Department of Foreign Affairs, National Palace, Mexico, July 21, 1861. The undersigned, &c., has the honor to inform his excellency Sir 0. Lennox Wyke, &c., that the decree which forms the enclosure to this note has passed the federal congress of the republic, and that the undersigned brings it to the cognizance of his excellency on account of its connexion with the diplomatic conventions and their payments. From the known ability and sound sense of her Britannic Majesty's minister, the Mexican government are led to hope that his excellency, so far from seeing in the above decree any cause for alarm on account of those interests which are under the protection of the British legation, will, on the contrary, perceive in this act of the legislature a proof that the republic is anxious to arrive at an estimate of their resources ; to organize those resources in the most profitable manner ; to cut at the root of such abuses as have hitherto brought censure upon the government, the supreme power being the first to submit to the restrictions and other conditions necessary for this object ; and at the same time to place the engagements and obligations of the nation upon such a footing as will insure them in future a sure and lasting inviolability. To fulfil faithfully their international compacts the Mexican government have made almost superhuman efibrts, and can show results of no ordinary kind, such, for instance, as the present balance-sheet of the Mexican debt, whereby it is seen that no very notable change has been brought about therein by the 70 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. I continuous state of revolution. During ttis crisis, on the contrary, the position of foreign creditors has improved ; in the midst of its greatest embarrassments the nation has gone even so far as to increase the rate of interest for paying off the public debt, and has thus deprived itself of the very means which were at its disposal for terminating the civil war ; in other words, the nation has paid its creditors their gold with the blood of its citizens. Since the revolution began the republic has been thirstiag after peace, order, and security ; yet the government, fully convinced though they were of being able to right themselves if only they could count upon any means that would really admit of action, hesitated long before laying hands upon the funds destined for the payment of their foreign debt. So great, indeed, was their re- spect for these funds, that they preferred to sacrifice their obligations to Mexi- cans, to trample under foot the most cherished principles of their country, nay, even to imprison persons of the highest respectability, in order to obtain re- sources from the sums paid for their release, rather than touch a cent of the assignments destined for the diplomatic conventions and the London debt. So hateful an expedient, although it has served to prove their good faith to- ward other nations, has not been and never can be efficacious ; so that the gov- ernment has now to start afresh, as they should 'do, upon different principles, and with the fixed purpose of thoroughly reorganizing their plan of administra- tion, and of having recourse, not to temporary expedients, but such a system of taxation as from its nature will, while adding fresh vigor to government, abolish once and for all the old system of forced imposts. To carry out this principle the republic has need of its entire revenue, and of conscientious and practical persons to administer the same, and this is the intention of the law which the undersigned has the honor of placing in Sir Charles Wyke's hands. The present government of the republic has to meet, on the one hand, the demands of society and civilization^or order, and guarantees, on the other, those of the foreign creditors for nearly the entirety of the public revenue. So cir- cumstanced, no government could hesitate as to the course to be taken. The nation, then, has yielded to the cry of society and civilization, has given way before a pressure too heavy for it to bear, but it has done so merely in order to recover strength and then return to the charge. The government of the undersigned originated the measures contained in the enclosed decree, and possibly they are the first rulers in the country who have religiously and honestly xmdertaken seriously to consider the nature of their obligations, and to discover the best means of meeting them. It is impossible for Mexico to attempt any administrative reform or the re- establishment of peace and order if she has to support the burden of the national debt. To enable her, however, to remove whatever has led to those numerous ques- tions which have so incessantly occupied the attention of foreign representatives and the finance department, and to do away with the system of forced imports ; to enable her to free herself from the necessity of breaking through her own liberal principles and overtaxing foreign imports ; to enable her, in short, to procure some portion of the money now paid by the maritime custom-houses toward the extinction of the debt, it is necessary she should be allowed a short respite wherein to recover herself, as well as the full use for a few days of her entire revenue. In that case, by proper management and economy, public order and tranquility would be re-established, and the revenue of the country, with the exception of what was absolutely requisite for the proper protection of society, set apart to meet the payment of arrears. The government of the undersigned considers that a debtor, so long as he is actuated by honorable feelings and a full determination to carry out his engage- ments, does not forfeit his dignity in presenting himself to his creditor and THE PRESENT CONDITIOK OF MEXICO. 71 frankly confessing he is, though temporarily so, unable to pay his dehts ; and the sole object which that government now has in view is, to prove to the world that they are really and truly resolved upon attempting administrative reforms in the country, as the only means left likely to produce any amelioration in its political condition. They 'perfectly understand that they have to struggle against the unfavorable impression caused by the abuses and irregularities al- lowed in former times, yet it does not escape them that they have inherited this fresh difficulty in addition to the others which they have now to combat, though they are not ashamed of such difficulties, inasmuch as this is no exceptional case in the annals of Mexican revolutions, nor is it the work of the present ad- ministration. A nation, like an individual, has the right to ask to be judged by its own acts, and not according to preconceived prejudices or partial comparisons. When the president pf the republic convened the members of the present government, they" each and all, with heartfelt sincerity and honesty of purpose, hailed the idea of at once fearlessly grappling with the difficulties of the problem, upon the solution of which depended the great question of reform. They saw that the nation lacked not the material elements of such a work, but merely their proper organization. Nor were moral elements wanting ; for were there not proofs to the contrary in the general longing for the time when, upon the spurious and self-interested promises of a frivolous and corrupt minority, there should be buUt up lasting institutions, under whose protecting influence Mexicans and foreigners alike would deem their honor, lives, and property secure ? The government saw that the nation was weary of its state of anarchy, that it cursed the abuses and the recklessness which had brought upon it discredit and ruin ; they saw, in fact, that the majority in the country asked but honesty of purpose from the ruling power, and they did not hesitate to consecrate their efforts ex- clusively to respond to so just a call. The cabinet of which the undersigned is a member takes pride in its firmness of purpose, and considers that it merits the sympathy and co-operation of foreign representatives, whose presence in the republic is not solely for the protection of specified interests or nationalities, since their mission is equally one dedicated to the cause of humanity and civilization. Sad indeed would it be if history had one day to recount how that this country, after the most trying vicissitudes, came to be ruled over by men who, without any supernatural gifts and animated solely by their patriotism and their experi- ence, shrunk not from making one final effort — an effort such as never yet had been made^ — to establish in Mexico the rule of reason and morality, yet that this effort was shipwrecked on the prejudices and scepticism of the most enlightened nations of the world in respect to Mexico's future and Mexico's capabilities for reform. Every impartial person must look upon what is now passing as a proof of the energy and loyalty which Mexico is displaying in her endeavors to attain that position which reason and prudence dictates. G-overnment, at the outset, has procured and dedicated to the interests of the public debt all the national prop- erty. They have initiated a system of economy which is already in operation ; and, as a result thereof, have imposed upon themselves and their subordinates such restrictions and self-denial as have never yet been imposed by any former administration. They have further been occupied with the details of a pro- gramme based upon those principles of economy which experience has proved to be necessary. Great progress, too, has been made toward establishing public order and tranquility by the steps taken by government, for tracing out clearly the position which the States hold in respect to the supreme federal power. Moreover, the departments of state now are denied to those who would hold office simply to speculate in the gains of the reigning disorder and confusibn, and the present rulers of Mexico would sooner sink under their difficulties than 72 THE PEESENT CONDITIOIT OF MEXICO. yield an incb. of tlie ground on wliicli they have taken their stand in defence of reform and morality. All those who have interests in the country — all, indeed, who would see civ- ilization on the increase — should aid the government in attaining the objects they have in view, instead of throwing obstacles in their way. The great European powers are extending their sympathies at the present hour to those countries who are striving to join the rest of mankind in the great work of civ- ilization, and Mexico would fain hope that she ii not alone to be ex!cepted. The very creditors of Mexico themselves should, the undersigned thinks, in their own interests, feel that great encouragement is given to them at the present moment; for it is not the republic alone that is now concerned in the proper regulation of the public debt under surer guarantees^ and in the necessity of consolidating the same. The creditors of the nation have even a higher interest at stake, inasmuch as by no other means than those already mentioned can they expect to obtain greater advantages than those they now possess, notwithstand- ing that they have gradually acquired for themselves almost the entire revenue of the country. This very circumstance is regarded, and with reason, as a proof of non-stabUity, while it equally produces distrust in people's minds, a state of things no less prejudicial to the republic generally than to its creditors. Upon this point natural instinct cannot be deceived. As matters now stand, whether in respect to the country or the creditors, it might be possible that the drain upon the revenue could be continued for the space of a few months, but it would be possible only at the price of certain ruin alike to the cotmtry and the creditors. Had the government hesitated to adopt the measures for a radical financial reform, to which sufficient reference has already been made, they would have been either compelled, against their principles and inclination, to impose fresh taxes upon foreign importations, or quietly to submit to every interest con- nected with social order being swallowed up in the flood of anarchy — an idea too horrible to be thovight of. To avoid either of these extremes the government, guided by their conscience and feelings of patriotism, suggested the plan contained in the enclosed decree. If, as it is to be hoped, it should meet with support and sympathy from other nations, Mexico would be able to raise her voice and proclaim aloud that she ■ had entered upon the one road that could lead to her salvation. Should it be otherwise, the nation must perishj and with her all those interests which are so closely connected with her future prosperity. Be this as it may, the govern- ment that in these stormy days rules over the destiny of Mexico will have had the honor and glory of initiating and doing battle for the only means left that could save their country. The undersigned would feel obliged to her Majesty's envoy extraordinary if his excellency would transmit a copy of this note to his government, and avail himself, &c. MANUEL DE ZAMAOONA. Mexico, July 29, 1861. True copy. LUCAS DE PALACIO Y MAGAROLA. Washington,' September 21, 1861. • True copy. EOMEEO. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 73 [Ti-anslation.] No. 8. MEXICAN KEPUBLIC, MINISTRY OF FOREIGN RELATIONS. National Palace, Mexico, July 21, 1861. The undersigned, minister for foreign relations, has the honor to answer the note which his excellency the minister of France has been pleased to address to him in relation to the decree passed on the 17th instant by the federal congress, and in which provision is made for the suspension of all payments, including that of the debt contracted ia London, and that of the diplomatic conventions. This decree is perfectly authentic, and his excellency the minister of France would have had no occasion to express his doubt uppn this point in the note to which this serves for answer, if his occupations would have allowed him to receive the undersigned, who went yesterday to the French legation as soon a^ the decree mentioned was communicated to his department by that of finance, in order to make to his excellency Mr. de Saligny some confidential explanations before officially communicating to him the resolution' of congress. The undersigned had the Ul-fortune to find his excellency the minister of France occupied and invisible, and had to return to this department to solicit, as he did, a private conference by means of a note which he despatched to the French legation before receiving the note which Mr. de Saligny pleased to send him at the close of the afternoon, and to which I have now the honor to reply. The undersigned flatters himself with the hope that the reading of the law, which he remitted in a separate note to his excellency the minister of France, will suffice with his excellency to rectify the opinion which he expresses in his letter of yesterday on €he ground that the decree of congress does not arbi- trarily dispose of any property, nor break any of the ties of obligation which bind the republic. The said decree and the note with which the undersigned had the honor to send it to the French legation, are, on the contrary, a virtual ratification of the international engagements of Mexico, accompanied, also, by a frank and loyal declaration that she could not at once fulfil them without preju- dice to public order and to peace, and without endangering the very existence of the nation. In this declaration, Mr. Minister, is neither audacity nor folly ; but, on the contrary, a melancholy submission to the law of necessity, and a prudent recourse to the only expedient which can save the republic from anarchy. Truly, the undersigned does not comprehend in what manner the dignity of France can be offended by this protest made by an impoverished nation ; that it is not possible for it without some breathing time to continue carrying, at heavy costs, the weight of debt by which it is oppressed. This declaration refers only to a fact which has long since been proclaimed. There is no reason for considering as an insult that the republic, reduced to the last extremities, has declared the fact officially and solemnly, without previously asking the consent of its creditors. • His excellency the minister of France has the goodness to give the under- signed a hint of the terrible results to which the step which occasions this note may give place, and upon the influence it would have on the credit of the nation and on the belief in its loyalty; and the undersigned must frankly answer that the government, full of a confidence which it does not fear will be disappomted in the good will and equity of friendly nations, has not supposed that a greater evil could threaten the republic than social dissolution and anarchy, and that this act of menace does more injury to its credit than the frank and honest 74 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. declaration tliat its obligations, wMcli it new holds in greater respect and acknowledges more than ever, exceed at this moment its ability to meet them. The undersigned takes the liberty to refer to the note which he addressed to his excelleri.cy Mr. de Saligny, transmitting with it the decree of the 17th instant, and concludes by renewing the assurances of his distinguished con- sideration. MANUEL MA. DE ZAMACONA. His Excellency Mr. A. de Saligny, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Ms Majesty the Emperor of the French. Mexico, July 29, 1861. True copy. LUCAS DE PALACIOS Y MAGAROLA. Washington, September 21, 1861. True copy. EOMERO. No. 9. [Translation ] Senor Zamacona to Sir C. WyJce. • Mexico, July 21, 1861. The undersigned, minister for foreign affairs, has had the honor of receiving from his excellency Sir Charles Lennox Wyke, her Britannic Majesty's envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, the note in which his excellency re- quests to be informed whether the decree of the federal congress providing for a total suspension of payments, not excepting those of the London bondholders and diplomatic conventions, is or is not authentic. His excellency's request might have been looked on as anticipated by the explanation the undersigned had the pleasure of making yesterday at the lega- tion only a few minutes after the note, to which this is a reply, had been sent to the foreign office — indeed while it was yet on its way there ; but the private character of that explanation renders it incumbent upon the undersigned to recapitulate a portion of it in the present communication. In the first place, he begs to assure Sir Charles Wyke that so soon as the decree of yesterday was made known to him through the department of finance, he proposed to bring it at once to the cognizance of his excellency, though anxious that this step should be preceded by a visit, at which it was the inten- tion of the undersigned to give Sir Charles Wyke a fuller and more detailed explanation of the decree in question, its purport and probable results, than was compatible with the limits of an ofiicial note. In the meanwhile, however, the decree was duly and formally pubHshed and printed in the daily newspapers, and this will account for his excellency the British minister having seen it befo];e he received either an explanatory communication or visit from the undersigned. Sir Charles Wyke will now allow the undersigned the liberty of stating that he does not consider his excellency has formed a correct estimate of this decree when he says the congress therein makes a free gift to government of other people's property. Her Majesty's w:orthy representative likewise goes on to qualify the act of congress as a total suspension of payments for the space of two years ; still, it will not escape his keen judgment that the application of the term " free gift" to what is merely the act of ratifying certain obligations, and specifying the mode of fulfilling the same, amounts to a misnomer. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 75 Neither can the undersigned agree with Sir Charles Wyke in his opinion that the decree in question is a violation of Jlexico's most sacred obligations toward other nations. Such a phrase would imply the idea of a voluntary and delib- erate act; whereas the republic, in suspending the payments due to the diplo- matic conventions, yielded not to the dictates of its own free will, but solely to the force of circumstances, which have rendered it morally and physically im- possible for the nation to continue making those payments which have hitherto been made by means of the most strenuous exertions. When, then, such efforts have been una^s'ailing, the government "may be permitted to say so without any want of respect either for itself or for those nations with whom they may have engagements. To every obligation there is attached the tacit condition of possible fulfil- ment or non-fuliilment, and nobody has ever been judged faithless to his en- gagements for having, when compelled to suspend payment, stated the simple fact of such engagements being incompatible with possibility. Of such a nature is the statement contained in the decree that has now passed congi-ess, and her' Majesty's minister should not be astonished that it did so pass congress, or that it was afterwards published without the previous consent of the diplomatic representatives in their character of protectors to foreign credi- tors, for it must be treated of as the mere declaration of a simple fact, in no way tending to the modification or prejudice of the interests connected with the public debt. It will not have escaped the clear judgment of Sir Charles Wyke, acquainted as is his excellency with the actual situation of the republic, that the suspension of payments which has lately been decreed, which only expresses what has long been the public feeling, and has formed the subject of confidential conver- sations with some members of the corps diplomatique, as well also as with some of those most interested in the foreign debt, has been brought about by an im- perious necessity which did not admit of any preliminary arrangement or adjust- ment. The government had to choose between two evils — either to respond to public opinion by adapting the only existing means of preserving order and re- organizing the whole administrative system, or to look quietly on and leave society to become an easy prey to the prevailing ana,rchy. Government, considering the preservation of order to be its first duty, and believing that for the positive good of all who had interests at stake in the country some one plan should be undertaken which would tend to consolidate 'those same interests, presumed they might count, to a certain extent, upon the assent of the creditors. Sir Charles Wyke, then, wiU thus understand why the imdersigned, holding, as he does, these opinions, can neither look upon the decree originating this note, as repudiating national engagements, nor as prejudicial to the good fame and credit of the republic. In order the better to understand the true force and purjjort of the decree, the undersigned would beg to refer her Majesty's minister to the note which has been addressed to the legation for the purpose of announcing to his excellency the act of congress ; and if Sir Charles Wyke considers that, in the visit which the undersigned had the honor of paying yesterday at the mission, he was only performing such an act of courtesy as should always precede any ofiicial or ct)n- fidential conferences upon matters of business, his excellency will cease to wonder at the absence of special reference to the subject of this communication during the conversation which then took place. 'The undersigned, &c. MANUEL DE ZAMACONA. 76 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO No. 10. MEXICAN LEGATION AT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. i Mexican Republic, Department of Foreign Affairs, Mexico, July 22, 1861. Sir : In reply to your communication bearing yesterday's date, wLiicli I have just liad the honor to receive, I will endeavor to answer seriatim the objections you have to oifer to the statements contained in my note to your excellency of the 19th instant. You state the reasons why the financial decree was not, sooner communicated to this legation, and say that you were anxious personally to explain to me the motives which had originated it; but what I complained of was that it should have passed into a law without the intention even of carrying it into execu- tion ever having been announced to me. When two parties bind themselves to perform certain stipulations, neither of them has the right to free himself from such obligations without having first of all obtained the consent of the other contracting party. With regard to what you say about the impropriety of my calling this act of congress a giving away of other people's property without their consent, permit me to observe that I am perfectly justified in making that assertion, for in matters of this nature time is often equivalent to money, and the arbitrary act of stopping all payments for the space of two years is depriving the parties interested of their money for that space of time, which is a dead loss of so much value to them. The imperious necessity which you urge as an excuse for the act cannot in any way justify the manner in which you have made yourself sole judges of that necessity, without first of all urging it on the forbearance of your creditors, in order to obtain their consent to what you were about to do. A starving man may justify, in his own eyes, the fact of his stealing a loaf, on the ground that imperious necessity impelled him thereto ; but such an argu- ment cannot, in a moral point of view, justify his violation of the law, which remains as positive, apart from all sentimentality, as if the crime had not had an excuse. If he was actually starving, he should have first asked the baker to assuage his hunger, but doing so of his own free will, without permission, is acting exactly as the Mexican government has done towards its creditors on the present occasion. Although, as your excellency truly obsers'es, the law just published does not certainly affect the rights of the parties interested, yet it does most positively touch their material interests by depriving them of payments on which they had counted to fulfil their other engagements. With regard to the hope of immediate relief which you seem to entertain from the operation of this measure, I am convinced that it will, on the contrary, greatly aggravate the actual difiiculties under which you are now laboring, and that for reasons so evident that I will not now advance them. , I am not aware that the project of this law was showii to other diplomatic agants, but I certainly never heard of it before under its present form, and, therefore, as far as I am concerned, the case stands exactly as I have stated it. With regard to the light in which your excellency views this question, as ex- pressed in your above-named note, you will, I am sure, excuse me for stating that it cannot be treated of partially without also taking into consideration the opinions of those who directly suffer from the practical operation of such ideas aa emanating from yourself and the other members of the government who sub- mitted the project to the congress. With respect to what you mention about a note addressed by your excellency THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 77 to this legation with reference to this matter, I must inform you that it has never reached me, and that, therefore, I had a full right to complain, as I did in my communication to you of the 19th, of having first of all heard of this extraor- dinary measure of the government by seeing it in printed bills placarded through the public streets of the capital. I have, &c., 0. LENNOX -WYKE. His Excellency Senor Don Manuel M. de Zamacona, Minister of Foreign Affairs. P. S. — Since writing the foregoing lines the note of your excellency, alluded to above as missing, has been put into my hands, it having reached this legation an hour and a half later than the one to which this is a reply. 0. L. W. Mexico, July 29, 1861. True copy. LUCAS DE PALCINO Y MAGAEOLA. Washington, September 21, 1861. Tru.e copy. I EOMEKO. No. 11. Sir C. Wyke to Senor Zamacona. Mexic.o, July 23, 1861. Sir : Tour excellency's note of the 21st instant reached me yesterday after- noon, by which I learn that the decree forming its enclosure has passed the federal congress of the republic, and that you forward it to me as directly beaiing on the stipulations of the diplomatic convention for the payment of British claims concluded between Great Britain and Mexico in the year 1851. I have already so fully explained to you in my notes of the 19th and 22d of this month what I think of this decree and the manner in which it has been issued, that any further observations of mine with reference to it would only be superfluous, and prolong a correspondence which should never have been called for at all. As to the appeal you make to the indulgence and forbearance of her Majesty's government, in order to obtain their sanction to a measure which is of itself suScient for ever to deprive you of their confidence, I need only remind you that such indulgence has already been too far abused by the utter failure of all your engagements in the affairs of the Oalle de Oapuchinas and the Laguna Seca for it to be again extended to those who, instead of feeling grateful for it, only seem to count on its exercise in order to free themselves from every obligation, however binding it may be. Apart from these considerations, however, the carrying out of this financial law, so far from benefitiog the nation, will only plunge it into tenfold greater difficulties by largely increasing its obligations to its creditors, and at the same time striking at the root of its credit and commercial prosperity. That which is in itself wrong can never come right, for it is a well-known axiom that spoliation as a source of revenue soon exhausts itself It is not by such means that the resources of the cotmtry can be augmented, but by a determination to make every sacrifice and incur every privation with a view of maintaining your honor and fulfilling your engagements. This detei-mi- 78 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. nation once adopted and manfully put into practice would at once inspire confidence and rally round you those whose sympathies you now appeal to in vain, because they doubt from past experience both your prudence and your sincerity. In using language thus strong you must not attribute to me a desire to offend, which is indeed far from my intention, but I have a duty to perform both to my own government and to that to which I am accredited, which impels me fearlessly to tell the -truth and warn you against the inevitable consequences of a step alike fatal to your own interests as well as to those of my countrymen affected by this law. It now only remains for me to protest most solemnly, as I hereby do, against this decree, at the same time that I hold the republic responsible for all and every damage and prejudice caused by it to the interests ' of those whom I represent in this matter; and further to warn your excellency that unless the said decree is withdrawn within forty-eight hours from this present time I shall, unto. I receive fresh instructions, suspend all official intercourse with the Mexican government, as any longer maintaining such under existing circumstances would be incompatible with the dignity of the nation I have the honor to represent. In compliance with your request IL will transmit a copy of your excellency's note of the 21st instant to her Majesty's government. I avail, &c., C. LENNOX WYKE. I [Translation.] No. 12. MEXICAN REPUBLIC, DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR AND FOE,EIGN RELATIONS. Legation of France to Mexico, Mexico, July 23, 1861. Mr. Minister : I received yesterday, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the two notes you have done me the honor to address to me under date of 21st July. I am n'o'w causing a translation to be made of that of the two notes by which you give me official cognizance of the decree of the 17th of this month; but while awaiting this, that I might reply and in my turn inform you of my deter- mination on the substance of the business, I cannot pass without answer the observations by aid of which you seek to reply to my commimication of July 20. I had declared to you, Mr. Minister, that independently of the fact that the measure was in itself an outrage upon the interests and dignity of France, the silence observed upon the subject by your government towalrds the minister of the Emperor, as well before as after the vote of congress and the approval by the President of the decree of the 17th July, rendered this act still the more insulting, if that were possible. To-day, and after having read your explana- tions, I persist moi^ than ever ui seeing in the silence of your government a fresh insult, gratuitous and premeditated, addressed to France. To justify your government, you tell me that so soon as you were informed by the minister of finance of the existence of the decree in question you came to my house to give me confidential explanations before contmunicating to me officially the decision of congress, but that you were so unfortunate as to hit upon a moment in which I was engaged and invisible. It is very true that through a misunderstanding for which I feel bound to express to you all my regrets, and which is explained by the fact that you did not make yourself known to my chancellor, Mr. de Morineau, I was deprived of THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 79 the lioiior of receiving your visit on the 20th of this month. But allow me to remark that this circumstance, apart from the personal regrets I experienced, is without any importance. A simple collation of dates will be sufficient to con- vince you. The decree voted upon the 17th, and approved on the same day by the executive authority, was on the 18th, by order of the authorities, posted on the corners of the principal streets of the capital, and published in various journals. But it was on the 20th, at four o'clock in the afternoon, at the moment when I had just despatched to you my note, that you called at my house to give me some confidential explanations ! Shall I add that it must seem very strange that the chief of the cabinet should not have been informed by the department of finance of a measure of such weight until three days after it had been adopted by the executive power, and published for forty hours through the street criers and the journals'? Such a fact would not be of a nature to give a high opinion of the manner in which your governmental machinery is managed. This is not the time to refute the reasoning by aid of which you undertake the impossible justification of an inexcusable measure. But I will not pass un- noticed certain expressions in your note intended to portray in the most touching hues the sad condition of your country, and which seem to imply an appeal to the feelings and to the generosity of the government of the Emperor. France, Mr. Minister, I can say, to its eternal honor, has never been insensible to the sight of a government contending with unmerited misfortunes, and bravely striving to preserve social order and civilization. But such is not, I say it with profound regret, the situation of your government. The difficiilties under which it succumbs are only the inevitable result, the forced and foreseen consequence of unheard of waste, of plunder and prodigality without name, of unbridled disorder, of abuses without example, of which since its accession it gives a sad spectacle. To permit at this time that, arming itself with its delinquencies even, against which the minister of the Emperor has not in vain endeavored to place it on its guard, it should lay hands on the lawful property of our subjects, on the resources devoted, in virtue of international conventions of the most sacred character, to supply a tardy and inadequate reparation to Frenchmen, innocent victims during so many years of a system of depredation and spoliation without example in any other coimtry, would be on the part of France, not generosity, but veritable self-deception, an improvidence the more unpardonable, because if I have not much faith in the efficacy of the remedy proposed, I could not, let me frankly avow it to you, have any greater confidence in the hands intrusted with its application. I pray your excellency, Mr. Minister, to accept the assurances of my very distinguished consideration. A. DE SALIGNY. His Excellency Mr De Zamacona, Minister of Foreign Relations, National Palace, Mexico. July 29, 1861. True copy. LUCAS DE PALAOIO Y MAGAEOLA, Washington, September 21, 1861. Copy. ^ EOMERO. 80 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. I [Translation.] No. 13. MEXICAN REPUBLIC, DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR AND FOREIGN RELATIONS. Legation of France to Mexico, Mexico, July 24, 1861. Mr. Minister : <\ have to answer the communication which your excellency did me the honor to address to me the 21st July to bring officially to my knowledge the decree of the 17th of this month, of which I shall hasten to transmit a copy to the government of the Emperor. I have experienced, perhaps, more regret than, surprise on learning, Mr. Minis- ter, that this measure of the 17th July, in the existence of which I refused to believe for the honor of Mexico, was in sooth an authentic act, adopted by your government with deliberate purpose, but in the shadow of concealment, as if, through a final revolt of its own conscience, it might itself shrink back in the blaze of daylight from the avowal of such an enormity. The impression which the government of his imperial Majesty will receive on learning this fresh assault on the rights and dignity of France, as well as all the circumstances connected with it, will not be different, I am convinced, from what I have myself felt. Your excellency certainly does not expect from me that I should here enter into a discussion of the decree of July 17. It belongs to things that are not discussed. What need have I, moreover, to give myself to useless efforts to convince your excellency that in our conversations you have not hesitated to blame almost as energetically as myself this deplorable measure, even at the moment when, by a contradiction for which I cannot account, you undertook to justify it by means of arguments, more specious than solid, deduced from I know not what pretended considerations of necessity and public safety. The measure of which we treat worthily crowns the system by the help of which, after several months, your government has wrought itself up to elude, to deny, or to violate its obligations towards the government of the Emperor. In the situation in which you have just placed it, nothing will remain to France than one single means of defending and avenging her rights and her honor, outraged with indignity — ^immediate resort to force. It is for your government to decide if it will leave affairs to come to this extremity. Awaiting its decision, I have, Mr. Minister, a last duty to discharge ; that is, solemnly to protest in the name of France, as I here do, against your decree of the 17th July, declaring to you that I hold the republic responsible for all the damages it may cause to the subjects of his imperial Majesty, and that, in fine, if this measure be not recalled and annulled within twenty-four hours from this instant, I shall break off all official relations with your government, these rela- tions having become incompatible with the dignity of the government which I have the honor to represent. I pray your excellency to accept the assurance of my very distinguished consideration. A. DE SALIGNT. His Excellency Mr. Zamacona, Minister of Foreign Relations. National Palace, Mexico. Mexico, July 29, 1861. A true copy. LUCAS DE PALAOIO Y MAGAROLA. Washington, Septemher 21, 1861. A true copy. EOMEEO. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MESICO. 81 No. 14. [Translation.] MEXICAN REPUBLIC, DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR AND FOREIGN RELATIONS. National Palace, Mexico, July 25, 1861. The undersigned minister of foreign relations believes that he ought to make some remarks to his excellency the minister of France on the subject of the two last notes which he has thought proper to address to this department because of the decree of the 17th instant. Before all, the undersigned should explain that whatever may have been his private information of the measure stated, and of the initiative which was the origin of it, he could not officially communicate it to his excellency Mr. de Saligny before it could be communicated to him by the department of finance, a step iaevitably posterior to the promulgation of the decree spoken of. This ■will put an end to the astonishment which his excellency the minister of France exhibits, and will obviate the possibility of perversion of the meaning of the explanations which the undersigned has given upon this point. The surprise and sorrow which his excellency the minister of France states that he experienced on learning oflScially the publication of the decree referred to are things which the undersigned does not undertake to comprehend in treating of a measure which has rested a long time on the public attention, which has been discussed«by the press, and whose unavoidable necessity has passed into a proverb. The undersigned considers himself excused from further remark when the very representative of the French empire has had the frankness to recognize this necessity in private conversations, in referring to some that he had had with one of the predecessors of the undersig-ned about the arrange- ment not only of a delay in favor of Mexico for the payment of the debt to France, but even of an alleviation of the enormous weight with which the foreign debt oppresses the republic. The undersigned must also set in proper light the allusion which his excel- lency Mr. Saligny makes to the blame which in private conversations he says he had cast upon and now reduces to writing upon the n\easure which is the cause of these communications. What the undersigned has stated to the minister of France is the decided preference which he would have given to a conventional arrangement for the suspension of payments enacted by congress, and the regret with which he has had to submit to the hard law of necessity ■which did not give the time needed by the government for entering upon pre- vious conventional arrangements, which, though initiated with this intent, could not effect an immediate result, on account of accidents foreign to the essence of the business ; and meantime the extreme moment arrived in which the govern- ment literally could not do any other thing than suspend payments, and trust for some general arrangement of the public debt to the presumed consent of the parties interested. This is what the undersigned has constantly said to his excellency the minister of France, and thus it falls out that, while deploring the impossibility of entering into pre^vious arrangements, he may have influenced the conduct of the government upon the overmastering considerations of necessity and of public safety. The government of the undersigned protests against the imputation thrown upon it of ha^Wng systematically endeavored, in these latter times, to elude, dis- regard, and violate its engagements with the government of the Emperor. The facts and the correspondence of this department with the French legation bear H. Ex. Doc. 100- 82 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. witness to tlie coBtrarj. For three years past Mexico, notwithstanding she found herself in the midst of difficulties and complications without example, in place of eluding her liabilities has ratiiied them, has confirmed them, has given strength to them by means of acknowledgments in which there has been, perhaps, somewhat of improvidence, and which have contributed much to the difficulties with which the goveniment now contends. At this very moment the nation acknowledges all the rights which are derived from its international engagements, but finds itself compelled to declare that those rights cannot, for a certain period, be regularly provided for by the receipts from the maritime custom-houses, because these constitute the only available and immediate resource of the government, and are not sufficient to meet the serious, although temporary, dangers with which the public is threatened, and the interest upon and funding of the public debt. The decree of the 17th instant does not repudiate any obligation, nor do anything but place in their appropriate order those which the government main- tains towards civilization and society, and those which it is under to its creditors. In all this decree there is not a single word that can reveal any tendencies to spoliation. It is nothing but a declaration on the part of the Mexican people, in the same terms in which such is made daily by traders and merchants who find themselves under actual impossibility to fulfil their engagements. The only difierence is, that between individuals the disputes between creditors and debtors are, in such event, carried before the courts, and between nations are brought before the supreme tribunal of justice and of equity. His excellency Mr. de Saligny in his last note declares that he declines this jurisdiction, and prefers to carry the matter before the tribunal of force. It is strange that the minister of Trance, to whose'intelligence the rules which preside over human revolutions must be familiar, should regard as an exceptional characteristic of that of Mexico the irregular course of public events in the months immediately close upon the downfall of the reaction, and that, arming himself with those recollections, now that the double quick step of reform has slackened, as well as the impetuosity which the revolution brought from the fields of battle — now that we hear the voice of those who claim to organize and direct it, should declare the Mexican people to be unworthy of all equitable consideration, and should oppose the advent of order and regularity precisely in the name of that inevitable disorder. On the other hand, if that has existed, it must be that Mr. de Saligny ought to reflect that, far from having brought prejudice to French interests, it is proverbial that his fellow-countrymen have been the most benefited by what the minister of France calls the prodigalities of the revolution ; and in reference to this, the undersigned takes the liberty to ask Mr. de Sahgny to look into his conscience and search whether the violent language with which he enforced his criminations of Mexico is worthy of the noble country which he represents, and in whose sentiments it is impossible there should exist a wish to abuse its position as a creditor; and this when France is not so with respect to Mexico, unless for a relatively small amoimt, and when out of this affair there cannot, on the other hand, any question of dignity be raised, because that would be equivalent to saying that the poverty and the embarrassments of Mexico may affect the dignity of France. The nation has restricted itself to declaring, by means of the decree of the 17th, the condition of its complication and its penury, without repudiating any of the rights created in favor of its creditors, and, on the contrary, by coming forward and offering new guarantees. It cannot be unperceived by the practical wisdom of his excellency the envoy of France that he asks an impossibility from the government of the under- signed in requiring from it, within twenty-four hours, the abrogation of the decree of the 17th instant. Neither the government could initiate this abroga- tion, because that would be to initiate anarchy and social- dissolution ; nor THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 83 could congress, which passed that law almost by acclamation, convinced that it was of vital importance to the republic, listen to the initiative. The protest with which his excellency the minister of France closes his note appears to the undersigned so much the more superfluous, because he has him- self anticipated it, so to say, by protesting, even from his iirst notes upon this business, that the ultimate resolutions of congress can in nowise affect the legiti- mate rights of parties interested in the foreign debt. The undersigned permits himself, moreover, to remark, saving his respect for the sound judgment of Mr. de Saligny, that far from seeing an act becoming the honor and dignity of the French empire in the suspension of relations, which its representative announces he believes it to be very possible that impartial na- tions should look upon this step as absolutely without motive, and hopes, from the^ prudence of the minister of France, that until he receives instructions he may keep up the cordial understanding, for whose interruption no cause what- ever exists, and which may so much contribute to the satisfactory solution of this business. The undersigned is gratified to offer, on this opportunity, to his excellency llr. de Saligny the assurances of his very distinguished consideration. MANUEL M. DE ZAMAOONA. His Excellency Mr. A. de Saligny, ^., Sfc., Sfc. Mexico, July 29, 1861. A copy. LUCAS DE PALACIO Y MAGAROLA. Washington, September 21, 1862. A copy. ROMEEO. Xo. 15. Senor Zamacona to Sir C. Wyhe, [Translation.] Mexico, July 25, 1861. The communication which his excellency her Britannic Majesty's minister was pleased, under yesterday's date, to address to the undersigned upon the subject of the decree of the sovereign congress proclaiming a total suspension of pay- ments, not excepting those of the diplomatic conventions and the London debt, has rendered it incumbent upon the undersigned to make certain explanations, without which it might be supposed that his government had accepted asirrefiitable some of the facts and statements therein adduced by Sir Charles Wyke. Once and for all, then, the undersigned rejects the notion entertained by his excellency in his notes of the 19th and 22d instant, that the decree of the 17th implies an act of spoliation. This act of the legislature carries with it no legal right whatever to rob foreign creditors of what belongs to them. The nation, in whose house of representatives the decree in question was carried with scarcely a dissenting voice, has never sought to disavow the rights which have accrued to others from international compacts. Still she has been forced to declare that, for some time to come, such rights cannot continue to be a drain iipon the revenue of the maritime custom-houses, for that revenue — the only one government possesses for immediate purposes — does not suffice for the actual exigencies, temporary though they be, of the country and society, and at the same time for the payment of the interest end principal of the public debt. Government have obligations 84 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. to perform both towards society and their creditors. They cannot perforin both at once, and consequently, by the decree which has originated this note, govern- ment have done nothing more than place those obligations in their legitimate order, wthout attacking or disavowing any of them. His excellency her Majesty's envoy extraordinary, while attempting to clothe the act of congress in the garb of spoliation, has in one of his former notes employed a simUe, the inaptitude of which is strikingly perceptible. His excellency compares the governmeilt at this moment to a person who, impelled by hunger, assaults and robs a provision merchant. Now, two ruling principles are implied in such an act — one of aggression, the other of robbery — neither of which can even be assumed in respect to the conduct of government towards its creditors. Of not a sixpence have these same creditors been deprived ; and if one had to employ a simile to qualify the conduct of government, it would be rather that of a father overwhelmed with debts, who, with only a small sum at his disposal, scarcely sufficient to maintain his children, employed it in the purchase of bread instead of in the payment of his bills. Were her Britannic Majesty's representative a member of the family, would his excellency be eager to qualify his father's conduct by the name of spoliation 1 In every-day life one is accustomed to see people who suspend payment owing to pecuniary embarrassments, yet nobody seeks to call them thieves. Now, in the decree, upon which her Britannic Majesty's minister passes so severe a sentence, not a single word is there which can give rise to the idea of thieving propensities. Payments, it is true, are stopped because government cannot pay out of the funds assigned to it. They are stopped because the nation, to be orderly, and at the same time methodical in the accounts of the public debt, wants as soon as possible a government ; yet still, with feelings of loyalty, and with a solicitude worthy both of being more justly appreciated, she has given her ■creditors a twofold guarantee ; firstly, in the plan itself, so complete, so impartial, a plan wherein looms a prospect of solid stability ; and secondly, in the assign- ment of a special fund of several millions, (most of which can shortly be realized,) whereby, even during the period of suspension, (in their case nominal,) the foreign creditors will obtain even better secmity than what was given them in the maritime custom-houses. It is not, M. le Ministre, about sacrifices or money that Mexico is haggling; that which she is defending are the principles of order; that which she is longing for is system and organization, without which she is lost ; and she is searching after prudence and method, so that she may never again be accused of slovenliness and mismanagement by those who regard as a national vice what is but a phenomenon inseparable from a state of revolution. It is well, too, to state accurately the attitude of Mexico before her creditors, both as it was and is ; for it is not such a one as his excellency her Majesty's envoy describes in his last note. To judge therefrom, our republic has never been aught than an indigent debtor, who from time immemorial has responded with ingratitude and bad faith to the undeniable generosity and indulgence of her creditors. The undersigned shuts his eyes purposely to the history of the foreign debt, for neither would he wish to employ the bitter tone of Sir Charles Wyke's note, nor give the slightest indication of Mexico's belonging to the set of faithless debtors who, to avoid payment, dispute the legality of their obligations. Mexico, on the contrary, recognizes in a high degree her engagements, and will abide by them, moreover, without taking exception at the antecedents of the original con- tract. But the undersigned is convinced that, when this correspondence shall have come to light, all who are familiar with the history of our external debt, all who are acquainted with the primary elements of the British convention, and know how the parties interested therein were allowed the advantages of increased THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 85 interest iu the midst of a ruiaous civil war, and in the days of Mexico's hardest struggle, will see something strange in the allusion of his excellency her Majesty's minister to the indulgence of which the foreign creditors were so prodigal, but which the republic so systematically abused. Had the demands of the creditors been somewhat fewer, then, perhaps, the fulfilment of international engagements might have come within the range of possibility. Mexico, however, has been like those fields where the hai-vests have been out of proportion to the fertility of the soil, and the day comes when the land becomes impoverished, yields nothing, and is obliged to lie fallow for one or two years. The undersigned considers he should not pass over in silence the charge which is made against his government of having failed to fulfil their engagements in respect to the funds seized at the British legation by functionaries of the reac- tion, and to the money-convoy " occupied" at Laguna Seca. In the first case, government, with the consent of the legation, engaged simply to make the perpetrators of the act responsible, and if such means did not lead to the desired result, viz., indemnity, to discuss others which might do so. No one, then, can say that untU now government has not fulfilled their engagement in this case. As for the affair of Laguna Seca, when government undertook to repay, within the space of four months, what remained unpaid of the amount " occupied" out of the " conducta," they did so at a time when they could not foresee that the remnant of the reaction would turn refractory, and oblige them to enter upon an expensive campaign, which would upset all their financial calculations. Notwithstanding this, however, they have made every kind of sacrifice, monetary and otherwise, to keep intact this special debt ; to an extent, indeed, that has left them in possession of but a small available surplus. No one who does justice to the Mexican nation can refuse to acknowledge the exemplary manner in which she has endeavored to satisfy her creditors, to the unstable disparagement of national interests. The actual amount assigned for the payment of the foreign debt during the residence of the constitutional government at Vera Cruz, and that, too, at a time when the re-estabhshment of peace was being laboriovisly worked out, and when, consequently, the country could iU sustain the heavy demands made upon it, speaks volumes in itself. The little faith manifested by his excellency Sir Charles TVyke as to the results of the financial law and the small value he puts upon the guarantees it gives to foreign creditors, do not seem to be shared ia by the parties themselves who are interested in the diplomatic conventions, since it is only within the last few days that government had all but concluded an arrangement with them, the basis of which would not have interfered with their present rate of interest* but it could not be perfected owing to her Majesty's envoy extraordinary having refused to sanction it. The same may be said of the creditors in the matter of the Laguna Seca " conducta." Guided by natural instinct — so infallible a rule where individual interests are concerned — they did not, like Sir Charles Wyke, entertaiu any doubts about the prudence and sincerity of the government. And touching these said doubts, amounting, as they do, to an insult, his excellency will permit the undersigned to exhort him to commune with his conscience, and ask it whether or not the tone of his excellency's last communication is such as should be used by a creditor, calling himself generous and indulgent, towards a friend who is in his debt and overwhelmed by difficulties. It cannot escape the enlightened understanding of his excellency the repre- sentative of Great Britain that, in demanding from the government of the un- dersigned the withdrawal, within forty-eight hours, of the late decree, he simply demands an impossibility. Neither could the government initiate the with- 86 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. drawal, for it would be equivalent to initiating the reign of anarchy and a general dissolution of society ; nor could congress, who had carried this law almost by acclamation, and who were convinced of its vital importance to the republic, listen for a moment to such a proposition . The protest with which his excellency her Majesty's envoy extraordiaary concludes his note appears to the undersigned so much the more supei-fluous, as in his very first note upon this subject the undersigned had, so to speak, also protested, but against the supposition that the last act of congress in any way affected the lawful rights of the persons interested in the public debt. The undersigned will further take the liberty of stating, with all due deference and respect to Sir Charles Wyke's sound judgment, that, very far from seeing in the suspension of relations, now announced by his excellency as representa- tive of Great Britain, an act due to the honor and dignity of England, he thinks it not improbable that all nations, who consider the matter impartially, will look upon this step as absolutely uncalled for ; and he therefore trusts that his excel- lency, while awaiting the instructions to which he alludes, will continue his friendly relations to this government, for the interruption of which there can be no possible cause, while their maintenance will surely contiibute to the satisfac- tory solution of the present difficulty. The undersigned, &c. MANUEL DE ZAMACONA. No. 16. [Translation.] Legation of France in Mexico, Mexico, July 25, 1861. Mr. Minister : I announced, in a note which I had the honor to address to your excellency yesterda^, that if the decree of the 17th of July was not with- drawn and annulled within the period of twenty-four hours I should break off all oflScial relations with your government. The term fixed by my note having expired without my receiving a satisfac- tory reply, I must regard your silence as a refusal to accede to my request. _ Consequently, I have the honor to inform you that from this moment all offi- cial relations are broken off between the legation of his Imperial Majesty and yovtr government. I beg you to accept, Ifr. Minister, the assurance of my very distinguished consideration. ^ A. DE SALIGNY. His Excellency Mr. M'l de Zamacona, Minister of Foreign Relations, National Palace, Mexico. WASHI^•GTON, Septemlcr ai, 1861. A true copy. EOMERO. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 87 No. 17. [Translation,] MEXICAN REPUBLIC, DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN RELATIONS. National Palace, Mexico, July 25, 1861. Tlie undersigned, minister of foreign relations, has the honor at this instant to receive the note which his excellency the minister of France has pleased to address to him, announcing the suspension of his relations with the government of Mexico. His excellency Mr. de Saligny must have received the note which, at five o'clock yesterday afternoon, the undersigned had the honor to send to him, showing the absolute want of motive for a suspension of relations between the. government of the Emperor and that of the Mexican republic ; and as little can there serve for cause of the resolution which Mr. Saligny announces that lapse of twenty-four hours, which it pleased him to fix upon in his last note but one, inasmuch as that was not received at this department until seven o'clock last night. The undersigned refers to what is contained in the last communication, and avails himself of this opportunity to repeat to his excellency the minister of France the assurances of his most distinguished consideration^ MANUEL MARIA DE ZAMACONA. Mexico, July 24, 1861. A true copy. LUCAS DE PALAIOS Y MAGAEOLA. Washington, September 21, 1861. A true copy. ROMERO. To his Excellency Mr. A. de Saligny, Envoy Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Sfc, of France. No. 18. Sir C. Wyke to Senor Zamacona. Mexico, July 25, 1861, 5 p. m. Sir : The day before yesterday, at this hour, I had the honor of informing your excellency that if the decree of the 17th instant was not withdrawn within forty-eight hours I should feel it my' duty to suspend all oflGicial intercourse with the Mexican government untU I should receive instructions from her Britannic Majesty's government as to the next step to be taken in a matter which not only implies the breach of a solemn international compact, but also cames with it so great a slight as almost to amount to a direct insult to the nation I have the honor to represent. The term having now expired within which I should have received a reply, and none having reached me, I take your silence as a refusal of my demand ; and I therefore from this time forward suspend all oificial relations with the government of this republic until that of her Majesty shall adopt such measures as they shall deem necessary under circumstances so unprecedented. I have, &c. C. LENNOX WYKE. S8 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. No. 19. Senor Zamacona to Sir C. TVylce. [Translation.] Mexico, July 2.5, 1861. The undersigned, &c., has this moment had the honor of receiving from his excellency Sir' 0. Lennox Wyke, &c., the note in which his excellency is pleased to announce the suspension of his relations with the government of Mexico. Sir Charles Wyke must have received the communication which the under- signed had the honor of addressing to him at 5 o'clock this afternoon ; this will prove the utter absence of any motive for a suspension of relations between the government of Great Britain and that of the Mexican republic. Neither can the.-e be any cause for the resolution taken by Sir Charles Wyke, in the expiration of the forty-eight hours fixed by his excellency in his note of the 23d instant, (as the term to be allowed to government for answering the ultimatum,) inasmuch as it was only 7 o'clock in the evening of the 23d that the above note was received at government house. The undersigned, in calling attention to his last communication, avails, &c. MANUEL DE ZAMACONA. No. 20. Sir C. Wyhe to Senor Zamacona. [Private.] Mexico, July 26, 1861. Dear Sik : At 7 o'clock yesterday evening, that is, two hours after the ex- piration of the forty-eight hours in which I had required a reply to my note of the 23d instant, I received yours dated the 25th, to which, consequently, I can only reply by a private, letter, as its contents have in no way changed the reso- lution which both the French minister and myself have been driven to adopt by the extraordinary and unjustifiable conduct of the Mexican government with reference to the decree of the 17th instant. A careful perusal of your above-mentioned note has convinced me that mine of the 23d, to which it is a reply, has not been properly translated to you, as you put some things into my mouth which I never said, and so twist the sense of others as to give them a totally different meaning from what they really convey. Passing by this, however, I will only revert to the really essential part of your note, which is the refusal to rescind a financial scheme, the maintenance of which, besides plunging the republic into further pecuniary difficulties, will have the effect of bringing it into collision with the two first maritime powers of the world, and that, too, in a quarrel which you have originated, and where, permit me to say, you are quite in the wrong. As I am, in thus writing to you, unfettered by the reserve imposed in an official corronespdence, I may tell you frankly that you are leaning on a broken reed when you trust to the sympathy of those whose interests Mexico has sys- THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 89 tematically sacrificed to lier own. This is proved by the history of the foreign debt as applicable to the bondholders, -which it would be well that you should carefully study, and you will then see that the repeated engagements made with them have up to the present moment always been either entirely evaded or only partially executed, as, for instance, when after consenting to a reduction of interest of from 5 per cent, to 3 per cent, on the condition of receiving certain payments from the duties levied in the Paciiic ports, they do not receive one sixpence from that source, and are only very partially paid from the Atlantic custom-houses. I will not dwell on the long and dreadful list of murders committed on my unfortunate countrymen, which, with one exception I believe, have remained unpunished from the date of your independence down to the recent dreadful butchery of poor Mr. Beale at Napolis. Do you think that these lamentable facts are calculated to gain our sympathy or inspire us with confidence in a people who thus violate their engagements with us, and kill om- fellow-subjects with perfect impunity 1 It is really time that the government of Mexico should open their eyes to the natural consequences produced by such conduct, and should become aware of the unfavorable opinion entertained of them iu Europe. Whose fault is it that the country has been deluged in blood ever since the declaration of its independence, but that of its own citizens, in constantly m'aking revolutions and carrying on a series of fratricidal wars amongst themselves, which have reduced one of the finest countries in the world to misery, and so degraded its population as to make them dangerous, not only to themselves, but to everybody coming into contact with them ? You appeal to the generous sentiments of creditors towards an unfortunate debtor bowed down by his difiiculties, forgetting that that debtor, with only common prudence within the last six months, might at this moment be actually free from debt, had he not wilfully and recklessly squandered the millions he then had at his disposal. As to the mode of payment proposed to certain British claimants, to which you allude in your yesterday's note, it was so impracticable as to be unaccepta- ble to all of them, when its real nature was pointed out to them. With regard to what you say about the Laguna Seca robbery and the lega- tion outrage, it is useless for the Mexican government to deceive itself, by calling the former an "occupation of funds," and the latter a deed performed by the " functionaries of the rfea'ction." The first was a theft, and the second an un- heard-of violation of international law, committed by a government recognized by every European nation, and for both these crimes, as yet unattoned for, Great Britain will surely hold this republic fully responsible. I have already extended this letter to an undue length, and must therefore conclude, but, before doing so, let me again urge you, for your own sakes, to retrieve the fatal error you have made with regard to this decree, by immediately withdrawing it ; for otherwise all official intercourse between this legation and your government becomes impossible, and you will remain with the responsibility attaching to an act which, both in form and substance, is perfectly unjustifiable. Trusting that you will receive what I have now written in the spirit which really dictated these lines, I will take leave of a subject which is a much more serious one than seems to be supposed by the Mexican government. In a second note of yours, received yesterday, you complained that my note, written at 6 o'clock on the 23d, only reached you at 7 o'clock on that day, and that consequently, in writing to you yesterday at 5 o'clock, you had had only forty-six instead of forty-eight hours' delay before the suspension of official re- lations. This I regret, but it was not my fault, as on both days I despatched my note from here at half-past five in the afternoon. In point of fact, however, the two 90 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO hours thus lost are of no importance, as you refuse to withdraw the obnoxious decree. Believe me, &c., C. LENNOX WYKE. No. 21. Senor Za7nacona to Sir C. Wyke. [Translation ] Mexico, July 27, 1861. My Dear Sir : I have had the honor of receiving your letter of yesterday, and I am glad that it gives me the opportunity of asking you to listen once more to the voice of one who is as sincere as he is honorable; of one whose love for his country is only excelled by his love of justice and reason ; of one who is confident that you will be brought to do justice to the intentions of the Mexican government, for, as if by inspiration, he knows you to be possessed of similarity of sentiment with himself. It cannot be that, talented and generous as you are, you have yet thought it strange that government should refuse to withdraw the decree of the 17th instanL Your conscience must tell you, M. le Ministre, that it is an impossibility you ask of government, for how could they entertain your proposition ? The mere preliminaries for the suspension of a law which had passed congress would take up more time than what you have allowed for deciding whether or not our offi- cial relations were to be maintained. This single fact would account for the position taken up by government, as well as for their determination to meet boldly dangers and difficulties, oven greater than those which you have had the goodness to warn me against. Such a step as the one you now propose, if taken by Mexico, could not but prove suicidal to her political standing as a nation, for it would be equivalent to the surrender of her constitution and her sovereignty into the keeping of the foreign diplomatic body, and that, too, in a matter where my inmost conviction tells me that justice is on our side. Still, as in the correspondence which has passed between us during the last few days, I had seen the opposite doctrine sustained, and heard the conduct of my government qualified repeatedly as unjustifiable, I began to distrust my own convictions about equity and common sense, so much so that I sought to justify myself and my country by a reference to international law, and I can only say, now that the work of reference is over, that my former convictions are only the more confirmed. I perceive, M. le Ministre, that writers on international law hold it to be a general principle, that any change of circumstances, or the positive inability of one of the parties in a contract to fulfil the same, does of itself nullify a bond ; and since I likewise, in my turn, may be permitted to avail myself of the advan- tages of a private letter, I will take the liberty of doing what might be con- sidered in the light of pedantry were I writing to you officially, and make certain quotations which bear upon this question. Grotius and Corcellus hold that " the obligation which results from a compact ' becomes null and void so soon as its fulfilment becomes impossible." Wheaton, too, has the following passage:- "Treaties may be avoided, even subsequent to ratification, upon the ground of the impossibility, physical or moral, of fulfil- ling their stipulations. Physical impossibility is where the party making the Stipulation is disabled from fulfilling it for want of the necessary physical means THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. 91 depending on himself." In Martens we read, "Physical impossibility in a nation to fulfil treaty engagements absolves it from the obligations of the com- pact, but not from the obligations to make indemnity, should it be proved that the physical impossibUity could have been foreseen, or that it was caused by the nation itself." And Hefiter has the following remarkable sentence: "The con- tracting party may refuse to fulfil his engagements, when their fulfilment becomes impossible and is likely to remain so, even though the contract be violated ; moi-e especially if private duties, or the rights and wellbeing of a people are con- cerned." I could go on quoting, but I should exceed the limits of this note were I to bring forward the numerous authorities upon this recognized principle of inter- national law. There is, M. le Ministre, something inexplicably harsh in denying the right of Mexico to the sympathy of her^creditors, and i in saying that she has syste- matically sacrificed their interests to her own. I had already, before receiving your advice, studied the history of the English debt, and my research has shown me that from the very date of the London loan the republic has been a loser, its actual loss amounting to something like 8,000,000 dollars; that when bonds were issued in the year 1824 she did noth- ing less than make good at par what she could have made good at 50 per cent. ; that later on she, lost several millions in the failure of those British firms who had been mixed up in the business ; yet, that still, notwithstanding the civil war which has for years been raging in the country, she has made the bond- holders such remittances as cannot but have filled their pockets beyond what could have been expected, considering the circumstances of the country. But this refers solely to the exterior debt, which perhaps has sufiered less than any- thing else from the vicissitudes Mexico has had to undergo, since, at all events, this particular debt has been attended to with something like the very care and method which the government is desirous of employing in respect to the entire public debt. While her Majesty's legation is talking about the history of the exterior debt, it would be well if, instead of turning their attention solely to the question of the London loan, which has no diploipatic character whatever, they looked into the matter of the British convention, and stated frankly who really have been the suflFerers in this business, and who have had to make sacrifices and undergo hardships. Let them say whether or not the republic has come off scot-free, when in the midst of her difficulties she has gone on punctually paying the as- signments of the British convention, and even increasing the r^te of interest on those assignments. In one of my last official communications I mentioned to you that feelings of delicacy prevented my entering into the details of the convention question. I can, however, in a private letter call your attention to the kind of elements composing this diplomatic arrangement, and to the consequences resulting there- from; indeed, it is only a few days ago that an English paper in this capital brought the matter to light, and proved nothing less than that Mexico had been paying for some tobacco concern at the rate of two ounces for each box of cigars. As to the complaints which you have made about the robberies and murders that of late have been committed in the republic, though they have not solely been committed upon the persons of Englishmen, but equally upon Mexicans, nobody need have less cause to blush than those who, like the present govern- ment, are giving the most positive proofs of how much they are taken up with this subject, and of their anxiety to put a stop, at any price, to such atrocities, and who were actually on the point of procuring the means of carrying out their intentions, when those means were protested against by the British legation. Who, you ask, is to blame for the present state of affairs, and for the wars 92 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. whicH have teen desolating the republic ? I will tell you in all frankness, M. le Ministre, and you must not be astonished at what I am going to say. If, as I suppose, you are well acquainted with what has happened since the date of our independence, you will find that the origin of the evil can be traced to circumstances over which neither our race in general, n6r this generation in particular, had any control. It was no work of theirs ; whUe, as for what has taken place within the last few years, foreign diplomatic agents are, in a great measure, responsible, for having recognized and given moral support to a hand- ful of rebels who were, utterly repudiated by the nation at large. Such, at all events, is public opinion. In your last letter you still hold to the general but exaggerated notion, that many millions of the late church property have been needlessly squandered away. My opinion upon this point, M. le Ministre, may be considered worth something, for no journalist has advocated more strenuously than I have dome the necessity of a proper and organized administration of the property in question, yet I am sure that if the matter were reduced to figures, and the actual value of the church property put on paper, with the positive depreciation that value has undergone, owing to the civil wars ; and if, moreover, there be taken into consideration the sums paid from this source towards the extinction of tlie national debt, the discount at which government has been compelled to transact tlieir negotiations in order to realize this property, and the surplus which still remains, I am sure, I repeat, that the charge of having squandered away mil- lions will be found exaggerated. I cannot understand why you should qualify as impracticable the arrangement which the parties interested in the British convention had entered into with government. This, or any other analogous one, would.be very feasible upon the bases laid down in the decree of the 17th for the guidance of the special finance committee. This decree has in no way sacrificed the rights of the public debt ; and nothing is asked for either by the government, the congress, or the country, but the permission to attempt the pacification of the country, and carry out their administrative reform. They claim but this. With respect ttf what you are pleased to say about the conduct of the chiefs of the federal army in having " occupied" certain funds at Laguna Seca, I will simply ask you whether you conceive the word "robbery" implies the idea of a future indemnity, such as was made voluntarily and at a great sacrifice on this occasion, as is proved by the trifling sum which still remains unpaid 1 As for the outrage at the British legation, I must correct a slight error you have made in referring to this act. It is not true that the authors of this out- rage, at the time of its commission, were recognized by the representatives of friendly powers. I thank you, in conclusion, most sincerely for the' kind language you employ, while exhorting me to facilitate the renewal of our relations by the withdrawal of the decree of the 17th instant; but it appears to me that the' interest you profess in the matter would have lost none of its weight, and would have gained in dignity, had you accompanied it, by way of incentive, with some proposition for an arrangement not incompatible with the honor of the nation, and less un- feasible than the essentially impracticable one you have already made us. Hoping that you will have the goodness to consider well the observations I now offer, and flattering myself that they may lead to the re-establishment of our ofiicial intercourse, for the inteiTuption of which there is as yet no motive, I beg, &c. MANUEL DE ZAMAOONA. THE PEESEKT CONDITION OF MEXICO, 93 No. 22 [Translation.] MEXICAN KEPUBLIC, DEPARTMENT OF FOKEIGN EELATIONS. [Confidential and private.] Mexico, July 26, 1861. My Dear Sir : On the 24ti, at five In the afternoon, I addressed you a note, informing you that if, within the period of twenty-four hours, your decree of 17th July was not recalled and annulled I should break off my relations with your government. Yesterday, at half-past five o'clock, not having aii answer, I had to address to you another note to notify this rupture to you. At six o'clock I received from you a first communication, of July, (no date.) In fine, at seven o'clock there was brought to me your second note, of the 25th. In this you tell me that my note of ths 24th, despatched by me at five o'clock, had only reached you at seven. I can the less understand this delay, because at half-past five the envelope was brought to me to serve to note the time. For the rest your two last communications, containing a refusal to accede to my demand, I find myself, to my great regret, under the necessity of persisting in the resolution of which I notified you officially yesterday. I pray you to accept, my dear sir, the assurance of my most respectful r^ards. A. DE SALIGNY. His Excellency Mr. Manuel De Zamacona. Mexico, July 29, 1861. A copy. LUCAS DE PALAOIO T. MAGAROLA. Washington, September 21, 1861. A true copy. ROMERO. No. 23. [Translation.] MEXICAN REPUBLIC, DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR AND FOREIGN RELATIONS. Saturday, July 27, 1861. Very Esteemed and Respected Sir : I do not consider that I should add anything to the explanations which I had the honor to make to you officially in regard to the hour at which I received your communication of the 24th instant, beyond the solemn protestation that my answer was sent to the French legation before the expiration of the period which, in your said communication, was fixed upon for the abrogation .of die decree of the 17th instant, and the interruption of our official relations. Although you have thought proper to carry this last measure into efiect, I do not yet find sufficient reason to cause it, and this induces me to take the liberty to enclose herein a copy of the reflections which I have addressed in a private letter to the English minister in respect of the resolution he has taken in the 94 THE PEESENT CONDITION (WF MEXICO. aame direction as yourself, the grounds for which he thought proper to state, ■with some fullness, in a letter which he addressed to me yesterday. I do myself the honor to subscribe myself your most obedient, humble servant. MANUEL MA. DE ZAMAOONA. His Excellency A. Dubois de Saligny, Minister of France, Sfc., Sfc., !fc. Mexico, July 29, 1861. A copy. LUCAS DE PALACIOS T MAGAEOLA. "Washington, Septemher 21, 18C1. A tnie' copy. EOMEEO. No. 24. [Translation. — ^Extract.] MEXICAN EEPUBLIC, DEPARTMENT OF FOEEIGN EELATIONS. No. 34.J National Palace, Mexico, August 29, 1861. The political review, and the copies enclosed to you of the instructions ad- dressed under date to Mr. Don Juan Antonio de la Fuente, and of one of the private notes to which they refer, will impress upon you the character of the public situation of Mexico, and of the state of the diplomatic question. As for the rest, you may hold as reproduced the recommendations which a month ago were made to you to resort to all opportune measure, to rectify the opinions which people purposely seek to lead astray in what relates to the acts of the Mexican government. "With this motive I renew to you the assurance of my respectful consideration. ZAMACONA. The Charge d'Affaiees of the Republic, at Washington. "Washington, September 21, 1861. A copy. EOMEEO. No. 25. [Translation.— Extract ] ' MEXICAN EEPUBLIC, DEPARTMENT OF FOEEIGN EELATIONS. National Palace, Mexico, August 29, 1861. Among the documents which I send with this communication you will find those which brought to a close the correspondence this department had with the legations of France and England on the subject of the decree upon the suspen- sion of payments, which it was not possible to send you a month since in com- THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 95 plete condition, because the last notes, as you can see, are of a date later than the sailing of the packet. The correspondence being closed, the apparent position of the two ministers of England and France has been that merely of expectation. Under these cir- cumstances, nevertheless, both, and very especially Mr. de Saligny, have dis- played during all the month a system of incessant hostility which puts forth plainly their purpose to edge things along to a formal rupture, and to frustrate the efforts which the government, with energy and in good faith, has made and is making to give a worthy and satisfactory solution to the question of the foreign debt. That you may be thoroughly informed upon this question, and, may appreciate accui-ately the conduct of the representatives of England and France during this last period, it may be convenient to give you a compendious review of the labors of the administration, and of the most important political events in the course of the last month. In the state in which things stood upon the organization, about the middle of July, of the present cabinet, no question presented so much importance as that of finance. The consolidation of reform, the pacification of the country, the establishment of the national dignity, the abolition of vexatious exactions, and ruinous operations for raising revenue, all depended upon the government bring- ing them about in a sure and regular mode. Hence sprung the idea of anticipating the receipt in the general treasury of all the federal revenues without any exception, and of organizing the army and the civil service with the strictest economy, completing this reform by framing an economical estimate as far as possibly could be done. The government, therefore, since the publication of the decree of the 17th of July, has been engaged in dictating the most stringent orders for giving effect to the consolida- tion of the revenues in the general treasury, in framing the estimate, which it has succeeded in reducing to little more than eight millions, and in regulating the civil service and the armed force upon a footing and groundwork which is given in detail in the said estimate, and which may satisfy all the desires of public opinion on the head of economy. But these labors, fertile for the future, cannot yield any immediate fruits of alleviation and of regularity in the public finance ; the disturbed condition of the ordinary communications with the coasts and the frontier States, the habits sprung up among the governments of the States of not respecting the federal revenues, and the pretext at this time given for it by the necessity of exterminating at some points the armed residuum of the reaction, made necessary some interval of measures progressively energetic and effective until Mexico realizes the receipt of all the returns from the custom- houses; on the other hand, the most important savings, which are those con- nected with the organization of the army, could not for the most part be instan- taneously reduced to practice with the forces that are actually in campaign, the estimate for which it was indispensable to provide for in some manner so as not to paralyze operations. It followed from all this that, before reaching the fruits of the administrative arrangement proclaimed in the middle of July, an interval must be passed through of serious difficulties, and that their solution was a pre- liminary question. The solution on which the government decided was to seek some way by virtue of which the revenues which were scattered among the mari- time custom-houses should be gathered in here at once, and to this end an under- standing was had with the most influential individuals among the merchants and capitalists, c«mbining arrangements into which very strong inducements entered that could do no less than be of common benefit. Among the documents annexed to this note you will find the conditions of this arrangement. But because of it the systematic and implacable hostility of the French minister, and the efficient aid lent him by Mr. Wyke, has made itself especially noticeable. Both have given foreign merchants to understand, almost at the beginning of 96 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. the arrangement indicated, that every combination connected with the returns from the maritime custom-houses was very dangerous, because they might be occupied at any moment by the naval forces of England and France. These ill-intended intimations frustrated the combination referred to, and the govern- ment, obliged to push forward vigorously tbe military operations in order to realize the important triumph which it obtained on the 14th over Marquez and his people, found itself under the necessity of ordering the extraordinary con- tx'ibution from capital, of which the decree, included among the documents annexed, makes mention. Upon the ground of this odious and repugnant mea- sure which was forced upon the government by these same foreign ministers, they have attempted to carry out a new class of hostilities. The legations of England and France, so condescending towards Zuloaga and Miramon on the four occasions when they decreed and collected the like imposts, have been at pains at this time to make of this business a question with the diplomatic body, and, were it not for the impartial and energetic rejection by the minister of the United States, would have attained their object. Failing of this, they have instructed their countrymen to resist by all possible means the collection of the contribution. The minister of Prussia, under the guise of friendly advice, came to make, orally, at this department, a movement against the impost decreed. The charge d'affaires of Ecuador addressed to me afterwards a note upon the same subject, a note which, with the correspondent reply, you will find among the annexed documents. The measures Mr. de Saligny has been pleased to take to occasion difficulties to the government have not stopped at this. The news of the complete rout which Marquez and his followers suffered on the 14th was received in Mexico with spontaneous demonstrations of popular rejoicing, but without any commingling of anything threatening, even against the co-religionists of the conquered faction. Those demonstrations, notwithstanding, lent opportunity to Mr. de Saligny to give the diplomatic coi-ps to understand that he had been the object of an insult, and even of an attempted assassination, and, to induce the other ministers to address the collective note,'which, with the reply and the rejoinder to which it gave place, goes also with the annexed doc- uments. As these notes indicate, there took place, on the occasion, a zealously conducted judicial investigation, the principal documents in which I send to you in copy, and which has placed beyond all doubt that the complaint of Mr. de Saligny had not the slightest foundation. The coincidence of this episode with the triumph of the aims of the gov- ernment over the factions headed by Marquez was nothing but the merest acci- dent. Mr. de Saligny, who uses his time to give all his moral support to the reaction ; who gave asylum to some of its leaders ; who has sheltered ex-Gen- eral Robles until within a few days, when he slipped away furtively from the capital to the interior; who, abusing the immunities of his domicile, has covered the correspondence between the military reactionists and those in refuge at the French legation ; who has converted this into a focus of permanent conspiracy, which, published without the least concealment that the advent to power of a party of nltraists was close at hand, naturally took part in the dejection of the reactionary faction, on account of the feat of arras which occuiTed on the 14th, and perhaps had no other way of neutralizing the effect of that event than to make an unmerited and clamorous imputation against the progressive party. The allusion to the recent triumphs of government over the factions presents an opportunity to call your attention to the fact that, notwithstanding tVe embarrass- ments with which the government was to struggle before the fruits of the decree of the 17th of July can be practically realized, this arrangement has already proved to be very salutary, because the advantages obtained over the armed fac- tion are exactly such as what the government, strengthened by the resources which the law cited, placed in its hands, could seasonably expect from the forces THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 97 of General Ortega, which, otherwise, would have kept in position, giving room for the reaction to gather great increase. In virtue of these very measures it has become possible to re-establish the safety of the road between Mexico and Vera Cruz ; it enabled it to move eastwardly a considerable force for the pur- pose of clearing the States of Tlascala and Puebla from the lingering bands which roam through them, and will be able to cause the main body of the army to set off to-day or to-morrow, in the direction of Queretaro, to give the final blow to reaction, by falling on the body under command of Mejia. The recent rout of Marquez has had a most important political effect. There was before much clamor about the lukewarmness and carelessness which, it was said, waiS entertained by some of the governors for the authorities of the union. The inaction of Doblado, although he had at Guanajuato nearly six thousand men^ appeared to corroborate such rumors; but, since the event at Talatlaco, the spirit of loyalty and of constitutionalism has become very perceptible in the States, and Mr. Doblado himself has addressed to the president protestations of sincerity and of adhesion, and has moved with his forces to Queretaro to operate in the Sierra in concert with the troops which are going from Mexico. The immediate result of these movements will be to re-establish, in a durable man- ner, communication with the interiorr ; to put an end to depredations to which the people of the villages near Sierra have been victims, and to give to the situ- ation a normal character, which will influence public confidence very much, and will put an end to the prostration of trade and the excessive scarcity of a cur- rency. By that time the government will begin to see the fruits of the meas- ures it has dictated for concentrating the revenues, and distributing them method- ically and economically; then will be the time when it can be said that the constitution and public order rest on a solid foundation. All this, if Providence permits it to happen, will be the fruit of the law of 17th July, and of the labors half hidden, but siibstantial and most important, which have occupied the gov- ernment during tfoe last month. If the prospective which I have laid before you be realized, the nation will never repent having decided to use the funds of the Penaud agreement, deposited in the montepio, (provident fund,) and to send them to the camp of General Ortega, whose forces, now victorious over Mar- quez, were on the point of perishing with want. But this prospective which I have sketched may be dissipated like a mist if the ministers of France and Eng- land come forth successfully from their effort to draw down upon Mexico hos- tilities on the part of these two nations. The hopes of the republic to avert this danger rest on you, and your patriotism and acknowledged intelligence are essential guarantees of the situation which I have, in a friendly njanner, inter- posed to describe. ******* In speaking of the measures brought into play by Mr. de Saligny to depi»- ciate our government, and give plausible explanations of his conduct, I forgot to tell you of an incident which it is proper to bring to your knowledge. By a former packet I sent you a copy of the correspondence had with the French legation about the delivery of the funds proceeding from the Penaud agreement. You would perceive that the government steadily refused that delivery, reeting on the very text of the said agreement. Upon my coming into the department, Mr. de Saligny stated to me that the delivery of those funds ought to be arranged before any other business, and assured me that he had in his hands an order of the government that they should be delivered to him, and had obtained from the president and my predecessor a verbal promise bearing the same mean- ing, in presence of all the diplomatic corps. I immediately ascertained that neither the one nor the other was certain. All that the president and minister of foreign relations promised in effect to the minister of France, on an occasion upon which he came to the palace accompanied by others, his colleagues, was that the said fund, which had been for the moment taken on the day of a battle, would again be placed anew in deposit in the montepio before a week's end. H. Fx. Doc. 100 7 98 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. This promise was religiously observed. Mr. de Saligny, notwithstanding, made the other ministers believe that this return was never made, and says publicly that the diplomatic corps is ready to bear witness that the president and minister of foreign relations gave him their word of honor to make to him personally delivery of the fund deposited in the mentepio. By means of this confusion of particulars, and of this vile intrigue, he has succeeded in presenting the govern- ment to the public, and to the diplomatic corps, as regardless of its word of honor. This imputation may figure among the rejjorts of Mr. de Saligny to his court, and it has appeared to me proper to explain to you the facts in detail. * * « * In view of what precedes you will not think that I dwell too much upon my recommendations that you should endeavor to rectify the unfaithful and angry reports which Mr. de Saligny will, without doubt, make to his government upon thp points to which I have above adverted, and that you may call the attention of the French government strongly to the marked effort of its repre- sentative to embitter the relations with Mexico by exciting embarrassment and difficulties in its administration, and inventing and publishing intimations intended to neutralize in public opinion the effect of those labors of organiza- tion which engage the government, and the advantages it obtains over its enemies. * # # # It also seems to be of much importance that in France as well as in England it should be understood that the Mexican government is disposed to accept any equitable and practicable solution on the question of the conventions ; that it had thought over various projects to this end, and had set at work all possible means to discover some extraordinary aid that would allow it to meet the pubhc debt without detriment to other administrative measures which cannot be set It is of equal importance, in the belief of this government, that it s'hould not permit to be passed by withovit notice the practical advantages which it has attained by the suspension of payment, notwithstanding the resistance which this measure has produced, and the hostility growing out of it, by which the government has been brought to a stand. It is very proper also to set right the exaggerations relating to the attempts upon the persons and property of foreigners, which are said to be made and making in Mexico, that it should be understood that in enlarging upon the reality of this matter there is a systematic purpose, and that if the governmen-t wishes to resort to active measures it is precisely because it is anxious to re- establish security throughout the republic. It is well to call attention to the fact that the greater part of the attacks which are discussed are the work of the rebel faction, to which the rej)resentatives of England and France are lending moral aid at this very moment. It is proper you should know and make it understood in Europe that the two last-mentioned diplomatists have, respectively, procured an organ in the press in this capital, and that the Estqfelle and the Mexican Extraordinary receive the impassioned inspirations of Messrs. Wyke and Saligny, and give the most 'inexact and malicious versions ^of passing events. « * # I protest to you on this occasion the assurances of my distinguished con- sideration. ' ZAMACONA. Don Anto,mo De La Fuente, Minister Plenipotentiary of the Mexican Republic at Paris. Mexico, August 29, 1861.. A true copy. JUAN DE D. AKIAS. Washimgton, September 21, 1861. A true copy. ROMERO THE PEESf^NT CONDITION OB^ MEXICO. 99 No. 26. [Translation . — Extract . ] Mexican Legation to France, Paris, September 5, 1861. Our relations with France and England have come to a very lamentable state. Ton -will see by the copy, no less than by the slips annexed, the disposition of ■the French government, and what may be presumed of that of England, towards the Mexican republic. But I must recommend to you very specially the article from the " Times," of London, in which it is assumed that, by giving a certain latitude to foreign inter- vention, it will appear to be acceptable to the United States ; and upon this it appears to me to be useless to press upon your intelligence and zeal what this and that will place before you with clearness. I desire to speak of the impor- tance of doing everything possible to withhold the government of the American Union from any participation in this intrigue, and to incline to get rid of it if it should have been given. ###*#* I reiterate the assurances of my special and distinguished consideration. JUAN ANTONIO DE LA FUENTE. Don Matias Romero, Charge d' Affaires of the Mexican Republic, Washington. Washuvoton, September 21, 1861. A true copy. ROMERO. No. 27. [Translation . — Extract.] No. 34.] Mexican Legation to France, Paris, September 4, 186-1. Unhappily, I have yesterday seen realized the apprehension which you men- tioned to me in your note No. 41, dated 31st August last past. The measures adopted by the governments of France and England, in consequence of the law published the 17th July, are openly hostile to us, and I believe you will be informed of them when this despatch reaches your hands. You already know, by my note referred to, that I could not obtain an audience which I had asked from the minister here for the 31st August, and that he fixed one for yesterday, 3d of March. The conference took place on the day, and \ lasted only a few minutes. I commenced by saying I had received from my government special instruction and charge to give to that of his Majesty the most ample explanations, upon what affected the subjects of France, under the new law, in virtue of which suspension of payment of the national debt was ordered. Mr. Thouvenel interrupted me, by saying that personally he had no dissatis- faction towards me ; but he could not hear those explanations. " We will receive none," he added, giving way to the greatest excitement. " We have fully approved the conduct of Mr. de Saligny ; we have issued our orders, in concert with England, that 'a squadron, composed of vessels of both nations, ex- act from the government of Mexico due satisfaction, and your government shall learn from our minister and our admiral what are the claims of France. I have 100 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF. MEXICO. nothing' against you, I again say, and I wish thai; events would peraiit me to address you in more friendly language." " But it is very sad," said I, in turn, " that such a reply should be given to so just and simple a request as that which I have now made in the name of my government. But he it as it may, after the words you have addressed to me I ought not to insist for a moment that you should listen to me, nor is there any motive for continuing this conversation;" and I cut it short, withdrawing without delay. The first consequence of this interview, in respect of the legation which I have the honor to conduct, is the interruption of diplomatic relations with the government of France. The declaration of Mr. Thouvenel, refusing to listen to. what I had to say to him in the name of my government, the orders to employ force against my country, and the approval accorded to the conduct of Mr. de Saligny, which broke the relations with the federal government, everything pressed me to close this affair. To this end I addressed a note to-day to Mr. Thouvenel, copy of which I enclose. The second consequence is, the unsuitableness of my presentation to the gov- ernment of England for the purpose of being received as minister from Mexico, because it is almost certain that this step would bring with it a new slight, such, as we have just had here. I am also impelled to decide in this manner from the notice already sufficiently intelligible that in England, where it originated, and where it is. most current, the shameless plot is on~foot for European inter- vention in the policy and government of our country. You will have the good- ness to look at, in my correspondence of to-day, the note in which I discuss this question. * * * *'* * * * Before closing this note I must say that if I have not asked for my passports, it has been that so serious a measure was not necessary, either in accordance with usage or the condition of things which might, perhaps, be brought about . by some occurrence; and on the other hand, I believe that my remaining • here may well be of some service to the republic. I repeat to you, sir, the assurances of my distinguished consideration. JUAN ANTONIO DE LA FUENTE. His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Eelations, Mexico. A copy. ANDRES OSEGUERA. Washington, September 21, 1861. A true copy. ROMERO. No. 28. [Translation.] Legation of the Mexican Repdblic at Paris, Paris, September 4, 1861. Me. Minister : As, in our conference of yesterday, your excellency showed me that you would not listen at all to the explanations which, by express order of my government, I was charged to make to you, having regard to the new Mexican law relative to the suspension of the payment of the national debt so far as this measure affects subjects of France; inasmuch as your excellency added that his Majesty's government had in all points approved the conduct of Mr. de Saligny, who, because of that law, declared his official relations with my government interrupted ; and, in fine, according to what your excellency THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 101 stated to me, that, acting entirely in .concert with the government of lEngland, orders had bei^n given that the minister of France in Mexico and his Majesty's admiral should come to an understanding with my government, your excellency will consider it to be very natural and very proper that I should accept the reality of this situation, hard and unexpected as it may appear to me, and should infer the necessary consec[uence — that the essential purpose of my mission is obstructed ; that is to say, regular communication with the government of his Majesty consecrated to the maintenance and cultivation of peace, especially when differences have arisen likely to disturb it ; that, in fact, I am no longer the organ of my government with the government of "his Majesty; and, in fine, that the suspension of diplomatic relations between France and Mexico, and the nature of those which are about to replace them, place me in the painful "but necessary extremity of declaring, as a fact independent of my will, (a fact which I should see put out of the way with intense gratiiication,) that this lega- tion suspends its relations with the government of his Majesty until that of Mexico give him instructions which may prescribe a different course. Accept, Mr. Minister, the fresh assurances of my most distinguished considera- iion. J. A. DE LA FUENTE. His Excellency Mr. Thouvenel, Sfc, Sfc, &fc. A true copy. ANDRES OSEGUERA. Mr. Seward, to Mr. Romero. Department of State, Washington, September 24, 1861. Sir : I have read with much interest and instruction the papers relating to the differences between your country and several of the European States, which you submitted to me with your note of the 21st instant. It cannot, I think, be improper for me to say that these papers abundantly show that the Mexican government is entitled to very high respect, while the new embarrassments of your country cannot fail to awaken in her behalf a pro- found sympathy among the American people. I avail myself of this occasion to renew to you the assurances of my highest -consideration. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Seiior Don Matias Romero, i(c., Sfc., S/v. [Translatisn.] Mr. Romero to Mr. Seward. Mexican Legation of the United States, Washington, September 30, 1861. Mb. Secretary : It being now beyond all doubt, as is shown by the most Tecent advices from Europe, that the Spanish government has determined to com- l)ine its action with that of France and England in the aggressive ' measures which those powers are preparing to take against Mexico, and to move hostilely, 102 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. at once and without them, against that republic, we think proper, in virtue of the relations of friendship and good neighborhood which bind Mexico and the United States, to state to you summarily, for the information of the government of this country, what is the existing state of the questions pending between Mexico and Spain. Passing by the just and too numerous causes for complaint v/hich Mexico has against the government of her Catholic Majesty as not belonging to the case re- ferred to here, I will t strongly and openly favored the reaction. ' With reference to Sefior Nery del Barrio, his acts in favor of the so-called government of the reactionary party were a matter of public notoriety, and there applied to him nearly the same reasons which operated to cause the de- parture of Sefior Pacheo, and consequently his departure from the country was also a matter of necessity. ^ Sefior D. Louis Clementi, Archbishop of Damascus, had not any diplomatic character, and being manifest, as it clearly is, the great part which the clergy have taken in the struggle which has now been brought to so happy a termina- tion, it was not only just but a public necessity that he should leave the country. In expelling' him, the only consideration wag his open intervention in the af- fairs of the country, and not in any manner his religious character, because the government has proclaimed and will always respect entire freedom of religion. Such have been the reasons which have actuated these measures, which are purely personal, and need not affect in any manner the amicable relations which Mexico has maintained with friendly powers. The constitutional government, which is directing all its efforts to the perma- nent establishment of the peace of the country, and which esteems and respects Spain and Guatemala, and the Pontifical States, the same as all other nations with which it is bound by solemn treaties, will not omit any means whatever to maintain with all the most perfect harmony, and to augment and render more inti- mate their friendly relations, and will endeavor to act.towards all with strict jus- tice, in order that the dignity and good name of the republic shall not be in any way compromised. In saying this to you for your knowledge and that of the inhabitants of the State over which you worthily preside, it is also my duty to recommend to your excellency, in an especial manner, that all foreigners be fully .protected in all the im- munities and guarantees which are secured to them by international law and by treaties ; that the tribunals administer to them speedy justice, that they extend to them the protection required by our laws, and by the high character of the cause they sustain ; and very particularly, under the present circumstances, to Spanish subjects and citizens of Guatemala, in testimony that the government is very far from considering the repulsion of the said Sefiores Pacheco, Del Bar- rio, and Clementi in any other manner than a question purely personal. I take pleasure, with this occasion, in renewing to your excellency the assur- ances of my esteem and consideration. God, liberty, and reform. ,. ZAKCO. His Excellency the Governor of the State of . Washington, September 30, 1861. True copy. ROMEEO THE PRESENT COljfDITION OF MEXICO. 107 No. 4. jTransfation ] DEPARTMENT OP STATE FOE FOREIGN RELATIONS. National Palace, Mexico, February 21, 1861. The undersigned, secretary of foreign relations of the Mexican republic, has the honor to address himself to the secretary of state for foreign relations of her Catholic Majesty on the subject of the departure of Don Joaquin Francisco Pacheco from this republic, and of the reasons and circumstances which gave motive for it. When Mr. Pacheco arrived at thS port of Vera Cruz the supreme government of the nation was resident in that city ; and whilst from respect for it, and for what is due to impartiality and to justice, and to the laws of neutrality which govern the intercourse of nations, and the conduct of their diplomatic agents abroad as ministers of peace, Mr. Pacheco, endued with a high official character, ought to have recognized and presented himself to this government, whose cour- tesy observed for him considerations of every kind ; the said gentleman had none for the legitimate authority which permitted him to enter the country freely, and he immediately took his way towards the capital of the'republic, where he announced his official character at the time precisely in which, in that city, there existed not even the shadow of a government, which the rebel crew that for three years had to no purpose stained the country with blood, had erected. At the time of the arrival of Mr. Pacheco at this capital, Don Miguel Mira- mon had broken and lost even what he called titles to authority which had been given him by Don Felix Zuloaga, by assuming the chief authority over the revo- lutionary faction, an authority which Zuloaga attempted to reassume, and which Don Miguel Miramon refused to give over to him. Such a state of things, which was the logical and natural result of the pria- ciples adopted by the men who sought to arrogate to themselves, and were qiiarrelling among themselves about the chief power over the nation, without having obtained even for a single day, either its sanction or even its assent, compelled the diplomatic corps which was then in Mexico to disregard them, and in effect they were disregarded, not without one of the foreign representa- tives having made explicit declarations on which he formed his resolution to leave the capital, breaking off all relations with those who ruled there. But although in this way Don Felix Zuloaga, as well as Don Miguel Mira- mon, were themselves absent upon the arrival of Mr. Pacheco, their authority did not extend a foot beyond the precincts of three cities, and Miramon, finally routed at Siloa, lost at that battle every trace of his supposed power. He re- turned afterwards to the city of Mexico without any force or prestige, and it was precisely at that time, when, to the general astonishment, Mr. Pacheco re- cognized him as the supreme magistrate of the nation, and presented himself in his official character as the representative of her Catholic Majesty; thus, at least, lending his moral support to the rebel band, and thus contributing, as he best could, to the prolongation of the civil war which was then touching upon its close. Divine Providence chose, notwithstanding, that the rebellion should succumb a little while after, crushed beneath the weight of its own crimes and by the sovereign will of the entire nation. This result, assuredly glorious, because it was not stained by any acts such as usually accompany thoSe of its kind, came, nevertheless, with the omnipotent force of truth to place in strong light the acts and vindicate the privileges awhile 108 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. disregarded, of justice and of legitimacy, and in consequence, precisely because of the loyalty and proper spirit which governs the public sentiment of the country, it demanded on the close of the war that those should depart at once who were considered as causes of its disorders and misfortunes. The knowledge and conviction of those causes dwelt in the consciousness of the nation, and, in that of the government, the obligation to provide at once for what the public advantage required, by thus removing all motives for further disorders and dis- turbances. It was however painful, but obligatory, to remember that the conduct of Mr. Pacheco had been partial, as, in consequence of his actions public sentiment had pronounced it to be, and the government, in examining it, neither could nor had any reason to acknowledge him in a public character, because in his recognition of an expiring faction he disregarded the sovereignty of the nation, and its le- gitimate and ever unbroken government, and thus regarding the matter as en- tirely personal, his withdrawal was settled upon, providing withal that every accommodation should be at his call. This true and simple narrative will of itself suffice to explain satisfactorily, the retirement of Mr. Pacheco, and the undersigned discharges the grateful duty of solemnly declaring that, that personal and individual incident in no wise affects or lessens the frank and loyal desire which animates the government of Mexico to maintain, cultivate, and strengthen with that of her Catholic Majesty the closest and most cordial relations. That, if it has indeed protested upon occa- sion, and repeatedly and publicly, against any treaty convention or arrangement emanating from the faction which, in the city of Mexico, assumed for itself the name of government, because for such treaties, conventions, or arrangements, no individual had any personality or lawful mission derived from the nation, whose great majority not only had never conceded to it the least right, but had striven without ceasing for three years to exterminate it, this does not hinder the gov- ernment of the republic, firm in its purpose to do justice, from directing,. with the efficient co-operation of the enlightened government of her Catholic Majesty, their efforts for the smoothing away to a happy end, the difPerences which may have arisen between Mexico and Spain, by resorting to whatever means are affiirded by sound justice, by the probity, and the mutual respect of the two nations. • Nothing will be more grateful to the Mexican people and its government than to see re-established, frankly and honorably, the perfect understanding and cordial agreement which should never have been interrupted between the two countries, considering the friendly spirit which has always influenced Mexico in her relations with the Spanish nation. Under these impressions, and in the assurance that the government of her Catholic Majesty is animated by like sentiments and desires, it will be very satisfactory to that of the republic to receive or send one of the many persons of talent, taste, and probity, who abound in both countries, and be able, through his adjustments, to give that strength and elevation to their fraternal relations which shall equal jn degree that which their name, their civilization, and their mutual interests demand. The present need of an agent of this kind, who may serve as the medium of communication between the two governments, compels the undersigned to address himself directly to his excellency the ininister of state for foreign relations, and in doing so, to make the ingenuous exposition which, precedes, he must, by the assent of the president of the republic, here give utterance to the expression of the sincere wishes formed by the government of Mexico for the prosperity and aggrandizement of the Spanish nation, and for the happy reign of its august sovereign. At the same time the undersigned has the honor to offer to his excellency the THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO.' 109 minister of state for the department of foreign relations, of her Catholic Majesty, the assurances of his high consideration, FRANCESCO ZARCO. His Excellency The Minister of State For Foreign Relatwns of her CatfwUc Majesty. Mexico, March 18, 1861. A certified copy. , ZARCO. Washington, September 30, 1861. A true copy. ROMERO. No. 5. [Translation.] department op state for foreign relations. Mexican Legation, near H. C. M., Faris, July 9, 1859. In compliance with your wish, expressed in your communication of May 3, last, I have the honor to send herewith an authenticated copy of the new protest I have made, which I shall at once print and put in circulation, that it may pro- duce the effect which the constitutional government may desire. I renew to you the assurances of my distinguished consideration, J. M. LAFRAG-UA. His Excellency Don Melchoo Ocampo, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vera Cruz. Washington, September 30, 1861. A true copy. ROMERO. No. 6_. [Translation.] Department of State, Legation of Mexico, near H. C. M. From the time when, in January, 1858, constitutional order was disturbed in the United Mexican States, the settlement of the differences pending between Mexico, and began to be considered as certain; this opinion was founded on a knowledge of the ideas which the administration that triumphed in the capitol of the republic, professed, and on the conduct, unhappily almost uniform, of all parties in the world which reprehend that done by an adversary, not so much for reasons of intrinsic justice, as upon considerations of political conveniency. During all the past year European periodicals, those of Spain especially, have announced the settlement indicated, until within a few months it has been affirmed to be a business definitely concluded. The supreme constitutional gov- ernment kept silent while the convention* was more or less probable, but now that it is announced as an act consummated, it has considered that it should 110 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. speak in the name of the nation, because, although to save the rights and interests of the Mexican people, the protest which, on the 16th March, 1858, I made and published in this capital, and which I repeated on the 6th July, in the citj of Berlin, is without doubt sufficient, it is also very proper to repro- duce it' now that it may not at any time be alleged that the silence of the legit- imate government was a tacit consent. In fact, ifl a note of the 3d of May, the minister of foreign relations notifies me, that I should " at once make a fresh protest, insisting especially against the article upon indemnity." Wanting in official data about the before-mentioned convention, I am obliged to' limit myself in judging of them to the advices published in the journals of Madrid. According to them the government presided over by General Zuloaga had agreed to punish the offenders, to indemnify the losses occasioned, and to fulfil fairly and plainly the treaty of the 12th ' November', 1853; that is, it has acceded to the three propositions which the Marquis de Pidal presented to, me in June, 1857, as bases for the settlement of the differences between both countries. I will say nothing about the first; for its justice being acknowledged by me, I accepted it without any difficulty. As for the third, it is sufficient to reflect that the government of the republic has never refused to fulfil the treaty, and that I offered its fulfilment despite its inirinsic defects, but at the same time remonstrated against the improper introduction of some credits on the Spanish fund. The revision of these credits, which has been atid is the only cause of dissatisfaction, was asked and maintained by Mexico from the 24th of March, 1855; the Spanish government even yet does not respond to the note of that date; it is therefore needless for me to dwell further on the demonstration of the magnitude of the consequences the nation must suffer if she precludes her- self from such revision, because it not only involves the burdening of the public funds with more than two millions of dollars, but gives the character of a foreign debt> to that which is domestic, openly contravening the treaty of 1836, the convention of 1851, and the very treaty itself of 1853. According to the first, Mexico ought to pay the- debt anterior to her indepen- dence as "her own and national;" and Spain " desisted from any claim or pre- tension on this point, and declared the republic free and forever acquitted from- all responsibility in this matter." The credits referred to are anterior to the in- dependence. In conformity to the second, the credits «of "Spanish origin," and ownership, "but not those which although of Spanish origin had passed into the ownership of citizens of another nation," could alone enter into the Spanish fund. The Tedits claim had belonged to Mexican citizens. According to the third " the credits which had already been examined and liquidated in conformity with the convention of 1851, remain legally acknowl- edged. Consequently, although credits may have been admitted by Mexico, if t were shown that they were not in conformity with the convention, must fee excluded from the fund. This is the foundation and object of revision; this is the cause of the difference between Mexico and Spain; this is the just reason upon which Mexico protests against the convention, and here, in fine, let it be said, is the want of justice wiili which the Spanish government refuses to admit of revision. The Second proposition relating to indemnity for losses has been the fertile pretext for heaping abuse on my country and myself, without a single national foundation. " Mexico will indemnify losses," asked Mr. Pidal in his note of 23d June, 1857. Mexico will indemnify, I suggested on the 7tli July, in accord with the representatives of France and England, "if it is pro^'ed illegally (legally?) that it is under any of those conditions in which, "according to the laws of nations," rulers are liable for the acts of their subjects. As this was not accepted. Lord Howden, on the same day, proposed, "Mexico will indemnify in conformity with the laws of nations." Mr. Pidal rejected this ; I accepted it. Where, then, is the refusal of Mexico to do justice 1 Where, then, the ini- THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. Ill qnitous system which has been imputed to the government of the republic 1 On which side are morality, the law of nations, and the civil law 1 Would Spain concede anything more to France, or France to England 1 Why, then, exact from Mexico what is not sought from any other people ? G-reat or small, rich or poor, well or ill constituted, she is as sovereign as other nations of the earth ; and if she has the same duties as others she also has the same rights. This simple exposition is enough, faithfully accordant with truth, to demon- strate the intrinsic injustice of indemnity in decided terms. Well, then, if this proposition was valid in July, 1857, what will it be in June, 1857? If it was valid while the blood of the victims was still reeking, pending the proceedings, the truth ignored, the criminals living, and the law violated, what will it be when the victims are pacified, the causes disposed of, the facts known, the guilty punished, and the laws satisfied ? If it were certain, when at least there was room for doubt, how will it be when there is nothing more than reason to think ? If, then, to grant indemnity at such time would be grave wrong done to the re- public, what will it be to concede it now ? In the horrible catalogue of crimes gratuitously imputed to Mexico, there figures prominently, participation in attacks upon some Spanish subjects, at- tributed not merely to secondary agents, but to high functionaries to the govern- ment, even of General Oomonfort. It was idle to allege oji well founded reason that morality, justice, public utility, and even private interests made the act impossible. It was idle to ask what convenience and what object the govern- ment could have to operate in such manner, because, even for the commission of crime there is need of a motive, an object, a result. It would be idle, in fine, to offer as proof, the constant prosecution of the ciiminals, the incessant activity urged upon the magistracy, the appointment of a special judge, the creation of an exclusive police, and the deference sometimes luiduly yielded, and never ac- knowledged by the Spanish agents and parties interested in those lamentable occurrences. Jt was a question of party, and should be passed upon by party reasoning. It was an arm which mischance placed in the hands of the reac- tionary party, and which that party yielded without restraint against the gov- ernment' to overthrow it if amid its blood-stained fragments the nationality of the republic should be destroyed. General Oomonfort fell and the government which succeded him in the capi- tal, hailed the journals of Madrid not only as impartial, but as friendly to Spain, upheld in the most perfect manner, the acts of the preceding administration. Oomposed of persons adverse to constitutional order, and triumphant after a contest ef two years, it was natural that, if not out of hate or vengeance, it should at least, as an element of policy, bring about an elucidation of all facts. The suit in the San Vicente case was concluded without any indicatioHs appeariag of the crimes imputed to the government, and in the month of September, five of the leading assassins suifeied death. Here is fresh proof of the injustice with which the republic has been judged, because a sentence carried into execution is a truth. But by good fortune we can place ourselves on indestructible foundations, be- cause, if every sentence carries in its favor the presumption of being just, that of San Vicente reckons, besides, on two very important circumstances. The first, that the judges who, on those occasions, passed sentence were appointed by General Zuloaga and belonged to the political party which ruled the capital. Therefore, any attenuation of the crime cannot even be suspected, and much less any dissimulation in respect of those who could be regarded as accomplices. The second is that of the five criminals executed, four were convicted and also confessed, and one only convicted. If all had been in this case it might perhaps have happened that, by exaggerating injustice into calumny, the sentence would have been attributed to error or to culpable carelessness, because it .could be said that the judge, according to. his personal inclination, had unduly weighed 112 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. the facts. But wliat proofs can be admitted against confessions ? The man. who now confesses himself guilty of crime, undoubtedly has committed it be- cause there are no longer tortm-es to extort from the frail body of man, revela- tions which his conscience does not dictate. Now then, if the principal criminals were punished, if, from the principal trial, there resulted none of those conditions under which, by the law of nations, governments become responsible, upon what can a claim for indemnity be founded ? It is true that some Spaniards have been injured,. but is that enough to make the. nation responsible, especially when justice has been executed on the guilty ? To what would the independence of the republic be reduced if such a precedent could be established ? Offences thus submitted to an unsuitable examination, the public treasury would be at the mercy of ill-intentioned foreigners who, in a traiSc as immoral as safe, could speculate not only in merchandize but even in blood, and divide perhaps, portions of the one and the other with thieves and assassins. Will the govern- ments of Europe admit a principle so fatal among those which form the law of nations 1 Wherefore, then, apply it to Mexico ? It is therefore demonstrated that the convention, said to have been concluded by General Zoloaga with the government of her Catholic Majesty, is intrin- sically unjust and eminently prejudicial to the rights and interests of the Mex- ican republic. But even supposing that it may have been made in express terms, even supposing it settled in accordance with equity, it cannot, for that reason, be maintained. It would, perhaps, be just, it would, perhaps, be suitable enough, if you choose, but it would always be void, because of its being con- cluded by one party utterly incompetent to act. Not having attained a settlement of the differences with the Marquis Pinal, I withdrew from Madrid, on the 1st day of August, 1857, after having presented to the Spanish government a memorandum, and when Spain had already aofcepted the mediation which France and England had offered. There was then already pending in Mexico this new negotiation, whea, on the 21st Jan- uary, 1858, the reactionary government triumphed in the capital, and commenced that horrible civil war which, for seventeen months, has been destroying the republic. But that administration was, from the beginning, very far frorii being a national government, and so it acknowledged itself, when, on first addressing itself to the Mexican.people, it said expressly that perhaps " it would be no more than the government of some of the departments, and its repr'esentation would be such as the republic miglit choose to give it." And in fact it has been no more than a government of some cities, and the republic has not yet bestowed upon it a national representation. On the same day, March 16, last year, I received two orders diametrically opposed. By one the reactionary government provided that the legation which was in my charge should cease. By the other 1 wae ordered to continue it by the constitutional government, which had lawfully organized at Quanajuato, on the 19th January, that is, before its occupatioft of the capital, a circumstance which should not- be forgotten. Not through any party affiliation, still less through personal interest, but upon an intimate conviction that the government at Mexico was not the government of the republic, I found myself constrained not to comply with its orders, and moreover tO/ protest against any convention it might conclude with the Spanish government. I knew well this course would be the subject of criticism and of ridicule, but as no act of my life has been taken with better or safer conscience, I determined to face not mei-ely persecu- tions but somewhat worse — ridicule. I discharged my duty ; time has placed its ineffaceable stamp upon my protest, and, after seventeen months, what I wrote therein is true, because if General Zuloaga, in the first ten, could only govern a few States, General Miramon, his substitute, in the seven last, did not obtain recognition except in some cities, finding himself compelled to act on the defensive, even in the streets of the capital. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO- 113 The constitutional government has to-day the sanie well-established rights as then, because now, as then, it is law, it is not revokition. But the most impor- tant fact is that now it rules over wider territory, because now a majority of the people obey it ; becaiise now it holds aU the ports ; because now it is recog- nized by one of the principal nations. As I then said, a recognition by foreign ministers does not legalize governments which can only owe their existence to the will of the people, but it is nevertheless a highly significant fact that the United States of America, which recognized in General Zuloaga a government de facto, have since recognized the constitutional government ; because this act at least proves that this is now more a government dt facto than then, and as its right hus been ever the same it necessarily follows that it is the true gov- ernment of the republic. Well, then, can acts done by illegitimate authority be obligatory on the nation ? The contracts which weigh upon the public income, the mortgages and sales of ecclesiastical property, made in fraud of the law concerning mort- main, can such subsist when the government which passed these measures is not obeyed by full three-foiu-ths of the Mexican people ? Certainly not ; and if it is thus in treating of affairs with individuals, what will be the issue when treating of international matters. The first are serious and important, but the second much more serious and important, because such are not questions of money but of honor; because they not only prejudice the interests but also the rights of the republic ; because the acceptance of a wrongful act is not only intimated thereby, but also the sanction of a wrong principle ; and because, in fine, they give rise not only to present evils, but bring on greater in the future. And as the constitutional government has decided to maintain the interests, the rights, and the dignity of the nation, and desires, in good faith, to arrange the differences with Spain in a manner as substantial as honorable, it deems it in every view necessary to make known its determination in so important a matter. Therefore, in the name of the Mexican republic, I protest, in the most solemn manner, against any conventions which the government established in the capital has concluded or may conclude with his Catholic Majesty, the legitimate gov- ernment, in consequence, continuing at full liberty to act as it may judge con- venient, and to reclaim all injuries that may attach to the country. I repeat, also, that this government, complying with what it owes to others, will punish the guilty, will grant indemnities according to the law of nations, and will fulfil the treaty of 1853, always claiming the revision of the credits which were unduly included in the Spanish fund. No one can foresee the end of the civil war. Victory wiU give more or less importance to the fact of this protest ; but it will, at all events, be an authentic testimonial of the justice and good faith of the constitutional government. JOSE MARIA. LAFRAGUA. Paris, June 8, 1859. Paris, June 9, 1859. A copy. A. ESCALANTE. Vera Cruz, December 29, 1859. A copy certified. In the absence of the chief ad interim, JOSE D. CABRERA Y E, Fourth Official. Washington, September 30, 1861. A true copy. ROMERO. H. Ex Doc. 100 S 114 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. No; 7. [Translation.] The president of the Mexican republic and her Majesty the Queen of Spain, ec[ually moved by the desire to put an end to the differences which unhappily have arisen between the two countries, and to draw more closely the natural friend- ship which should exist between them, have agreed upon proceeding to con- clude a treaty which may re-establish the former relations between the two states, and have for this purpose appointed as their plenipotentiaries, the presi- dent of the Mexican republic, Don Juan Almonte, general of division in the Mexican army, and envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the Mexican republic near his Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the French ; and her Majesty the Queen of the Spains, Don Alexandre Mon, knight of the gi-and cross of the royal and distinguished order of Charles III, of the imperial legion of honor of France, of that of Christ, of Portugal, and of the pontificate of Pius IX, deputy to the cortes, ex-minister of hacienda, member of the royal academy of San Fernando, and ambassador extraordinary and minister pleni- potentiary of her Catholic Majesty near his Majesty the Emperor of the French, who, after having exchanged their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon the following articles : Article 1. The principal criminals in the assassinations committed at the haciendas of San Vicente and Chinconcuaque having already been condemned by the courts and executed, undergoing personally the capital punishment im- posed upon them, the Mexican government will continue action in the prosecu- tion and punishment ©f the rest of the accomplices, who have thus far succeeded in eluding the action of justice, and in hastening all the proceedings, so that those may receive the punishment due for the crimes committed at the mine of St. Dimas, department of Durango, the 15th September, 1855, as soon as said department may return to its obedience to the Mexican government, or when the guilty may be arrested or the advisers of these crimes. Article 2. The government of Mexico, although convinced that there was no responsibility on the part of the authorities, functionaries, and others em- ployed for the crimes committed at the haciendas of San Vicente and Chincon- cuaque, influenced nevertheless by the desire which animates it to cut through at once the differences which have arisen between the republic and Spain, and for the common and well-understood interests of both countries, so that they may pursue their way together, always united and bound by ties of enduring friend- ship, consents to indemnify the Spanish subjects who may be concerned for the loss and injury which may have been occasioned to them in consequence of the crimes committed at San Vicente and Chinconcuaque. Article 3. Moved by the same desires mentioned in the preceding article, the Mexican government consents also to indemnify the subjects of her Catholic Majesty for the loss and damages they may have suffered in consequence of the crimes committed on 15th September, 1856, at the mines of St. Dimas, depart- ment of Durango. Article 4. Animated by the same sentiments expressed in the two preceding articles, and full of the same desires, the Spanish government consents that the indemnities referred to shall not serve as the ground or antecedent of any cases of like nature. Article 5. The Mexican government and that of Spain agree that the sum or value of the indemnities treated of in the foregoing articles be determined by agreement between France and England, who have shown a willingness to accept this trust, which will be discharged by them or their representatives, THE PEESENT CONDITION' OF MEXICO. 115 taking account of tlie data tlie parties interested may bring forward, and hearing the respective governments. Article 6. The treaty of 12th November, 1853, shall be re-established ia all its force and vigor as if it had never been interrupted, unless by another act of equal force it be not by common accord abrogated or altered. Article 7. The loss and damage, claims for which were pending on the inter- ruption of relations, and any that during such interruption may have given origin to fresh claims, shall be the subject of ulterior arrangements between the governments of Mexico and Spain. Article 8. This treaty shall be ratified by his excellency the president of the Mexican republic and by her Majesty the Queen of Spain, and the ratifica- tions shall be exchanged at Paris within four months, reckoned from this date, or sooner, if possible. In faith whereof the undersigned plenipotentiaries have signed and sealed this with their respective seals. Done in triplicate at Paris, 26th day of Sep- tember, of the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine. JUAN N. ALMONTE. ALEJANDKO MON. Washington, September 30, 1861. A copy. ROMERO. No. 8. [Translation ] DEPARTMENT OF STATE FOR FOREIGN RELATIONS. No. 61.J National Palace, Vera Cruz, December 5, 1859. I have the honor to send herewith a copy of the communication and protest of Mr. Lafragua, relative to the convention said to have been concluded between Mr. Almonte and the Spanish government about the questions which the last has pending with Mexico, that, being informed about them, and convinced of the sound reasons which dictated them, you may make them in season available with the government of the United States, as those documents rest on the same foundation as those on which the constitutional government reposes, which permit not now, or any time, any derogation from the interest and dignity of the nation. On this occasion I reiterate to you the assurances of my esteem. OCAMPO. ■ The Mexican Minister at Washington. "Washington, September 30, 1861. A copy. ROMERO. No. 9. [Translation.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE FOR FOREIGN RELATIONS. Legation of Mexico near H. C. M., Paris, October 4, 1859. The Press, the Journal of Debates, and the National Opinion, and other periodicals at this capital, copying a paragraph from the " Correspondencia 116 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. Autografa" of Madrid, have announced that your excellency and Mr. Mon have •signed a convention which ends the differences between Spain and Mexico. In compliance with the orders of the supreme constitutional government, I protest in the name of the republic against that settlement, be it what it may, wholly saving and reserving the rights of the nation, and reproducing all the reasons alleged in my protests of the 16th of March, 1858, and the 8th of June of th^ present year, of which I again send your excellency a copy. I reiterate to your excellency my very distinguished consideration. J. M. LAFRAGUA. His Excellency Lieutenant General of Division Don J. N. Almonte. Paris, October 5, 1859. A copy. A. ESCALANTE. Vera Cruz, December 1, 1859. A copy certified. JUAN DE DIOS ARIAS. Washington, September 30, 1861. A copy. ROMERO. No. 10. [Translation.] DEPAKTMENT OF STATE FOE FOREIGN RELATIONS. Legation of Mexico near H. C. M., Paris, October 5, 1859. I have the honor to send you a copy of the communication which I addressed yesterday to General Don Juan N. Almonte on account of the notice, already so formally made public, of a settlement made with the Spanish government. Perhaps (and I wish it for the honor of the country) there may be some inex- actness as to the bases settled on for the convention, and that you will see in the number of the National Opinion which I enclose ; but if it should not be so — if the settlement be such as is announced — it must be admitted that the reactionary government has put the seal of contempt to an affair so essentially prejudicial to the rights and interests of the nation. What becomes of independence if every offence of an individual is to be in- demnified ? What becoines of the dignity of the nation if she not only pays debts she does not owe, but indemnifies for such as, by the greatest abuses, have been introduced into the convention. I give many thanks to Providence for having relieved me from taking part in such an unjust agreement, but, as a Mexican, I shall always deplore that there should have been a government, although it might not be legitimate, which should thus have opened up a new source of calamities and entanglements for the republic. *»***#* In my opinion, the two solemn protests which I have printed and circulated suffice to place the constitutional government at liberty when the time comes for action. It might be opportune that the department should address a note THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 117 to the American government, or, by means of a foi-mal decree, should disavow the convention, so that not the least doubt should remain as to its determination ► I reiterate to you the assurances of my most distinguished consideration. J. M. LAFRAGUA. His Excellency The Minister of Foreign Relations Of the Constitutional Government. Vera Cruz, December 1, 1869. A certified copy. JUAN DE D. ARIAS, Chief ad interim. Washington, September 30, 1861. A copy. ROMERO. No. 11. [Translation ] DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN EELATIONS. Legation of Mexico near H. C. M., Paw, October 22, 1859. I have the honor to send to you copy of the communication which on the 4th I addressed to General Almonte, and of that which on the 5th I addressed to you by way of the United States. Until to-day Mr. Almonte has made no answ6r, any more than to the protests of the 16th March and 6th- June of last year, and that of the 8th June of the present. Of the first and last I send you six copies, but not of the second, be- cause that was simply a note, in which I repeated that of March. With all the pains I have taken, I have not been able to get at the l^ext of the agree- ment ; but, according to all the accounts I have, it has without doubt been con- cluded by yielding to all the pretensions of Spain. " El Pais," in an article decidedly encomiastic of the reactionary government, enters into some details which I think very important, and therefore refer you to them, although they are not said to be from an oflicial source. Let it be said, then, that Mexico obliges herself to punish ofienders yet un- known, and concedes indemnification to Spain without recognition of the princi- ple of indemnity, and that this fact may never be cited as a precedent. ^ From this the author of the article infers that the convention is a very good one, be- cause Spain receives satisfaction and Mexico does nothing contrary to its dignity. If such are the terms of the convention, it may be thought by those who look superficially at the affair that in effect the rights, if not the interests also, of the republic have been maintained ; and, as disinterestedness is the basis of Mexican character, it will also be said that the government, while preserving the national dignity, has acted generously towards the ancient mother country. But upon this I will allow myself to offer a few remarks. In the first place, nations are not like individuals. These may consent to pay what they do not owe without detriment or prejudice from that generosity, because it is not the case that, if a man pay what he does not owe, the principle is settled so that it may afterwards serve as an argument against other men or himself even. But 118 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. nations cannot act in this mannei-, because what they have once granted to an other is clkimed in turn by all the rest, partly because, under the law of nations, acts always operate against those who do them, and because they give avail to the axiom, so injurious to us, of granting to all that which is granted to the most favored nation. Consequently, it means nothing that Mexico may indemnify without recog- nition of the principle of indemnity in absolute terms, because the fact will always present itself as a proof; resulting from this, that the precedent rests established that I resisted with so much zeal, although the text of the convention may say that it is not established. But even allowing this false supposition were a truth, the most that could be maintained would be that Spain could not in futixre base other claims upon the last convention. But shall we be able to answer other nations with this 1 The day they may have anything to claim from us we shall in vain say to them that in paying Spain we did not recognize the principle, because they will insist on the allegation of the fact, and we will have to pay all, without equity, without obligation, and merely from generosity. How, in fact, deny to France, to England, to the United States, what we have conceded to Spain ? Is one nation better worth than another 1 Are not all equal in reason and in law ? Is it not truly written in many treaties that we owe to foreigners protection and security 1 How then will a phrase written in a convention agreed upon between the rdpresentatives only of Mexico and Spain save us against claim, when, in fact, we have conceded indemnity without having been in the situa- tions which the law of nations indicates ? I think, therefore, this diplomatic reserve — which the rather merits the name of a stupid subterfuge to pass off feebleness for generosity of spirit — is a germ sadly prolific of disgusts, prejudices, and losses for the republic which must indubitably be heaped up in every quarter, injmious to its international right, and which records in its annals a fact more deplorable than others of those which form the large catalogue of our errors. It is said the convention is honorable ; in my opinion it is little worthy of either country. It is so for Spain, because she receives by favor what she claimed by right, because she accepts as favor what she maintained as right. It is so for Mexico, because she pays what she does not owe, because she apolo- gizes without having offended, supposing that, the principle of indemnity not being recognized, Spain has confessed that the crime of San Vicente was a common offence, and that Mexico unconsciously has made the cause of the assassins her own. Where and how is the national dignity saved 1 It would have been less evil to confess we were in the situation indicated by the law of nations, because there would have been frankness in that confession, and because it is nothing new in the world nor degrading to a nation that it should have some functionaries who do not discharge their duties. But to say that we are not in those situations, and nevertheless to grant indemnity, is an act that cannot be explained except by calling upon that parti- san spirit for whose sake principles are sacrificed amid the whirlwinds of passion. And if to this situation of the convention, so little satisfactory, is added that relating to the convention pure and simple, acknowledged as it seems to be, what remains of the justice, of the honor, of the name of Mexico ? Tp what purpose have we thrown away eleven years upon the question of credits unduly assumed and about three upon offences improperly adjudipated upon, if those in fact are not revised and these in fact are certified 1 We pay money we do not owe, and for blood we have not shed, wasting in both cases the interests and in both trampling under foot the laws of the republic. I have thought it my duty to present these observations to the .supreme government because, although I have no certainty that the settlement has been made in JEAN E. MASSEZ. Deposition of M. John Janis Laurent. On the same day, after service of summons, appeared M. John Janis Lau- rent. The questions required by law having been put to him, he answered that he was called as had been stated, born in France, not married, aged twenty-nine years, merchant, living at the pastry-cook shop in Segunda de Ratevos street. No. 3. Interrogated as to the facts which caused the summons issued to him by In- spector Morali and the colonel-in-chief of the police, citizen Porssoro G. Leon, he deposed that on the night of the celebration here of the victory gained by Gen- eral Gonzales Ortega over the bands commanded by Marquez, there passed, about ten o'clock in the evening, a body of musicians, who stopped at the pastry shop, Plaisant, of which the deponent is the manager ; that amongst the crowd which ac- companied the music there were many well-dressed persons, and that the accla- mations which were uttered were all in honor of the French, of the United States, and of Gonzales Ortega; that several of these persons came into the shop, asked for a bottle of champagne, and drank healths in the same terms as their acclamations ; that as soon as they went out, with the music and the com- mon people who accompanied them, all took the way to the Profesa house, suig- ing and playing the Marseillaise. After reading made, he ratified what is above as being the truth, and signed it. J. J. LAUEENT. Written deposition of M. J. M. TJrquidi. Mexico, August 22, 1861. Through your polite communication of yesterday, I am informed that in the investigation, the conduct of which is confided to your court, touching the crim- inal acts denounced by his excellency the French minister, and which happened on the evening of the 14th instant, order has been issued to proceed and question THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 131 upon these facts all the inhabitants of Veogara street, in which is the house where the French minister resides. You add that, as I reside in the same street, you desire that I should inform you of all that I know touching such events. According to the intimations of your communication, on the evening of that day, about ten o'clock, a body of about twenty musicians, accompanied by a- group, among whom were some soldiers in uniform, halted before the en- trance of the French legation, shouting, '' Down with the French !" " Down with the French minister ! " and on the same evening, at eight o'clock, that a shot had been fired, aimed at the body of the French minister. Having rallied my reQollections touching what had passed that evening, I now answer to the questions you address to me : that after ten o'clock there, in fact, was a group of people that passed along the street going from north to south ; it was composed of persons following musicians. As far as I recolledt, I saw no soldiers there, nothwithstanding torches lighted up the group. I heard different cries, vivas, and down with them, but I did not clearly distinguish what was cried save the cry of "Down with Jlejia !" I did not see that on their way they stopped before the hotel of the French legation, although the house where I live almost fronts it. That evening I saw the thoroughfares traversed by groups, who passed along the streets celebrating the victory of General Ortega in the environs of Tolueo. I think it was also on the occasion of this holiday that musket shots were fired, which I heard from the beginning of the night, at times more, at times less frequent ; hut I am entirely ignorant where they were fired, and whether there was one which was aimed at his excellency the French minister. This is all I can say, in assuring you. of my respect and esteem. JOSE M. UEQUIDI. The Seventh Criminal Judge. ^Vritten deposition of j\Ir. Zerecero. Office of the Civil Registry of the First Tribunal, Mexico, August 24, 1861. In reply to your communications of yesterday, in which you ask me if the band of music of the municipal guard, in passing through Plateros' street, accom- panied by a crowd of people, on the evening of the celebration of the victory gained by the constitutional party under the orders of General Gonzales Ortega at Jalattaco, stopped in front of the French pastry shop of M. Plaisant, crying "Live France, the French, and the United States !" I say to you that as the moon was shining, I remained with my famUy on the balcony of my house until after midnight ; that I saw groups passing one after another shouting vivas in honor of liberty, of reform, of the hero of Calpulalpua, and of the French ; that their enthusiasm redoubled when they came in front of the pastry shop of M. Plaisant, whence they went in the direction of the street San Francisco, playing and singing, alternately, the Marseillaise and los Cangrajos. This is all I can say to you, sir, in reply to your communication of yesterday, in renewing to you the assurance of my respect and esteem. ' A. ZEEECERO. The Licentiate Mariano Arrieta, Seventh Judge on the Criminal BencJi. Mexico, August 27, 1861. True copy. 132 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. Judgment upon the. facts investigated. Mexico, August 27, 1861. Regards being had to the direction issued by order of the supreme govern- ment, in consequence of the complaint laid before it on the 17th of this month by Messieurs the ministers of the United States and of Eussia, and Messieurs the charge d'affaires of Belgium and Ecuador, on account of Messieur the minis- ter of France having informed them of verbal abueiveness addressed to him when at his hotel on the evening of the 14th instant, and an attempt at assassi- nation, which the minister above mentioned affirms was committed against him personally. Considering, in the first place, that in denouncing the fact to the public au- thorities, it is submitted to a procedure in accordance with the universally- adopted principles of all legislation, the purpose of which is to seek for a founda- tion which can be relied on, and which consists in complete proof of the sub- stance of the offence. In the second place, that the existence of the substance of the offence is not proven in what touches the two facts which would constitute it in the present case, except by the testimony only of the minister and by that of persons who only had cognizance of the facts from the statement of the said minister, that is to say, from the testimony only of the person aggrieved ; that this testimony, . although of the most respectable kind, regard being had to the high character of the deponent, is nevertheless, of itself alone, inefficient to constitute perfect proof. In the third place, considering that if this isolated circumstance would in a legal proceeding suffice to render doubtful the fact of the perpetration of an ofi'ence of any kind, such a conclusion is so much more natural, when an oifence is in question of so grave importance, as well by its own nature as by the char- acter of the person who has been the object of it, and by the sad and natural consequences which it might have. In the fourth place, that, if to give to the evidence of witnesses the weight which it deserves, it is indispensable to have regard to the quality of the persons who depose ; to the credit, more or less gTcat, that should attach to them, as well for their good repute as for the absence of interest to conceal the truth, it must be concluded that the complaint of Monsieur the minister of France is deprived of any foundation ; for, even supposing some of the circumstances averred which have induced him to depose to that concerning the attempt at homicide, they would offer explanations, if not altogether satisfactory, at least deprived of the alarming and odious character which the communication con- tained on the first page of the papers of instruction ; besides this, we are pre- cluded fronj admitting the certainty of said circumstances, on examining with impartiality the force of the detailed report of the experts Monsieurs Ignatius Paron and Augustin Arellano ; it is clear, in fact, from this report, that the projectile could not have been aimed directly at the pillar where its mark is seen ; that, adverse to the statement of his excellency are opposed the deposi- tions of residents of Vergara street, all irreproachable people, among whom are found functionaries in high social position. Considering, in the fifth place, that, among the facts proven by this investi- gation, many are found which prove the enthusiasm and the harmony which reigned between the Mexican people and the foreigners on the evening of the 14th; enthusiasm and harmony which are at once translated by th' iries of " Live the French," and by the cries of " Death to the factions ;'" hat it is not difficult that these cries may have been confounded by persons who heard them from a distance. Considering, in fine, that the investigation has been pressed as far as possible ; considering the fact that a ball was found in the hotel of the THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. 133 minister of France, it remains, at the most, proven that some one has infringed the injunction of November, 1771, and the ordinances and rules relating to it, by firing a shot, without proof made how, by whom, from what point, and for what purpose. Considering the laws 40, title 16, third part, and 2, title 16, book 2, of the last collection, I must declare, and do declare, that there is no cause to prose- cute the warrant, of which report will be made to the third chamber of the superior court of this district. Full return shall be rendered to the supreme government, through the channel of the department of state to the department of justice. Ordered and decreed by the citizen Mariano Arrieta, seventh judge of the criminal bench, before me, notary public, who certify this. A true copy. J DE D. ARIAS. Mr. Romero to Mr. Seward. [Translation.] Washngton, November 23, 1861. Mr. Secretary : I have the honor to invite your attention to the annexed publication, which contains a treaty concluded at London, the 31st October last past, between England, and France, and Spain, for intervention in Mexico, and which was sent to me by the Mexican minister resident at Paris, who assures me of the authenticity of the document. In the second paragraph of the first article of said convention you will note that the leaders of the allied forces are empowered in the most ample manner to carry out the further operations which, after having occupied the different forts and military positions of the Mexican coast, may appear proper to them, being on the spot, to achieve the object for which the expedition has been agreed upon. In the second article the contracting parties bind themselves not to ex- ercise over the internal affairs of Mexico any influences of tendency to impair the right which belongs to the Mexican nation freely to' choose and determine the form of its government. The simple declaration that Mexico has the right to choose and determine the form of its government allows the true purpose dt the expedition, which it was intended to dissemble precisely in these words to shine forth. ■ Who questions such right 1 If the allies are going to guarantee it, do they not give to understand by this that in their views the constitutional government of the rep«blic is an unpopular government which tyrannizes over the nation, and preserves its power only by force of arms, against whose tyranny the allies declare themselves as champions, and undertake the expedition in order to its overthrow? What encom-agement will not the constant disturbers of public order receive in Mexico on perceiving that they are almost invited to rise in order to destroy the despotism which it is supposed weighs upon them, and that three of the principal powers of western Europe expressly guarantee to them the liberty to choose and determine the form of government which may suit them 1 What is that despotic government- which weighs upon the Mexican people, which, without other elements than its devoted faith in republican prin- ciples, and in strict adherence to the rights of the people, fought and triumphed on the battle-fields and at the electoral' ballot-boxes over the privileged classes, who combined the moral and material strength of the country, and whose ex- istence was anterior to that of Mexico as an independent nation 1 What will be 134 THE PEESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. that Avliicli tlio allies once in Mexico may earnestly' desire to characterize as the national will, and what the movements they 'may take in virtue of the terms, purposely vague, of the convention l It is, in truth, much to be regretted that just at the moment when public order and tranquillity were about to be reduced to system in Mexico, if the country were left to settle its own ajBEairs, a foreign expedition should be organized ap- parently for the purpose of forcible interference with the internal affairs of that republic, by overthrowing the government and by giving fresh fuel to that civil war which was coming to its close. As the institutions which at present prevail in Mexico are identical with those of this country, and as, should their subversion in that country be brought about, they would suffer a rude shock that would cause them to totter throughout the other republics of this continent, it seems to me that the dangers which actually threaten Mexico are not exclusively limited to her, but extend to all republican America. I hope, sir, therefore, that the United States, which were the first to establish such institutions, at the same time that they have thus far derived the greatest benefits from them, and have manifested most zeal for their preservation and jjropagation, will not look ■with, indifference upon the storm which is brewing not alone against the Mexican nation, but against republican institutions in America and the autonomy of this continent. It will be very satisfactoiy to me to transmit to my government the assurances which, upon this important matter, you may be able to give me in the name of the United States. I avail of this opportunity to renew to you, sir, the assurances of my most distinguished consideration. M. ROMEEO. Hon. Wm. H. Seward, ice Sfc, S/v. Convention between her Majesty, the Queen of Sj^ain, and tlie Emperor of the, French relative to comhined, operations against Mexico; signed at London, October 31, 1861.* Sa Majestd la Reine du Royaume Uui de la Grande Bretagne et d'Irlande, sa Majeste la Reine d'Espagne, et sa Majesty I'Empereur des Fran9ais, se trou- vant placdes par la conduite arbitraire et vexatou-e des autoritds de la r^pub- lique du Mexique dans la ndcessito d'exiger de ces autorit^s une protection plus efficace pour les personnes et les proprietes de leurs sujets, ainsi que I'execution des obligations contractdes envers elles par la republique du Mexique, se sont entendues pour conclure entre elles une converttion dans le but de combiner leur action commune, et, a cet effet, ont nomme pour leurs plenipotentiairSs, savoir : Sa Majestfe la Reine du Royaume Uni de la Grande Bretagne et d'Irlande, le Tres Honorable Jean Oomte Russell, Vicomte Amberley de Amberley et Ardsalla, Pair du Royaume Uni, conseiller de sa Majeste Britannique en son conseil prive, piincipal secri^taire d'etat de sa Majesty pom- les affaires etrangeres ; Sa Majeste; la Reine d'Espagne, Don Xavier de Isturiz y Montero, chevalier de I'ordre insigne du toison d'or, grand croix de I'ordre royal et distingue de Charles III, de I'ordre imperial de la legion d'honneur de France, des ordres de la conception de Villaviciosa et Christ de Portugal, st'nateur du royaume, ancien pnJsident du conseil de ministres et premier secretaire d'etat de sa Majeste Catholique, et son envoyi^ extraordinaire et ministre plenipotentiaire pres sa Majeste Britannique ; <* Eatifloatiocs excbacged at Loudon, November 15, 1861. THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. 135 Et sa Majesty I'Empereur des Fran^ais, son excellence le Comte de Flaliault de la Billarderie, sdnatenr, g6v.6ral de division, grand croix de la legion d'honneur, ambassadeur extraordinaire de sa Majeste Imperiale pres sa Majeste Britannique ; Lesquels, apres s'^tre communique r^ciproquement leurs pleins pouvoirs respectifs, trouves en bonne et due forme, sont tombes d'accord pour arrfiter les articles suivants : Abticle I. Sa Majestd la Eeine du Royaume Uni de la Grande Bretagne et d'Irlande, sa Majeste la Reitie d'Espagne, et sa Majeste I'Empereur des Fran9ais, s'engagent a arrfiter aussitot apres la signatm-e de la pr^sente convention, les dispositions necessaires pour envoyer sur les cotes du Mexique des forces de terre et de mer combinees dont I'effectif sera determine par un ^change idterieur de communications entre leurs gouvernements, mais dont I'ensemble devra 6tre suffisant pour pouvoir saisir et occuper les differentes forteresses et positions militaires du littoral Mexicain. Les commandants des forces alli^es seront, en outre, autoris{5s a accomplir les autres operations qui seraient jug^es, sur les lieux, les plus propres a realiser le but specifie dans le preambule de la presente convention, et notamment a assurer la sdcurite des residents strangers. Toutes les mesures dont il s'agit dans cet article seront prises au nom et pour le compte des hautes parties contractantes, sans acception de la nationalite par- ticuliere des forces employees a les executer. Article II Les hautes parties contractantes s'engagent a ne rechercber pour eUes-m6mes, dans I'emploi des mesures coercitives prevues pjir la presente convention, aucune acquisition de territoire ni aucun avantage particulier, et a n'exercer, dans les affaires int^rieures du Mexique, aucune influence de nature a porter atteinte au droit de la nation Mexicaine de cboisir et de constituer librement la forme de son gouvernement. Article III. Une commission compos^e de trois commissaires, un nommd par cbacune des puissances contractantes, sera ^tablie avec plein pouvoir de statuer sur toutes les questions que pourrait soulever I'emploi ou la distribution des sommes d'argent qui seront recouvrdes au Mexique, en ayant egard aux di-oits respectifs des trois parties contractantes. Article IV. Les hautes parties contractantes d(^sirant, en outre, que les mesures qu'elles ont I'intention d'adopter n'aient pas un caractere exclusif, et sachant que le gouvernement des Etats Unis a, de son cote, des reclamations a faire valoir, comme elles, contre la r^publique Mexicaine, conviennent qu'aussitdt apres la signature de la prdsente convention il en sera communique une copie au gou- vernement des Etats Unis ; que ce gouvernement sera invitd a y acccder ; et . qu'en prevision de cette accession leurs ministres respectifs a Washington seront immddiatement munis de pleins pouvoirs a I'effet de conclure et de signer, collectivement ou sdpardmefit, avec le plenipotentiaire design^ par le President des Etats Unis, une convention identique, sauf suppression du present article, a celle qu'elles signent a la date de ce jour. Mais comme les hautes parties contractantes s'exposeraient, en apportant quelque retard a la mise a 136 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. execution des Articles I et II de la pr^sent^ convention, a manquer le but qu'elles dfesirent atteindre, elles sont tombfees d'accord de ne pas dififerer, en vue d'obtenir I'accession du gouvernement des Etats Unis, le commencement des opferatious sus-mentionnfees au dela de I'fepoque a laquelle leurs forces com- bin6es pourront etre reunies dans les parages de Vera Cruz. ■ Article V. La presente convention sera ratififee, et les ratifications en seront echangfees a Londres, dans le dfelai de quinze jours. En foi de quoi les plenipotentiaires respectifs I'ont signe, et y ont appose le sceau de leurs armes. Fait a Londres, en triple original, le trente-unieme joux du mois d'Octobre, de I'an de grace mil huit cent soixante-un. L. S.l L. s. L. S. RUSSELL. XAVIER DE ISTUEIZ. ELAHAULT. [Translation ] Her Majesty the Queen of tie United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, her Majesty the Queen of Spain, and his Majesty the Emperor of the French, feeling themselves compelled by the arbitrary and vexatious conduct of the authorities of the republic of Mexico to demand from those authorities more efficacious protection for the persons and properties of their subjects, as weU as a fulfilment of the obligations contracted towards their Majesties by the republic of Mexico, have agreed to conclude a convention with a view to combine their common action, and, for this purpose, have named as their plenipotentiaries, that is to say : Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Eight Honorable John Earl EusseU, Viscount Amberley, of Amberley, and Ardsalla, a peer of the United Kingdom, a member of her Britannic Majesty's privy council, her Majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign afiairs; Her Majesty the Queen of Spain, Don Xavier de Isturiz y Montero, knight of the illustrious order of the golden fleece, grand cross of the royal and distin- guished order of Charles III, of the imperial ordet of the legion of honor of France, of the orders of the conception of Villaviciosa and Christ of Portugal, senator of the kingdom, late president of the council of ministers, and first secretary of sta,te of her Catholic Majesty, and her envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to her Britannic Majesty; And his Majesty the Emperor of the French, his excellency the Count de Flahault de la Billarderie, senator, general of division, grand cross of the legion of honor, his Imperial Majesty's ambassador extraordinary to her Britannic Majesty ; Who, after having reciprocally communicated their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon the following articles : Article I. Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, her Majesty the Queen of Spain, and his Majesty the Emperor of the French, engage to make, immediately after the signature of the present convention, the necessary arrangements for despatching to the coasts of Mexico combined naval and military forces, the strength of which shall be determined by a further inter- THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 137 change of communications between their governments, but of which the total shall be sufficient to seize and occupy the several fortresses and military posi- tions oa the Mexican coast. The commanders of the allied forces shall be, moreover, authorized to execute the other operations which may be considered, on the spot, most suitable to effect the object specified in the preamble of the present convention, and specifi- cally to insure the security of foreign residents. All the measures contemplated in this article shall be taken in the name and on account of the high contracting parties, without reference to the particular nationality of tho, forces employed to execute them. Article II. The high contracting parties engage not to seek for themselves, in the employ- ment of the coercive measures contemplated by the present convention, any acc[uisition of territory nor any special advantage, and not to exercise in the internal affairs of Mexico any influence of a nature to prejudice the right of the Mexican nation to choose and to constitute freely the form of its government. Article III. A commission composed of three commissioners, one to be named by each of the contracting powers, shall be established with full authority to determine all questions that may arise as to the application or distribution of the sums of money which may be recovered from Mexico, having regard to the respective rights of the three contracting parties. Article IV. The high contracting parties desiring, moreover, that the measures which they intend to adopt should not bear an exclusive character, and being aware that the government of the United States on its part has, like them, claims to enforce upon the Mexican republic, agree that immediately after the signature of the present convention a copy thereof shall be communicated to the government of the United States; that that government shall be invited to accede to it; and that in anticipation of that accession their respective ministers at Washington shall be at once furnished with full powers for the purpose of concluding and signing, collectively or separately, with the plenipotentiary designated by the President of the United States, a convention identic, save the suppression of the present article, with that which they sign this day. But as by delaying to put into execution Articles I and II of the present convention, the high contracting parties would incur a risk of failing in the object which they desire to attain, they have agreed not to defer, with the view of obtaining the accession of the government of the United States, the commencement .of the above-mentioned operations beyond the time at which their combined forces can be assembled in the neighborhood of Vera Cruz. Article V. The present convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications thereof shall be exchanged at London within fifteen days. In witness whereof, the respective plenipotentiaries have signed it, and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms. Done at London, in triplicate, the thirty-first day of the mouth of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one. - L. s. l. s. L. s. EUSSELL. XAVIER DE ISTUEIZ. FLAHAULT. 138 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEZICO. Mr. Romero to Mr. Seward. [Translation.] Mexican Legation in the United States of America, Washington, November 28, 1861. Mr. Secretary : As it seems, according to all the appearances by which we may reasonably judge, the real object of the European allies, who signed in London the treaty of the 31st of October, is to subvert the form of government which actually exists in Mexico, and to overthrow the constitution which the people of that republic freely chose for itself, I deem it not inappropriate to transmit to you, for the information of the government of the United States, a copy, in English, of the political constitution of Mexico. You will observe, sir, that this code is founded upon the same bases upon which the Constitution of the United States rests, the work, of the thoughts and study of the wise and patriotic sons of this country, who made it independent, and who knew how to lay the foundations of its greatness and development. The people of Mexico, who have witnessed with surprise the astonishing prosperity at which this country, has arrived in the short period of its existence as an independent nation, have desired to amve at this same result by pursuing, in order to reach it, the same course, and by availing themselves of the same means. They have believed that this would be to them the more probable, be- cause Mexico abounds in the same elements which nature, with her prodigal hand, has scattered over this land, and because its people, having once enjoyed the blessings of democratic institutions, have determined to maintain them, and to defend their liberties. Scarcely had the constitution of 1857 been promulgated, when the privileged classes of Mexico — the clergy and the army, accustomed to govern the country by despotism — rebelled against the instrument which recognized and sanctioned the rights of the people and their equality before the law. Then there arose a gigantic and unequal contest, in which on one side fought the organized and disciplined forces, sustained with, the money of the clergy, and on the other the popular masses, without discipline, and without the resources to meet the ex- penses of the war which was carried on throughout the whole extent of the Mexican territory. ' The repeated reverses which the people met with at the outset served to discipline them, the guns of their enemies to arm them, and at the iend of a bloody and ceaseless contest of three years' duration the popular and constitu- tional cause obtained, without foreign aid of any nature, the victory to which it was entitled by the justice of the principles which it defended and the constancy and inflexible determinaJ;ion of its defenders. The supremacy of the law having been re-establised throughout the entire Mexican territory, the implacable enemies of the liberties of the people sought to overthrow the constitution, availing themselves of various expedients ; but the people of Mexico with an extraordinary unanimity, and manifesting a good sense which would do honor to the most enlightened people in the world, refused peremptorily to resort to the measures proposed to them, under the plea of saving the country, but for the real purpose of subverting the public liberties, and nearly all the legislatures of the States issued decrees renewing their allegiance to the constitution, solemnly protesting not to acknowledge any other authority created outside of said constitution, and threatening to reassume their sovereignty in the event of such revolutionary authority being established. Perceiving the inefficiency of the measures proposed, others were resorted to. It was sought to present the question as merely a personal one, and it was at- THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 139 tempted to make tlie person who at present fills tlie executive chair of the na- tion resign the presidency. Happily the good sense of the country and its de- votion to the law were so powerful that this other expedient was confounded also by the determination of the States to sustain the government which had emanated from the popular choice. The legislatures ratified their previous pro- tests against any change whatever. They declared again that they would sup- port the government established by the vote of the nation, and the governors of 'several of the States did the same. Among a series of newspapers of the past month, which I have just received from Mexico, I find some of the decrees and protests to which I have referred, and which I have the honor to transmit to you to the number of sis, in the or- der set forth in the index which I enclose herewith. The efforts made in the interior of Mexico to overthrow the present constitu- tional government having proved ineffectual, it now appears that the determined and implacable enemies of democratic and liberal institutions have reisorted to the last imaginable extreme left them, by seeking outside of the country the means which they could not find anywhere else to effect their desired aim. How far these fears have any foundation is left to events to make known to us within a brief period. I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to you, sir, the assurances of my very distinguished consideration. M. EOMERO. Hon. "William H. Seward, Sfc, fyc, fyc. [Translation.] An index of the documents transmitted to the Department of State of the United States, with the note from this legation of this date. No. Date. Contents. 1 2 1857. Feb. 5 1861. June 22 3 Sept. 30 4 Oct. 8 5 Oct. 1 6 Sept. 22 7 Sept. 30 Copy in English of the federal constitution of the "United Mexican States, adopted and sworn to on the 6th of February, 1857. Decree of the legislature of the State of Durango, protesting against the establishment of any revolutionary authority. Decree of the legislature of the State of Chicopas to the same effe'ct as the foregoing, and declaring that it will support the government of Mr. Juarez. Decree of the legislature of the State of Aguas-Callentes to the same effect as the foregoing, and asking President Juarez not to abandon the presidency. Kemonstrance of the governor of the State of Aguas-Calientes against the project of the resignation of Mr. Juarez. Kemonstrance of the governor of the State of Queretaro to the game effect as the preceding. Remonstrance of the governor of the State of Jalisco to the same effect as the preceding. WASHU.0T0M, KiAiember 28, 1861. 140 THE PEESENT CONDITION, OF MEXICO, MEXICO— CONSTITUTION OF 1857. Ignacio Comonfort, president substitute of the Mexican republic, to the inhabi- tants of the same. Be it known that the extraordinary constituent congress has decreed as fol- lows : In the name of God and by the authority of the Mexican people — The representatives of the different States, the district and territories that comprise the republic of Mexico, called by the plan proclaimed in Ayutla on the 1st of March, 1854, reformed in Acapulco on the 11th of the same month and year, and published by the convention of October 17, 1855, in order to con- stitute the nation under the democratic republican form, representative and popular, putting in exercise the powers with which they are vested, comply with their high charge by decreeing the following CONSTITUTION Of the Mexican republic, upon the indestructible base of its legitimate inde- pendence, proclaimed the 16th of September, 1810, and consummated on the 21th of September, 1821. / Title I. Section first. — Of the rights of man. Article 1. The Mexican people recognize that the rights of man are the basis and the object of social institutions. Wherefore it is declared that all the laws and the authorities of the country must respect and sustain the guarantees established by the present constitution. Article 2. All are born free in the republic. Slaves that set foot upon the national territory recover by that single act their liberty, and have .the right to the protection of the laws. Article 3. Education is free. The law shall determine what professions need license for their exercise, and with what requisites relative thereto. Article 4. Every man is free to adopt such profession or industrial pursuit as he may prefer, the same being useful and honorable, and to enjoy the pro- ducts thereof. Neither shaU any one be hindered in the exercise of such profes- sion or industrial pursuit unless by judicial sentence, when the same prejudices, the rights of a third person, or by executive order, dictated in terms prescribed by law, in case the same offends the rights of society. Article 5. No one shall be forced to give his personal labor without just remuneration and without his fall consent. The law shall not authorize any contract having for its object the loss or the irrevocable sacrifice of the liberty of man, whether the same be for labor, education, or religious vows. Neither shall the law authorize agreements by which a man stipulates his own proscription or exile. Article 6. The expression of opinions shall not be the object of any inqui- sition, judicial or administrative, except when the same is an attack upon morals, assails the rights of third parties, incites to any crime or offence, or disturbs public order. Article 7. The liberty of writing and publishing works on whatsoever sub- jects is inviolable. No law nor authority shall establish previous censorship, nor exact bonds from the authors or printers, nor limit the liberty of the press, THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 141 wWch has no limits but with regard to private life, to morals, and the public peace. The crimes of the press shall be judged, by one jury that shall deter- mine the fact, and by another that shall apply the law and fix the penalty. Article 8. The right of petition is inviolable, exercised in writing and in a manner respectful and pacific ; but in political matters it can only be exercised by citizens of the republic. To all petitions shall be returned the written opinion of the authority to whom they may have been directed, upon whom the obligation is imposed of making known the result to the petitioner. Article 9. To none shall be limited the right to associate or reunite pacifically for whatsoever lawful object ; but only the citizens of the republic can assemble in order to take part in the political affairs of the country. No armed assembly has the right of deliberation. Article 10. All men have the right to possess and carry arms for their security and legitimate defence. The law shall determine what shall be pro- hibited and the penalty to be incurred for carrying them. Article 11. All men have the right of entering and leaving the republic, of travelling through its territory, and of changing their residence without the necessity of letters of security, passports, salvo conducta, or other similar requi- site. The exercise of this right shall not prejudice the legitimate faculties of the judicial or administrative authority in cases of criminal or civU responsibility. Article 12. There are not, nor shall there be, recognized in the'republic, titles of nobilityj nor prerogatives, nor hereditary honors. Solely the people, legitimately represented, may decree recompenses in honor of those that have given or are rendering eminent services to their country or to humanity. Article 13. In the Mexican republic no one shall be judged by special laws nor by special tribunals. No person or corporation can have fueros, nor enjoy emoluments that are not in compensation for a public service and that are established by law. Martial law shall exist solely for crimes and offences that have exact connexion with military discipline. The law shall prescribe with clearness the cases included in this exception. Article 14. No retractive law shall be passeS. No one shall be judged or sentenced except under laws of date anterior to the fact and exactly applicable to the case, and by a tribunal which shall have been previously established by law. Article 15. Treaties shall never be made for the extradition of political offenders, nor for that of those criminals under the common law, who shall have been held in the countiy where the offence was committed in the condition of slaves ; nor shall conventions or treaties be made by which in any manner are altered the rights and guarantees which this constitution secures to the man and to the citizen. Article 16. No one may be molested vn his person, family, domicile, papers or possessions, except in virtue of a written order from a competent authority based upon legal cause for the proceeding. In case of high crimes all persons may apprehend the offenders and their accomplices, puttiag them without delay at the disposal of the nearest authorities. Article 17. No one can be arrested for debts of a character purely civil. No one may exercise violence in reclaiming his rights. Tribunals are estab- lished for administering justice ; this shall be gratuitous, judicial costs are there- fore abolished. Article 18. Imprisonment shall only take place for offences which merit personal punishment. In whatever stage of the proceedings it shall appear that the accused may not be liable to this penalty, he shall be put at liberty under baU. In no case shall the imprisonment be prolonged for default of payment of fees or whatever other furnishing of money. Article 19. No detention shall exceed the term of three days, except upon proof of sufficient reason for imprisonment, in conformity with the requisites 142 THE PRESENT CfONDITION OF MEXICO. required by law. The sole lapse of this time shall render responsible the authority that orders or consents to it, and the agents, officers or jailers, that execute it. All maltreatment in the apprehension or confinement of prisoners, all hardship which shall be inflicted without legal motive, and alf taxes or con- tributions in the prisons, are abuses which shall be corrected by the laws and severely punished by the authorities. Article 20. In all criminal trials the accused shall have the following guar- antees : First. That of being informed of the motive of 'the proceeding and the name of the accuser, if there should be one. Second. That of taking his pre- paratory declaration within forty-eight hours, computed from the time of the order for his arrest from the judge. Third. That of being confronted with the witnesses against him. Foiirth. That he shall be furnished with the facts and averments contained in the accusation, in order to prepare his defence. Fifth. That of being heard in defence by himself or by counsel, or by both, according as he may desire. In case of having no one to defend him, he shall be pre- sented with a list of the official counsel that he may select the one or the ones he may desire. Article 21. The application of punishment, properly such, belongs to the judicial authority. Political or administrative authorities can only impose, as corrections, iines not exceeding five hundred dollars, and confinement not exceed- ing one month, in cases and manner expressly determined by law. Article 22. There shall be forever prohibited penalties of mutUation and of infomy, branding, flogging, the bastinado, torture of whatever species, excessive fines, confiscation of property, or whatever other unsuitable or unusual punish- ment. Article 23. In order to abolish the penalty of death, the administrative power is charged with establishing, without delay, a penitentiary system. Un- til then it shall be abolished for political offences, and shall not be used in other than cases of high treason during foreign war, highway robbery, arson, parricide, murder with malice premeditated or for gain, high military offences, and for piracy, as defined by law. Article 24. No criminal proceeding may have more than three instances. No one shall be tried twice for the same offence, whether he be absolved or con- demned by the judgment. The practice of exempting from the regular course of proceedings shall be abolished. ' Article 23. Sealed correspondence circulating by the mails shall be invio- lable. The violation of this guarantee is an offence which the law shall severely chastise. Article 26. In time of peace no military authority may exact quarters, transportation, or other service, real or personal, without the consent of the pro- prietor. In time of war it may only be taken in the manner prescribed by law. Article 27. Private property shall not be taken without the consent of the owner, except in cases of public utility and with previous indemnification. The law shall determine the authority that may make the appropriation in such cases, and the requisites for its exercise. No corporation, civil or ecclesiastical, what- ever may be its character, denomination, or object, shall have legal power to acquire in proprietorship, or to administer for itself real estate, with the sole ex- ception of edifices destined exclusively and directly to the purpose or object of the institution. Article 28. Monopolies shall not be established, nor places for the sale of privileged goods, nor prohibitions in the character of so-called protections to in- dustry, excepting solely those relative to the coining of money, to the mails, and to those privileges which, for a limited time, are conceded by the law to the inventors or perfectors of any improvement. Article 29. In cases of invasion, grave disturbance of the public peace, or whatever cause which may put society in great peril or conflict, solely the Presi- THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO, 143 dent of tlie republic in concurrence with the council of ministers and with the approbation of the congress of the union, and in the recess of this, of the permanent deputation, may suspend the guarantees established by this consitu- tion, with exception of those that assure the life of man ; but such suspension shall be only for a limited time, by means of general provisions, and of such a character as not to favor a determined individual purpose. If the suspension take place during the session of congress, this shall grant such authorization as they shall esteem necessary to enable the executive to confront the circum- stances. If it shall take place during recess the permanent deputation shall, without delay, convoke the congress for its advice and action. Section second. — Of Mexicans. Article 30. They are Mexicans : First. Who are bom withiij or without the republic, of Mexican fathers. Second. Strangers that are naturalized in conformity with the laws of the federation. Third. Strangers who acquire real estate in the republic, or have Mexican sons ; providing always, they do not manifest their resolution to preserve their nationality. Article 31. It is obligatory upon all Mexicans: First. To defend the in- dependence, the territory, the honor, the rights, and the interests of their country. Second. To contribute towards public expenses, as well of the federation as of the State and municipality where they may reside, in an equitable and propor- tional manner, as shall be prescribed by the laws'. 'Article 32. Mexicans shall be preferred to strangers under equality of cir- cumstances for all public employments, trusts, or commissions named by the authorities, when the quality of citizenship shall not be indispensable. Laws shall be formed for improving the condition of Mexican laborers, pro- viding premiuips for those who distinguish themselves in whatever science or art, stimulating industry, and founding colleges and practical schools of art and industry. , Section third. — Of strangers. Article 33. Those are strangers who do not possess the qualifications de- termined in article 30. They are entitled to the guarantees established by sec- tion first, title first, of the present constitution, except that in all cases the government has the right to expel those who are pernicious to society. It is obligatory upon them to contribute towards public expenses in the manner that may be.prescribed by the laws, and to obey and respect the insti- tutions, laws, and authorities of the country, submitting to the judgments and sentences of the tribunals, without power to seek other protection than that which the laws concede to Mexican citizens. Section fourth. — Of Mexican citizens. Article 34. Those are citizens of the republic who, having the quality of Mexicans, have also the following requisites : First. Eight'een years of age if married, or twenty-one if not married. Second. An honest means of livelihood. Article 35. The prerogatives of citizens are: First. To vote at popular elections. Second. To be voted for for any office subject to popular election, and of being selected for any other employment or commission, having the re- quisite qualifications established by law. Third. To associate to discuss the political business of the country. Fourth. To take arms in the army or in the . national guard, in defence of the republic and its institutions. Fifth. To exer- cise in all cases the right of petition. Article 36. It is obligatory upon citizens of the republic : First. To be 144 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. registered in tie poll-list of Ms municipality, stating the property of -wLicli he is possessed, and the industry, profession, or labor by which he subsists. Second. -To enlist in the national guard. Third. To vote at popular elections in the dis- trict to which he belongs. Fourth. To assist in the conduct of popular elections; which services, however, shall be subject to remuneration. Article 37. The character of citizen is lost: First. By naturalization in a foreign country. Second. By serving officially the government of another conn- try, accepting its decorations, titles, or employments, without previous permission from the federal congress, excepting literary, scientific, or benevolent titles, which may be accepted freely. Article 38. The law shall prescribe the cases and the form in which may be lost or suspended the rights of citizenship, and the manner in which they may be regained. Title II. Section first. — Of the national sovereignty and tJieform of government. Article 39. The national sovereignty resides essentially and originally in the people. All public power springs from the people and is instituted for their benefit. The people have at all times the inalienable right of altering or modi- fying their form of government. Article 40. The Mexican people voluntarily constitute themselves a demo- cratic, federal, representative republic, formed of States free and sovereign in all that concerns their interior government, but united in a federation established according to the principles of this fundamental law. Article 41. The people exercise their sovereignty by means of federal officers in cases belonging to the federation, and through those of the States in all that relates to the internal affairs of the States, in the manner respectively established by this federal constitution, and by the constitutions of the States, which latter shall never conflict with the federal compact. Section second. — Of the integral parts of the federation and of the national, territory. Article 42. The national territory comprises the integral parts of the fed- eration, and the adjacent islands in both seas. Article 43. The integral parts of the federation are : The States of Aguas Calientes, Oolima, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan, Nuevo Leon y Coahuila, Oajaca, Puebla, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, TIaxcala, Valle de Mexico, Vera Cruz, Yucatan, Zacatecas, and the Territory of Lower California. Article 44. The States of Aguas Calientes, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Durango, Guerrero, Mexico, Puebla, Queretaro, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tamaulipas, and the Territory of Lower California, preserve the limits which they now have. Article 45. The States of Oolima and TIaxcala preserve in their new char- acter of States the limits which they had as territories of the federation. Article 46. The State of the Valley of Mexico is formed of the ten-itory actually composing the federal district, but the erection into a State shall only have effect when the supreme federal authorities shall be removed to another place. Article 47. The State of Nuevo Leon y Coahuila comprises the territory which heretofore composed the two States of which it is now formed, except the part of the hacienda of Bonanza, which is reincorporated in Zacatecas, in the same terms as were established before its incorporation with Coahuila. Article 48. The States of Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacan, Oajaca, San THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 145 Luis Potosi, Tabasco, Vera Oruz, Yucatan, and Zacatecas, recover tlie extension and limits wliich they had on the 31st of December, 1852, with the alterations which are established in the following article. Article 49. The town of Oontepec, which has belonged to Guanajuato, is incorporated in Michoacan. The municipality of Ahualulco, which has be- longed to Zacatecas, is incorporated in San Luis Potosi. The municipalities of Ojo Caliente and San Francisco de los Adames, which have belonged to San Luis, as well as the towns of Nueva, Tlaxcala and San Andres del Teul, which have belonged to Jalisco, are incorporated in Zacatecas. The depart- ment of Tuxpan continues to form part of Vera Cruz. The canton of Huimau- guillo, which has belonged to Vera Oruz, is incorporated in Tabasco. Title III. Of the dwision of powers. Article 50. The supreme power of the federation is divided for its exercise into legislative, executive, and judicial. Two or more of these powers can never be united in the same person, nor the legislative power be deposited in one indi- vidual. Section first. — Of the legislative power. Article 51. The exercise of the supreme legislative power is deposited in one assembly, which shall be denominated the Congress of the Union. Paragraph first. — Of the election and installation of congress. Article 52. The congress of the union shall be composed of representa- tives elected in their entire number, each two years, by Mexican citizens. Article 53. A deputy shall be named for each 40,000 inhabitants, or for each fraction over 20,000. The Territory in which the population shall be less than this shall still be entitled to send one deputy. Article 54. For each deputy proper shall be elected also a substitute. Article 55. The election for deputies shall be indirect in the first degree, and by secret ballot, in the manner which shall be prescribed by the electoral law. Article 56. In order to be eligible as a deputy it is required to be a Mexican citizen in the full exercise of his rights ; to have completed 25 years of age on the day of the opening of the session ; to be a resident of the State or Territory which makes the election, and not to be an ecclesiastic. Residence is not lost by absence in the discharge of any public trust bestowed by popular election. Article 57. The position of deputy is incompatible with the holding of any federal commission or office from which a salary is received. Article 58. The deputies proper, from the day of their election up to the day on which their trust is concluded, cannot accept any employment ofi'ered by the executive of the union by which pay is received, except with the previous license of congress. The Same requisites are necessary for deputy substitutes, when in the exercise of their- functions. Article 59. The deputies are inviolable for their opinions expressed in the discharge of their trust, and shall never be called to account for them. Article 60. Congress shall decide with regard to the election of its members, and determine any doubts that may occur regarding the same. Article 61. Congress may not open its sessions nor exercise its functions without the concun-ence of more than half of the total number of its members ; but those present may convene on the day named by the law, and compel the attendance of absent members, under penalties which shall be designated. H. Ex. Doc, 100 10 146 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. Article 62. Congress shall have each year two ordinary sessions : the iirst shall commence on the 16th of September and shall terminate on the 15th of December, and the second, which cannot be prorogued, shall commence on the 1st of April and terminate on the last day of May. Article 63. At the opening of the sessions the president of the union shall be present and shall deliver a message exhibiting the state of the union. The president of congress shall reply in general terms. Article 64. All resolutions of congress shall have no other character than that of laws or economical bills. The laws shall be communicated to the execu- tive, signed by the president and two secretaries. Economical bills by two secretaries. Paragraph second. — Of the introduction and passage of laws. Article 65. The right of introducing laws belongs : First. To the presiden of the union. Second. To the deputies of the federal congress. Third. To the legislatures of the States. Article 66. A project of law presented by the president of the republic, by the legislatures of the States, or by deputations from the same, shall pass imme- diately to a committee. Those that may be presented by the deputies shall be subject to such action as shall be prescribed by the rules of debate. Article 67. All projects of law which may be rejected by congress cannot be presented again during the sessions of the year. Article 68. The second session shall be destined in all preference to the examination of and action upon the estimates for the following fiscal year, to the passage of the necessary appropriations according the same, and to the exami- nation of the accounts of the past year which shall be presented by the executive. Article 69. The day before the last of the first session, the executive shall present to congress the estimates for the coming year and the accounts of the last year. Both shall pass to a committee composed of five representatives, which shall be named the first day and which shall have the obligation of ex- amining both documents and presenting a report upon them at the second session of the second term. Article 70. The initiatories or projects of laws shall be subjected to the follow- ing course : First. The report of a committee. Second. One or two discussions in the manner expressed in the following clauses. Third. The first discussion shall take place on the day that may be designated by the president of congress, in conformity with the rules. Fourth. Upon the conclusion of this discussion a copy of the project shall be passed to the executive, that he may within the term of seven days give his opinion, or state that he does not desire to use this faculty. Fifth. If the opinion of the executive is favorable, the law shall be voted upon without further discussion. Sixth. If this opinion disagrees in whole or in part with the law proposed, the project shall be returned to the committee, that they may examine it de navo, taking into consideration the objections of the gov- ernment. Seventh. The new report shall receive a new discussion, and upon the conclusion of this the vote upon the law shall be taken. Eighth. The ap- probation of an absolute majority of the deputies present. Article 71. In cases of notorious urgency, qualified by the vote of two- thirds of the deputies present, congress may contract or dispense with the reg- ular course prescribed by article 70. Paragraph third. — Of the faculties of congress. Article 72. Cong-ress has the power: First. Of admitting new States or Territories into the federal union, incorporating them in the nation. Second. Of erecting Territories into States when they have a population of 80,000 inhabit- ants, and are proved to have the necessary elements for providing for their THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 147 political existence. Third. Of forming new States within the limits of those existing, providing, always, that they have a population of 80,000 inhabitants, and are proved to have the necessary resources for their political existence. In all cases the legislatures of the States whose territory is proposed to he taken shall be heard, and their concurrence shall he necessary, as well as the ratifica- tion of a majority of the legislatures of the States. Fourth. Of arranging definitively the limits of the States, terminating the difierences which may arise between them respecting the boundaries of their respective territories, except when these difPerences have the character of contentions. Fifth. Of changing the residence of the supreme powers of the federation. Sixth. Of the internal government of the federal district and territories, upon the basis that the citi- zens shall elect, by popular voice, their political, municipal, and judicial authori- ties, and fix the taxes necessary to meet their local expenditures. Seventh. Of approving the federal estimates of expenditures, which shall be annually pre- sented by the executive, and of imposing the taxes necessary therefor. Eighth. Of giving bases under which the executive may procure loans upon the faith of the national credit, and of approving said loans, and of recognizing and ordering the payment of the national debt. Ninth. Of establishing tariff's upon foreign commerce, and of removing, by means of general laws, onerous restrictions which may be established in the commerce between dififerent States. Tenth. Of establishing general bases for mercantile legislation. Eleventh. Of creating and suppressing public employments of the federation, and of establishing, augment- ing, or diminishing their salaries. Twelfth. Of ratifying the appointments that may he made by the executive of ministers, diplomatic agents and consuls, of the higher employees of the treasury, and of colonels, and other higher officers in the army or national armed force. Thirteenth. Of ratifying the treaties, con- tracts, or diplomatic conventions which the executive may make. Fourteenth. Of declaring war upon the facts which may be presented by the executive. Fifteenth. Of regulating the mode in which privateers may be licensed; of dictating laws according to which captures by sea or land shall be declared good or bad; and also relative to maritime rights during peace and war. Sixteenth. Of permitting or refusing the entry of foreign troops into the territory of the federation, and of consenting to the station of sc[iiadrons of other powers for more than one month in the waters of the republic. Seventeenth. Of permitting the passage of the national troops without the limits of the republic. Eighteenth. Of creating and sustaining the army and armed force of the Union, and of regulating its organization and service. Nineteenth. Of making regulations for the purpose of organizing, arming, and disciplining the national guard, reserv- ing to the citizens which compose it the appointment of the commanders and officers, and to the States the power of instructing them in conformity with the discipline prescribed by said regulations. Twentieth. Of giving its consent that the executive may order the national gijard without their respective States or Territories, fixing the amount of the force necessary to be so used. Twenty- first. Of making laws regarding naturalization, colonization, and citizenship. Twenty-second. Of making laws regarding general means of communication, and regarding the post office and mails. Twenty-third. Of establishing mints, prescribing the rules of their operation ; of determining the value of foreign coin, and adopting a general system of weights and measures. Twenty-fourth. Of prescribing the rules under which the public land may be occupied or sold, and the price of the same. Twenty-fifth. Of conceding pardons for offences cognizable by the tribunals of the federation. Twenty-sixth. Of awarding rewards or recompense for eminent services rendered to the country, or to human- ity ; and privileges, for a limited time, to inventors or perfectors of any improve- ment. Twenty-seventh. Of proroguing, for thirty business days, the first term of its ordinary sessions. Twenty-eighth. Of forming rules for its internal reg- ulation, and for compelling the attendance of absent members, and for correcting 148 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. the faults or omissions of those present. Twenty-ninth. Of appointing and removing- freely it^ secretaries and auditors, and of organizing these offiesc according to law. Thirtieth. Of making all laws which may be necessary and proper to render effective the foregoing powers, and all others conceded by this constitution, to the powers of the union. Paragraph fourth. — Of the permanent deputation. ARTrcLE 73. During the recess of the congress of the union, there shall be a permanent deputation, composed of one deputy from each State and Territory, who shall be named by congress on the evening of the last day of its sessions. Article 74. 'The powers of the permanent deputation are the following : First. To give its consent to the use of the national guard in the cases spoken of in article 72, clause 20. Second. To determine by itself alone, or at the petition of the executive, the convdcation of the congress in extraordinary ses- sion. Third. To approve in the case of appointments, as referred to in article 85, clause 3. Fourth. To receive the oath of the president of the republic, and of the ministers of the supreme court of justice, in the cases provided by this constitution. Fifth. To report upon all the business not disposed of, in order that the session which follows may immediately take up such unfinished busi- ness. Section two. — Of the executive power. Article 75. The exercise of the supreme executive power of the union shall be deposited in one sole individual, who shall be called President of the United Mexican States. Article 76. The election of president shall be indirect in the first grade, and by secret ballot, in such manner as may be prescribed by the electoral law. Article 77. In order to be president it is required to be a citizen of the Mexican republic by birth, in the exercise of his rights, to he thirty -five years of age at the time of election, not to belong to the eclesiastical state, and to be a resident in the country at the time the election takes place. Article 78. The president shall enter upon the exercise of his functions on the first day of December, and remain in office four years. Article 79. In temporary default of a president of the republic, and in the vacancy before the installation of the newly elected, the president of the supreme court of justice shall enter upon the exercise of the functions of president. Article 80. If the default of president be absolute, a new election shall he proceeded with, according to the provisions of article 76, and the one so elected shall exercise his functions until the last day of November of the fourth year following his election. Article 81. The trust of president can only be resigned for grave cause, approved by congress, before whom shall be presented the resignation. Article 82. If, from whatever reason, the election of president shall not have been made and published by the 1st of December upon which the change is to take place, or if the newly elected is not able to enter promptly upon the exercise of his functions, the tenn of the preceding president shall nevertheless cease, and the supreme executive power shall be deposited ad interim in the president of the supreme court of justice. Article 83. The president, in taking possession of his trust, shall swear before congress, and in its recess before the permanent deputation, in the follow- ing manner : " I swear to discharge faithfully and patriotically the trust of Presi- dent of the United Mexican States according to the constitution, and seeking in all things for the good and prosperity of the union." Article 84. The president cannot leave the residence of the federal powers. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 149 nor tlie exercise of Ms functions, without grave motive, approved by congress, or in its recess by the permanent deputation. Article 85. The powers and obligations of the president are the following : First. To promulgate and enforce the laws passed by the congress of the union, attending in the administrative sphere to their exact observance. Second. To appoint and remove freely secretaries of state ; to remove diplomatic agents and superior employes of |he treasury; and to appoint and remove freely all other federal officers whose appointment or removal is not otherwise provided for in the constitution or by the laws. Third. To appoint ministers, diplomatic agents, and consuls general, with the approbation of congress, or in its recess of the per- manent deputation. Fourth. To appoint, with the approbation of congress, col- onels and other higher officers in the army and national armed force, and the higher employes of the treasury. Fifth. To appoint all other officers of the army and national navy according to law. Sixth. To dispose of the permanent national armed force by sea or by land for the internal secmity and external de- fence of the federation. Seventh. To dispose of the national guard for the same objects, according to the provisions of clause 20th of article 72. Eighth. To de- clare war in the name of the United Mexican States, after the passage of the necessary law by the congress of the union. Ninth. To authorize privateers, subject to the basis fixed by congress. Tenth. To direct diplomatic negotia- tions, and to make treaties with foreign powers, submitting them to the ratifica- tion of the federal congress. Eleventh. To receive ministers or other envoys of foreign powers. Twelfth. To convoke congress in extraordinary session, with the consent of the permanent deputation. Thirteenth. To extend to the judicial power such assistance as may be necessary for the prompt exercise of its func- tions. Fourteenth. To open all classes of ports, establish frontier and mari- time custom-houses, and prescribe their location. Fifteenth. To grant, in con- formity with the laws, pardons to criminals sentenced for crimes cognizable by the federal tribunals. Article 86. For the despatch of the business of the administrative depart- ments of the federation that number pf secretaryships shall be appointed which may be prescribed by congress by a law, which shall also provide for the distri- bution of business, and prescribe what shall be the department of each secretary. Article 87. To be secretary of state it is required to be a Mexican citizen by birth, being in the exercise of his rights, and having completed twenty-five years of age. Article 88. All the regulations, decrees; and orders of the president shall be signed by the secretary of state charged' with the branch to which the busi- ness belongs. Without this requisite they shall not be obeyed. Article 89. The secretaries of state, immediately after the opening of the sessions of the first term, shall render au account to congress of the state of their respective departments. Section third. — Of the judicial fmoer. Article 90. The exercise of the judicial power of the federation shall be deposited in a supreme court of justice and in the district and circuit courts. Article 91. The supreme court of justice shall be composed of eleven judges proprietary, four supremary judges, one attorney general, and one solicitor general. Article 92. Each one of the individuals composing the supreme court of justice shall hold office during six years, and their election shall be indirect in the first grade, according to the terms prescribed by the electoral law. Article 93. To be eligible as a member of the supreme court of justice it is required to be instructed in the science of law according to the judgment of 150 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. the election, to be more than thirty-five years of age, and a Mexican citizen hy birth, in the exercise of his rights. Article 94._The members of the supreme court of justice upon entering upon the exercise of their trust shall make oath before congress, or, in its recess, before the permanent deputation, in the following manner : " Do you swear to discharge faithfully and patriotically the trust of magistrate of the supreme court of justice, conferred upon you by the people, in conformity with the con- stitution, and seeking in all things the good and prosperity of the union 1" Article 95. The duties of members of the supreme court of justice can only be resigned for grave reason, approved by congress, to whom the resignation shall be presented ; in the recess of congress, before the permanent deputation. Article 96. The law shall establish and organize the circuit and district courts. Article 97. It belongs to the federal tribunals to take cognizance of: First. All controversies which may arise in regard to the fulfilment and application of the federal laws. Second. All cases pertaining to maritime law. Third. Those in which the federation may be a party. Fourth. Those that may arise between two or more States. Fifth. Those that may arise between a State and one or more citizens of another State. Sixth. Civil or criminal cases that may arise under treaties with foreign powers. Seventh. Cases concerning diplomatic agents and consuls. Article 98. It belongs to the supreme court of justice to take cognizance from the first proceeding of controversies that may arise between one State and another, and of those wherein the union may be a party. Article 99. It also belongs to the supreme court of justice to decide regard- ing cases of jurisdiction among the federal courts, between these and those of the States, and between those of one State and those of another. Article 100. In the rest of the cases comprehended in article 97, the supreme court of justice shall be a court of appeal, or rather of last resort, according to the graduation which the law may make in the jurisdiction of the circuit and district courts. Article 101. The tribunals of the federation shall decide all questions that may arise : First. Under the laws or acts of whatever authority which violate individual guarantees. Second. Under the laws or acts of the federal authorities which invade or restrict the sovereignty of the States. Third. Under the laws or acts of the States which invade the exercise of the federal authority. Article 102. All the decisions of which mention is made in the preceding article shall take place on the petition of the party aggrieved, and by means ot formal judicial proceedings, as shall be prescribed by law. The sentence shall be always such as to afiect private individuals only, and is intended as merely a protection in the special cases to wliich the process refers, without embracing any general declaration regarding the law or act in question. Title IV. Of the responsihility of public functionaries. Article 103. The deputies to the congress of the union, the members of the supreme court of justice, and the secretaries of state, shall be held respon- sible for ordinary offences which they may commit during their term of ofiice, as well as the crimes, faults, or omissions of which they may be 'guilty in the exercise of their trust. The governors of the States are also responsible for infractions of the consti- tution and of federal law. So is also the president of the republic ; but during the term of his ofiice he can only be accused in case of the offences of treason, express violation of the THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 151 constitution, attack upon the electoral franchise, and grave crimes against public order. , Article 104. In case of ordinary crime, congress, sitting as a grand jury, shall declare, by an absolute majority of votes, if there is cause of proceeding against the accused, or not. If the latter, ho further proceeding shall take place ; if the former, the accused shall immediately be deprived of his office and subjected to the action of the ordinary tribunals. Article 105. Official offences shall be cognizable by congress as a jury of accusation, and the supreme court of justice as a jury of sentence. The jury of accusation has for its object to declare, by an absolute majority of votes, if the accused is culpable or not. If the declaration is favorable, the functionary shall continue in the exercise of his trust; if it is condemnatory, the accused shall be immediately deprived of his office and placed at the disposition of the supreme court of justice. This in full com-t, and sitting as a jury of sentence, in the presence of the offender, the attorney general, and the accuser, if such there should be, shall proceed to apply, by an absolute majority of votes, the penalty which the law may have prescribed. Article 106. After the sentence is pronounced of responsibility for official crime, no exercise of the pardoning power can be extended to the offender. Article 107. Responsibility for official crimes or errors only maintains during the period of occupation of office and one year thereafter. Article 108. With reference to the requirements of civil war there shall be no privileged class, nor exemption for any public functionary. Title V. Of the States of the federation. Article 109. The States shall adopt for their interior regulation the form of popular representative republican government. Article 110. The States may arrange among themselves, by friendly agree- ments, their respective limits, but such arrangements shall not go into effect without the approbation of the congress of the union. Article 111. The States cannot in any case : First. Form alliances, treaties, or coalitions with other States, nor with foreign powers, excepting the coalitions which may be formed among the frontier States for offensive or defensive war against the Indians. Second. Grant letters of marque or reprisal. Third. Coin money, or emit paper money, or sealed paper. Article 112. Neither may they, without the consent of the congress of the union : First. Establish tonnage duty, or any other port duty, nor impose con- tributions, or duties upon importations or exportations. Second. Have at any time permanent troops or vessels-of-war. Thnd. Make war by itself upon any foreign power, except in case of invasion or such imminent peril as admits of no delay. In these cases immediate notice shall be given to the president of the republic. Article 113. Each State has the obligation of delivering, without delay, the criminals of other States to the authorities that claim them. Article 114. The governors of the States are obliged to publish and cause to be obeyed the federal laws. Article 115. In each State of the federation entire faith and credit shall be given to the public acts, registers, and judicial proceedings of all the others. Congress may, by means of general laws, prescribe the manner of proving these acts, registers, and proceedings, and their effects. Article 116. The powers of the union shall protect the States against all invasion or exterior violence. In case of internal disorder or rebellion they shall give equal protection, providing always that it be applied for by the legis- lature of the State, or by the governor, if the legislature is not in session. 152 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. Title VI. General provisions. Article 117. The powers which are not expressly conceded by this consti- tution to the federal authorities are understood to be reserved to the States. Article 118. No person can, at the same time, hold two federal elective offices, but, if elected to two, he may select between them. Article 119. No -payment of money shall be made that is not embraced in the fiscal estimates or determined by previous law. Article 120. The president of the republic, the members of the supreme court of justice, the deputies, and other public officers of the federation popularly chosen, shall receive a compensation for their services, which shall be determined by law, and paid by the national treasury. This compensation cannot be re- nounced, and any law that augments or diminishes it shall not have effect during the period for which the functionary holds the office. Article 121, All public functionaries, without any exception, before taking possession of their offices, shall swear to observe and protect the constitution and the laws tha,t emanate from it. Article 122. In time of peace no military authority can exercise more func- tions than are in exact connexion with military discipline. There shall be fixed and permanent military authority in the castles, ports, and storehouses which belong immediately to the federal government, or in encampments, barracks, or depots which may be established without the towns for the station of troops. Article 123. It belongs excl-usively to the federal powers to exercise in matters of religious belief and discipline the intervention which may be pre- scribed by the laws. Article 124. From the first day of June, 1858, alcahalas and interior custom-houses shall be abolished in all the republic. Article 125. The forts, quarters, storehouses, and other buildings of the government of the union shall be under the immediate inspection of the federal authorities. Article 126. This constitution, the laws of the congress of the union which emanate from it, and all treaties made or that may be made by the president of the republic with the approbation of congress, shall be the supreme law of all the union. The judges of each State in giving their decisions shall do so in confonnity with said constitution, laws, and treaties, anything to the contrary that there may be in the laws or constitution of the States notwithstanding. Title VII. Of the alterations of the constitution. Article 127. The present constitution may be added to or altered. In order that additions or alterations may become part of the constitution, it is necessary that such additions or alterations shall be approved of by the, congress of the union by the vote of two-thirds of those present, and that they should also be approved by a majority of the legislatures of the States. The congress of the union shall take account of the votes of the legislatures and the declaration that the addition or alteration had been approved. Title VIII. Of the inviolability of the constitution. Article 128. This constitution shall not lose its force and vigor even if its observance be interrupted by any rebellion. In case that, by means of such an THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 153 event, a government shall have been established contrary to the principles which it sanctions, immediately upon the people recovering their liberty its observance shall be re-established, and according to its provisions and the laws which have been framed in virtue of it, they shall be judged as well those who have figured in the governriient emanating from the rebellion as those who have co- operated with it. Temporary article. This constitution shall be published immediately, and shall be sworn to with the greatest solemnity in all the republic, but with the exception of the disposi- tions relative to the election of the supreme powers of the federation, and of the States, it shall not commence to have force until the 16th day of September next ensuing, when, the first constitutional congress is to be installed. Until then the president of the republic and the supreme court of justice, who are to continue in exercise of their functions until the inauguration of the individuals constitutiorially elected, shall govern themselves in the discharge of their obli- gations and powers by the precepts of this constitution. Dated in the hall of sessions of congress, at Mexico, the 5th day of rebruary, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, and thirty-seventh of independence. VALENTINE GOBIEZ FARIAS, Deputy for the State of Jalisco, President. LEON &UZMAN, Deputy for the State of Mexico, Vice-President. For the State of Aguas Calientes, Manuel Bdenrostro. For the State of Chiapas, Francisco Robles, Matias Castbllanos. For the State of Chihuahua, Jose E. Munoz, Pedro Ignacio Irigoyeiv. For the State of Coahuila, Simon de la GtArza y Melo. For the State of Durango, Marcblino CastaSeda, Francisco Zarco For the federal district, Francisco de P. Condejas, Jose Maria del Rio, PoNciANO Arriaga, J. M. DEL Castbllo Velasco.Mandel Morales Puente. For the State of Guanajuato, Ignacio Sierra, Antonio Lemus, Jose de LA Luz Rosas, Juan Morales, Antonio Aguado, Francisco P. Montanez, Francisco Guerrero, Blas Balcarcel. For the State of Guerrero, Francisco Ibarra. For the State of Jalisco, Espiridion Moreno, Mariano Faranda, Jesus Anaya y Hermosillo, Albino Aranda, Ignacio Louis Vallarta, Benito Gomez Farias, Jesus D. Rojas, Ignacio Ochoa Sanchez, Guillermo Langlois, Joaquin M. Degollado. For the State of Mexico, Antonio Escudero, Jose L. Revilla, Julian Estrada, I. de la Pena y Barragan, Esteban Paez, Rafael Maria Vil- lagran, F. Fernandez de Alfaro, Justino Fernandez, Euloqio Barreba, M. Romero Rubio, Manuel de la Pexa y Ramirez, Manuel Fernando Soto. For the State of Michoacan, Santos Degollado, Sabas Iturbidb, Fran- cisco G. Anaya, Ramon I. Alcaraz, Francisco Dias Barriga, Luis Gutier- rez CoRREA, Mariano Ramirez, Mateo Echaiz. For the State of Nuevo Leon, Manuel P. De Llano. For the State of Oaxaca, Mariano Zavala, G. Larazabal, Ignacio Mar- iscal, Juan N. Oerqueda, Felix Romero, M. E. Goytia. For the State of Puebla, Miguel Maria Arrioja, Fernando M. Ortega, Guillermo Prieto, J. Mariano Viadas, Francisco^ Banuet, Manuel M. Vargas, F. L. Estrado, Juan N. Ibarra, Juan N. de la Parra. For the State of Queretaro, Ignacio Reyes. For the State of San Luis Potosi, Francisco J. Villalobos, Pablo Tellez. 154 THE PEE SENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. For the State of Sinaloa, Ignaoio Ramirez. For the State of Sonora, Benito Quintana. For the State of Tabasco, Grbgorio Payro. For the State of TamauKpaa, Luis Garcia de Arellano. For the State of Tlaxcala, Jose Mariano Sanchez. For the State of Vera Cruz, Jose db Emparan, Jose Maria Mata, Rafael Gonzalez Paez, Mariano Vega. For the State of Yucatan, Benito Quijano, Francisco Iniestra, Pedro DE Baranda, Pedro Oontreras Elizalde. For the Territory of Tehuantepec, Joaquin Garcia Granados. For the State of Zacatecas, Miguel Auza, Agustin Lopez de Nava, Basilio Perez Gallardo. For the Territory of Lower California, Mateo Ramirez Jose Maria Cortes y Esparza, for the State of Guanajuato, Deputy Sec- retary. IsiDORO Olvera, for the State of Mexico, Deputy Secretary. Juan db Dios Arias, for the State of Puebla, Deputy Secretary. J. A. Gamboa, for the State of Oaxaca, Deputy Secretary. Wherefore, I order that it be printed, published, circulated, and that it be fully complied with in the terms which it prescribes. Palace of the national government, at Mexico, February 12, 1857. IGNATIO COMONFORT. The Citizen Ignatio de la Llave, Secretary of State and, of 'the Department of Government. I communicate it to you for its publication and fulfilment. God and liberty. LLAVE. Mexico, February 12, 1857. No. 2. [Translation.] Jost Maria Patoni, constitutional governor of the State of Durango, to its inhabitants : Know ye that the honorable legislature thereof has decreed the following: The legislature of the State of Durango decrees : Article 1. The legislature of the State of Durango approves the decree of the honorable legislature of Zacatecas dated the 4th of May last past. There- fore it does not recognize as legitimate, and it protests against, the establishment of all authority foreign to the constitutional order. Article 2. Should such revolutionary authority be established the State will consider the federal compact broken, and it will reassume its sovereignty, recalling its representatives in the general congress. The governor of the State will order this to be published, circulated, and observed. EDUARDO ESOARZAGA, Deputy President. LUIS DE LA TORRE, Deputy Secretary. AGUSTIN LEYVA, Deputy Secretary. Victoria of Durango, June 22, 1861. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 155 DuRANGO, June 23, 1861. Let this be published, circulated, and communicated to whomsoever it may concern for its strict observance. JOSE MARIA PATONI. CAYETANO MASCAEENAS, Secretary. Washington, Xovemher 28, 1861. A true copj. EOMEKO. No. 3. [Translation.] Office of the Secretary of State of the GoyERNMENT OF THE StaTB OF ChIAPAS. The citizen governor delegate of the State has been pleased to transmit to me the following decree : The citizen Juan Chimaco Oorzo, governor delegate of the free and sovereign State of Chiapas, to its inhabitants : Know ye that the congress thereof has been pleased to decree the following : Article 1. The congress of the State, legitimately representing the people of Chiapas, solemnly declares: 1. That it reaffirms the protest made by it on the 4th day of January of the present year not to recognize as legal any authority whatever foreign to the constitutional order, whatever may be its denomination. 2. That if such authority, evidentally a revolutionary one, should be estab- lished, the State will consider the bonds of union dissolved with the power which may arise, and from that moment it reassumes its sovereignty. Article 2. The State of Chiapas declares that it wUl sustain the vote of its citizens and of the majority of the nation cast in favor of the citizen Benito Juarez, the constitutional President of the United Mexican States. Article 3. This protest shall be laid before the supreme government, the sovereign congress of the union, and will be transmitted to the legislatures of the States and their governments. The governor of the State will cause it to be printed, published, circulated, and carried into eifect. Given at the chambers of the congress of Chiapas on the 30th day of the month of September, 1861. IGNACIO CARDONA, Deputy President. J. MANUEL GAMBOA, Deputy Vice-President. JOSE MARIA FLORES. VICTOR DOMINGUEZ. FRANCISCO AGUILAR. ABRAHAM ROJAS, Deputy Secretary. MANUEL L. SOLORZANO, Deputy Secretary. ■Wherefore, I order it to be printed, published, circulated, and observed. Given at the palace of the government, San Cristobal, September 30, 1861 J. C. CORZO. The Citizen Juan Jose Ramirez, Secretary General of the Department. 156 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. SAN Cristobal, September 30, 1861. And I communicate it to you for your infonnation and necessary ends. God, liberty, and reform. EAMIEEZ. Washington, Novemher 28, 1861. A true coiiy. ^ ROMERO. No. 4. [Translation.] Manuel Cardona, by law the constitutional governor ad interim of the free State of Aguas Calientes, to its inhabitants : Know ye that the following decree has been communicated to me by the secretary of the sovereign congress of the State : Most Excellent Sik : The honorable legislature of the State, under this date, has issued the following decree : Number 6. The sovereign congress of the State, in the name of the people whom it re- presents, decrees : Article 1. The State of Aguas Calientes, represented by the legislative house, repel the request made by the disagreeing representatives, in which they ask the citizen president of the republic to divest himself of his power. Article 2. The same sovereign congress give a vote of thanks to the citizen governor of the State of Queretaro for the worthy reply which he gave to the dissenting members, upon their requesting him to second their disorganizing and illegal views. Article 3. The State of Aguas Calientes, in conformity with its decree number 5, of the 13th of June of the present year, protests that it will defend the legitimate government ; and prays the constitutional president not to aban- don the chief magistracy of the republic. To the governor of the State for his approval. Given in the hall of sessions of the honorable legislature, on the first of October, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one. ANTONIO RAYON, Deputy President. LUIS T080AN0, Deputy Secretary. JUAN G. ALOAZAR, Deputy pro Secretary. Which we communicate to your excellency for your information, renewing our consideration. God, liberty, and reform. Aguas Calientes, October 1, 1861. LUIS TOSCANO, D. S. JUAN G. ALCAZAR, D. P. S. His Excellency the Governor of the State. And that it may come to the knowledge of all persons, I order it to be printed and published by proclamation. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 157 Issued at the government hall, at Aguas Calientes, this 3d day of October' one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the fortieth year of the independ- ence and the third year of the reform. MANUEL OARDONA. J. IGNACIO MEDINA, - Chief Clerk. Washington, November 28, 1861. A true copy. EOMERO. No. 5. [TranBlatioD.] Constitutional government of the free and sovereign State of Aguas Calientes Bureau of Home Govehnment, Aguas Calientes, October 1, 1861. The government of the State of Aguas Calientes has carefully considered the request which you made asking it to second the petition you have presented to the citizen president of the republic, with the view that he should resign the chief magistracy, and it would be wanting in its frankness and in its most sacred duties if it did not express in this reply all the ideas which that document has suggested. This government sees such an absurdity in the measure which is proposed by you to the citizen Benito Juarez that it utterly fails to comjjrehend how it could have entered the minds of persons so enlightened as the signers of the manifestation undoubtedly are. It is undeniable that a giddiness, produced by disappointment, has blinded you to that extent that you cannot see that the fundamental law of the nation is infringed upon ; that a wide door is opened to the aspirations which have been germinating ever since the capital of the republic was occupied by the legitimate government, and by which the national inde- pendence is placed in imminent danger, by which the bond which the 'federal system establishes is at once broken and the respect for law abandoned by those who should fearlessly sustain it. Civil war, being organized in factions, will de- stroy, in the most absolute manner, our beautiful country. The State of Aguas Calientes, by means of its press, has ever sustained the lawful government ; its citizens are fuUy persuaded that the national vote must be blindly respected, and its supreme legislature has thus manifested it in its decree No. 5, dated June 13, of the present year. The government believes that Mexico cannot be happy whilst the talents of the country, instead of promoting the interests of illegitimate aspirations, do not seek to inspire the majority with that great republican virtue by which a governor, when once elected, is -obeyed and aided,, its enemies becoming its most constant and decided supporters. Perhaps you, in the moment of excitement, have only thought of setting aside what is called an obstacle to the advancement of a policy, without considering that it is not the absence of an individual which is left you, but an abyss — a law overthrown — and a phalanx of aspirants, incapable of conducting the ship of state to the haven selected by the illusions of a few persons. If, in these circumstances, prudence is not resorted to ; if it is not sought in good faith to aid the man whom the law alone should set aside at the proper time, we must despair of ever definitely constituting ourselves, because the 158 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. means wMcli you have adopted is entirely contrary to the sense of a nation grown weak through insurrections, and which has conquered the sublime right of spontaneously electing the functionary who shall preside over its destinies. This government, as the faithful interpreter of the voice of the state, replies to you that it cannot and must not second your petition, because - it perceives that, by deviating in the slightest degree from the path of legality, it would be to sink itself into the mire of insurrections, and to contribute in that the civil- ized world should witness the sad spectacle of eight millions of intelligent beings overcome by perpetual insanity. With the foregoing your petition is answered ; and now, renewing to you the assurances of my particular esteem, I am, «fec. Liberty, constitution, and reform. MANUEL OAEDONA. J. IGNAOIO MEDINA, Chief Clerk. Washington, Novemher 28, 1861. A true copy. KOMEEO. No. 6. [Ti'anBlation.] Government of the Free and Sovereign State of Qderetaro, Queretaro, September 22, 1861. I have received the circular which you were pleased to address to the citizen governor of the States under date of the 15tli instant, and if becomes my duty to make the reply due thereto, and as you anticipate my frankness, which is most agreeable to .me, I have the honor to reply to you. lu addressing yourselves to the citizen president, asking him to relinquish the position in which the national vote has placed him, you give the reasohs upon which you base your petition, charging upon the administration of Mr. Juarez all the serious evils which surround our unfortunate cotmtry. I declare to you that I see in this petition only the best intentions on your part, and far from me is it to accuse you of a dishonorable object, but I cannot do less than to point out to you the very serious calamities which the realization of your views thus initiated would entail. As you yourselves admit in your petition, the revolution which has caused the banner of reform to triumph on the fields of battle, has not been one of the many commotions which have agitated the country, and you yourselves desire to convert this revolution, which up to this period you know to be just, into one of the many convulsions which ambition and brutal force have created in this country. If this revolution, which you sustain, has had up to this day a national — a social — character, it has been because, as you alsoadmit, it has been the only time that the law of legitimacy has prevailed in our country and not that of the sword; nevertheless, even conceding your petition, it would bring with it a principle of anarchy, because it would enable any faction to remove a magistrate whenever it saw fit to do so, and the respect which the laws should have would be lost. Of what use then would be constitutions, electoral laws, and the pub- lic vote in a country where the president descends from the high position to which the national will has elevated him, at the simple suggestion of a mere handful who in this or that character desire him to do so ? The citizen Juarez is charged with the evils which afflict the country, i THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO 159 sliall neither set myself up as the judge of the accused, nor as the eulogist of him who is in power. I withhold my personal convictions, and I only speak to you as the representative of a State of the Mexican confederation, The State which has honored me with its confidence, when called upon to cast its vote like -the others of the confederation for the presidency, did not do so in behalf of the citizen Juarez, because such was its convictions. But when once the electoral contest had tei-minated, it was the first to acknowledge the national will, as it will be to sustain it. No State more than that of Queretaro more deeply deplores the misfortunes which have overwhelmed it, because it has been unfortunately selected by the reaction as the theatre of its operations ; and for the sake of justice it confesses that if the inability of the general government has been the cause that the pro- per remedy has not been applied to its evils, it also knows that this same gov- ernment on many occasions adopted measures of an efficacious nature, and which did not have their salutary influence because the most urgent orders were frequently disobeyed by those to whom they were directed, perhaps already with the view of preparing the way for that which now occupies our attention. In a word, fellow-citizens, the evil exists and it is a very serious one, but let not the remedy be sought in the persons ; let it be sought for at its true origin ; let these men of talents and with good intentions, sustained by the wise laws, seek to find the remedy, and let them not seek for an unfortunate division among ourselves, which would destroy us in times like these ; let the sovereign con- gress unfold the programme of reform, and Mexico will be saved; but let not anarchy be introduced, nor the respect for the laws be relaxed. I believe, felloi^citizens, that I am in duty bound to make to you one last remark. The thought of the deposition of Mr. Juarez is not a measure dictated by a sincere policy, but it is an artifice, which is fully characterized as the revolt of certain ambitious parties, because I had previously been made acquainted with their labors by an invitation to aid them; and I, comprehending the serious evils which would be entaUed thereby upon the country, repelled it with all the energy of my character, because you, in enumerating the evOs which the citizen president has caused, forget to make mention of the triumph of the reaction, which the desire to apply to them the remedy which you proposed would bring about. Such is the sincere expression of my views, and as such I give it to you. I present it to the nation whose name you invoke, that it may pronounce its judg- ment, and I conclude by declaring to that same nation that in me not individuals but principles will find a defender, and that the arms which hav6 been intrusted to the State under my command shall never be used in breaking up the laws for the benefit of a faction, but, on the contrary, to sustain them with all the energy of him who feels the deep conviction that he complies with his duty. I renew to you the considerations of my esteem. Libertv and reform. JOSE MAEIA AETEAGA. Citizen Deputies Juan 0. Careaga, Manuel 0. Db Montellano, and Jose Linares, Mexico. Washington, November 28, 1861. A true copy. . EOMEKO. 160 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. No. 7. [Translation.] Supreme government of the free State of Jalisco, section of government. Guadalajara, September 30, 1861. I have received the circular communication which you were pleased to address to the government under my charge, dated the 15th of the month now closing, in which, as a committee in behalf of the citizens who signed the memorial addressed to the present depositary of the supreme executive power of the republic, asking him to resign the post which he now occupies, you urgfi me to second the views contained in that petition. In due reply, I have the honor to state to you that I do not concur in the mode proposed for obtaining the resignation of the citizen Juarez, nor in the change of this functionary, for reasons which I shall set forth. 1st. Because the mode is illegal, as the petitioners have already been told in reply ; for it is opposed to a declaration of the constitution, in virtue of which the citizen Juarez is president of the republic for the period marked out by the fundamental law. 2d. Because fifty-one citizens, whatever may be the character and political representation of the party with which they are united in obtaining a change of this kind, do not form a majority of the nation, whose soveteign will ought to be respected. 3d. Because the change which is desired is not, in the judgment of the under- signed, the radical remedy that ought to be chosen for curing the evils which are deplored, but, on the contrary, is a brand of discord among true liberalists, which, in the present revolutionary circumstances of the country, would drive us into an abyss, from which we could not be withdrawn by the declamations of the press, nor by the conviction of having acted with imprudence on a subject of vital interest. According to the fundamental code of the republic, the ministry is responsible for the administrative acts of the executive, for which acts the ministers may be arraigned if they are wanting in obedience to the laws, since no order of the • executive chief is to be obeyed unless it be authenticated by the secretary of the department to which it belongs, differently from the president, who, not- withstanding, is responsible for infractions of the constitution and laws, but can only be arraigned during his official term for offences of treason to his country, express violation of the fundamental charter, attack on the freedom of elections, and grave offences of the common order. Therefore, I do not deeru it just to reproach the citizen Juarez with the faults, omissions, and evils which are deplored by the fifty-one petitioners in the enumeration of them which they make in the appeal that they have thought proper to address to me. What is right, what is politic, and what is suitable, if there really be faults to charge, is to ask that the responsibility of the ministry be made effective. In any other mode the road is crooked, the evil is aggravated, and the law, the preservation of which has cost so much blood and countless sacrifices on the part of Mexicans, is frustrated. The undersigned is not a partisan of persons ; his convictions are firm for principles ; and believing, as he does, that the evils complained of in the country are not to be attributed to the present president in person, he thinks that, while no offence of those provided for in the constitution is committed, he ought to be left in peace to finish his term, to be assisted with the exertions of the truly liberal in the discharge of his painful tasks, to be surrounded with a prestige THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO, 161 and a respectability that are interested in the triumpli of principles and not of persons, and that meanwhile the person should be sought who is most fit, in the opinion of the nation, to take his place when his term shall be ended. Such are the convictions of the undersigned, which, with th& frankness that characterizes him, he has the honor to make known to you, in responding to the appeal which you have been pleased to address to him. I assure you of my respectful consideration and particular esteem. God, liberty, and reform. PEDRO OGAZON. IGNACIO L. VALLARTA, Secretary. The citizens Juan Ortiz Oareaga, M. M. Ortiz de Montellano, and Jose Linares, Mexico. Washington, November 28, 1861. A true copy. ROMERO. Mr. Romero to Mr. Seward. [Confidential.] Washington, December 21, 1861. My Dear Sir : I have the honor to send you herewith a copy of the trans- lation I read you in our interview of this morning of some remarks in regard to Mexico contained in the addresses delivered by the presidents of the congress and senate of the Spanish cortes, in reply to the queen's speech on the opening of the cortes. I am, sir, very respectfully, your most obedient servant, M. ROMERO. Hon. William H. Seward, Sfc., Sfc., Ifc. Extract from, an address of Senor Martinez de la Rosa to Queen Isabella in behalf of the Spanish congress, delivered on the Vdth of November last. Making a parallel between the present Isabella and Isabella the I of Spain, Senor Martinez de la Bosa proceeds as follows : " In those days, as in the present, the weight of Spain in the political scale of Europe was increased. The Spanish soldiers were crowned with abundant laurels on the African coast, and they are preparing themselves, if necessary, to hoist again in Mexico the standard of Heman Oortes. What more? Even the first island discovered by Columbus has just now returned to the bosom of the mother country." The following is an extract from the remarks of the president of the Spanish senate, the Marquis del Duero, in reply to the address of Queen Isabella on the opening of the Spanish cortes : " The senate has learned with satisfaction that your Majesty is disposed to give an example of wholesome energy and a testimony of a noble generosity, inviting also Erance and England, who equally have cause to complain of the H. Ex, Dog. 100 11 162 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. outrages of the Mexicans, to follow our example, and to associate with us in order to obtain the satisfaction we have the right to exact, and to cause that people, worthy of a better fate, to feel, through the power of arms, the necessity of having a government really in harmony with the requirements of so rich a country." Mr. Romero to Mr. Seward. [TranslationJ Mexican Legation to the United States, Washington, January 24, 1862. Mr. Secretary : I have the honor to remit enclosed copies, mentioned in the adjoined index of the documents which I yesterday received from the Mexi- can government, which show the condition the republic was in at the close of December last past by reason of the Spanish invasion, to which I referred at our interview this morning. I gladly avail of this occasion to reiterate to you, sir, the assurances of my most distinguished consideration. M. EOMEEQ. Hon. W. H. Seward, Sfc., Sfc., !fc. [Translation.] Index to the documents which the Mexican legation to-day transmits to the De- partment of State of the United States, annexed to the note of this date. No. From and to whona.. Date. Contents. 1 2 3 4 Mr. Eubalcara to Mr. Llave. Mr. Llave to Mr. Eu- balcara. Mr. Doblado to Mr. Llave. 1861. Got. 14 Oct. 15 Oct. 17 Surrender of Vera Cruz and UUoa. Answer to above. Eeply of the federal government about surrender of Vera Cruz and Ulloa. Circular to governors of States about Spanish In- vasion. Decree closing the port of Vera Cruz. Manifesto of the President to the nation. (For this manifesto see enclosure in Mr. Corwin's despatch No. 11, of December 24, 1861.) Decree abrogating the law of July 17, relating to suspension of the payment of the foreign bett. Speech of the president on closing the session of congress. Eeply of the president of the congress. 5 6 Oct. 18 Not. 26 7 8 q ■Washington, Janmry 24, 1862. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 163 No. 1. [Translation.] COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE NAVAL EORCES OF HER CATHOLIC MAJESTY IN THE ANTILLES. Steamer Isabel la Catolico and anchorage of Anton Lizakdo, December 14, 1861. Seizor Goverdanoe : The long series of injuries inflicted upon the government of her Catholic Majesty by that of the Republic of Mexico, the repeated violences committed upon Spanish subjects, and the blind obstinacy with which the government of Mexico has constantly refused to listen to the just reclama- tions of Spain, always presented with the moderation and deconun proper to so chivalrous a nation, have placed my government under the necessity of aban- doning all hope of obtaining by conciliatory measures a satisfactory adjustment of the grave differences existing between the two countries. The government of her Catholic Majesty resolved, however, to obtain full reparation for these many outrages, has ordered me to commence my operations by occupying the city of Vera Cruz and the Castle of San Juan de UUoa, which wiU be held as a hostage security, {^prenia pretoria,) until such time as the government of her Majesty shall feel assured that for the future the Spanish nation will be treated with the consideration which is due it, and that the com- pacts which have been celebrated between both governments shall be religiously observed. _ You will communicate with me through the consul of France, charged with representing the commercial interests of Spain, within the term of twenty-four Iiom-s, reckoned from the moment you rcjceive this intimation, whether you are disposed or not to surrender to me the city- of Vera Cruz and the castle, with the understanding that if your reply is negative, or if at the expiration of the time fixed I have not received any reply, from that moment you may consider hostilities as commenced, to which end the Spanish force will be disembarked. It is my duty to inform you that although I make this demand only in the name of Spain, according to the instructions which I have received, the occu- pation of this city and of the castle will serve equally as a guarantee for the rights and reclamations against the government of Mexico which the govern- ments of France and Great Britain have to make good. It remains for me to make known to you that the mission of the Spanish forces does not in any way interfere with the internal political questions of the country. All opinions will be respected, no censurable act will be committed, and from the moment that our troops occupy Vera Cruz, the Spanish chiefs will respond for the security of the persons and property of its inhabitants, what- ever may be their nationality. To you and to the other Mexican authorities it belongs to afford protection to foreigners until that occupation shall be carried into effect, whether it be pacifically or by force of arms. If Spanish subjects, or other foreigners, should be persecuted or outraged, the forces which compose this expedition will find themselves under the severe but unavoidable necessity of recurring to reprisals. I entertain the hope that whatever may be your resolution, you will act with that discretion which is to be expected, and, penetrated with the conviction that the Spanish forces, always humane, always noble and loyal, even with their enemies, will not take the first step in the path of violences, reprehensible even in case of war; will avoid all species of crimes whose sole result would be to make more difficult, if not impossible, the arrangement of the pending interna- 164 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. tional questions. I avaU myself of this opportunity to offer to you tte assu- rances of my consideration. JUAN GUTIEEKEZ DE EUBALCAKA. , The Governor of the State of Vera Cruz, Sfc., Sfc. Washington, January 24, 1862. True copy. ROMERO. No. 2. [Translation.] MEXICAN EEPUBLIC, GOVERNMENT OP THE FREE AND SOVEREIGN STATE OF VERA CRUZ. Vera Cruz, December 15, 1861. Sir : I am in possession of the communication which was delivered to me hy your commissioners at 1 p. m. on the 14th instant, and beg to inform you that while I have made myself acquainted with its contents, and forwarded a copy to the commander-^n-chief of the eastern forces, I have sent the same by express to the chief magistrate of the nation. As you inform me that it is your deter- mination, after the expiration of twenty -four hours, to attack this city and the fort of UUoa, and that in demanding their surrender, in virtue of your mission, you are merely desirous of holding them as hostages, I shall retire with the government under my charge to an adjacent point, not only with a view to pre- serving order, but to transmit to you the reply of my government, on which I depend. The recommendation which you have made relative to the respect due to for- eigners was unnecessary, as in this republic those belonging to other nations are so much respected and enjoy so many advantages that I can assure you the condition of a Mexican citizen is disadvantageous as compared with that of a foreigner. As a proof of what I state, I may cite the testimony of many honor- able foreigners who live amongst us, and, above all, the conduct observed by the Mexicans under present circumstances. The news of the war which Spaia has brought upon Mexico has for some days been known among us ; and notwithstanding this, and the indignation excited by the injurious articles contained in several of the newspapers of the peninsula, the Spaniards have been respected, and not only have they not in any way been injured, but they have not even in the slightest degree been insulted. Badly disposed persons, and perhaps even degenerate Mexicans, have given sinister information to European governments ; but the truth is what I have stated, and the time may perhaps come when you will see this and judge- for yourself. Whatever may be the lot that awaits this city, I have to inform you that, by order of the federal government, the town council will remain, with a force of police and some neutral foreigners — the latfer armed, at my request, with the sole object of preserving order up to the last moment. As the object of the above-named corporation and the forces belonging thereto is merely as indicated above, I trust in your gentlemanly character and the good discipline of your subordinates to respect the said body and the above-mentioned forces. In conclusion, I have to inform you that it is much to be regretted that THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 165 nations wlio, on account of their origin and identity, as well in language as in customs, ought to remain united and on intimate terms of friendship, should to-day, for groundless reasons, in my opinion, find thpmselves on the point of opposing each other, and commencing a struggle the end of which cannot w^ll be seen. _ I avail myself of this opportunity to offer you my most distinguished con- sideration. Liberty and reform. , IGNACIO DE LA LLAVE. The OOMMANDEH of her Catholic Majesty's forces in the Gidf of Mexico. Washington, January 24, 1862. True copy. EOMEEO. No. 3. [Translation.] SECEETA.ET OF STATE AND DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND GOV- ERNMENT. Mexico, December 17, 1861. The citizen president, to whom I have given account of the communication directed to you by the commander of the Spanish naval forces, and of that which you sent to that chief in reply, has ordered me to say to you to follow punctually the instructions which have been given by him beforehand for the case, which has now arrived, of the open commencement of hostilities on the part of the subjects of Spain, and that it is to be now left to the military action of General Uraga, who commands in chief the Mexican army, to proceed in his sphere in conformity with the provisions that have been made. Far will it be from the government of the republic to direct itself to a chief who, throwing aside all the formalities of the rights of peoples, commences by demanding the delivery of a city. The cry of war that the whole nation has spontaneously uttered marks out to the government the path which it should follow ; and it will not be the citizen president who wUl recede before a foreign invasion, and with all the more reason when in this case Mexico does no more than repel force by force, using its most unquestionable natural right. I enclose to you, by superior order, a copy of the decree and circular which have to-day been remitted by extraordinary express to the governors of the States, recommending to you to second, with all the energy and activity demanded by the circumstances, the plans of the government, by the faithful execution of •which the president does not doubt the invasion which threatens to destroy our liberties and our independence will be effectually repelled. Liberty and reform. DOBLADO. The citizen GovEBiVOR of the State of Vera Cruz. Washington, January 24, 1862. True copy. ROMERO. 166 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. No. 4. [Translation.] ^CEETART OF STATE AND DEPAETMEST OF FOREIGN RELATIONS AND OF GOVERNMENT. Mexico, December 17, 1861. By order of the citizen president, I have the satisfaction of remitting to you copies of the communications exchanged between the commander of the Spanish forces at Vera Cruz and the citizen governor of that State, as well as of the decree and manifesto which the supreme magistrate has thought proper to-day to issue, in order that the States should arouse to the defence of our independ- ence. After having exhausted all means of a pacific settlement between Spain and Mexico, the government of the republic, strong in the consciousness of right, and feeling all the impulse of the popular opinion pronounced for war, accepts that which has been initiated by the Spanish forces in a mode so unheard of, because its right is unquestionable to repel force by force ; and it protests before the civilized world that the responsibility of all succeeding acts will fall solely upon the government of the Queen of Spain, who so inconsiderately has espoused the unjust charges with which the enemies of the liberty of Mexico have sought to speculate. Notwithstanding our intestine divisions, the sentiment of independence and the hatred of the ancient rulers of our county is still preserved alive, although the latter is lessened by the effect of education and the civilization of the age. The citizen president, in raising aloft the flag of Mexican nationality, does no more than follow the torrent of public opinion ; and he has the pleasure of seeing grouped around him, on the day of national conflict, the greater part of those Mexicans who, from differences of political opinions, remained disunited, who have now abandoned their revolutionary flags at the first call of the country. Although, the government has the full right to expel from the territory of the republic all Spaniards resident within it, it has refrained from doing so for the present, because it believes that acknowledging the generosity with which they are treated they will strictly observe that neutrality which their position requires. The president has ^hus given another proof of the consideration which he has always exercised in the conduct of his foreign relations, proving by indisputable acts that it is not his fault that those relations should have reached the unfortu- nate state in which they are now found. The president, therefore, hopes that giving prompt and exact compliance to the decree of which mention was made at the beginning of this cii-cular, you will place in march within the shortest possible time the contingent of armed force which is therein assigned, and that you will, beside, make use of all the official means within your power, as governor, to place the State which is under your worthy command in the attitude of preparation which is demanded by the nature of the circumstances, exciting by every means in your power the patriot- ism of all of its inhabitants that they join for the common defence; and if the unfortunate case arrives that the enemy penetrates into the interior, that all the inhabitants of the country rise en masse, and oppose with their swords and their constancy an impregnable wall to the presumption of our invaders. Be the memory of Hidalgo, and of Morales, and of Guerrero, xhe model of the Mexicans, and the standard borne aloft in the ranks of our army in the hour of the combat. Long live our independence ! Long live the republic, liberty and reform. DOBLADO. The citizen Governor of the State of . Washington, January 24, 1862. True copy. ROMERO THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. 167 No. 5. [Translation.] The constitutional president of the republic has been pleased to direct to me the following decree : Benito Juarez, constitutional president of the Mexican republic, to the inhab- itants of the same maketh known : That Spanish forces having occupied the port of Vera Cruz, and by the same act hostilities having been opened between the republic and Spain, in use of the ample faculties with which I am invested, I have thought proper to decree the following : Article 1. The port of Vera Cruz is closed from the 14th instant to the foreign and coasting trade. Art. 2. AU Mexicans who shall join the Spaniards with arms in their hands, or that in whatsoever manner shall favor their cause, are hereby declared traitors to their country, and shall be punished as such. Art. 3. The time conceded to the reactionists by the law of amnesty of the 2d of the present month to take advantage of the indulgence offered by the government is extended for fifteen days more, and is made applicable to all Mexicans except those who, in the judgment of the government, are not open to receive it, to which end an examination shall be made in each particular case. Art. 4. The governors of the States are authorized to dispose of the revenues belonging to the general government within their respective States, to the end that with the utmost possible expedition may be put in march the contingent of armed force assigned in this decree. Art. 5. The contingent of the States is that which follows : States. No. of men. States. No. of men. 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 3,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,000 Oaxaca, .._........ Yucatan ....._........ 2,000 {TiiflTiainato .... ........ Tabasco ...^..... 2,000 Aguas Calientes Queretario 1,000 1,000 Oolima 1,000 Chiapas 1,000 Tlaxcala 1,000 Puebla Baia California- ........ 1, 000 Sonora 1,000 Nuevo Leon y Coahuila . . 1,000 Total 52, 000 Ohilinahua ........... Art. 6; In addition to the placing of the contingent designated in the pre- ceding article at the point which wm be opportunely designated by the govern- ment, the governors will place under arms all the national guard which they have disposable, providing such extraordinary measures as in their judgment may be necessary for the procuring of the resources required for the maintenance of such forces. Art. 7. The Spanish residents in the country will continue to live under the pro- tection of the laws, and will only be punished in conformity with the same when, abusing the generosity of the government, they shall afford aid to the invader. 168 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. Wherefore, I order that it he printed, published, circulated, and that it he duly complied with. Dated in the national palace of Mexico, the 17th of December, 1861. BENITO JUAEEZ. The citizen Manuel Doblado, Minister of Foreign Relations and of Government. And I communicate it to you for your compliance and the consequent ends. God and liberty! Mexico, December 17, 1861. DOBLADO. The citizen Governor of the State of . Washington, January 24, 1862. True copy. EOMEEO. No. 6. [Manifesto of President Juarez. — See enclosure in Mr. Corwin's despatch No. 11, of December 24, ISei^page 44 of this document.] No. 7. [Translation.] The constitutional president of the republic has been pleased to send to me the decree which follows : The citizen Benito Juarez, constitutional president of the United Mexican States, to their inhabitants : Know ye that the sovereign congress of the imion has judged proper to decree as follows : Article 1. The provisions of the law of the 17th July of the present year, which relate to the diplomatic conventions and the debt contracted in London, are abolished. Article 2. The government will immediately put in course of payment the respective assignments, in conformity with the provisions and regulations ante- rior to said law. Article 3. The government will at once send to congress notice of the amounts subsisting at the time of the passage of the law, and of what has been re- ceived since, pertaining to those assignments, initiating the laws which it may deem necessary to make good such amounts to the creditors under the conven- tions and of the debt contracted in London, and to supply the treasury with the amount that may be wanted for this purpose. Given in the chamber of sessions of the congress of the union in Meiico the 23d of November, 1861. MANUEL DUBLAN, Delegate, President. JUAN N. GUZMAN, Delegate, Secretary. ANSELMO CANO, Delegate, Secretary. ' Palace of the Federal Government in Mexico, Novemher 26, 1861. Therefore, I order that this be printed, published, and circulated, and be duly executed. BENITO JUAEEZ. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 169 Mexico, November 26, 1861. And I enclose it to yon for your directions and due consequences. God, liberty, and reform. GONZALES. To Citizen Jose Gonzales Echeveerias, Minister of Finance and Public Credit. No. 8. [Translation] Speech of the president of the republic at the closing of the sessions of con- gress, December 15, 1861. Citizen Deputies : You are about to suspend your legislative functions in the midst of tbe most difficult circumstances which have surrounded Mexico since her independence. Your final resolutions have risen, however, to the grave necessities of the moment, since on retiring you have conceded to the executive all the faculties which are necessary to confront the perils which threaten us. The government, which sees in these extraordinary faculties an immense in- crease of responsibility, and which will exercise them only in the name of the national representation, without other title than the imperious emergency of the circumstances, nor other object than the salvation of the republic, feeis equal timidity in accepting them, and desires to return them to the sovereign power from whence they are derived. The supreme emergency of the present moment does not weaken the hope which the government has manifested on another occasion, and which it still en- tertains, of averting the perils which threaten our nationality, and of re-estab- lishing peace under the protection of law and of liberty. In this work, so difficult, the government has as guarantees of its success the patriotism of the Mexicans and the spirit of reason and of equity, which must prevail among the other nations. The Mexican government remains faithful to its sentiments of peace and of good feeling toward other people, and of loyalty and moderation toward their representatives, and it hopes to be able to procure that the European governments, whose judgment has been deceived by the ene- mies of our liberty, with reference to the situation of the republic, will come to see in what they allege as injuries only one of the inevitable consequences of a revolution highly humanitarian in its character, which the country com- menced eight years ago, and which has already begun to realize its promises, not only to Mexicans, but also for foreigners themselves. These can easily comprehend that a revolution of reform, which in its pro- gress has wounded more or less, though occasionally, some interests, will, in the end, place upon a solid basis all that is most desirable in point of moral and ma- terial order, for the benefit of all the inhabitants of the nation, and they will acknowledge that it has already substituted religious liberty, freedom of com- merce, and fraternity with the emigrants from other countries, for the system of suspicion and of exclusiveness which, until recently, has dominated the interior and foreign policy of the republic. Other people cannot overlook, except momentarily, the interest which they have in aiding us with their sympathy in consolidating a revolution, the fruits of which they will enjoy as well as ourselves. For this it is that the government hopes, in the war with which the republii. is threatened, that the voice of reason, of justice, and of equity, will still be heard, and that rather than by the power of arms, the peril will be allayed by a I'ust and equitable arrangement, compatible with the honor and the dignity of 170 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. the nation. But if it shall not be so, if it results that our hopes are frustrated the government will employ all the energy which love of country and a con- sciousness of right can inspire, to stimulate the people to defend their revolu- tion and their independence, having, as the guarantees of our success, the jus- tice of our cause and the patriotism which, among all the citizens of the republic, tas been aroused by the sole announcement that the independence of our coun- try might be in peril. The government will do its duty, and if, as it does not doubt, Mexico, by a supreme effort of her sons, is preserved through a foreign war, and has the hap- piness to see peace again re-established, congress, at its next session, will come together to take advantage of this position, and by dictating wise laws wUl con- solidate, and finally establish, our independence, liberty, and reform. Washington, January 24, 1862. True copy. ROMERO. No. 9. [Translation.] Reply of the president of congress. * Citizen President: Progress is a law of humanity; but this, to develop itself, has required among all people these terrible crises which are called revo- lutions. History teaches us that all nations, to reach reform and true civiliza- tion, have had to pass through terrible proofs and to suffer unhappy sacrifices, and it has been often seen that the most powerful peoples have touched upon the border of ruin, but have saved themselves, notwithstanding, by the faith and by the union of their sons. Mexico passes at this moment through one of these diificult situations, because the upturning which it has been necessary to have felt throughout its society to establish the reform and secure the regeneration of the country, has given rise., to immense diflSculties, as well in the interior as in the exterior relations of the republic. The congress of the union has comprehended this state of things, and its labors have demonstrated that its attention has been divided between the civil struggle which has devoured us and the foreign war which threatens us, and it has issued laws which tend to terminate in so far as possible the former, and which wUl impede or prepare the nation for the latter. A law has been passed protecting the citizens in the enjoyment of the guar- antees conceded to them by the fundamental code. This law, the fruit of long discussions, is, so to speak, the complement of the constitution, which assures the rights of the man and of the citizen, and opens the tribunal to the complaints of those who shall feel injured in their rights by any of the authorities of the federation or of the States. Without this law these guarantees would not really exist, but only be promised, because there existed neither the mode nor the tri- bunal which should repair in private cases the abuse of power to the prejudice of the iudividual, which latter only saw a remote and improbable indemnification ^ for injuries occasioned by the agent of powers which had no judge. Postal and extradition treaties celebrated with the United States have been ratified. Respecting the principles which for a long time have constituted a phase of the civilization of Mexico, it has been expressly stipulated that neither those responsible for political offences, nor slaves, shall ever be the object of extradition. Thus, by an international compact with the United States will remain sanctioned forever the liberty of the slave by the fact of touching , the THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 171 Mexican territory, and forgetfulness for those who, for political errors, shall fly to the neighboring nation, pursued by the remorse of having co-operated toward the misfortunes of their country. At the preceding period of sessions, and by the initiation of the executive, congress decreed the law of 17th July, which, among other provisions, suspended the payment of the diplomatic conventions. The members of the cabinet hoped, , and thus intimated to the house, that this law would not produce any conflict with those powers whose payments were to be suspended ; and as much for this reason as from the right of self-preservation — for that period was a terrible one for the country — the suspension of all payments for two years was decreed, in- cluding those of the conventions. But our diplomatic relations suffered from this law, which was resented by them, and the executive presented to the house, as a solution of the difliculties with England, the treaty arranged between the government of Mexico and the minister plenipotentiary of her Britannic Majesty. The stipulations of this treaty appeared to the house injurious to the nation, in that it recognized and covered with the British flag, besides the English con- vention, the debt contracted in London in 1823, and the payment of the sum taken by the so-called government of Miramon from the house No. 1, Oalle de Capuchinas. For the payment of all these credits a very large part of the revenues of its custom-houses was to be sacrificed, and at the same time the tariff of duties low- wed and all existing prohibitions removed. The question as to figures, however, would have been nothing, notwith- standing its great importance, if this treaty had not also contained stipula- tions humiliating to the dignity of the republic. The national bonds which were to be emitted in virtue of this treaty were required, for their validity, to bear at the side of the signature of our minister of treasury the signature of the agent of our creditors. By such condition the paper which was to be emitted, as it was to be received on account of duties, would have a real monetary repre- sentation, and be without value if it lacked the signature of the agent of the creditors. No nation of the world would have accepted such a humiliation, and Mexico consenting to it would, so to speak, have consented to stamp its money with the arms of England. The administrators and employers were also to be subject to an affective tutelage, exercised by the consular agents and by the attorneys or agents of the English creditors, who could ask for their revision aU the books and documents of the custom-houses. The congress saw, in all this, intervention; it saw, in all, reproach and dis- honor for the republic. The sovereignty of a nation cannot be preserved from the moment that it has not an absolute independence in the most unimportant of its acts, because, although the individual in society may be free and yet de- pend upon an authority and have a judge, a nation can depend upon no one, and can have no other judge of its actions but Providence. Congress, at the same time, desires peace ; it desires it in the name of the republic ; it desires it at all costs and with whatever sacrifice ; but never at the sacrifice of the national honor, nor of the sovereignty and independence of Mex- ico. The honor of Mexico was compromised in a shameful manner in this treaty, and congress rejected it without hesitation. But, as a proof of the morality of the nation always desirous ©f complying with its compromises, and that it was not interest which moved the national representation to reject the treaty, the law of the 17th of July which suspended the payment of the diplomatic conventions was repealed in this part on the day following the rejection of the treaty, and provision made for the payment of the dividends which would have been satisfied during the time for which the' sus- pension had continued under the law. 172 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. War, however, jippears certain ; Spain hastened with a squadron, the minister of the Emperor of the French asks his passports and retires ; and the threat of a league between France, Spain, and England against Mexico is presented in the horizon as a tempest. ' In these solemn moments the house believed that it was necessary that the republic should prepare for the combat ; Mexico is not a feeble and infirm nation, as it has beea sought to paint her in the eyes of European nations ; and if the bloody struggles of long civil war have deprived her of part of her strength, the union of all her sons will present her again powerful. Born of this conviction, the law of amnesty comes to procure the union of all Mexicans, with forgetful- ness for all political offences. The defence of the country is the glorious opportunity which Providence has prepared for those who were still combatting with arms in the hand against the legitimately constituted government to cease this useless strife and come to group themselves for the commencement of a national struggle at the side of the flag which our fathers left to us in giving us independence. Mexico has had political parties whose profound divisions have enveloped the republic in blood ; but Mexico has not had, nor will there ever be found, traitors who will join the ranks of the enemies of the country. By a decree congress, before closing its session, has authorized the executive in the most ample manner to dictate all measures that it may deem necessary, under the present circumstances, to confront the situation, saving only the national independence and integrity of territory, and the principles of the con- stitution and of the reform. By this the greatest proof of confidence which a legislative assembly of the country has ever given to the depository of the executive power, the congress confides to this power the salvation of the republic, because it is convinced that in moments so supreme, energy and efficiency depend almost always upon unity of action ; and this idea is found also in our fundamental code, in the part whidi authorizes congress to concede to the executive extraordinary faculties. Incalculable is the weight which will rest upon the shoulders of the executive; terrible is the responsibility which, from this day forward, he is about to assume upon himself alone ; but, also, immense are the resources which are placed at his disposal, and unlimited the facilities which have been given to him. The sole consideration of the necessity of saving the country decided congress to take this step. Upon the executive it now depends, and upon no other, to save the republic, or precipitate it in the abyss. The national assembly suspends to-day its legislative labors ; but it will re- main always on the watch, as the sentinel of the public liberties, and ready to return to meet again at the moment when its presence shall be in any manner necessary for the good of the country. It will then receive from the executive an account of this power which to-day it delivers into its hands with so blind a confidence. If the foreign question is not settled pacifically ; if a scene of war is to be spread out over our country we will enter into the combat, and the justice of our cause and the love of our country will present more or less near, but always true and beautiful, a future for Mexico. God preserve the republic. Washington, January 24, 1862. True copy. KOMERO THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEKICO. 173 Mr. Romero to Mr. Seward. Mexican Legation in the United States op America, Washington, February 16, 1862. Mr. Secretary : Recently I have received three important documents which confirm the fears which I have made known to you through various notes and in various interviews with respect to the real designs of the powers who signed the treaty of London. The first of these documents contains the instructions which the minister of foreign affairs of France gave to Rear Admiral Jurien de la Graviere, on the 11th of November last, a short time prior to the departure of the French con- tingent for the Mexican waters, and which have been recently published among the documents transmitted to the legislative body by the government of the Emperor. In these instructions, which were written almost at the same time that the treaty of London was being ratified in Paris, the latter was found to be insufficient ; and in order to remedy this defect, express authority is granted to the commander of the French forces, when the coasts of Mexico shall have been occupied, to penetrate into the interior of the country and proceed to the capital of the republic. Mr. de Thouvenel furthermore takes upon himself to examine a hypothesis which presents itself to his foresight. " It may happen," he says, " that the presence of the allied forces upon the territory of Mexico may determine the sane portion of the people who is tired of the anarchy, anx- ious for order and repose, to make an effort to constitute in the country a gov- ernment which may present the guarantees of strength and stability which have been wanting to all those which have succeeded each other in it since its inde- pendence." Mr. de Thouvenel speaks of the interest which the allies have in carrying out the change which he has had the shrewdness to foresee, and continues by saying : " This interest must induce them not to discourage the attempts of the nature which have just been indicated, and you (Rear Admiral de la Graviere) should not refuse them your encouragement and your moral support, if, from the standing of the men who should initiate them, and from the sympathy they should meet with among the mass of the people, they should offer chances of success for the establishment of a state of affairs of such a nature as to insure to the interests of foreign residents the protection and the guarantees of which they have been deprived up to this time." These instructions are so explicit that it is entirely useless to add a single word more to arrive at the purpose with which they have been dictated, and the end to which they tend. Can there be conceived a more direct appeal to rebellion ? The second document is a proclamation which Rear Admiral de la Graviere, is- sued in compliance with said instructions, on the 23d of November last, at the bay of Teneriffe, and the third a manifesto signed at Vera Cruz on the 10th of January last past by the plenipotentiaries of the allied powers and the chiefs of the naval forces. In the latter we are assured that the allies have gone to that country in order to assist the Mexican people to establish a good government, and in the former enough is said to learn the wishes of France with regard to the said republic. I have the honor to transmit you a copy of each of the documents referred to in this note, in case they should not previously, through another channel, have come to the knowledge of the government of the United States. I avail myself with pleasure of this opportunity to renew to you, sir, the as- surances of my very distinguished consideration. M. ROMERO Hon. "William H. Seward, S^c., ifc., Sjv. 174 THE PEESENT CONDITIOK OF MEXICO. Mr. Thouvenel to Rear Admiral Ta Graviere. [Translation] Pakis, November 11, 18G1. Admiral: The Emperor having called you to, the command of the military- forces which will be employed in obtaining from Mexico reparation for all our grievances, I have to make known to you in what manner you will have to act to fulfil his instructions. The expedition which you are charged to direct has for its object to compel Mexico to perform obligations already solemnly entered into, and to give us guarantees of protection more efficacious for the persons and property of our citizens. The circumstances which have led us to resort to measures of coercion to attain this double object, imposed at the same time upon Great Britain and Spain to seek, through the use of rigorous measures, the satisfaction which grievances similar to our own demanded. It was natural that in this situation the three governments should think of combining their action against Mexico; and the understanding which was readily established between them upon this subject has resulted in the conclusion of a convention, signed at London on the 31st of October, and of which I have the honor to communicate to you the text herewith, in order that you may be guided in your conduct by the spirit of its ' several provisions. The three governments pledge themselves, as you will see, to prosecute in common and to the same ends the operations which it may be expedient to carry into effect. You will, therefore, have to concert them with the commanders-in-chief of the forces which Great Britain and Spain -intend shall take part in them. It is from the co-operation of these several forces united that the three powers expect the result which they have deemed indispensable to prosecute in common. They have, moreover, provided for, without deferring on that account to act immediately, the eventual co-operation ■ of the United States, to whom information of the convention of London will be given, with an invitation to accede thereto. It belongs to the secretary of the navy to furnish you with the military instructions which his department is alone competent to address to you; I shall confine myself to saying to you that the intention of the allied powers is, as indicated by the convention of the 31st of October, that the combined forces proceed to the immediate occupation of the ports situated upon the Gulf of Mexico, after having simply summoned the local authorities to make surrender thereof to them. The ports are to remain in their hands until the complete settlement of the difSculties to be solved, and the collection of custom dues will there be made in the name of the three powers, under the supervision of deputies appointed for that purpose. This measure will result in guaranteeing to us the payment of the sums and the several indemnities which are from this time, or which might subsequently be, carried to the account of Mexico as a claim of indemnity for the war ; the question of the claims which each one of the allied governments will have to present requiring besides a special examination, there will be, by the terms of the convention, instituted a commission, to which will be specially assigned the duty of deciding with reference thereto, as also that of considering the mode of settlement which will best protect the respective interests. The government of her Britannic Majesty having appointed Sir Charles Wyke, the Queen's minister to Mexico, as a mem- ber of this commission, the government of the Emperor has likewise made choice, there to- sit in his name, of its representative in Mexico, Mr. Dubois de Saligny. The character with which these two agents are clothed, not less than the practical knowledge they possess of the affairs of Mexico, naturally calls them to take part in the negotiations which must precede the re-establishment of regular relations. They wiU have to consult specially with, and also the com- THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 175 missioner designated by Spain, the commanders-in-chief of the allied forces, in order to draw up, after taking possession of the ports on the coast, the full state- ment of the conditions to which the Mexican government will be required to give its assent. In order to enable you to follow up all the negotiations and to sign all the acts and conventions to occur, I have the honor to send you here- with the full powers, in virtue of which his Majesty has appointed you his plenipotentiary, with the same title as Mr. Dubois de Saligny. It is besides well understood that full liberty is assured you as to all that relates to military operations, the movements of troops, the occasion and means of occupying 'such or such points of the Mexican temtory ; all these questions are specially left to your appreciation as well as to your initiation, and reserved for your sole decision. The combined forces of the three powers having arrived upon the eastern shores of Mexico, you will have, as I have said, to demand the surrender into your hands of the ports on that coast. As a consequence of this step, two alternatives may occur : either resistance will be made to your summons, and then you will only have to arrange without delay with the allied commanders for the seizure by main force of these ports, or else the local authorities will decline to offer you a material resistance, but the Mexican government will refuse to enter into relations with you. The last news which have reached me from Mexico, and which announced the probable disarmament of the ports of Vera Cruz, would seem to cause us to foresee that such would in fact be the plan adopted by President Juarez. By reviving a tactic already employed by one of his predecessors in the war with the United States, he would, if necessary, retire into the interior of the country. The allied powers could not afford to let themselves be kept in check by such an expedient; neither could they continue to occupy indefinitely points of the coast if this occupation were not to furnish them a means of direct and immediate action upon the Mexican government. The interest of our dignity and considerations derived from the climacteric cir- cumstances of .the coast unite in demanding a prompt and decisive result. It is principally in view of this contingency that a body of disembarking troops is placed at your disposal, which, joined to the other military contingents, will give to the allies the means of extending the circle of their action. The govern- ment of the Emperor admits that, either to reach the Mexican government or to make more effectual the coercion upon it by the taking possession of its ports, you may find yourself under the necessity of combining a march into the interior of the country, which would lead, if necessary, the allied forces to the City of Mexico itself. I need scarcely add that another reason might determine you to do so ; this would be the necessity of providing for the security of our citizens in case it should be threatened at any point whatever of the Mexican territory which could reasonably be reached. The allied powers do not propose to themselves, I have said to you, any other object than that which is indicated in the convention ; they forbid each other fe'om intervening in the internal affairs of the country, and especially from exer- cising any pressure upon the wishes of the people as to the choice of their government. There are, however, certain hypotheses which present themselves to our foresight, and which it was our duty to examine. It might happen that the presence of the allied forces upon the soil of Mexico might induce the sane portion of the people, tired of anarchy, anxious for order and repose, to attempt an effort to constitute in the coimtry a government presenting the guarantees of strength and stability which have been wanting to all those which have succeeded each other since the emancipation. The allied powerS'have a common interest and too manifest to see Mexico emerge from the state of social dissolu- tion in which it is plunged, which paralyzes every development of its prosperity, sets aside for itself and for the rest of the world all the riches with which Provi- dence has endowed a favored soil, and compels them to resort periodically to 176 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. expensive expeditions to remind ephemeral and senseless powers of the duties of governments. This interest must induce them not to discourage the attempts of the nature of those which I have just indicated to you, and you should not refuse them your encouragements and your mo^al support if, from the standing of the men who should initiate them, and from the sympathy they should meet with among the mass of the people, they should offer chances of success for the establishment of a state of affairs of such a nature as to insure to the interests of the foreign residents the protection and the guarantees of which they have been deprived up to this time. The government of the Emperor relies upon your prudence and your judgment to appreciate, in conjunction with the com- missioner of his Majesty, whose knowledge acquired by his residence in Mexico wUl be valuable to you, the events whiqh may develop themselves under your eyes, and to determine the extent to which you may be called upon to take part therein. THOUVENEL. Rear Admiral la Graviere to his forces , [Translation.] On board the Massina, Teneriffe Bay, November 23, 1861. Seamen and Soldiers : We are going to Mexico. We have not only to seek there — as the gallant squadron of which many among you formed a part — the reparation of numerous and recent grievances ; we shall have above all to- demand, for the honor of our flag, for the security of our commerce, for the existence of our fellow-countrymen, guarantees more positive than those which are offered to us to-day. We bear no animosity against the Mexican people. We know what we should expect from that noble and generous race, if it could put an end to its everlasting dissensions ; but governments powerless to maintain internal peace will ever badly protect, whatever may be their flag, the security of foreigners. Our real enemy in Mexico is not this or that political faction — it is anarchy; anarchy is an enemy with which it is useless to treat. Seamen and soldiers : In the new campaign which you are to undertake, you have as witness to your good right the sympathetic opinion of your country, the co-operation or the assent of the civUized world ; you will soon have, in Mexico itself, the wishes of all good men. Understand, therefore, the duties which this situation imposes upon you. Give to the people the example of order and discipline ; teach them to honor the name of our glorious country, to envy the prosperity and the peace which we enjoy, and you may then repeat with just pride the words which were addressed to you some months since by om- Emperor: " Wheresoever the flag of France shows itself, a just cause precedes it, a great people follows it." JUEIEN DE LA GEAVIERE, Rear Admiral, commanding the French expeditionai-y forces in the Gulf of Memco. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO 177 Proclamation of the allies to the Mexicans. Vera Cruz, January 10, 1862. Mexicans : The representatives of England, France, and Spain fulfil a sacred duty in giving you to understand their intentions from the moment that they trod the ground of your republic. The faith of the treaties broken by the various governments which have succeeded each other among you, and the indi- vidual security of our citizens, continually menaced, have made necessary and indispensable this expedition. They deceive you who would make you believe that behind our pretensions, as just as they are legitimate, come enveloped plans of conquest and restorations, and of interfering in yoiu* politics and government. Three nations who accepted in good faith and acknowledged your independ- ence have the right to expect you to believe them animated by no cowardly intentions, but rather by others more noble, elevated, and generous. The three nations that we come representing, and whose first interest ajDpears to be satisfaction of grievances inflicted upon them, have a higher interest, and one of more general and beneficial consequences ; they come to extend the hand of friendship to a people to whom Providence has been prodigal of all its gifts, and which they behold with grief wasting its forces and extinguishing its vitality through the violent power of civil wars and of perpetual convulsions. This is the truth, and those charged with the expression of it do it not with the voice of war and threats, but that you yourselves shall work out your own good fortune, in which we are all concerned. To you, exclusively to yon, without intervention of foreigners, belongs the task of constituting yourselves in a permanent and stable manner. Your labor will be the labor of regeneration, which all will respect, for all will have con- tributed to it, some with their opinions, others with enlightenment, and all and every one with their conscience. The evil is great, the remedy urgent. Now or never can you make your prosperity. Mexicans ! listen to the voice of the allied powers, anchor of salvation in the destroying tempest through which you are rushing. Deliver yourselves up to their good faith and righteous intentions. Fear nothing from restless and turbulent spirits, which, should they show them- selves, would be cowed by your ^rm and decided attitude. Meanwhile we shall preside over impassibly the glorious spectacle of your regeneration, guaran- teed through order and liberty. So will it be understood, we are sure, by the supreme government, to which we address ourselves; so wiU it be understood by the enlightened of the country, to whom we speak ; and, as good patriots, you will all agree to the laying" down of your arms and that reason alone shall be put forward, which is the power that ought to triumph in this the nineteenth century. OHAELES LENNOX WYKE. HUGH DUNLOP. ^ E. JURIEN DE LA GRAVIERE. DUBOIS DE SALIGNY. EL CONDE DE EENS. • H. Ex. Doc. 100 12 178 THE PEESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. Mr. Romero to Mr. Seward. [Translation.] MEXICAN UEftATION IN THE tJNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Washington, Ajjril 10, 1862. Mr. Secretary : I have the honor to enclose to you, for the information of the government of the United States, a copy of a note addressed by Sefior La Fuente, Mexican minister at Paris, to Monsieur de Thouvenel, under date of the 7th of March last, withdrawing the Mexican legation from Paris, asking his passports to leave France, and formally protesting, on behalf of the government of Mexico, against the conduct pui-sued by the French government in regard to that republic. This opportunity is very agreeable to me to renew to you, sir, the assurances of my most distinguished consideration. M. KOMEKO. Hon. William H. Seward, Sfc., Sfc., Sfc. Paris, March 7, 1862. Monsieur Le Ministre : It is not tUl after a long delay, and in consequence of the obstacles which the direct correspondence of this legation with the Mexi- can government has met with, that I have received the instructions sought by me of the President on the subject of my rule of conduct towards the govern- ment of the Emperor. His excellency has not only approved of the act whereby I suspended diplomatic relations with the French government — ^rela- tions which itself had rendered impracticable — ^but has even acknowledged the justice of my observations on the dishonor which would have accrued to the republic in maintaining in this country a legation compelled to listen in silence to insults the most atrocious and declarations the most humiliating to the gov- ernment and people of Mexico ; a legation which could effect nothing towards restoring the good understanding which had been entirely destroyed, when peace became impossible by the resolution formed to overthrow repubHcan institu- tions in Mexico, and substitute in their stea'd a monarchy for the benefit of a foreign prince. Such a design was fully apparent before it had been confirmed by the official documents recently published in Paris and London. On becom- ing convinced of the truth of this rumor I should have at once have had the honor of demanding pay passports of your excellency had I not been restrained from doing so by the laudable hope that my government still cherished of being able to effect a convention with Mr. de Saligny, and later by the proclamation issued by his excellency the president in consequence of the iniquitous invasion of the territory of the republic made by the Spaniards, in violation of all the rules of the law of nations. By this public act his excellency offered to accede to all reasonable propositions made by the aggressors, while he bound himself to resisl»by all possible means such as were unjust or humiliating to the repub- lic. This policy proved to me that, even to the last, my government left the way open to negotiations. It was not for me to close it by any act of mine. But the rule of my official conduct is no* fixed, and, in conformity with the express orders of my government, I hereby declare to your excellency that I break up the Mexican legation in France, and the protection of the natives of Mexico is confided to the good offices of his excellency Mr. Galvez, minister of Peru at the court of tlie Emperor of the French. I shall, therefore, be obliged to you. Monsieur le Ministre, to furnish me with passports to quit France for THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 179 myself, my second secretary, Mr. Marcelino Orozco, and the members of my family. From respect to justice and the dignity of my government I have to make a few remarks concerning this determination, which has been so long justified that it may appear rather tardy than precipitated. France has deemed it right to employ force against Mexico. From this time diplomacy has nothing to do with this question. ' Nevertheless, if it be demanded what was the cause of the commencement of hostilities, it may be replied that the motives openly enunciated are neither the just nor the true ones, and that beyond them must be sought the prime mover of this rupture. From the beginning M. de Saligny assigned as a motive for breaking off rela- tions vnih the Mexican government the law which decided to suspend for two years the payment of the foreign debt. But the Mexican government did not deny its obligations ; it only postponed the fulfilment of them under the pres- sure of an imperious necessity, acknowledged by all, even by M. de Saligny, as is proved by his despatches addressed to your excellency. It did not have re- source to the suspension of payments till all the sources, ordinary and extraor- dinary, of the public wealth were utterly exhausted ; a fact which is also clear from the above despatches. It did not come, in short, to this hard extremity till after it had offered to its foreign creditors an arrangement which these last deemed satisfactory, and which was not carried into effect for the sole reason that obstacles were interposed by M. de Saligny in the name of the French creditors ; a fact which shows that he was resolved at all hazards to keep in his own hands the power of breaking with the Mexican government. The abrogation of this law was the sole condition imposed by M. de Saligny for resuming diplomatic relations with the government of the republic. It was, then, necessary to proceed to such extremes, and to exercise such rigor in treat- ing with a nation ruined by civil war 1 What mighty interest would France have in the payment by instalments of less than two hundred thousand dollars, the amount of her acknowledged debt 1 Is it thus that she has acted towards other nations who are very far from finding themselves in a situation so deplo- rable as that of Mexico ? And would it not have been preferable, more in con- formity with the principles of justice and equity, to allow a little breathing to a friendly power engaged in the work of its social regeneration, and in the ex- termination of brigandage, a work of profound interest alike to natives and for- eigners ? For what purpose could it be judged right to rekindle the flame of the civil war, disastrous to the commerce and interests of French subjects in Mexico, with the view of overthrowing the government, and ruining its praise- worthy undertakings? Such animosity, from pecuniary motives, against an exhausted nation, has in it something so excessive, so unusual, that one must imagine other reasons in order to justify the expedition. If any credit is to be attached to recent official reports, what was due to French subjects,- and of which the payment was reserved by the law of suspension, originated in the reparation of injuries committed against their persons and interests. But no one knows better than your excellency, M. le Ministre, that our debt to France has been paid by the government of M. Juarez, even when France was acknowledging M. Miramon as president of Mexico, (a situation, perhaps, unique in history, where the title and honor of the government are accorded to one party, while the expenses are charged on another.) You know that in the midst of a civil war kindled by the government acknowledged by France, the consti- tutional president, M. Juarez, (the head of the unacknowledged government,) has paid the French debt with a punctuality; that even this payment was so advanced that there wanted not more than about two hundred thousand dollars to cancel the debt, and that, consequently, the constitutional government deserved some little commendation when, yielding to an insurmountable and evident ne- 180 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. cessity, it suspended payment for a time. And even if there were some griev- ances at the bottom of this debt in favor of France, it would still be undeniable, from the considerations above enumerated, that this suspension was no reason for pushing things to such extremities. But let me be allowed, also, to repre- sent to you, M. le Ministre, that the debt in question, comprising, according to conventions and posterior declarations, every kind of responsibility, even affairs of agiotage, it was neither loyal nor just to assign as a sole source of its iniqui- ties and injuries. May I be permitted, M. le Ministre, to express my astonishment at learning from you that the government of the Emperor has millions to claim from that of Mexico. But under what title ? On what proofs ? No one knows of them. No discussion can take place on this subject from want of precise data, and yet the war begins. My government denies having contracted with M. de Saligny, the verbal engagement of which that minister speaks, on account of the forty thousand dollars of the convention Penaud; and this is not the first time that contradictions have arisen in the relations of M. de Saligny with the Mexican government. I should wish to suppose that M. de Saligny's prejuaice aigainst that government are not to be taken into account, and have already had the honor of pointing out to your excellency those prejudices which, if they show themselves so strongly in his correspondence with you, are brought into still bolder relief in his correspondence with the Mexican government. I am bound to suppose that his assertions are deemed by you worthy of credit, as are those of my government by me ; but it results from them that Mexico can no longer cultivate friendly relations with this minister, seeing that these are no longer possible when one of the two parties has brought against the other a charge of falsehood. In such a case, your excellency must know, the simple consideration due to the government of a friendly power demands the removal of the minister. Nevertheless, it is true that when it is desired to put an end to all friendly relations, and by a rupture and war, peaceful considerations are out of season- In these documents other motives are assigned for this war, based on the in- security of French subjects residing in Mexico, and M. de Saligny has forwarded a list of twenty-three outrages committed on their persons and property during a space of about nine months. One word on the subject of this list. The greater part of the crimes pointed out can only be imputed to reactionary bands, against whom the government are actively engaged in war. In the relation of these excesses, there is clearly wanting one essential fact, the detail of the circumstances, which might entirely alter the case. It is not known from what sources the minister derives his in- formation, a fact not without importance in a question of acts committed at such great distances. There is not the slightest proof, the vaguest indications that the Mexican government has been required to afford satisfaction in cases where it was due, according to the law of nations, and it is not even pretended that it has ever refused it. There is nothing to authorize such a supposition, while the government has ever shown its disposition to do what is right in claims of this nature. In a difference so deplorable I will never weary in invoking the piinciples and usages which guide the international relations of all nations with regard to the crimes in question, although I may, perhaps, perceive that these usages have been cast aside in the case of Mexico. Nevertheless, it is not only a right but a duty to protest against the employment of force as a substitute for reason and justice. These last may sometimes make themselves heard even in the councils of governments who disregard them. At all events, they exalt the character of a nation which can recog-nize and fight for them. Thus, then, M. le Ministre, such rules and such usages being admitted, it is clear that in using its best cx- eartions, as the Mexican government is doing to prevent and punish such crimes, THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 181 no government incurs the responsibility of them or loses in reputation by tbem, nor can the weight of war be cast upon it on account of them. "With what justice can a government be accused of violating the laws of humanity when the nation over which it rules, being distracted by civil war, certain misdeeds are perpetrated within its territory against the security of natives and foreigners 1 Assuredly the Italian government was not subjected to such harsh qualifications, nor to such hostile proceedings on account of the barbarous and cruel brigandage of Naples, sustained by the reactionary faction and combatted by the govern- ment, as is the case in Mexico. In Prance, even, where the nation enjoys pro- found peace and where the govenunent exercises a power which enables it to act as it pleases, and with all the a-propos of the moment, have we not just seen a long series of crimes brought to light, committed by a single individual for eight years ? Furthermore, Mr. de Saligny's despatches prove that the government had provided with promptitude for the safety of the inhabitants of the capital, a subject which had before given rise to complaints. , With regard to the attempt on the life of M. de Saligny, which is made to figure among the causes of the war, I have the honor to remind your excellency that the judicial inquiry, an account of which I remitted to you, fully explains the error into which that minister has fallen, and shows that the fancied cries of " death " were in reality acclamations in favor of France, and in reprobation of assassins of foreigners. The groups whence these cries issued were composed of Mexicans and Frenchmen reciprocating friendly sentiments. Who could ever have imagined that from all this would have arisen accusations and motives of war ? Eeally, M. le Ministre, when I call to mind the calumnies, as atrocious as absurd, that many journals in France, in England, and in Spain have permitted themselves to put on record against Mexicans, their society, and their government; when I see that in France, even in the high regions of power, my government is denounced as unscrupulous, and my countrymen as barbarous; when I find the good will and friendly cries of the latter towards France used against them in the bill of indictment, I cannot but entertain a conviction that national an- tipathies are to be found rather in Europe than among the iohabitants of Mexico. I have two observations to make on the subject of this pretended attempt at assassination. From your despatches already published, it appears that you attach no credit to the investigation and the judicial sentence which I had the honor to communicate to you. Nevertheless, evidence taken before the tribunals is surely the best mode there as elsewhere, of arriving at the truth, both in cases of this nature and of all appertaining to a criminal jurisdiction. The govern- ment could not but abide by the issue, and were bound to accept the verdict, which they have every reason to believe was a true one. The second remark I have to make is, that your despatches on this subject say: "Under other circumstances we should have demanded also a full inquiry, and, in the event of failure, suitable reparation. In the present state of aifairs, # * * # yjg (.g^ 0j^iy g^gg fj^ig jg^f fg gji those wMch imfose upon us the necessity of having recourse to the employment of harsh measures against Mexico." So, then, a matter which, according to your own confession, deserves to be inquired into— a matter, the truth of which remains to be substantiated, you do not hesitate to enumerate among the motives of your resentment and your hostilities. On this occasion, Mr. le Ministre, I think I give a rare instance of moderation by forbearing to comment on these words. The revolutions of Mexico are cast in the teeth of the government. Why, then, be silent about others stUl more disastrous and bloody ? Was it on account of the enormity of the wrongs which had given rise to them, and the greatness of the benefit produced when they were suppressed? Now, I have the firm persuasion that few nations in the world have suffered so large an amount of 182 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. evils as tlie Mexican from foreign domination, and few are the republics that have had to sustain, like om's, such cruel combats on the part of the privileged classes. With our revolutions we have achieved the national independence; the liberty of slaves ; the destruction of our clerical military oligarchy, which mul- tiplied seditions and menaced incessantly the existence of the republic; the lib- erty of conscience; civil marriage; the amelioration of the civil condition of foreigners, who have been placed on an equality with Mexicans ; civil and po- litical liberty; the elevation and fraternization of races which had long been kept in a state of abject degradation and even in perpetual antagonism by the Spanish government. And, since it is a question of intervention and of import- ing into Mexico a foreign monarchy, it is certainly not improper to add that we reckon among the benefits derived from our revolutions the establishment of republican institutions. Mexico loves them as dearly as France can love her empire, and to maintain the republic we have made and are prepared to make every kind of sacrifice. Anarchy and misgovernment, such are the gratuitous charges brought against Mexico, and which serve as a theme for the expedition of the allied powers. But these recriminations refer rather to the political intervention than to the avowed motive of the triple alliance, that is to say, to the demands for repara- tion for guarantees, since this reparation and these guarantees might be accepted by the Mexican government, and the war would then be without object. But this language is clearly used to prevent an arrangement with the Mexican gov- ernment. Indeed, Mr. the Admu-al Jurien de la Graviere has affirmed, if I am rightly informed, that it is useless to treat with anarchy. Moreover, before all things, the Mexican nation has taken upon itself to reply to these charges. The war is at an end, leaving at most on the vast territory of the republic three or four reactionary bands, feeble and incessantly pursued, and not even the shadow of that great party is seen which was said to be favorable to intervention and the foreign monarchy. The States of the Mexican confederation which were described as disagreeing with the federal government furnish a contingent larger than that which was required of them; the majority of the rebel chieftains have given in their adhesion to the government, and are soliciting for the honor of fighting against the invaders of their couiitry. Mexico has risen like one man to defend its liberties. No, Mr. le Ministre, I repeat, none of the causes assigned either explains or justifies the violence of aggression, and even had the law for the suspension of payments, which is said to have worn out the patience of France, not been passed, Mexico would have met with no better treatment at her hands. This is not a mere supposition ; it is an incontrovertible truth, demonstrated by facts anterior and posterior to that law. That law, indeed, was not in existence when Mr. de Saligny, even before being accredited to the president, permitted himself to begin his functions by treating the Mexican nation with a contempt of which ther^ is no example on record, and personally embarrassing the action of the local authorities, under the pretext of protecting the sisters of charity, whom no one was attacking, who are not French, and with whom the French nation has nothing to do. This law did not exist when the same minister threatened the government and nation with certain ruin, if the propositions of Monsieur Jeoker were not adhered to — a stock-jobbing afiair concluded between him and the so-called government of Mr. Miramon. It was then, as I have already stated to your excellency, that Mr. de Saligny wrote to the minister of foreign affairs that knowing he was protected by France, Mr. Jecker felt that he could attempt anything. This law was not passed when your excellency, in our first interview, infoimed me that your government had come to an understanding with that of England to treat Mexico with rigor ; and you may remember that you assigned (in explanation of these threats and of the agreement entered into by the two states, and of that affair of Jecker, and other THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 183 financial arrangements proposed by Mr. de Saligny and refused by Mexico) mo- tives wbicli assuredly bave notbing in common witb tbe law of nations and tbe duties of bumanity, wbicb tbe government of Mexico is accused of violating. This law was not tben iu existence, and your excellency opposed to my regular and official reception reasons wbicb you subsequently were not able nor willing to sustain. Since tbe promulgation of tbis law your excellency bas formally refused to listen to tbe explanations tbat I was desired by my government to offer to tbat of tbe Emperor, as if tbe moments consecrated to giving, at least, an appearance of justification and love of peace -Vere to France an intolerable sacrifice of time. Since tbe adoption of tbis law tbe government of tbe United States bas offered to tbat of tbe Emperor to pay tbe interest of tbe Frencb debt of Mexico, and as that debt does not produce any interest and was to be paid by instalments, the interest offered by tbe cabiriet of Washington was a reasonable compensation for tbe delays in tbe payment of that part of the debt due, and a gratuitous benefit on what remains to be paid, but the government of the Emperor refused tbe arrangement. If tbis law were indeed tbe true cause of tbe rupture and of hostilities, why, instead of being suspended by its abrogation, were warlike preparations in- creased? Since its abrogation an essential change has taken place in the policy of the allied powers against the republic. Wrongs, satisfactions, and guarantees, are now secondary considerations, and the real motive is revealed. It is, in fact, a question of political intervention in Mexico, having for its object to force upon her as king a foreign prince. This revelation explains everything. The French government did not desire peace with Mexico. For a long time that govern- ment either through its bead or by its agents, has not uttered a word, nor written a line about tbe republic, that was not inspired by anger and contempt, and this in defiance of reason and decorum. Such is the peace it left to Mexico — a miserable peace, and, whatever may be said to the contrary, it is Mexico and not France that has given reiterated proofs of an exemplery patience. The sympathies of France have for a long time been reserved for tbat ephemeral government which holds sway in Mexico, which she hastened to acknowledge, and supported with efficacy, leaving, as a charge to the present government, the liabilities which, even when just, could not be imputed but to its adversaries. But for this protection tbe civil war in Mexico, with all its horrors, would not have been thus prolonged. Her sympathies still remain with the partisans of this faction in Mexico, as well as witb its agents who come to Paris to conspire against their country and to press tbe Frencb government to invade it, as- tbe discontented Greeks did at Suze, and tbe Frencb emigrants at Ooblentz. It is evident, Mr. le Ministre, that in order to cover the political intervention and the importation of a foreign monarchy into Mexico, by means of the com- bined expedition, it is pretended tbat force is not to be employed, but that the wishes of tbe Mexicans are to be consulted and respected. A proclamation bas also been issued by tbe allied powers, inviting the Mexicans to proceed at once to the work of their political regeneration. But even supposing tbis deference for public opinion to be sincere, who does not see clearly tbat this manifesto, emanating from the combined forces, is already the commencement of a political intervention? What bas become of the respect due to the sovereignty and independence of nations, with this act calling in question and submitting to the ballot a government which Mexico has chosen by th3 universal suffrage of her citizens ? This illegal summons is not only an intermeddling in the affairs of a nation, but a flagrant incitement to rebellion, to which a favor, a support, is granted tbat does not lessen the offence from its being only of a moral character; but I do not hesitate to add that from assent and sympathy they must pass to the use of violence, since the march of the expedition on the capital is already 184 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. decided npou, and tlie ultimatum would thus be of such nature that it could not be accepted ; besides as the chiefs of the invading forces might qualify at pleasure the national will, it would be they who would impose upon Mexico the form and constitxition of the government. We saw, in 1814, the powers allied against France protesting after the inva sion, that they did not interfere in the question of the national government. Then also petitions and official deliberations appeared, which seem to be of a spontaneous character, in favor of the Bourbons, and the allies seem to yield to public opinion; but, your excellency knows better than I, France never suffered herself to be deceived by these appearances, and for her the restoration was still the act of the foreigner. Mexico would as little be persuaded of the forbearance of the allies in any change of her government brought about those in the presence of the manifesta- tions of a foreign force. It was necessary to suppress history, to disregard proofs innumerable, and belie daily relations, to arrive at the conclusion that the government of Mexico is an unscrupulous government, and the country " barbarous," and yet this done in some of your official documents. It was necessary ; for in what other man- ner could the enormous outrage be justified which is about to be committed upon us in open violation of the great principle of non-intervention, which was re- garded as one of the most precious conquests of the new law of nations ? This law lias been violated by the commencement of hostilities and the occupation of Vera Cruz,-in the name of the three powers allied against Mexico, without any demands having been made on the government, these being reserved for a later period. It is not possible that a cause can be just, or wear the semblance of justice, when its defenders have recourse to such means. What is the reason of these infractions and these wrongs perpetrated deliberately and without necessity ? The weakness of Mexico % But she is not so weak as was Spain in the time of Napoleon I. Mexico may be conquered, but she cannot be sub- dued, nor will she be conquered without having given proofs of the courage and virtiies that are denied her. Mexico, after having shaken off the monarchical dominion of Spain — a dominion secular and deeply rooted ; Mexico, who would not have even her liberator for a king ; Mexico, in short, who has just emerged victoiious from a servile revolution against the remnant of an oligarchy which was weighing on her democracy, will never accept, at any price, a foreign monarchy. This monarchy it will be very difficult to create ; still more difficult to maintain. Such an enterprise will be ruinous and terrible for us, but it will not be less so for its promoters. Mexico is weak, without doubt, in comparison with the powers that are invading her soil, but she possesses the consciousness of her outraged rights ; the patriotism which will multiply her efforts, and the high convictions that in acquitting herself with honor in this perilous struggle, it will be given to her to preserve the beautiful continent of Christopher Co- lumbus from the cataclysm with which it is threatened. I protest aloud, Mr. le Ministre, in the name of my government, that all the evils that shall ensue from this unjustifiable war, caused either direqtly or indi- rectly by the action of the troops and the agents of France, wiU fall exclusively on the responsibility of its government. For the rest Mexico has nothing to fear, if Providence protects the rights'of a people who maintain them with dignity I have the honor, &c., DE LA FUENTE. To his Excellency Monsieur de Thouvenel, <^., i^., Sfv. A true copy. Washington, April 10, 1862. EOMEEO. THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 185 Mr. Seward to Mr. Romero. Department of State, Washington, April 11, 1862. Sir : Having completed my report to the President upon the subject of Mex- ican affairs, in compliance with a resolution of the House of Representatives for information and correspondence, I find, upon examination of the papers, that no acknowledgment has been made of your several notes of the 30th September, 30th October, 23d and 28th November, yom- confidential note of the 21st December, and your subsequent official communications of 24th January and 16th February. As you were kind enough to place these notes in my hands in person, and to make theto severally the subject of conversation at different times, it was not deemed necessary to make written acknowledgment of their receipt from time to time, whilst pending events seemed to promise a continuation of your valuable contributions to the history of Mexican complications I desire, now, to acknowledge my sense of the importance and interest of the documents you have laid before me, and which have greatly elucidated the political embarrassments in which your country has been involved, and iu which the United States feel so serious a concern ; and I beg to assure you of my high sense of the industry, ability, and zeal which you have displayed, not only in sustaining the interests of your own government, but also in contributing so materially to the iutelligent apprehension of those interests by the government of the TJnited States. I avail myself of this occasion to offer to you a renewed assurance of my high consideration. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. To Senor Do?f Matias Romero, dtc, Sfv., Sfc. The Ministers of Spain, France, and Great Britain to Mr. Seward. [Translation.] Washington, Novemler 30, 1861. The undersigned, envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary of their Majesties the Queen of Spain, the Emperor of the French, and the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and of Ireland, have the honor to transmit, herewith, to the honorable Secretary of State, the exact words \le texte] of a convention concluded at London on the 31st of October, between their respective sovereigns, with the view of obtaining through a common action the redress of their grievances against the republic of Mexico. As has been stipulated between the high contracting parties, the undersigned have received the order to invite the government of the United States to accede to this act ; and in addressing this invitation to the honorable Secretary of State, they hasten to inform him that they are furnished with the necessary fuU powers to conclude and to sign, col- lectively or separately, with the plenipotentiary designated by the President of the United States, a similar convention. Nothing would be more agreeable to the governments of Spain, France, and Great Britain than to see that of the United States receive favorably their pro- position ; and, requesting the honorable Secretary of State to be pleased to make known to them the decision of the President, the undersigned have the honor to tender to him the assurances of their very high consideration. GABRIEL G. TASSARA. HENRI MERCIER. LYONS. 186 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. [Ti'anglation.] Legation op Spain at Washington. Her Majesty the Queen of Spain, his Majesty the Emperor of the French, and her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, heing placed by the arbi- trary and vexatious conduct of the authorities of the republic of Mexico under the necessity of exacting from those authorities a more efficient protection for the persons and property of their subjects, as 'well as the performance of the obligations contracted towards them by the republic of Mexico, have arranged to conclude a convention between each other for the purpose of combining their common action, and, to this effect, they have appointed as their plenipotentiaries, to wit: her Majesty the Queen of Spain, his excellency Mr. Don Xavier de Isturiz, (here follow his titles;) his Majesty the Emperor, his excellency the Count Flahant, (here his titles;)- and her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and of Ireland, the very honorable John Earl Russell, (his titles follow;) who, after having exchanged their powers, have agreed to adopt the following articles : Article 1. Her Majesty the Queen of Spain, his Majesty the Emperor of the French, and her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and of Ireland, bind themselves to make, immediately after the signing of the present convention, the necessary arrange- ments to send to the shores of Mexico, land and sea forces combined, the effective number of which shall be determined in a further exchange of communications between their governments, but the total of which must be sufficient to enable them to seize and occupy the various fortresses and military positions on the Mexican sea-coast. The commanders of the allied forces shall be, moreover, authorized to accom- plish such other operations as may on the spot be deemed most suitable for realizing the end specified in the preamble of the present convention, and especially for insuring the security of foreign residents. All the measures which are referred to in this article shall be taken in the name and on account of the high contracting parties, without distinction of particular nationality of the forces employed in executing them. Article 2. The high contracting parties bind themselves not to seek for themselves, in the employment of the coercive measures foreseen by the present convention, any acquisition of territory, or any peculiar advantage, and not to exercise in the subsequent affairs of Mexico any influence of a character to impair the right of the Mexican nation to choose and freely to constitute the form of its own government. Article 3. A commission composed of three commissioners, one appointed by each of the contracting powers, shall be established with full power to determine aU questions which may arise from the employment and distribution of the sums of money which shall be recovered from Mexico, having regard to the respective rights of the contracting parties. Article 4. The high contracting parties desiring, moreover, that the measures which it is their intention to adopt may not have an exclusive character, and knowing THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO 187 that tte government of the United States has on its part claims to enforce, like theiQselves, against the Mexican republic, agree that immediately after the signing of the present convention, a copy of it shall be communicated to the government of the United States, that that government shall be invited to accede to it, and that, in anticipation of such accession, theii- respective ministers at Washington shall be immediately furnished with full powers to conclude and to sign, collectively or separately, with the plenipotentiary designated by the President of the United States, a similar convention, with the exception of the suppression of the present article, to those which they sign on this date. But, as the high contracting parties would expose themselves, in making any delay in canying into effect articles one and two of the present convention, to fail in the end which they wish to attain, they have agreed to not defer, with a view of obtaining the accession of the government of the United States, the commence- ment of the above-mentioned operations beyond the period at which their combined forces may be united in the vicinity of Vera Cruz. Article 5. The present convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications thereof shall be exchanged, at London, within the term of fifteen days. In testimony whereof, the respective plenipotentiaries have signed it and have affixed to it the seal of their arms. Done at London, in triple original, on the thirty-first day of the month of October, in the year of our Lord one thousuud eight hundred and sixty-one. [The seals and signatures of the three plenipotentiaries foUow.] Mr. Seward to Mr. Tassara, Mr. Mercier, and Lord Lyons. Department of State, Washington, December 4, 1861. The undersigned, Secretary of State of the United States, has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a note which was addressed to him on the 30th day of November last, by Mr. Gabriel Gr. y Tassara, minister plenipotentiary of her Majesty the Queen of Spain; Mr. Henri Mercier, minister plenipotentiary of his Majesty the Emperor of the French; and the Lord Lyons, minister plenipoten- tiary of her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. With that paper, the aforesaid ministers have submitted the text of a conven- tion which was concluded at London on the 31st of October last, between the sovereigns before-named, with a view of obtaining, through a common action, the redress of their grievances against the republic of Mexico. In the preamble the high contracting parties say that they have been placed by the arbitrary and vexatious conduct of the authorities of the republic of Mexico under a necessity for exacting from those authorities a more efiective protection for the persons and properties of thek subjects, as well as the execu- tion of obligations contracted with them by the republic of Mexico, and have agreed to conclude a convention between themselves for the purpose of combin- ing their common action in the case. In the first article the high contracting parties bind themselves to make, immediately after the signing of the convention, the necessary arrangements to send to the shores of Mexico land and sea forces combined, the effective number of which shall be determined in a further exchange of communications between their governments, but the total of which must be sufficient to enable them to 188 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. seize and occupy the various fortresses and military positions of the Mexican sea-coasts ; also that the commanders of the allied forces shall be authorized to accomplish such other operations as may, on the spot, be deemed most suitable for realizing the end specified in the preamble, and especially for insuring the safety of foreign residents; and that all the measures which are thus to be carried into effect shall be taken in the name and on account of the high con- tracting parties without distinction of the particular nationality of the forces employed in executing them. In the second article, the high contracting parties bind themselves not to seek for themselves, in the employment of the coercive measures foreseen by the present convention, any acquisition of territory, or any peculiar advantage, and not to exercise in the subsequent affairs of Mexico any influence of a character to impair the right of the Mexican nation to choose and freely to constitute the form of its own government. In the third article, the high contracting parties agree that a commission com- posed of three commissioners, one appointed by each of the contracting powers, should be established, with full power to determine all questions which may arise for the employment and distribution of the sums of money which shall be recovered from Mexico, having regard to the respective rights of the contracting parties. In the fourth article, the high contracting parties expressing the desire that the measures which it is their intention to adopt, may not have an exclusive character, and recognizing the fact that the government of the United States, like themselves, has claims of its own to enforce against the Mexican repubhc, agree that, immediately after the signing of the present convention, a copy of it shall be communicated to the government of the United States, and that this government shall be invited to accede to it, and that in anticipation of such ac- cession, their respective ministers at Washington shall be furnished with fall powers to conclude and sign, collectively or severally, with a plenipotentiary of the United States, to be designated by the President, such an instrument. But as the high contracting parties would expose themselves in making any delay in carrying into effect articles one and two of the convention to failure in the end which they wish to attain, they have agreed to not defer, with a view to obtaining the accession of the United States, the commencement of the stip- ulated operations beyond the period at which their combined forces may be united in the vicinity of Vera Cruz. The plenipotentiaries, in their note to the undersigned, invite the United States to accede to the convention. The undersigned, having submitted the sub- ject to the President, will proceed to communicate his views thereon. First. As the undersigned has heretofore had the honor to inform each of the plenipotentiaries now addressed, the President does not feel himself at lib- erty to question, and he does not question, that the sovereigns represented have undoubted right to decide for themselves the fact whether they have sustained grievances, and to resort to war against Mexico for the redress thereof, and have a right also to levy the war severally or jointly. Secondly. The United States have a deep interest which, however, they are happy to believe is an interest held by them in common with the high contract- ing powers and with aU other civilized states, that neither the sovereigns by whom the convention has been concluded shall seek or obtain any acquisition of territory or any advantage peculiar to itself, and not equally left open to the United States and every other civilized state, within the territories of Mexico, and es- pecially that neither one nor all of the contracting parties shall, as a result or consequence of the hostilities to be inaugurated under convention, exercise in the subsequent affairs of Mexico any influence of a character to impair the right of the Mexican people to choose and freely to constitute the form of its own gov- ernment. The undersigned renews on this occasion the acknowledgment heretofore THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO, 189 given, that each of the high contracting parties had informed the United States substantially, that they recognized this interest, and he is authorized to express the satisfaction of the President with the terms in which that recognition is clearly embodied in the treaty itself. It is true, as the high contracting parties assume, that the United States have, on their part, claims to urge against Mexico. Upon due consideration, however, the_ President is of opinion thet it would be inexpedient to seek satisfaction of their claims at this time through an act of accession to the convention. Among the reasons for this decision which the undersigned is authorized to assign, are, first, that the United States, so far as it is practicable, prefer to adhere to a tra- ditional policy reconunended to them by the father of their country and coniirmed by a happy experience, which forbids them from making alliances with foreign nations ; second, 'Mexico being a neighbor of the United States on this conti- nent, and possessing a system of government similar to our own in many of its important features, the United States habitually cherish a decided good wUl towards that republic, and a lively interest in its security, prosperity, and welfare. Animated by these sentiments, the United States do not feel inclined to resort to forcible remedies for their claims at the present moment, when the govern- ment of Mexico is deeply disturbed by factions within, and war with foreign na- tions. And, of course, the same sentiments render them stiU more disinclined to allied war against Mexico, than to war to be urged against her by themselves alone. The undersigned is further authorized to state to the plenipotentiaries, for the information of the sovereigns of Spain, France, and Great Britain, that the United States are so earnestly anxious for the safety and welfare of the republic of Mexico, that they have already empowered their minister residing there to enter into a treaty with the Mexican republic, conceding to it some material aid and advantages which it is hoped may enable that republic to satisfy the just claims and demands of the said sovereigns, and so avert the war which these sovereigns have agreed among each other to levy against Mexico. The sover- eigns need not be infoi-med that this proposal to Mexico has been made, not in hostility to them, but with a knowledge of the proceeding formally communicated to them, and with the hope that they might find, through the increased ability of Mexico to result from the treaty, and her willingness to treat with them upon just terms, a mode of averting the hostilities Which it is the object of the .con- vention now under consideration to inaugurate. What has thus far been done by the American minister at Mexico, under those instructions, has not yet be- come known to this government, and the information is looked for with deep interest. Should these negotiations ofier any sufficient grounds on which to justify a proposition to the high contracting parties in behalf of Mexico, the undersigned will hasten to submit such a proposition to those powers. But it is to be under- stood, first, that Mexico shaU have acceded to such a treaty ; and secondly, that it shall be acceptable to the President and Senate of the United States. In the meantime the high contracting parties are informed that the President deems it his duty to provide that a naval force should remain in the Gulf of Mexico, sufiicient to look after the interests of American citizens in Mexico, during the conflict which may arise between the high contracting parties and that repub- lic ; and that the American minister residing in Mexico be authorized to seek such conference in Mexico with the belligerent parties, as may guard each of them against inadvertent injury to the just rights of the United States, if any such should be endangered. , The undersigned having thus submitted all the views and sentiments of this government on this important subject to the high contracting parties, in a spirit of peace and friendship, not only towards Mexico, but towards the high contract- ing parties themselves, feels assured that there will be nothing in the watchful- 190 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. ness wBicli it is thus proposed to exercise, that can afford any cause for anxiety to any of the parties in question. i The undersigned has the honor to tender to the ministers of Spain, France, and Great Britain, the assurance of his very high consideration. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Mr. Seward to Mr, Adams. No. 71] Department of State, ' Washington, August 24, 1861. Sir : Tou will receive herewith an instruction which is this day sent from this , department to Thomas Corwin, esq., the minister plenipotentiary of the United States residing in Mexico. The paper sufficiently explains itself. You wUl avail yourself of an early occasion to bring the subject therein presented to the attention of the British government, and ascertain whether it will consent to forbear hostilities against Mexico, so far as they may be dependent on the fail- ure of the government of that country to pay the interest on the debts mentioned in the instruction, upon the condition and for the term therein mentioned ; and if you find a favorable disposition on the part of her Majesty's government in that respect, you may ascertain how the stipulations contemplated can be entered into, reserving the unavoidable conditions which the instruction specifies. I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Charles Francis Adams, Esq., Sfc., !fc., Sfc. Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward. [Extract ] No. 44.J Legation of the United States, London, September 14, 1861. Sir:* * * * * * * * * There is a great demand, on the part of some of the commercial classes, for positive action in their behalf against Mexico. The decree of the authorities of that country, suspending the payment of debts to foreigners, followed, as it has been, by the protest and withdrawal of the representatives of France and Eng- land, is the pretext for a loud call upon the two governments for active inter- vention, involving the establishment of some permanent system in that country by force of arms. It is proper to mention here that I have received from Mr. Corwin, at Mexico, a despatch, transmitting to me copies of all the official papers connected with the affair, and expressing great solicitude to learn the attitude about to be taken by the two great powers in consequence of it. I replied by return of mail, informing him that nothing had yet been determined on, so far as was publicly known, and expressing some doubts whether, in view of the practical obstacles in the way of a joint intervention to establish any power by common consent, more would be attempted than the customary plan of temporary occupation of THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO, 19! some commerial ports, as security for the satisfaction of all pecuniary demands or to obtain the repeal of the obnoxious decree. ********* I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, CHARLES irRANCIS ADAJilS. Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward. [Extract.] No. 46.] Legation of the United States, London, September 19, 1861. Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge the reception of the despatch No. 71, dated the 24th of August, with its enclosure, which was announced in my No. 45, of the 14th instant, sent last week, as having failed to come in its proper order. It is on the subject which I had already opened in my No. 44, of the 14th of this month. I applied at once to Lord Russell for an interview, in order that I might lay the view of the government before him, but as yet I have not been favored with a reply. The reason doubtless is that his lordship remains in Scotland taking advantage of the usual vacation at this season of the year, though retaining the general direction of the business of the office here. So that all papers undergo the delay of the transmission both ways before we hear of the action at this point. The fact that a joint intervention in the domestic affairs of Mexico is contem- plated by the three powers of Spain, France, and Great Britain is now beyond a doubt. Petitions praying such action on the part of this government have been put into circulation at the stock exchange, and have been extensively signed. The current of popular opinion here, so far as it may be gathered from the newspapers, all runs the same way. Spain seems to be eager to accept the advance in the movement, encouraged by its success in the case of Dominica, and by the hope of profiting by the present difficulties in the United States. Yet, in spite of all these concurring indications, I cannot repress a doubt whether any practical result satisfactory to all three of the parties wiU be arrived at. The establishment of a monarchy, which is the great object sought for by the commercial and religious interests in Mexico, can be sustained only with the active co-operation of a sufficient foreign military force to secure obedience. It will be productive of a great shock to the confidence of the other republican governments in America, and must inevitably press them into closer alliance. It will also be likely to draw them all into the political complications of this side of the Atlantic, by rendering counter combinations indispensible to the maintenance of a suitable balance of power. That all these possible conse- quences should have been entirely overlooked by the parties engaged in this crusade, and especially by Great Britain, which would seem to have less interest than the other two powers in producing them, is not a little surprising. It is scarcely to be imagined that she who is arming hundreds of thousands of her population, and indefinitely expanding her naval resources from mere apprehen- sion of what may be intended on the part of her neighbor, can be very de- sirous of giving her aid to fortify a combination that may ultimately be turned with cumulative force upon her own borders. Yet, in spite of all these considerations, the present indications are sufficiently alarming to render activity and vigilance eminently necessary on the part of all nations liable to be afifected by this singular movement, and especially on the 192 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. leading republican nation of the world, tte United States. At no time since the adoption of the Constitution does there seem to have been a greater demand upon the capacities of the country in the direction of its foreign affairs than is now springing up in the midst of its internal difficulties. It is a source of great satisfaction to me to reflect that the care of them is reposed in such good hands. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS.' Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. Mr. Seward to Adams No. 94.] Depaetment of State, Washington, September 24, 1861. Sir : This government has learned from information which leaves no room for doubt, that an armed movement is being prepared by the governments of Great Britain and Trance to proceed to Vera Cruz with a view to make de- mands of some nature upon the government of Mexico. There is also informa- tion, but not entirely reliable, that the government of Spain will join in this movement. My despatch to you of the 24th day of August last will have shown you that this government takes so deep an interest in the permanence of the Mexican republic, that it is even not unwilUng to render it some extremely good offices in its present exigencies. The President desires you to inform the government of Great Britain that this government looks with deep concern to the subject of the armed movement to which I have thus directed your attention, and to ask Earl Russell for such explanations of it as her Majesty may feel at liberty to give, with a view to the satisfaction of the United States and the promotion of peace in this hemisphere. It is confidently believed that such explanations may not be unreasonably asked her in view of the intimations we have already given to our minister in Mexico in regard to an assumption of the payment of interest on the Mexican debt due to foreign bondholders. It is perhaps necessary to say, that owing to some accidental delay, our foreign mail, which must have been sent by the Europa, has not yet been received, and therefore our information may be deemed very incomplete. I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Charles Francis Adams, Esq., ^., i^., Sfc. Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward. [Extracts.] No. 50.] Legation of the United States, London, September 28, 1861. Sir : Scarcely had my despatch No. 46 been made up last Saturday to go to the department, when I received a note from Lord Russell in answer to my request for an interview. It was dated at Abergeldie Castle on the 19th of September, and expressed regret that he should not be able soon to be in THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 193 London to see me. But lie added tliat if I ■would come up and pay him a visit in Scotland in the early part of the week, Bte should be "delighted" to see me there, and to confer with me touching any subject for which I desired the con- ference. Abergeldie is in the north of Scotland, and about five hundred miles by the road from London. *#*##* Accordingly I left London on Monday evening, the 23d, and by dint of trav- elling all night succeeded in reaching Abergeldie at about the same hour the next evening. It was too late for conversation with his lordship that night, but on "Wednesday morning, the 25th, I was favored with abundant opportunity for full and free conversation, the substance of which I now propose to submit to your consideration. I began by saying that I had been instructed to'bring to his lordship's notice a matter that had excited great uneasiness in the minds of the authorities in the United States. I referred to the condition of Mexico, and to the rumors of Certain movements making on the part of some of the powers of Europe in regard to her. The reason assigned for them was the late decree of the ruling party in that coimtry, suspending the payment of interest oh the debt to for- eigners ; but the proposed action was represented as going further than the practice heretofore customary in such cases, of occupation of certain ports as temporary security, in order to bring about some satisfactory arrangement. It was generally believed that it contemplated an actual intervention in the domestic affairs of that country, and even the imposition of a government over the people by the agency of an external military force. There seemed to be reason for supposing that Spain, at least, was preparing to transport troops and to send a navy with some such object. The disposition of France looked not altogether unfavorable to the same plan, and I had noticed in the newspapers that petitions were in circulation for sigliatures in London, and elsewhere, praying the co-ope- ration of Great Britain to that end. It was this particular feature of armed intervention in the domestic affairs of Mexico that excited the alarm of my government. Had the matter been confined to a mere attempt to secure the payment of a debt, I did not know that it would have led to any extraordinary proceeding on the part of the United States. But as it looked now, it was an effort to introduce a new principle of action into American affairs. It was the inauguration of a policy on the part of some of the powers of Europe in oppo- sition to which the government of the United States had committed itself forty years ago, and which that of Great Britain had not favored then nor at any time since. I said I trusted I need not enlarge on the consequences to which such a policy might lead, to the effect it would have in implicating America in all the struggles of Europe, from which it had always striven to keep aloof, and to bring on combinations not merely between the different States of North and South America, but also the formation of counter alliances by them all with the other States of Europe. This must be prompted by the instinct of self preservation if by nothing elfee. For there was no telhng, if such a project were executed in the case of one American State, how soon it might be repeated in another. And the United States might, in their present difficulties, be made the subject of a similar experiment. For these reasons they were anxious to be prepared with some plan to remove the difficulty. To that end I had been directed to propose to her Majesty's government to postpone action for the present on her part, in order that the United States might be enabled to mature some arrangement with Mexico to provide for the payment of the interest on her debt, at least for a certain period, and thus remove the immediate cause of dissatisfaction. It was proposed to guarantee this payment hy treaty, on such terms as might be agreed upon with Mexico. I had reason to believe that over- tures had already been made by the minister of the United States in that country for a negotiation'on that basis, which it was hoped might do away with H. Ex. Doc. 100 13 194 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. any supposed necessity for the extraordinary measure presumed to be in agi- tation. His lordship heard me very patiently to the end, and then drew out of his pocket a despatch from Lord Lyons, giving a pretty exact report of the par- ticulars of the arrangement proposed hy yourself in your paper of instructions to Mr. Corwin, a copy of which was furnished to me from the department. Of the conditions mentioned ia it I had said nothing in my remarks, both in obedi- ence to your directions and because they did not seem to me to be essential to the argument. Neither did his lordship make any especial reference to them in his reply. The objection that he made was that the proposed arrangemenlTdid not, by any means, meet the cause of complaint. Great Britain had much more to object to in the action of Mexico than the mere suspension of the interest on her debt. The conduct of the different parties in that country had been such as to render it diificult to keep any terms with the country at aU. There was no safety to the lives or security to the property of English subjects. Some time since, when General Miramon was in power, a large sum belongiug to English subjects, which had been put up to send by a conducta, had been taken by violence and divided among his adherents. No repayment had ever been made, or satisfaction given for this flagrant act of robbery, either by him or any one else, nor had the obligation of acknowledging the wrong been respected by those who came after him. The last act of suspension of the payment of interest on the debt was a wrong, but cumulative in its nature, and was not the only cause of complaint. Hence the plan of the United States, confined only to that one, did not seem quite co-extensive with the case. His lordship then proceeded to remark that there was some misconception prevailing in regard to the precise condition in which the matter stood at this moment. He read extracts from the despatches of the British envoy at Madrid, reporting a conversation on the subject with the Spanish prime minister, O'Donnell, from which it would appear that the latter had not acknowledged any specific form of action as determined upon by Spain, and had gone so far as to concede that any scheme of forcing a government upon Mexico would be " chimerical," and that all efibrts to do so would be " open to grave objection." It thus appears that, as yet, there is really no agreement at all between the English and Spanish government on this subject; and yet more, that the answer of Spain, thus made, was substantially drawn out in the form of a dis- avowal of an intention imputed by Great Britain, which the latter was not disposed to countenance. Furthermore, his lordship told me that he had ex- pressed a desire that, before any action should be taken by either of the powers, the matter should be opened to the United States, and some plan, not of inter- vention, but of settlement, adopted with their co-aperation. Of course this would require time. In this proposal Prance had concurred, though not without hesitation. Spain, on the other hand, had consented to wait, but not a great while. She^would go forward alone to demand indemnity, if no result was obtained before the end of October or the first of November. Such was the present state of the question; and as a proof of it he showed me a telegram just received from the foreign office, ia London, giving the contents of the last despatch from Spain to that effect. I replied that the course of Spain would not excite much surprise at home, for it had already been evident in the case of Dominica what motives stimulated her haste. The same intention to profit by our period of disorders was visible enough in this instance. I had little doubt she was meditating a restoration of her power in Mexico through the agency of the church and Spanish faction there. But I had been informed, from good authority, that any such scheme would only be likely to aggravate all existing difficulties there, instead of removing -them. It would revive all old hatred and embitter a new contest. I trusted that I might be permitted to report to my government that Great Britain had had no participation in such projects, and, THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 195 at least, that she contemplated no domestic intervention. To this he, replied in the affirmative. I said this assurance would be a great relief to us in the United States. I had not supposed it could be otherwise. It was contrary to all my impressions of her system in the case of a fonner attempt of the same kind. His lordship frankly admitted that such a proceeding was calculated to alarm the United States. To use the terms of Mr. O'Donnell, that it was " open to grave objection," was the least that could be said of it. It might, indeed, be that the exaggerated representations of the Spanish and priest party in Mexico were made to Spain to induce that country to effect its restoration to power by the intervention of troops. But there was no reason for believing any real good likely to come out of it. The truth was that there was little hope of the estab- lishment of any stable form of government at all. Certainly the people were not prepared for any system like that of the United States. Hence it was that though intervention be admitted to be inadmissible, it yet remained to know what was best to be done. If Spain persisted in her intention of going forward, he supposed it would become necessary for Great Britain to take some action 190. fie believed that the United States had some claims likewise, which had been acknowledged in the treaty that had failed of ratification by the Senate. He should be very glad if any co-operation of all the powers could have the effect of sustaining any mode of government which the people of Mexico might themselves voluntarily establish. I said that no country was more interested in the maintenance of a solid organization of government in Mexico than the United States. Everything that could fairly and honestly be done to favor the development of the spontaneous will of the people of that country might, I thought, be safely promised. But there we should stop. Whatever might have been the tendencies heretofore, the designs of the present administration were really friendly. Their good offices would be tendered in any way that might relieve Mexico from its present embarrassments. Tet if there were no question of domestic intervention involved, I presumed that the United States would not seek to interpose objections to any ordinary mode of gaining redress for the commission of flagrant wrongs. Here the conversation ended on this subject. But the next morning, just before my departure, his lordship took me aside for a few minutes, to say that he had, in the interval, received a despatch from Lord Palmerston, in which he had taken the same view of the proposal of the United States that he did. That is, that the remedy did not cover the extent of the complaint. His lordship also had suggested that a counter proposition should be made to the United States. And he himself thought so favorably of it that he should direct a communication of it to be made, by instructions, to Lord Lyons, in his next despatch. I said I was glad to receive the announcement, and should communicate it to my government. I believed that it would be ready cheerfully to entertain any proposition which avoided as a basis the principle of domestic intervention. And I understood, as the result of my interview, that no such proposition was in agitation. . I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. Hon. Wm. H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. 196 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. Mr. Adams- to Mr. Seward. No. 54.] Legation of the United States, London, October 4, 1861. Sir : By reference to a leading article in the Times of this morning, jou will at once perceive the condition of the negotiation in regard to Mexican affairs between the three powers, and the direction sought to be given to public opinion here on that subject. It is plain that Spain contemplates a movement in which Great Britain can have no sympathy. At the same time the representations from "Mexico come worse and worse ; and the statement that an attempt had been made on the life of M. de Saligny, the French mitdster, has had some effect in stiffening the attitude of the Emperor. In the meanwhile, I have been in the receipt of a long confidential communi- cation from M. Andres Oseguera, the gentleman heretofore mentioned as having had a conference with me, a report of which was contained in my despatch, No. 44, of the 14th September, substantially recapitulating the chief points of that conversation, but closing with a request for my good offices with Lord Russell, to procure for some representative of the Mexican authorities an opportunity to com- municate with her Majesty's government in regard to the difficulties between the two countries. In consequence of this note, I called, on Monday last, to see M. Oseguera, and not finding him at home I asked him to call on me the next day, which he did. I then, in answer to his application, explained the change in my position, caused by the reception of later instructions from my government, ex- pressed my desire to do anything in my power to pave the way to a better un- derstanding between the two countries to which the United States were equally well wishers, and then defined the extent to which I was willing to accede to his request. I said that in view of the withdrawal of the British minister in Mexico from his relations with the government there, I should not venture to propose any acknowledgment or reception of a Mexican minister here. But if what he desired was that I should informally try the disposition of the head of the foreign office, to receive and listen to any representations that might be made to him by a person not clothed with any formal official character, but yet authorized to speak on behalf of the Mexican government, I signified my readi- ness to go thus far. I added that from some incidental expression of surprise let fall by Lord Russell in my last conversation with him, that there should be no representative of Mexico here, whilst there was one at Paris, 1 inferred that there might be an opening for the success of such an application. M. Oseguera replied that he should feel much obliged to me if I would take the course indi- cated ; and he went on to mention a gentleman, heretofore the secretary of le- gation for Mexico at that place, Mr. Huice, as the person whom M. La Fuente, the minister at Paris, would empower to act for his government, if agreeable to his lordship. I said that with this understanding I would proceed to make the overture. Accordingly, the next day, that is, on Tuesday, the 1st of this month, I called at the foreign office, and in the absence of Lord Russell, who is still in Scotland, I had an interview with Mr. Hammond, one of the under secretaries. I ex- plained to him my position in the premises, being that simply of a common friend making an effort to open the way to an understanding between two disa- greeing parties. I had been asked to present the question whether Lord Russell would consent to receive an informal agent of the Mexican authorities. I was willing to go thus far from a belief that it would be agreeable to my govern- ment, and not from any express authority. Mr. Hammond said that he would write to his lordship and communicate my message. He asked me if I knew how matters stood at Paris, and then men THE PEESKNT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 197 tioned tlie rumor of the attack on M. de Saligny, ■wliicli I have already referred to. I said that I had heard nothing of it, neither did I believe M. Oseguera could have heard of it when I last saw him. I then took my leave. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, CHAELES FKANOIS ADAMS. Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. No. 99.] Depaktmbnt of State, Washington, October 10, 1861. Sir : Your despatch of September 14, No. 44, was duly received. It treats two subjects, one the extraordinary proceedings of her Majesty's government in the matter of her consul at Charleston, Mr. Bunch, the other the attitude of Great Britain and France towards Mexico. I shall consider only the latter subject in this paper. My despatch No. 71, of the 24th of August last, has informed you of our overtures to Mexico, and our propositions concurrent therewith to Great Britain and France for an assumption on our part of the payment of interest on the Mexican bonds as a condition of forbearance on the part of those states to the Mexican republic. My despatch No. 94, of the 24th ultimo, instructed you to ask explanations of her Majesty's government concerning the designs of the naval demonstration which rumor reports is about to be made by Great Britain and France agaihst Mexico. Since those instructions were given we learn, upon what seems to be sufficient authority, that the government of Spain is meditating a demonstration against Mexico, but it is not certainly known whether that demonstration is to be made alone or in concert with the designs of Great Britain and France. Some explanations have been informally given on this subject by the Spanish govern- ment to our minister at Madrid importing that no design of conquest is enter- tained by Spain in this movement. I shall, however, simultaneously with sending this despatch, instruct Mr. Schurz to recall the subject to the attention of the Spanish government, with- a view, if possible, to induce it to practice forbearance. A copy of the communication to Mr. Schurz will accompany this despatch, and you will inform Lord Eussell that this government is deeply anxious for the safety, peace, and prosperity of Mexico. Consulting the spirit rather than the letter of my previous instructions, and considering them enlarged so as to embrace the new danger^ with which Mexico is threatened, you will confer with him and ascertain whether any and what proposition that we can make to Spain, attended, if necessary, with a modification of our former propo- sition to Mexico and France and England, would receive the favorable considera- tion of the British government and engage its good offices to secure a forbearance of those three powers from hostile designs against the Mexican republic. The negotiation on this subject is attended with embarrassments and delays. We have not yet received a reply from Mexico to our overtures already made. Operations may be definitively matured on the other side of the Atlantic while we are considering how we can most effectually and properly engage in prevent- ing the necessity for them. I shall therefore expect you to consider carefully the whole case as you find it, and rather to propose to me what this government shall do than to wait for new suggestions from me in the premises. I am, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Charles Francis Adams, Esc[., Sfc., S(c., Sjv. 198 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward. [Extract.] No. 57.] Legation of the United States, London, October 11, 1861. Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the instructions con- tained in your despatch, No. 94, dated the 24th of September, to ask explanations of the government here as to the contemplated movements in respect to Mexico. My despatch, No. 50, addressed to the department four days after the date of yours, must by this time have come to hand, and have furnished some idea of the intentions of her Majesty's ministers ; whilst the course indicated to me as about to be taken by Lord -Eussell, through the agency of Lord Lyons, will have brought to your notice the precise form of policy they have concluded to adopt. This position of things would seem to release me from the necessity of charging myself further with the matter, at least for the present. In the mean- while the answer of Lord Russell to the petition presented to him from the merchants is published in all the papers, and seems to be giving a new turn to the public sentiment on the subject in London. In my number 54, dated the 4th instant, I gave some account of an informal visit paid by me on the 1st instant to the foreign office, at the solicitation of M. Oseguera, of the Mexican legation at Paris, to learn whether his lordship would receive informally an authorized agent of Mexico. I have since received an unofficial note from Mr. Hammond, informing me that his lordship would receive su£h a person on his return to town about the 19th of the month. In the meantime, however, M. Oseguera sent me a note announcing that he had been recalled to Paris, and apprising me that the authorized person to whom he had referred would soon make himself known to me. But as yet I have seen nothing of him. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. [Extract.] No. 100.] Department of State, Washington, October 12, 1861. Sir : Your despatch of September 19, No. 46, has been duly received. I have already in the latest instructions sent you (No. 99, of the 10th instant) anticipated the subject of Mexican affairs, and I qeed add nothing on that sub- ject, except that I have transmitted a copy of the last-mentioned paper to Mr. Dayton, and requested him to be governed by its directions. *.# * * * * * * « I am, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Charles Francis Adams, Esq., &^., ^., ifc. THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. 199 Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. No. 101.] Department of State, Washington, October 14, 1861. Sir : Your despatch of September 28f No. 50, has been received. It contains an account of your visit to Lord Kussell, at his residence in Abergeldie castle, and your consultation with him there on the subject of the diflSculties between Great Britain and France on the one part, and Mexico on the other part. The difficulties between Spain and Mexico were also treated of in the same conversation. The result was that a counter proposition would be sent to me. I do not see that a more favorable turn of this matter could have reasonably been expected I am, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Charles • Francis Adams, Sfc., Sfv., Sfc. Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. No. 106.] Department of State, Waskington, October 19, 1861. Sir ; Your despatch No. 54, written under the date" of October 4, has beeQ re- ceived. Your proceedings in behalf of Mr. Oseguera were prudent and just. I hope that he may be successfiil in averting the dangers which are impending over his unfortunate country. I am,' sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Charles Francis Adams, Sfc., Sfc., Sfc. Mr. Adams to Mr. Seioard. [Extract.] No. 62.] Legation of the United States, London, October 24, 1861. Sir : In my despatch. No. 57, dated the 11th of the present month, I had the honor to report the result of my informal application at the foreign office in be- half of a representative of the authorities of Mexico. I there stated that M. Oseguera, who had solicited my aid, had left London, and that the other person to whom in his note to me he had referred as about to take his place, had not made himself known to me. As the day appointed for the conference, the 19th, drew nigh, and as Mr. Hammond's private note to me seemed to assume that M. La Fuente himself was to be the person to call upon Lord Russell, I determined to write at once to M. Oseguera, at Paris, apprising him of this fact, and leaving it to M. La Fuente to determine what he should do in the premises. The effect was to bring M. La Fuente to London on Friday, the 18th of the month. In the meanwhile Lord Russell had req[uested a change of the time of the conference 200 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. to that very day. So that, when M. La Fuente was announced as coming to see me at noon, it was not without some little trouhle that I succeeded in making the appointment effective for that evening at a quarter before five o'clock. M. La Fuente does not speak English, neither is he a very perfect master of French. As a consequence, it has not been easy to confer with him on the two occasions upon which he has been to see me, once before and once after his con- ference with Lord Eussell. I did not gather from him that he had succeeded in eliciting anything more definite from hi& lordship than I had obtained myself. He seemed more anxious to make inquiries of me as to the nature of the pro- position to be made to the United States, as well as to the rumored disposition of the latter to accept it. Lord Eussell had been as silent to him in regard to his projects as he was to me. As to the other question, I pointed out the obvi- ous impossibility that such a rumor should be true, inasmuch as the time ne- cessary to receive a return from America had not elapsed. For the rest M. La Fuente seemed to be of opinion that any attempt by Spain to set up an authority in Mexico would certainly fail. I asked him whether there might not be a re- petition of the drama played in Dominica, and a formal invitation to assume the power from certain self-constituted authorities of the priest and old Spanish parties in Mexico. He admitted the possibility, but he considered the preponderance of opposition so great over the broad surface of the country as to render the plan scarcely practicable. Yet he seemed utterly unprovided with any scheme to ward off the danger or to smooth the difficulties in which his country is involved. He is still in town, and he took leave expressing the hope of seeing me again before his return to France. I shall endeavor to call upon him before long. On Thursday I returned the visit of Mr. Moreira, the Brazilian minister, and I seized the occasion casually to get his views upon this proceeding of Spain. I found him not disposed to give much credit to the notion that any establishment of authority was contemplated. He considered it far too visionary. Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. No. 111. J Department of State, Washington, October 28, 1861. Sir: Your despatch of October 11, No. 57, has been received. I have thus far nothing from Lord Lyons on the subject of European intervention in Mexico. Of course T have nothing new to say on that subject. I hope the delay of movements is indicative of moderation. I am, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Charles Francis Adams, Esq., Sfc, Sfc.,Sfc. Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward. [Extracts.] No. 66.] Legation of the United States, London, November 1, 1861, Sir : I have to acknowledge the reception of despatches from the department, No. 99 and No. 100, respectively dated the 10th and the 12th of October. They THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. 201 both relate to the Mexican question, upon which I have already made a report of my action in my despatches Nos. 50 and 62, the first of which, at least, must by this time be in your hands. It will clearly appear from the representation there made of the state in which the matter was left after my conference with Lord Eussell, that it is utterly out of my power to propose a course of action for the government of the United States as suggested in your No. 99. As his lordship did not think fit to make me acquainted with the nature of the plan he was about to submit to your consideration through Lord Lyons, I must wait to learn it from you, as well as the reception which it has met with from the Presi- dent. In the meantime, rumors continue to fly about in the newspapers of the adoption of a scheme of co-operation between the three governments, which, in my belief, are as yet the offspring of the wishes of interested parties rather than of established facts. There can be no doubt, however, that negotiation is actively in process for the attainment of some positive result, and that in the meantime the necessary force is ordered to be in preparation to execute what may be finally determined on. Yesterday I had the honor of another visit from M. La Fuente. But it seemed to be rather for the purpose of gaining than imparting information. He had not yet received his despatches from home, or any authentic intelligence of the late events in Mexico. Indeed, he was indebted to me for a copy of the Mexican Extraordinary of the 27th of September, which I happened to have received the night before, confirming a report he had jheard of a reactionary movement in the Sierra by the priest party, in conjunction with numbers of Spanish offi- cers, and raising the Spanish flag. But he seems as much unprepared with any remedy as ever.' The ^yuth is that the condition of the country is such as posi- tively to invite interference from abroad, and the great obstacle to it interposed by the ordinary position of the United States is so far diminished by their ex- isting divisions as to give full play to the revival of ambitious national dreams in Spain. AU this I can well understand. But the policy of Great Britain in appearing even indirectly to give countenance to them is not as yet clear to me. It may be that she proposes to take a part in order to retain a right to control the result. ******* You will permit me here, however, to make a single remark in this connexion upon the importance of appearing to divest the United States of any personal and selfish interest in the action it may think proper to adopt. The view customarily taken in Europe is that their government is disposed to resist all foreign intervention in Mexico, not upon any principle, but simply because it is itself expecting, ia due course of time, to absorb the whole country for its own benefit. Hence any proposal like that which I had the honor to receive, based upon the mortgage of portions of Mexican territory as security for engagements entered into by the United States, naturally becomes the ground of an outcry that this is but the preliminary to an entry for inevitable foreclosure. And then follows the argument that if this process be legitimate in one case, why not equally in all. As against Great Britain and France it would be difficult to oppose to this the abstract principle contained in what has been denominated the Monroe doctrine, however just in substance. But both those countries have of late years been disposed to give more and more weight to the doctrine of non-intervention in the internal government of nations where there may be a conflict with the general sentiment of the population. If this be acknowledged in the case of the smaller states of Italy, in Europe, it is difficult to understand how it can be denied in the more remote regions of the world. Certainly the states of America, north and south, are sufficiently distant from the theatre of contention on this-i^ide of the globe to entitle them to claim immunity from the danger of being swept by force into the vortex of its local passions. There can be no doubt that, as it regards Europe, the voice of all the independent American nations is the same. They want no dictation, nor any resumption 202 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. of their old relations. If they fail in performing their honest engagements, they make themselves liable in their property, but not in their persons or their political rights. Any attempt to transcend that broad line of distinction, is a mere appeal to force, which can carry with it no obligation one moment beyond the period when it may be successfiilly overthrown. And the principle is broad enough to make the maintenance of it in one country equally the cause of all the rest. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, CHAKLES FEANOIS ADAMS. Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward. [Extract.] No. 68.] Legation of the United States, London, 'November 8, 1861. Sir : You will probably receive by the present opportunity a copy of the convention entered into by the three powers on Thursday, the Slst of October last, and signed at this place by Lord Russell, Count Flahault, and M. Isturiz. I have not yet seen it, but I am given to understand that it involves a joint possession of so much of Mexico as may be deemed necessary to secure a ftdl reparation for all the injuries complained of, and leaves it open to the United States to become a party to the undertaking, if it shall think fit. I transmit herewith a copy of the London Morning Post of yesterday, which contains what may be regarded as a semi-official explanation of the views of this government on that subject. I received another visit from M. La Fuente on "Wednesday, and we talked the matter over again quite freely ; but I did not discover that he had either any new views to present or additional information. I think he expresses more apprehension of a repetition of what he calls the "comedy of St. Domingo" than he did. But it seems to me that this is rendered less, rather than more, likely by the junction of the other two powers. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, CHAELES FRANCIS ADAMS. Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. London, Thursday, November 7, 1861. The Moniteur officially announces the fact, of which the better-informed class of persons in this country had been probably for some days aware, that the Mexican convention was concluded on Thursday last. This document was signed by Earl Russell, Count Flahault, and M. Isturiz, in this capital ; and we believe that, as soon as we shall be able to lay the text before our readers, it will be found, both in its general tenor and in the specific provisions which it contains, to bear out the character which we assigned to the intervention when we first announced it in our impression of the 24th of September. We then showed that our case against the Mexican government was altogether ex- ceptional, and was such as had no parallel in our grievances againsi) any other THE J>RESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. 203 state, wlietlier in Europe or America. It was not simply that these grievances were of long standing, that the government of the country had become utterly demoralized, and that the rights which one state, acco»ding to international law, has against the other, were ignored, and their redress withheld. There had been both pecuniary wrongs and personal wrongs endured by the three parties to the convention of a nature altogether special and peculiar. There was, on the one hand, the personal protection due to British, French, and Spanish sub- jects who were denizens in Mexico ; and there was, on the other hand, the property of bondholders, (chiefly English,) which had been formally secured upon mortgages of the public income, while the successive Mexican governments had diverted the latter from its due application. There can be no doubt that we are perfectly justified in ia.sisting that a government in professed alliance with ourselves (as that of Mexico is) shall protect British subjects within its territories, and the same justification of course applies to France and Spain in their relations with the Mexican authorities. Neither can there be any "doubt that we are equally justified in insisting upon the payment of our pecuniary claims where there has been a formal hypothecation of public income for their liquidation, and a fraudulent repudiation of the pledges thus entered upon, as well as, in a particular instance, a violent robbery of property secured under the seal of the British legation. To deal first with the question of the personal security of the subjects of the three, contracting powers in Mexico. The principle which we have always recognized as governing our relations with foreign countries is, that the foreign government is responsible for the acts of its subjects. So long as civil war lasted in that country, we should be ready to adopt this principle with some reservation in actual practice ; and even when a government, imperfectly secure in its domestic authority, evinced a disposition to do its utmost in defence of British life and property, we should not be harsh ia exacting a rigorous security for our subjects which could be hardly attainable in fact. But when this foreign government evinces an utter indifference to the lives of our fellow-subjects, our right of redress arises in all its force. Europeans have been unsafe even in the streets of the Mexican capital at .midday ; " Death to the foreigners" has been the common cry of the people ; and when our representatives have demanded the redress to which we are entitled, they have been refused the very slightest assistance and protection for the future. We have, therefore, no alternative but to assume that the Mexican government, though not perhaps ia actual com- plicity with the robbers and bandits by whom British subjects have been at- tacked, at any rate offers no opposition to their pillage. Let the government be as feeble as it may, we are entitled to require that it shall protect our sub- jects to the extent of its ability ; and we cannot but charge upon its indifference, if not upon its complicity, much of the grievance which we have now to redress. If private wrongs of this kind ever call for public indemnification — ^if British subjects can ever demand security for their personal safety for the future — ^it is certainly in the present case of Mexico. In turning from the more strictly personal to the more strictly pecuniary grievtoces which we have against Mexico, it may be fairly asked what is the good of a mortgage if it is not to operate as a security ; and what becomes of the " security" if the mortgagors are not permitted to foreclose ? A simple loan contracted by one country with another in itself imports a solemn obligation ; and if there is any analogy whatever between international and municipal law in this respect, there ought to be a right of redress where the terms of the com- pact are fraudulently repudiated by the power which has incurred the debt. , But if this be so with a simple loan, much more is it the case where there has been a formal hypothecation of sea-coast custom-houses as a security for the payment of interest due in consideration of it. Indeed, the very selection of seaport customs dues as a mortgage to a maritime power bears much of the 204 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. character of an acknowledgment of the right of that power to interfere in the event of default taking place. To take an example from European states. We granted a loan to Turke;^, in 1854, upon the security of the Egyptian tribute. Turkey, indeed, has faithfully met all her obligations. But, supposing that she had failed to pay the interest due upon this loan, either we should have had a distinct lien upon the Egyptian tribute, or the pretended security would have amounted to nothing at all. In the case of Mexico, however, there has been not only simple failure, but protracted failure, and a virtual repudiation which is obviously fraudulent, to say nothing of the open robbery committed by Mira- mon's government. We can hardly conceive, therefore, a wider misapplication of terms than to describe an insistance on the securities deliberately pledged by the Mexican government as equivalent to " a collection of bad debts," as it has been termed in one or two quarters. The customs revenue of the country war- rants the supposition that the debts are capable of collection, and therefore good. The law of morality must bear in international jurisprudence an analogy to municipal jurisprudence if there is to be any confidence and security in trans- actions between one people and another. We, however, have yet to leam that there is any necessity for vindicating a convention which, at all events, cannot be duly criticized until its purport is fully known ; and we believe that it wiQ tend to establish a principle of morality between government and government which will impart fresh stability to all international transactions. Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. No. 119.J Department of State, Washington, November 9, 1861. Sir : Your despatch of October 24 (No. 62) has been received. The rendering of your good offices to Mr. Oseguera is entirely approved. I wish, indeed, that it were possible for you or for me to do more than seems now to be practicable for the benefit of Mexico to assure her peace. As things stand, we can only be watchful of occasions for that purpose, and jealous of our own rights and interests. We are waiting with some solicitude for the communication concerning the Mexican question promised you by Earl Eussell. I am, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H, SEWAED. Charles Francis Adams, Esq., Sfc., !fc., Sfc. Mr. Adams to Mr. Seward. [Extract.] No. 71.J Legation of the Unitbd States, London, November 14, 1861. Before taking my leave I seized the opportunity to speak a word upon the subject of the confidential communication made in your No. 110. I asked whether his lordship was apprised of the facts there stated. He said yes. Lord Cowley had written to him about it. The proceeding did not seem to have a very definite shape. It was rather a suggestion than anything else. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 205 And when asked whether Lord Lyons would be directed to follow suit, the answer had been in the negative. I dropped the matter at' that point, and went on to speak of the convention about Mexico. I said that what pretended to be the substance of that paper had already appeared in the journals, French and English, but as there was some discrepancy in the statements, I should feel myself much favored with the opportunity to have a sight of it. I presumed it had been already sent to my government, as I saw that an opening was left to it to become a party if it pleased. His lordship said the convention had not yet been signed. It prob- ably would be in the course of the week, and I should have a copy of it. I then observed that M. La Fuente, who was still here, expressed great appre- hension of the effects of it in destroying all that was left of authority in Mexico. On the other hand, the Spanish press did not pretend to conceal their confident expectation of a re-establishment of the national authority. His lordship replied that intervention was expressly disavowed in the treaty. As to the present existence of authority, there was none. If that which claimed it had acted with moderation, and had given notice of their embarrassments and acknowl- edged their obligations, it would have been something. But to proclaim coolly a refusal to pay an undeniable promise was intolerable. Sir Charles Wyke had written that the present mode was the only one by which to bring round any remedy for the evil, and so the government had concluded to adopt it. I then took my leave of his lordship. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. No. 128.] Department of State, Washington, November 21, 1861. Sir : Tour despatch of November 1 (No. 66) has been received. It treats of the Mexican question. But thus far I have not teceived from Lord Lyons the note on that subject which we were authorized to expect. On the contrary, I hear informally that a convention has been concluded between Spain, France, and Great Britain, providing for concerted hostilities, and that this treaty is to be submitted to the United States, with consent that they shall become a party. I hear also that the treaty stipulates against any political designs, and confines the expedition merely to the redress of grievances. I hear from Mexico at last. The Mexican government accepts our proposition to assume or guarantee her debt upon security to be given to us. But the British and French having vii-tually declined to accept this arrangement, the whole matter remains in a very unsatisfactory state, and I am unable to see at this moment what course we can take to afford relief or security to Mexico. I am, sir, your obedient servant. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Charles Francis Adams, Sjv., Sjk., Sjv. Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. No. 133.1 Department of State, Washington, November 25, 1861. Sir : Your despatch of November 8 (No. 68) has been submitted to the Pre sident. Mr. Mercier, the minister of France, has unofficially communicated to 206 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. me the treaty of Spain, France, and England in regard to Mexico, which I un- derstand will be formally laid before ua immediately by the three contracting powers. I shall be able to give you the result of the President's deliberations upon it by the next mail ; meantime it seems difficult to find out what can be done to avert the calamities which threaten our unhappy neighbor, though she has our sympathies guaranteed, as all just sympathies are, by enlightened views of in- terests of our' own. I am, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWABD. Charles Erancis Adams, Esq., !fc., Sfc., ^c. Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. No. 148.] Department of State, Washington, December 18, 1861. Sir : I transmit for your information the copy of a note, of the 4th instant, addressed by me to the diplomatic representatives of Spain, France, and Great Britain accredited to this government, relative to the proposed accession of the United States to the convention which was concluded at London on the 31st of October last between those powers for the redress of their grievances against the republic of Mexico. I am, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWAKD, Charles Francis Adams, Esq., Sfc., Sfc., Sfc. Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. No. 161.] Department of State, Washington, January 8, 1862. Sir : I have to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch (No. 71) of the 14th of November last. I am, sir, your obedient servant, "WILLIAM H. SEWAED. Charles Francis Adams, Esq., ^c, Ifc., Sfc. Mr. Adam^ to Mr. Seward. [Extract.] No. 106.] Legation op the United States, London, January 24, 1862. **•***♦#* You will doubtless have had your attention drawn before this time to the course which the Mexican' intervention is taking. On the reception of the news of the landing of the Spanish force and its occupation of Vera Cruz, the an- nouncement is made of the outfit of a French force designed to follow up the advantage. It is no longer concealed that the intention is to advance to the THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 207 capital, and to establish a firm government, with the consent of the people, at that place. But who are meant by that term does not appear. This issue is by no means palatable to the government here, though it is difficult to imagine that they could have been blind to it. Feeble murmurs of discontent are heard, but they will scarcely be likely to count for much in the face of the obligation under which the action of the Emperor in the Trent case has placed them. The military occupation will go on, and will not cease with the limits now assigned to it. It is not difficult to understand the nature of the fulcrum thus obtained for operations in a new and a different quarter, should the occasion be made to use it. The expedition to the city of Mexico may not stop until it shows itself in the heart of the Louisiana purchase. Mr, Seward to Mr. Adams. No. 191.J Department of State, Washington, February 19, 1862. Sir : Although I have adverted in other instructions to the subjects discussed in .your despatch of January 24, (No. 106,) it is only now that I have found leisure to acknowledge the reception of that paper. I shall careftdly observe the progress of affairs in Mexico. If, indeed, our own Union were likely to fall, and the southern portion of the United States were to pass under a European protectorate, we could have small ground to hope that we could save Mexico from European reconquest and subjugation. But with reassurances of our own safety comes up to us an absolute confidence that no part of the continent will lose republican institutions and self-govern- ment. We have acted, and shall continue to act, with frankness and justice towards the three powers who are invading Mexico, as well as with liberality to the gov- ernment of Mexico itself. We do this distinctly relying on the assurances we have received from those powers that they will seek no political objects in their invasion. If they should forfeit these pledges their broken faith would be rewarded with only serious complications, ending In results disastrous to them- selves. But we will not allow ourselves to indulge apprehensions that could only be justified by distrust of the good faith of the three great states concerned. I am, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWAEl). Charles Francis Adams, Esq., Sfc., ifc, Sfc. Mr. Seward to Mr. Adams. No. 198.] Department of State, Washington, March 3, 1862. Sir : We observe indications of a growing opinion in Europe that the de- monstrations which are being made by Spanish, French, and British forces against Mexico are likely to be attended with a revolution m. that country which will bring in a monarchical government there, in which the crown will be assumed by some foreign prince. This country is deeply concerned in the peace of nations, and aims to be loyal 208 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. at the same time in all its relations, as well to tte allies as to Mexico. The President has therefore instructed me to submit his views on the new aspect of affairs to the parties concerned. He has relied upon the assurances given to this government by the allies that they were seeking no political objects and only a redress of grievances. He does not doubt the sincerity of the allies, and his confidence in their, good faith, if it could be shaken, would be reinspired by explanations apparently made in their behalf that the governments of Spain, France, and Great Britain are not intending to intervene and will not intervene to effect a change of the constitutional form of government now existing in Mexico, or to produce any political change there in opposition to the will of the Mexican people. Indeed, he understands the allies to be unanimous in declaring that the proposed revolution in Mexico is moved only by Mexican citizens now in Europe. The President, however, deems it his duty to express to the allies, in all candor and frankness, the opinion that no monarchical government which could be founded in Mexico, in the presence of foreign navies and armies in the waters and upon the soil of Mexico, would have any prospect of security or perma- nency. Secondly, that the instability of such a monarchy there would be enhanced if the throne should be assigned to any person not of Mexican nativity. That under such circumstances the new government must speedily fall unless it could draw into its support European alliances, which, relating back to the pre- sent invasion, would, in fact, make it the beginning of a permanent policy of armed European monarchical intervention injurious and practically hostile to the most general system of government on the continent of America, and this would be the beginning rather than the ending of revolution in Mexico. These views are grounded upon some knowledge of the political sentiments and habits of society in America. In such a case it is not to be doubted that the permanent interests and sym- pathies of this country would be with the other American republics. It is not intended on this occasion to predict the course of events which might happen . as a consequence of the proceeding contemplated, either on this continent or in Europe. It is sufiicient to say that, in the President's opinion, the emancipation of this continent from European control has been the principal feature in its history during the last century. It is not probable that a revolution in a con- trary direction would be successful in an immediately succeeding century, while population in America is so rapidly increasing, resources so rapidly developing, and society so steadily forming itself upon principles of democratic American government. Nor is it necessary to suggest to the allies the improbability that European nations could steadily agree upon a policy favorable to such a counter- revolution as one conducive to their own interests, or to suggest that, however studiously the allies may act to avoid lending the aid of their land and naval forces to domestic revolutions in Mexico, the result would nevertheless be trace- able to the presence of those forces there, although for a different purpose, since it may be deemed certain that but for their presence there no such revolution could probably have been attempted or even conceived. The Senate of the United States has not, indeed, given its official sanction to the precise measures which the President has proposed for lending our aid to the existing government in Mexico, with the approval of the allies, to relieve it from its present embarrassments. This, however, is only a question of domestic administration. It would be very erroneous to regard such a disagreement as indicating any serious difference of opinion in this government or among the American people in their cordial good wishes for the safety, welfare, and stability of the republican system of government in that country. I am, sir, your obedient servant, WIUjIAM h. sewakd. Charles Francis Adams, Esq., S)C., Sfc., Sffurther instructions to Sir C. Wyke. Enclosing draft of further instructions to Sir C. Wyke. Instruction as to interference in the internal affairs of Mexico. Proposed rendezvous for allied fleets. Enclosing a copy of the above. M. de Flahault informed. Enclosing a copy of the above. M. Isturiz in- formed. Arrangements for conveyance of Sir C. Wyke. Spanish force to be sent to Mexico. Arrangements with regard to the French expe- ditionary force. M. de Saligny to be French commissioner and joint plenipotentiary with the French admiral. His instructions being prepared. French government concur in draft of further instructions to Sir C. Wyke. French government concur as to rendezvous. Amount of French force. Enclosing copy of convention. To invite the ad- hesion of the United States government. Suggesting that the date of rendezvous should be settled by Admiral Milne with the French and Spanish commanders. In case of difference of opinion with regard to the negotiations, the opinions of Sir C. Wyke to prevail over that of Admiral Milne. In case of operations against the capital, the British force not to advance beyond Vera Cruz. As to operations on the Pacific coast. Instructions to be sent to Admiral Maitland as to operations on the Pacific coast. Probability of the Spanish expedition having already started. Copies of despatches to Sir C. Wyke and to ad- miralty of the 15th instant. Enclosing copy of despatch from Earl Cowley of the 14th instant. French expedition to stop at Teneriffe. Appointment of General Prim as Spanish com- mander-in-chief and plenipotentiary. Monthly report on the state of affairs. Negotiations with the Mexican government. Pro- posed convention for the settlement of British demands. Informing him of Sir C. Wyke's negotiations. Her Majesty's government consider that the joint convention affords greater security for the due fulfilment of any Mexican engage- ments. What are the terms the Spanish gov- ernment will require f THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. Table of contents — Continued. 233 From whom and to whom. Date. Subject. To Earl Cowley... do To Sir J. Crampton Earl Cowley Lord Lyons do Sir J. Crampton.'.. do M. Isturiz . To Sir J. Crampton. do 1861. Dec. 2 Dec. 4 ...do.... Dec. 3 Nov. 29 Dec. 3 Dec. 10 Dec. 16' Dec. 22 Dec. 24 ,...do.... Lord Lyons. do To M. Isturiz To Sir J. Crampton. Deo. Deo. Dec. Dec. 24 27 SirC.Wyke. .do. .do. .do. Nov. 25 Nov. 28 ....do.... .do. Admiralty ... Lord Lyons.. M. Isturiz. ..•; To M. Isturiz. 1862. Jan. 2 1861. Dec. 21 1862. Jan. 13 Jan. 16 Earl Cowley M. Isturiz... Jan. Jan. 17 18 To Earl Cowley. To M. Isturiz. Jan. 20 Jan. 23 Similar to the above. What are the terms the French government will require f Reduced force to be sent to Mexico. Similar to the above. Terms to be demanded to be left to the decision of the French commissioners. Delay in presenting the convention to the United States government in consequence of the Span- ish minister not having received his full powers and instructions. Copy of note enclosing the convention, and in- viting the adherence of the United States gov- ernment. Spanish government informed ot the reduced force to be sent to Mexico. Demands to be made by Spanish government on Mexico. Explanation respecting the sailing of the Spanish expedition from Cuba. The commander in- structed to act in concert with the forces of the allies. Copy of the above. Sir C. Wyke to communicate to the Spanish com- missioners the terms of the British demands. Note from Mr. Seward refusing to accede to the joint convention. Copy of a joint note acknowledging Mr. Seward's note. Acknowledging note of 22d instant. Copies of despatches from Lord Lyons of the 3d, 6th, and 9th instant. Progress of his negotiations Convention signed with government, but thrown out by congress. Address from British merchants and his reply. Reported intrigues of General Doblado. Proposed proceedings in consequence of the rejec- tion of the convention. Has presented the British ultimatum. Particulars respecting the Spanish expedition. Proceedings of the United States minister in Mexico. Instructions given by governor-general of Cuba to the commander of the Mexican expedition. Receipt of the above. Cannot understand why Spanish expedition did not await the arrival of the British and French forces. French expedition to be reinforced. Further explanations respecting the Spanish ex- pedition. Interview with M. de Flahault. French rein- forcements to be sent. No further British force will be detached for Mexico. Not satisfied with his explanations, but accept the assurance that the Spanish government will observe the terms of the joint convention. 234 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. Table of contents — Continued- No. From whom and to whom. Date. Subject. 1862. 118 To Sir J. Crampton. . . Jan, 19 Kepresentations to be made respecting the Span- ish expedition. 119 Earl Cowley Jan. 24 Eumor respecting Archduke Maximilian being made king of Mexico. 120 ToSirCWyke Jan. 27 Instructions as to any change of the Mexican gov- ernment. Measures to be taken on the Pacific 1861. coast. m SirC. Wyke Dec. U Intends to proceed to Vera Cruz. British inter- ests left in charge of the Belgian minister. 122 do Deo. 29 Arrival at Vera Cruz. Eeasons for not proceed- ing to Jamaica, 123 do ....do.... Proeeedings of the Spanish at Vera Cruz. Aspect of affairs. THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. 235 CORRESPONDENCE RELATING TO MEXICAN AFFAIRS. No. 1. Lord J. Russell to Sir C. Wyke. [Extract.] Foreign Office, March 30, 1861. A passage to Vera Cruz having been ordered for you on board tbe contract packet appointed to leave Southampton on the 2d of April, you wiU embark on board that vessel, and on your arrival at Vera Cruz proceed at once to Mexico. You will probably find Mr. Mathe-w already in diplomatic commiinication with the constitutional government; for her Majesty's government can hardly doubt that it will have willingly acceded to the conditions on which the re-establish- ment of friendly intercourse, has been made to depend. The instructions addressed to Mr. Mathew, both before and since the final triumph of the liberal party, made the recognition by Great Britain of the con- stitutional government contingent upon the acknowledgment by that govern- ment of the liability of Mexico for the claims of British subjects, who, either in their persons or in their property, for a long series of years can be proved to have suffered wrong at the hands of successive governments in Mexico. If Mr. Mathew should not have obtained any such concession from the con- stitutional government before your arrival, you must use your own discretion as to the time at which you should present your credentials. It is, of course, de- sirable that the re-establishment of regular diplomatic intercourse with Mexico should not be delayed ; but it might happen that the manifestation of any undue eagerness on your part to bring about such a state of things might encourage the constitutional government to withhold the preliminary concession which Mr. Mathew was instructed to require. Her Majesty's government have aU along declared that they had no desire to prejudge the quarrel between the two parties who have been long arrayed against each other in Mexico, or to side with one party against the other. Had the party of General Miramon shown a due regard for international obligations and for the rights of British subjects, the British legation would not have been with- drawn from the city of Mexico. That step was forced upon her Majesty's gov- ernment by continual disregard of the rights of British subjects and of the obli- gations of international engagements, which rendered it impossible for her Majesty's government to continue to hold relations with the constituted authori- ties. But if the newly-established government should evince a disposition to act on difierent principles, you wUl state to it, without hesitation, that the friendly feelings of her Majesty's government for Mexico have undergone no change, notwithstanding the grievous wrongs which British subjects have sus- tained at the hands of the successive governments of that republic ; that the policy of the British government with regard to Mexico is a policy of non- intervention, and that the British government desire to see Mexico free and in- dependent, and in a position to regulate the civU administration of the country, to maintain internal peace, and to discharge its international duties without the active intervention of any foreign power whatever. Her Majesty's government cannot doubt that such assurances as these will induce the Mexican government to rely with confidence on the disinterestedness of any advice or suggestions which you may see occasion to offer to it, though I would caution you against obtruding such advice upon it, and still more against entering into any contest 236 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. with the representative of any other power for exclusive iuflxxence over the councils of the government. I would, moreover, particularly caution you against taking any part in the political questions which may arise between contending parties in the state. A British minister can never , safely interfere in such matters ; but, as the repre- sentative of a country possessing liberal institutions, and therefore desiring to see other nations enjoying the same blessing, he will always be looked upon with respect, and will have more real influence for good in proportion as he keeps aloof from the factions or disputes of rival parties in the state. Your earliest attention after your arrival in Mexico must be given to the question of British claims. You are aware that it has not been the custom of ■ her Majesty's government, although they have always held themselves free to do so, to interfere authoritatively on behalf of those who have chosen to lend their money to foreign governments, and the Mexican bondholders have not been an exception to this rule. The constitutional government, however, while established at Vera Cruz, under the presidency of Seiior Juarez, concluded with Captain Dunlop two years ago an arrangement by which it was stipulated that twenty-five per cent, of the customs receipts at Vera Cruz and Tampico should be assigned to the British bondholders, and sixte^ per cent, to the holders of convention bonds. That convention was confirmed and extended by the ar- rangement lately made by Captain Aldham. The claims of the bondholders, therefore, to the extent provided for in those arrangements, have acquired the character of an international obligation, and you should accordingly insist upon the punctual fixlfilment of the obligations thus contracted. The bondholders, moreover, have sustained a grievous loss by the robbery of a large sum of money belonging to them which had been deposited for security in the house of her Majesty's legation, and if Mr. Mathew should not Tiave suc- ceeded before your arrival in making a satisfactory' arrangement for the early restitution of the amount thus plundered, you will insist upon such arrangement being immediately entered into with yourself. Her Majesty's government will not admit as an excuse for hesitation in this respect the plea that the robbery was committed by the late government ; for as regards this, as indeed all other claims, her Majesty's government cannot admit that the party who committed the wrong is alone responsible. Great Britain does not recognize any party as constituting the republic in its dealings with foreign nations, but holds the entire republic, by whatever party the government of it may from time to time be ad- ministered, to be responsible for wrongs done to British subjects by any party or persons at any time administering the powers of government. Her Majesty's government do not, indeed, anticipate any determined refusal on the part of the constitutional government to afford redress in this particular case ; but if you should meet with any such resistance, you will apprise the Mexican government that you are authorized and enjoined at once to call upon her Majesty's naval forces to support, and, if necessary, to enforce, your demand for reparation. The fact that the scene of the outrage was the residence of the British mission gives her Majesty's government a special right to enforce repa- ration in this particular case. \ The robbery committed by Greneral DegoUado, when acting under the orders of the government established at Vera Cruz, on a condiicta of specie on its way to the coast, in which specie British subjects were largely interested, stands next in order as an act of violence for which reparation must be obtained ; and I do not doubt that there will be no hesitation in making good the losses sustained by that transaction. It is unnecessary for me on this occasion to go through the list of claims of British subjects which it will be your duty to press for settlement. Mr. Mathew has been instructed to present a list of such claims to the ministers of the re- public and to demand a settlement of them. THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. 237 You will find on examining this list that the several claims, although differ- ing in degree, are all of a nature to require reparation, and it will be your duty to arrange with the Mexican government the manner in which such reparation shall be made. Whatever arrangement you may make should be recorded in a convention. For this purpose her Majesty has been pleased to grant you a full power under the gTeat seal. The general British claims may probably be classed under two heads : those the validity of which has been recognized, and those the validity of which is still to be ascertained. As regards the first class, the convention should be confined to providing for the manner in which the amounts already agreed upon should be paid ; for her Majesty's government will not allow cases already examined and determined to be reopened for prospective benefit either of British parties or of the Mexican government. As regards the second class, the convention should provide for examining the claims and for the liquidation of such as may be pronounced valid, either in whole or in part, on the same principle and in the same manner as may be stipu- lated in regard to the first class. Whether the examination of such claims shall be made by a mixed commission or not must be left to your discretion to de- termine. As regards the first class of claims, they should be severally specified in the convention, witli the sums payable in respect of each ; but such enumeration will, of course, not be practicable as regards the second class, which must re- main open for the insertion of any claims brought forward before a specific day. As regards the time at which either class of the claims shall be paid, her Majesty's government are aware that some degree of indulgence may be necessary. The troubles which have for many years past distracted the republic have, as a natural result, impoverished the country, and made it difficult for the constitu- tional government to raise at once funds sufficient to provide for the immediate wants of the civil administration, and for the liabilities of the country towards foreign creditors and claimants. But you mvtst be careful not to allow any tem- porary forbearance which you may show in pressing for the liquidation of Brit- ish claims to be construed into indifference. So far from that, you will lose no opportunity of pointing out the necessity of taking measures for developing the resources of the country, on the ground that the result of such development will be to supply the treasury not only with the means of meeting the expenses of the civil government, but also with those for satisfying all international claims. An opinion has got abroad that the constitutional government will probably adopt some measure in regard to ecclesiastical property which will place at its disposal a large sum of money. It is not the part of her Majesty's government to say whether this act should be sanctioned or not, but if by any measures of the Mexican government, which they consider right and expedient, the public treasury should be imme- diately or prospectively replenished, her Majesty's government may fairly urge that British claimants should have the benefit of such a state of things, and ob- tain an earlier settlement of their outstanding claims. The only question affecting the internal polity of Mexico, in regard to which her Majesty's government would feel warranted in offering advice unsolicited, is that of freedom for religious worship. Putting aside all considerations of a moral character, which are so strongly in favor of a general liberty of conscience, it is impossible to doubt that Mexico would find great political advantage in throwing down the barrier which now prevents Christians of different sects from settling in the country, and in thereby encouraging the immigration from other countries of persons whose activity and skill would contribute to improve the resources of the country. 238 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. I enclose a despatch on this subject which I addressed to Lord Cowley in July last. You are so well acquainted with the peculiarities of the Spanish character diat it is needless for me to dilate on the best means of dealing with the people with whom you may be brought into contact. They are to be influenced by mod- erate language and considerate demeanor, but they resist and defy attempts to intimidate or coerce. But it may be that with all your tact and forbearance you will fail to obtain a hearing for well-founded representations on behalf of British subjects ; and in such cases you may, by referring quietly to the presence of her Majesty's ships-of-war on the coasts of Mexico, leave the Mexican government to infer that tliose ships are available for your support if your just demands should be re- jected, or if the engagements entered into with you should be disregarded. As regards the question of article 10 of the convention of 1826, you will find that the construction of that article has been a fruitful source of discussion be- tween the two governments, more especially during the rule of General Mira- mon, when forced loans, under one denomination or another, but more usually, of late, under that of a tax on capital, were continually attempted to be levied on her Majesty's subjects. You will judge how far any overture on your part for clearing up doubts in regard to this article, and for securing for British sub- jects exemption from all extraordinary contributions, under whatever denomina- tion they may be levied, would meet with a favorable reception on the part of the Mexican government, and if you see a probability of such being the case, you will frame and refer home for consideration the draft of an additional arti- cle to the convention of 1826, to which the Mexican government would be likely to agree. If any differences should arise between the Mexican government and foreign powers you will not hesitate to employ such influence as you may possess for preventing those differences from leading to an open rupture. But iu taking such a course you must be careful not to assume for yourself, or for your gov- ernment, any responsibility, and you must avoid any uncalled for assumption of mediation. With the representatives of foreign states accredited to the republic you will endeavor to live in harmony. You will always bear in mind that neither io Mexico nor in any part of the world do her Majesty's govemnient seek any exclusive political influence, nor any commercial advantages which they are not ready to share with all the nations of the earth. The only object at which they aim is to secure for this country its proper place in the family of nations, and their only desire is to employ any influence which Great Britain may pos- sess for the promotion of general peace and the development of commercial industry. Encloaure in No. 1. Lord J. Russell to Earl Cowley. [Extract.] Foreign Office, July 17, 1860. I have to state to you that hef Majesty's government do not at all pretend to impose religious toleration as a basis in Mexico. But it appears to her Majesty's government that to restrict a quiet and obe- dient subject of the state from worshipping God in such manner as he thinks most acceptable to his Creator, whether alone or in communion with others, is a barbarous abuse of power. All that the civil magistrate can ask is obedience THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 239 in civil matters, and the right of religious freedom is so natural and so obvious that it is probable Mexico never wUl be tranquil so long as men are punished for entertaining a belief different from that of the government. When, there- fore, there is a question of renewing our offer of mediation, her Majesty's gov- erment will express in a separate despatch their conviction that a tyranny over men's consciences ought to be abandoned by the government of Mexico. No. 2. Lard J. Rtissell to Sir C. Wyke. Foreign Office, Ajrril 17, 1861. Sir : I have received from Mr. Mathew and from her Majesty's consul in Mex- ico an account of the barbarous murder of Mr. Edward Bodmer, the British vice consul at Tasco, whUst endeavoring to save the life of a Mexican citizen, who was assaulted by some soldiers belonging to a section of General Vicario's army. I have now to instruct you to urge the Mexican government to spare no efforts to bring the perpetrators of this atrocious outrage to justice, and you will at the same time demand ample reparation for the widow and family of Mr. Bodmer. I am, &c., J. RUSSELL. No. 3. Mr. Maiheu} to Lord J. Russell. Mexico, March 26, 1861. My Lord : I have received a note, of which I have the honor to enclose a translation, from Senor Zarco, expressing the desire of the Mexican government to secure to her Majesty's subjects in Mexico the rights of worship according to their conscience, by an additional, or more correctly I believe, by a separate article to th8 iutemational treaty. A similar 'communication has, I understand, been addressed to the ministers of the United States and Prussia, who inform me that they entertain no doubt that the proposal will be gladly accepted by their respective governments. From the class of persons who are likely to be attracted to this country, in mining and other pursuits, by the prolongation of peace, I believe that to no nation will this privilege be more important than to her Majesty's subjects, and I venture to assure myself that your lordship will receive with much satisfac- tion the proposal of the Mexican government for insuring this right under the guarantee of treaties. GEORGE B. MATHEW. Enclosure in No. 3. BeJwr Zarco to Mr. Mathew. [Translation.] Mexico, Marcli 25, 1861. The undersigned, &c., has the honor to address Mr. Mathew by special com aand of his excellency the president, and to inform him that the constitutional government of Mexico is desirous to afford foreigners full protection and security 240 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. with proper guarantees, and that consequently it is ready to add an additional article to the treaty already existing between Great Britain and Mexico, whereby it shall be stipulated that foreigners may cany out freely, publicly, and under the protection of the law, their several forms of religion, and worship God ac- cording to the dictates of their own conscience. The preliminary steps in -this matter can be entered npoif in this capital, should Mr. Mathew be provided with the powers necessary for such transactions ; othei-wise at the court of St. James, so soon as the representative of Mexico shall have presented his credentials. The undersigned, &c. FRANCISCO ZAROO. No. 4. Mr. Mathew to Lord J. Russel. Mexico, April 5, 1861 My Lord : In a recent and prolonged conversation with Senor Zarco, minis ter for foreign affairs, relative to British claims, that gentleman earnestly assured me of the desire entertained by his government to meet my just demands on behalf of her Majesty's subjects in every manner that the deplorable financial condition of Mexico would admit ; and further expressed the readiness of the Mexican government to do whatever your lordship might deem proper for pre- venting a recm-rence of the exactions lately suifered by British subjects from misinterpretation or deficiencies in the international treaty, from which many of the existing reclamations have arisen. I thought it, therefore, desirable to address him a brief note on these subjects, in order to be enabled to submit to your lordship some definite proposals and views. The unsettled condition and future prospects of Mexico, and the experience of the last three years, render it, I feel convinced, of obvious importance that all articles of disputed interpretation in the treaty should be clearly defined, and that such additions should be made to it as your lordship may think conducive to the security of her Majesty's subjects, and to the advantage of British in terests. I have much pleasure in being able to lay before your lordship, by the en- closed translation of Seiior Zarco's reply, the ofiicial declaration of the desire of the Mexican government to meet these objects. This government, as your lordship will observe, propose to refer all British reclamations, not yet recognized by it, to the examination and final decision of a mixed commission, and to assign for the gradual discharge of all English claims thus or previously admitted a stated portion of their revenues. It is distinctly understood that this proposal which I have now to submit to your lordship's consideration has no reference to the special agreement already entered into by the Mexican government for the repayment of the British money seized in the " conductas " at Lagos and Tampico, nor to the negotiation in progress between tie Mexican government and the agent of the bondholders for the restoration of the money plundered at this legation. Senor Zarco proceeds to state the willingness of his government to define or extend, as your lordship may think best, in the usual manner, the privileges to be mutually enjoyed by British and Mexican subjects respectively, and makes,, in the name of the Mexican government, the declaration that they stipulate from the present moment for the extension of the right of exemption from forced THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 241 loans in the.nintli article to exemption from extraordinary contributions, from which her Majesty's subjects have so severely suffered. He observes that he has proposed by a separate note (the subject-matter of my despatch of the 26th of March) to secm-e to her Majesty's subjects, by a separate article, the free right of public worship, and he transmits a copy of the now existing law for that object, which I have the honor to enclose. I think your lordship will not disapprove of my having thus taken the earliest opportunity of bringing these matters to issue. I am not aware of any other points in the international treaty calling for notice, except that of intestate estates ; but I may at the same time bring to your consideration the questions affected by the late proposed and, I imagine, discarded treaty with the United States, of any exclusive rights of transit for merchandise or of isthmus juris- diction. I have, &c. GEORGE B. MATHEW. Enclosure 1 in No. 4. Mr. MatJiew to Senor Zarco. Mexico, March 22, 1861. The undersigned refers with much pleasure to his recent conversation with his excellency Senor Don Francisco Zarco respecting some proposed mode of liquidation, \ij mutual arrangement, of the heavy claims of British subjects against Mexico, and he would be glad to be enabled to transmit, for the con- sideration of his government, the views entertained by his excellency and the Mexican cabinet. The consideration of this subject naturally led to remarks upon certain alleged doubts with regard to the wording of the present international treaty between Great Britain and Mexico, upon infractions of which many of the British claims are founded, which his excellency Senor Zarco informed him had attracted the serious consideration of his government. The undersigned would have great satisfaction at the same time, therefore, in laying before his government any general suggestions which his excellency Senor Zarco may think fit to communicate to him, with the view of securing, beyond the possibility of doubt or question, in Great Britain and in Mexico, to the natives of each country, the rights and privileges to which the two govern- ments have declared them entitled in civil and religious matters. The undersigned, &c. GEORGE B. MATHEW. Enclosure 2 in No. 4. Senor Zarco to Mr. Mathew. [TranBlation.] National Palace, Mexico, March 27, 1861.> The undersigned, &c., has the honor of acknowledging the receipt of the note which Mr. Mathew, &c., was pleased to address him, under date of the 22d in- stant, in which, referring to a recent conversation he had with the undersigned re- specting British claims, he expresses a desire to know what are the intentions of the Mexican government as to their liquidation and settlement. H. Ex. Doc. 100 16 242 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. The undersigned, wlio has already expressed to her Majesty's chargd d'affaires how sincere is the wish of the Mexican government to offer every kind of secu- rity for faithfully complying with the treaties, and to attend to all claims founded in justice, has also laid before him the great difficulties which at this moment impede an immediate and satisfactory settlement ; difficulties which are the natural consequences of a three years' civil war, and by which the public treasury has been drained, and the burdens weighing upon the revenue have been greatly increased. The undersigned has been gratified by perceiving that her Britannic Majesty's worthy representative has justly estimated the good will of the Mexican govern- ment, and is not unconscious of the obstacles which are but superficially noticed in this note. The vtndersigned has requested from the finance department a circumstantial statement of the assignments of the duties of the maritime custom-houses granted for the payment of foreign claims ; and as soon as this statement is made out he will have the honor of submitting it to her Britannic Majesty's charge d'affaires, in order that he may be pleased to take it into his consideration. In the meantime the undersigned can inform his excellency that the desu-e of the Mexican government is to examine all British claims in order to ascertain their exact amount, to submit all that may be pending and not yet recognized (should her Britannic Majesty's government concur) to the scrutiny and decis- ion, without appeal, of a mixed commission, whose organization would be the subject of arrangement between the two governments, and to assign for the pay- ment of all claims thus admitted all that part of the national revenues that can be disposed of, reserving only what is absolutely necessary for covering the estimated expenditure, into which every economy, compatible with the existence of government, has been already commenced to be introduced. The undersigned would truly wish to be able to make more flattering prom- ises to her Britannic Majesty's charge d'affaires, but he prefers (and thinks it more consonant with rectitude) to use only the sincere language of truth, and to state that only which is within the limits of possibility in the present cir- cumstances of the country. The government of the undersigned recollect with satisfaction that Mr. Mathew, on the day of his official reception, offered them the full moral support of Great Britain, and they confidently hope, from the sentiments of justice and benevolence which animate the government of her Britannic Majesty, that they will see in this statement a proof of good faith, and of the sincere desire of the Mexican government to meet their just and well-founded reclamations. The undersigned takes leave to observe that when peace has been consoli dated in the republic, and the government has been enabled to direct their attention to the . improvement of all the branches of the public administration, the increase of their revenues will be gradual and progressive, and the product, therefore, of whatever assignments may have been made of these revenues will be greater for the payment of British claims. Tte undersigned likewise observes that a general an-angement and the formation of a common fund would have the advantage of offering a greater degree of equity to British claimants, for they would thus avoid preferences in favor of some and to the detriment of others, occurrences which might take place independently of the desire of the Mexican government, and even of the British legation, who occasionally recommend and give ear to certain cases without being able to do the same for all the cases of like nature. As Mr. Mathew, in the note to which the undersigned has the honor of replying, has been pleased to suggest the propriety of laying down the clear meaning of some of the articles of the existing treaty of friendship between Great Britain and Mexico, the infraction of which has caused many of the recla- mations, the government of the undersigned perceives no sort of inconvenience THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 243 in making with that of Great Britain such declarations as may seem best suited to prevent for the future all species of doubt or questions of interpretation, so that the natives of each country may enjoy when resident in the other clear and defined rights. Although, in order to arrive at this result, it may be needful to open negotia- tions, and to give the proper instructions to plenipotentiaries, the government of the undersigned declare that from the present moment they agree, with respect to the stipulations in the 10th article of the treaty of December 26, 1826, to extend the exemption from forced loans to extraordinary contributions, limit- ing their obligation of paying to such contributions as may be legally estab- lished in accordance with the constitution of the republic, and to those which the States may impose in conformity with their particular laws and their muni- cipal regulations. The government of Mexico are prepared, with regard to any explanation or modification of any other articles of the treaty, to take into consideration any proposals or suggestions made on the part of Great Britain ; and in considering such they will entertain no other view than that of maintaining and of strength- ening more and more the friendly relations that happily exist between the two countries, reserving to themselves the right of proposing on their part the modi- fications which, on a careful examination, they may deem conducive to the main- tenance of these relations and the legitimate interests of the republic. With respect to the question of granting to the natives of both countries reciprocally the right of religious liberty, the undersigned has already made known to Mr. Mathew in his note of the 25th instant that the government of Mexico is willing to secure, by an' additional article to the treaty, the necessary stipulation for insuring to British subjects the free exercise of their worship, and the right of adoring God according to the inspirations of their conscience. Foreign residents in Mexico enjoy this right since the triumph of the legiti- mate government, who have proclaimed, defended, and sustained the great prin- ciple of religious liberty; and such is the desire of the government to see it carried out fully into practice, that they have not awaited in proclaiming it for the suggestion of friendly powers, and they will concede the liberty of worship to all mankind, even though they should know that on this point due reciprocity had been denied to Mexican citizens in any other country of the world. In order that Mr. Mathew may form an exact idea of the principles which on this point serve as a guide to the government of the republic, and which he may communicate to that of her Britannic Majesty, the undersigned has the honor to enclose a copy of the decree of the 4th December last, which regulates the liberty of worship in this country, and whose provisions the undersigned hopes may be the basis accepted by the government of Great Britain for the stipula- tion proposed by the undersigned in his note of the 25th instant. The undersigned, &c. FEANCISCO ZAROO. No. 5. Mr. Mathew to Lord J. Russell. Mexico, April 19, 1861. My Lord : A public and religious ceremony having been announced to take place at Tacubaya in commemoration of the murders of prisoners and other per- sons committed there in the month of April, 1859, by order of Generals Mira- inon and Marquez, I deemed it a fitting moment to call the consideration of the 244 THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. Mexican government to the claim of the widow and family of the unfortunate Dr. Duval. Senor Zarco, in a note of which I have the honor to enclose a translation, informed me that the president was willing to assign nationalized property of the value of $26,000 for their benefit. ^Conscious of the all but impossibility under which the government labored of finding other means, I conceived it im- portant to the interest of Dr. Duval's family to place the offer of Senor Zarco in the hands of a respectable person, Mr. Knight, as their representative to carry •it into effect; but at the same time I deemed it right to guard myself in my reply, of which a copy is herewith transmitted, against the possible presumption of having admitted the disclaimer contained in Senor Zarco's note of pecuniary responsibility on the part of the government. I have, &c. GEOEGE B. MATHEW. Enclosure 1 in No. 5. Senor Zarco to Mr. Mathew. [Translation.] Mexico, April 12, 1861. The undersigned, &c., in reply to Mr. Mathew 's note respecting certain indemnity for the family of Dr. Duval, has the honor to inform him that, not- withstanding their desire to meet his wishes in the present instance, the Mexican government neither are nor can be held responsible, whether they be judged by international law, the laws of Mexico itself, or by the general principles of jus- tice, for the crimes of certain people calling themselves a government, and lately in possession of the capital, much less when such crimes come under the cate- gory of miu-ders, as in the case of the unfortunate Dr. Duval. Consequently, the undersigned cannot but feel that Mr. Mathew will perceive how impossible it would be for the present government, with the principles they hold, to impose upon the country the payment of such indemnities as could not fail to give rise to a responsibility quite inadmissible. Nevertheless, the constitutional govei-ment, from feelings of humanity and justice, would not be indisposed to grant some kind of voluntary indemnity in such instances as the present one, and, as regards the family of Dr. Duval, would be willing to set aside house property to the amount of $2o,000, the sum specified by Mr. Mathew, an arrangement which could be carried out either in actual houses or in covenant property, the latter having been secularized. The undersigned, &c. EEANCISCO ZAECO. Enclosure 2 ia No. 6. Mr. MatKew to Senor Zarco. Mexico, April 18, 1861. The undersigned, &c., begs to acknowledge the notes addressed to him by his excellency Senor Don Francisco Zarco, &c., under dates of the 12th, 13th, 15th, and 16th instant. i He feels most fully assured of the sentiments of reprobation with which the government of whom his excellency is a justly distinguished member must regard THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 245 any acts of outrage and exaction from wbicli lier Majesty's subjects in Mexico may have suffered, and for which they natm-ally look to that country for the compensation due to them, still less can he doubt the indignation with which they must view such atrocious and cowardly acts of assassination as that of which the unfortunate Dr. Duval was a victim, deeds whose advisers and per- petrators will yet, he trusts, meet condign punishment. The undersigned has received with sincere gratification the notification that his excellency the president has determined to assign immediately property of the value of $25,000' for the benefit of Dr. Duval's widow and family, and has requested Mr. Knight, as their agent and friend ia this capital, to wait upon his excellency Seiior Zarco, and to concert with him all necessary steps for carrying his excellency's benevolent commands into immediate effect. The undersigned, &c. GEORGE B. MATHEW. No. 6. Lord J. Russell to Sir G. Wyke. Foreign Office, Mai/ 30, 1861. Sir : Her Majesty's government approve Mr. Mathew's proceedings as re- ported in his despatch of the 19th ultimo, with reference to the proposed assign- ment of national property of the value of $25,000 to the widow of the late Dr. Duval. I am, &c. J. RUSSELL. No. 7. Mr. Mathew to Lord J. Russell. [Extract.] Mexico, May 12, 1861. There has been but little change in the affairs of Mexico for the last two months. Senor Prieto was succeeded in the ministry of finance by Seiior Mata, whose previous nomination as minister to England I had the honor of notifying to your lordship, and who has only agreed to fill the office until the meeting of congress. The death of Seiior Lerdo de Tejada, the ablest, if not the only financier in the republic, has been severely felt at the present crisis. It seems doubtful whether Senor Mata will proceed to London; the name of Senor Gomez Farias has been mentioned to me by Senor Zarco, ia the event of a new appointment. Senor Fuente, a lawyer of some note, left Mexico by the last packet on a mission to Paris, and probably to Spain, his departure having been long delayed by the difEculty of procuring even the small sum of money necessary for his journey and support. To this complete deficiency of resources must be attributed the continued existence and increase, in various parts of the country, of guerilla bodies under the Spaniards Cobos and Vicario, and under the infamous Marquez, who pur- sues still his course of murder and rapine. Two petty attempts to create disturbances in this capital were discovered and put down iu time. 246 THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. In other respects public tranquillity has not been disturbed, and however faulty and -weak the present government may be, they who -witnessed the mur- ders, the acts of atrocity and of plunder, almost of daily occurrence, under the government of General Miramon and his counsellors, Senor Diaz and General Marquez, cannot but appreciate the existence of law and justice. Foreigners, especially, who suffered so heavily under that arbitrary rule, and by the hatred and intolerance towards them, which is a dogma of the church party in Mexico, cannot but make a broad distinction between the past and the present. ' President Juarez, though deficient in the energy necessary for the present crisis, is an upright and well-intentioned man, excellent in all the private rela- tions of life, but the mere fact of his being an Indian exposes him to the hostil- ity and sneers of the dregs of Spanish society, and of those of mixed blood, who ludicrously arrogate to themselves the higher social position in Mexico. I have already made known to your lordship my opinion of the objectionable nature of the federal constitution now in force ; and I have not concealed my fear for the future peace of Mexico, from the utter want of patriotism among the higher classes, and from the demoralization and restlessness produced among all by tke prolonged state of civil warfare. A desire for change is already stated to exist in certain quarters, and the idea of the selection of a military dictator has been put forward; but it is scarcely needful to observe that such a step would be no palliation of the present wants, and no preventive of the future dangers of the country. General St. Anna was the ablest man of that class that Mexico has produced, and the temporary good effect of his energetic character is unquestionable; but that due appreciation of equal justice, of social rights, and of peaceful prosperity, by which alone nationalitj' can be maintained, cannot be created by the strong hand of arbitrary power. The hope of Mexico rests upon the maintenance of peace. A wise basis of civil and of religious liberty has been laid down, and peace only is needed for the development of constitntional principles, and for the gradual enlightenment of the people. But seeing, as I do, so many native and foreign elements at work to disturb the existing state of things, I cannot but entertain a conviction that unless the present government or principles of government are in. some way avowedly up-, held by England or the United States — by a protecting alliance, or by the declaration that no revolutionary movements would be permitted in any of the seaports on either ocean — further deplorable convulsions will afflict this unfor- tunate country, to the heavy injury of British interests and commerce, and to the disgrace of humanity. I do not believe it possible that the church party, or that the former rule of intolerance and of gross superstition can ever be restored to power; so far, at least, has been secured by the I'esult of the last civil war — the first contest for principles, it may be remarked, in this republic. But the result of the intrigues of various parties with different views and hopes, and the difficulties and em- barrassments purposely brought to bear upon a weak and bankrupt government, may cause an early dismemberment of the republic, and its division into many petty States. The most imminent peril, however, to Mexico, and one which will equally press on any future as on the present government, is the deplorable state of its finances. On the one hand, the supreme government have no power to raise taxes, save with the consent of the States, (and the country, though possessed of great internal wealth, is, for the present year or more, utterly mined and exhausted by the late war;) and on the other, the resources now receivable by the government are avowedly unequal to more than half the amount of the ex- penditure actually requisite. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 247 The chief revenues arise from the import duties, and not only are these grad- ually but surely diminishing, from the smuggling consequent on the high duties so unwisely imposed on cottons and woollens, and other goods of general con- sumption, hut at this moment in Vera Cruz, the chief port of the republic, no less than 77 per cent, are claimed by foreign creditors. Of this amount — 27 per cent, are assigned to the London bondholders. 24 per cent, to the "British convention," which numbers very few English holders. 10 per cent, extra to replace arrears. 10 per cent, to replace the money at the mint of Guanaxiiato. 8 per cent, for the French convention. 77 The Mexican government has been accused, and not without some reason, of having frittered away the church property recently nationalized ; but it must be remembered that, while forced contributions, plunder, and immense supplies from the church and its supporters have enabled Generals Zuloaga and Miramou to sustain the civil war for three years, the constitutional government abstained from such acts, and have the sole robbery of the conducta at Lagos, towards the close of the war, to answer for. Their resources, during this lengthened period, were drawn from advances by individuals, on bonds for far larger sums, payable at the close of the war, and from the actual sale of a great part of this property at 25, 20, and even 15 per cent, of its supposed value. The advantageous disposal of the remainder was most dej;rimentally affected by the circulation of reports calculated to prevent the restoration of confidence, and the consequent investment of money in the purchase of nationalized prop- erty; and the government have consequently been obliged by their necessities, after trying in vain every better mode of sale, to dispose of the property on "pagares" (or. promissory notes) to be paid off by instalments extending over several years. These "pagares," again, they are compelled to sell by auction, at a heavy discoimt, to provide for the daily subsistence of the troops, and the maintenance of the government. From the foregoing details your lordship will at once understand the precari- ous condition of -Mexico", and that, without some foreign interposition, the dis- memberment of the republic and a national bankiuptcy appear all but inevi- table. The session of the Mexican congress, after some preliminary time spent in verifying the elections, was opened on the 10th ; and I have the honor to en- close copies of the speeches of' President Juarez, and of the president of the congress, on that occasion. I am sorry to say that I entertain but little hope of much practical advantage from their deliberations ; indeed, I know not that much is in their power, espe- cially with regard to the most pressing danger, the financial position of Mexico. The bondholders might, perhaps, save their capital by submitting to a tem- porary suspension of interest; and the establishment of a more equitable tariff, which the government are pledged to me to urge upon the congress, may lay down a better future basis of revenue. But Mexico should, whatever her distress, at least commence at home ; and the holders of the immense internal debt should be the first to suffer for the ruin their own folly has caused or abetted. I much fear that the republic has not produced men of sufficient energy and honor to adopt this course, unsus- tained by some foreign interposition. The effort will always be made to make the foreigner the chief sufferer from the undoubtedly bankrupt state of the country. 248 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. One of the first acts of the congress will be to verify tlie election of the presi- dent, which has recently taken place throughout the country : unless one of the candidates has a majority of all the Totes cast, the congress selects ; and it is thought very possibly that by this course Seiior Juarez, though highest on the list of candidates, may be defeated, and that General Ortega may be named. Her Majesty's envoy extraordinary and minister plenipoteniary, Sir Charles L. Wyke, and Mr. Johnston, arrived safely in this capital on the 9th instant. No. 8. Sir C. Wyke to Lord J. Russell. [Extract.] Mexico, May 27, 1861. In a long conversation I had with Seiior Guzman I dwelt on the astonish- ment that would naturally be felt by her Majesty's government when informed that no steps had yet been taken for the payment of the $660,000, which we must insist on being refunded to the parties from whom it had been stolen. I added that the honor of the Mexican government was directly concerned in this matter, and therefore fully expected to hear from him some explanation. Don Leon Guzman was profuse in his professions of being willing to do all that could in justice be . required of him, but whenever I attempted to get him out of generalities, he avoided the difficulty by stating that until I was formally installed as her Majesty's minister here, he could not officially treat the question with me, but again expressed his willingness to render every satisfaction when the proper time for so doing should arrive. As soon after the departure of the mail as possible I shall put his sincerity to the test. The term of delay granted for the repayment of the money stolen from the "conducta" by General Degollado expires on the 11th of next month, and I have every reason to believe that they are not prepared to meet the demand that will then be made upon them. No. 9. Sir C. Wyke to Lord J. Russell. [Extract] Mexico, May 27, 1861. It wUl be very difficult, if not impossible, to give your lordship a correct idea of the present state of affairs in this unfortunate country, so utterly incompre- hensible is the conduct of the government which at present presides over its destinies. Animated by a blind hatred towards the church party, the present government has only thought of destroying and dissipating the immense property formerly belonging to the clergy, without, however, at the same time taking advantage of the wealth thus placed at their disposal to liquidate the many obligations which at present weigh them down and cripple their resources. The church property has generally been supposed to be worth between 60,000,000 and 80,000,000 Spanish dollars, the whole of which appears to have been frittered away without the government having anything to show for it. A considerable amount has, doubtless, been spent in repaying advances at exorbi- THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 249 tant interest, made to tlie liberal party when they were fighting their way to power ; but still enough ought to have remained after satisfying their creditors to have left them very well off, and in a better position as to their pecuniary re- sources than that held by any other government. Since their declaration of independence, according to a decree issued by them some time ago, anybody denouncing church property has the right to purchase it on the following terms : 60 per cent, of the value of such houses or lands are to be paid in bonds of the internal debt, (which bonds are in reality only worth 6 per cent.,) and the remaining 40 per cent, in " pagares " or promises to pay hard cash, at sixty, and even eighty months' sight. The pagares," of course, were subsequently discounted at an enormous sacrifice, as the government was pressed for money, and willing to pay any nominal value to obtain it without delay. In this way $27,000,000 worth of church property has been squan dered in this city alone and the government, now without a sixpence, is endeavoring to raise a loan of $1,000,000 to^pay their current expenses. The church party, although beaten, are not yet subdued, and several of their chiefs are within six leagues of the capital, at the head of forces varying from 4,000 -to 6,000 men. The notorious Marquez is one of these, and he has lately defeated several bodies of government troops sent against him. The religious feelings of a- fanatic population have been shocked by the de- struction of churches and convents all over the country, and the disbanded monks and friars wandering about amongst the people fan the flame of discon- tent, which is kept alive by the women, who, as a body, are all in favor of the church. Those well acquainted with the country watch this movement with anxiety, and say that, unless promptly checked, it will lead to the downfall of the present government, and renew again all the horrors of a civil war. In the meantime congress, instead of enabling the government to put down the frightful disorder which reigns throughout the length and breadth of the land, is occupied in disputing about vain theories of so-called government on ultra- liberal principles, whilst the respectable part of the population is delivered up defenceless to the attacks of robbers and assassins, who swarm on the highroads and in the streets of the capital. The constitutional government is unable to maintain its authorty in the various States of the federation, which are becoming de facto perfectly independent, so that the same causes which, under similar cir- cumstances, broke up the confederation of Central America into five separate republics are now at work here, and will probably produce a like result. This state of things renders one all but powerless to obtain redress from a government which is solely occupied in maintaining its existence from day to day and therefore unwilling to attend to other people's misfortunes before 'their own. The only hope of improvement I can see is to be found in the small moderate party who may step in perhaps before all is lost, to save their country from im- pending ruin. Patriotism, in the common acceptation of the term, appears to be unknown, and no one man of any note is to be found in the ranks of either party. Contending factions struggle for the possession of power only to gratify either their cupidity or their revenge, and in ' the meantime the country sinks lower and lower, whilst its population becomes brutalized and degraded to an extent frightful to contemplate. Such is the actual state of affairs in Mexico, and your lordship will perceive therefore that there is little chance of justice or redress from such people, except by the employment of force to exact that which both persuasion and menaces have hitherto failed to obtain. 250 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. No. 10. Sir C. Wyhe to Lord J. Russell. [Extract ] Mexico, June 24, 1861. In my despatcli of the 27th ultimo I stated that I should take an early oppor- tunity of testing the sincerity of Don Leon Guzman, the new minister for foreign affairs, with reference to his assertion to me that the Mexican government were most anxious to atone, by any means in their power, for the outrage committed at the British legation in November last. My interview with him took place on Saturday, the 1st instant. He said that legal measures had been instituted against the persons who had stolen the $660,000 on that occasion, and that, if they were condemned by the courts, their property would be confiscated, and the proceeds thereof employed towards paying off that sum. This I told him I had nothing whatever to do with, having merely to insist on the repayment of the money stolen, without in any way being concerned in the means by which it was to be procured. I pointed out to Senor Guzman that the speedy repayment of the stun above mentioned was essential, not only for the honor and credit of the Mexican gov- ernment, but also for the maintenance of friendly relations between the two countries. Don Leon then assured me that before the departure of the next mail he should be able to furnish me with such explanations relative to this matter as would prove satisfactory to her Majesty's government. With regard to the money robbed "from the " Laguna Seca" conducta, he in- formed me that it should be paid at the end of the four months named as the term for liquidating this claim. On the Monday following, that is to say, the 3d of June, appeared in most of the newspapers a decree issued by the president, under the authority of the congress, whereby all payments to the creditors of the national treasury were suspended for the space of one year, with the exception of the claim commonly known as that of the " Laguna Seca," and of the diplomatic conventions. As the claim arising out of the legation robbery was not specified in the list of exceptions to non-payment, I addressed a note to Senor Guzman on the sub- ject, copy of which, together with a translation of his reply, I have the honor to enclose. Not deeming the latter satisfactory, I again wrote to him on the 7th instant, in order to maintain the position I had taken, as well also as to prove to him that I was perfectly justified in demanding an explanation as to the omission of all mention of the legation robbery claim in the decree of the 29th ultimo, which I herewith enclose for your lordship's iuformation. Copy of this note I likewise transmit, together with translation of his reply, in which he endeavors to establish by inference the principle that the actual perpetrators of the lega- •tion outrage are alone responsible for the wrong done on that occasion. Seeing the necessity of at once checking this attempt to 'shift the responsibil- ity from off the shoulders of the Mexican government, I again addressed Senor Guzman on the 14th instant, which note had the effect of producing a reply, showing considerable temper, and in which it is plainly asserted that they will do nothing that they are not strictly bound to perform by the agreement made with Mr. Mathew at the time of his recognition of the Juarez government. The tone of this communication was, taking into consideration the general style of their official correspondence, anything but courteous, and it therefore called forth a reply from me couched in even stronger terms than my note of TEE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 251 the 14th instant. I have the honor to enclose copy of this despatch, which has remained unanswered up to the present moment, owing, I suppose, to the resig- nation of the Gruzman administration. In order to avoid all confusion, I will treat of the " Laguna Seca" claim in a separate despatch, enclosing therein the correspondence which has taken place with reference to it between the Mexican government and her Majesty's lega- tion. Enclosure 1 in No. 10. Sir C. Wylte to Senor Guzman. Mexico, June 3, 1861. Sir : In the second article of a decree bearing the president's signature, and dated the 29th ultimo, hut which was only brought to my notice this morning, I perceive that the payment of all claims against the national treasury, except those guaranteed by diplomatic conventions, and the one commonly known as that of the " Laguna Seca," is to be suspended for the period of twelve calendar months. Without entering into the grave questions that may arise out of the practical operation of this decree, I will simply call your attention on the present occa- sion vto the omission of all mention in it of the claim caused by robbery from her Majesty's legation of the sum of $660,000 belonging to the English bond- holders. The settlement of this claim, which so nearly affects the honor and credit of the Mexican government, cannot surely be intended to be postponed until after the expiration of the term mentioned in said decree for the suspension of pay- ment. Your excellency will greatly oblige me by clearing up all doubt on this sub- ject, for the question involved is one of the greatest importance, as nearly affect- ing those good relations between our respective governments which it is our duty as well also, I am sure, our mutual desire to maintain. I avail, &c. 0. LENNOX WYKE. Enclosure 2 in No. 10. Senor Guzman to Sir C. Wyke. [TiaDslation.] Mexico, June 6, 1861. The imdersigned, &c., has the honor of replying to the note of his excellency the British minister under date of the 3d instant, in which his excellency is pleased to ask for an explanation of the omission to include among the excep- tions to the decree of the 29th of May last, upon the subject of a general sus- pension of treasury payments, the $660,000 belonging to the London bond holders, and stolen by the rebels from her Britannic Majesty's legation. In doing so, the undersigned has the honor to inform Sir Charles Wyke that the suspension of payments does not and could not include the 660,000 in question, and consequently there was no necessity to make any exception in this case. By the arrangement made in the matter of the $660;'000 the Mexican gov- 252 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. exninent has assigned for tteir payment the property of the responsible par- ties, and only in the event of such property proving insufficient for the purpose did it engage itself to treat of and settle amicably the reimbm-sement of the whole sum. Inasmuch, then, as the money is not being paid by the national treasury, the suspension of payments refen-ed to does not and cannot affect it. Were, indeed, the treasury eventually called upon to make good any deficiency, the suspension of payments could never prove an obstacle in the way of its carrying out such an arrangement. In offering these explanations, which he doubts not will appear satisfactory to Sir C. L. Wyke, the undersigned, &c. LEON G-UZMAN. Enclosure 3 in No. 10. Decree. Le citoyen Benito Juarez, President Interimaire Constitutionnel des Etats- Uni Mexicains, a tons leurs habitants faisons savoir : Que le Congr^s Souverain de la nation a bien voulu ddcreter ce qui suit : — Article 1. L'Executif est autorisd a mettre en cours forc^ des titres ("es- crituras") de capitaux nationaux imposes sur immeubles ruraux et urbains, en quantity suffisante pour lui procurer le 1,000,000 piastres auquel se riifdre le Uecret du 20 du courant, avec un escompte pouvant s'elever jusqu'au.deux pour cent, mensuel. Art. 2. Sont suspendus, pour une annee, les paiements aux creanciers du Tr^sor national, a I'exception de celui de la conduite de Laguna Seca, et des conventions diplomatiques ; pendant ce temps, le Oongres de I'Union rendra les lois de credit public, de suppression des douanes intdrieures et " alcabalas," de reforme de Tarif et d'etablissement de la contribution direete. Art. 3. L'Executif pr^sentera une initiative d'arrangement pour la sus- pension des conventions diplomatiques, en rendant compte du resultat an Oongres pour son approbation. Articulo 4. En dehors des exceptions qu'tStablit I'article 2 I'Executif ne pourra faire d'autres paiements que ceux d'administration. Donn^ dans la Salle des Seances du Oongres de I'Union, le 29 Mai, 1861. JOSE MARIA AGUIREE, Depute President. GUILLERMO VALLE, Depute Secretaire. E. ROBLES GIL, Depute Secretaire. Pourquoi j'ordonne, &c. Palais du Gouvernbment ELderal a Mexico, le 29 Mai, 1861. Au Oitoyen Jose Maria Oastanos, Ministre des Finances et du Credit Public. Enclosure 4 in No. 10. Sir C. WyJce to Senor Guzinan. Mexico, June 7, 1861. Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of youi- excellency's communi- cation bearing yesterday's date, in reply to my despatch of, the 3d instant, in which I requested you to inform me why all mention of the legation robbery THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 253 had been omitted from that article of the decree of the 29th ultimo which speci- fies the exceptions that are to be made to the suspension of payment of all claims against the national treasury for the space of twelve calendar months. In the second paragraph of your above-named despatch, your excellency in- forms me that the decree of the 29th could not affect the case of the legation robbery, and that consequently there was no necessity to mention the claim arising therefrom in the list of exceptions to the general rule of a suspension of payments; and yet, in the concluding sentence of the third paragraph, you in- form me that if the means adopted for the liquidation of this claim should prove insufficient, that then the national treasury would make up the deficit. Seeing that this must eventually be the case, your excellency will easily understand why I was anxious to obtain the assurance which you have now given me, that the payment shall be made out of the -national treasury, for the means you have hitherto adopted to repay the money stolen have not produced the desired result. As I had the honor of stating to you in our recent conversation with reference to this matter, the prompt settlement of this claim equally affects the honor of both governments, an opinion in which you fully concurred, at the same time assuring me that before the departure of the next European mail you would be able to prove to me the honorable intentions of your government in doing all in their power to satisfy the just demands of that of her Majesty. Fully trusting in that assurance, I will no longer dwell upon a subject the importance of which is well known to your excellency ; indeed, I should not agai^ have alluded to it, were it not for my desire to prevent the possibility of any misunderstanding arising with reference to it. I avaU, &c. C. LENNOX WYKE. Enclosure 5 in No. 10. Senor Guzman to Sir C. Wyhe, [Translation.] Mexico, June 12, 1861. With yoilr excellency's note of the 3d instant, which the undersigned had the honor of receiving on the 4th, the question raised by your excellency about no exception having been made in the decree of the 29th for the robbery committed by the rebels at the British legation should have terminated. But, like your excellency, the undersigned is desirous of preventing any misunderstanding upon this point, and considers himself, therefore, under the necessity of explaining matters. Now there is a palpable difference between asserting, as did the undersigned, that, in the event of the legation robbery not being covered by the property of the perpetrators thereof, the Mexican government were under an obligation to treat about and arrange the reimbursement of the moneys taken, and positively affirming that under similar circumstances the deficiency would have to be cov- ered by the national treasury. The undersigned hinted, indeed, at the possibility of such a contingency, but he never did, nor could he, say that it was a certainty; such a statement was out of the question, inasmuch as it is not possible to give a positive assurance about any matter which has to be treated of and settled; before the treatment and settlement shall have taken place. With regard to the loyal intentions of the Mexican government, of which the 254 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. underisigned has assured your excellency — your excellency at the same time being pleased to acknowledge them — the undersigned can state that stringent orders have been given for expediting the judicial inquiries- which have been in- stituted, so as to permit of the money stolen from the legation being repaid by whatever property of the responsible parties has been or may be embargoed. The undersigned, &c. LEON GUZMAN. Enclosure 6 in No. 10. Sir C. Wyhe to Senor Guzman. Mexico, June 14, 1861. Sir: Unwilling as I am to prolong a correspondence which I fear will lead to no practical result for some time to come, yet I cannot pass over in silence your excellency's note of the 12th instant, written in reply to mine of the 7th, ■vvithout at once protesting against the doctrine therein attempted to be established by inference, to the effect that the actual perpetrators of the legation outrage are alone responsible, ia their persons and property, for the wrong done on the 17th of November last. Now, according to every principle of international law having reference to cases in any way similar to the one in point, her Majesty's government is per- fectly justified in holding the State of Mexico (I use the word in its largest sense) responfcible for the insult done to their legation, and the robbery of British prop- erty committed on that occasion, without in any way occupying themselves with the mere individuals who acquired so unfortunate a notoriety by a crime which it should have been the first duty of the present government to punish and atone for. It was an express stipulation on the part of her Majesty government, before recognizing that of President Juarez, that this obligation should be complied with, and Mr. Mathew, late her Majesty's charge d'affaires, was so fully con- vinced of the sincerity of his excellency's then cabinet in this matter, that he at once proffered the recognition he had to offer, without waiting to see the accom- plishment of a duty which was binding, in honor as well as justice, on the parties who had inherited the advantages as well as the responsibilities of their prede- cessors. If Mr. Mathew's confidence has been misplaced, that can in no way affect tlw rights of her Majesty's government in this matter, which, as represented by me, I now again insist on, as well for the principle involved as for the interests of the parties concerned. When I had the honor of communicating verbally with your excellency on this subject, I had hoped that you had clearly understood the view taken of this question by her Majesty's government, and the more so as, according to those principles of international law now universally acknowledged, there is only one way of looking at it. I avail, &c. C. LENNOX WYKE. THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. 255 Enclosure 7 in No. 10. Senor Guzman to Sir C. Wyhe. [Translation.] National Palace, Mexico, June 15, 1861. The undersigned, &c., has the honor to address himself to his excellency Sir Charles Lennox Wyke, &c., and to inform him that, without insisting upon con- tinuing the correspondence that his excellency was pleased to commence, and which, according to the declaration in his note of the 14th instant, he does not desire to prolong, the undersigned must take notice of the protest that his ex- cellency makes "against the doctrine which is attempted to be established by inference, to the efi'ect that the actual perpetrators of the legation outrage are alone responsible in their persons and property for the wrong done on the 17th of November last." Without entering into a question which is irrelevant, and confining himself to his note of the 12th instant, the undersigned finds himself compelled to explain matters by observing that in his said note of the 12th no doctrines were laid down, but facts were recalled ; facts consigned in an agreement concluded be- tween the agent accredited by the English government and the minister of foreign affairs of the Mexican government. The government of the undersigned is disposed to treat questions of right on the ground of justice and reason, but will not prejudice them, nor allow them to be prejudiced, by introducing them incidentally and out of their place, or con- trary to established forms. Thus, then, and without its being understood that the doctrines noted down by his excellency are accepted or rejected, the under- signed has the honor to assure him that in the matter of the legation robbery he wUl be strictly bound by the agreement entered into by the representatives of both governments, without discussing whether it be good or bad, inasmuch as the opportunity of so doing has passed. The undersigned hopes that his excellency will do him the justice to admit that he cannot occupy himself in this note with the other questions that his ex- cellency introduces into his note, because, if upon this principle we were to go on mixing up questions indiscriminately, their solution would become more and more intricate and eventually impossible. If, on the contrary, we give to each one the independent place its nature requires, its solution will be as easy as it will be prompt. The undersigned, &c. LEON GUZMAN. Enclosure 8 in No. 10. Sir. C. Wylce to Senor Guzman. Mexico, June 18, 1861. SiE : I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of you excellency's note of the 15th instant, a careful perusal of which leads me to infer that you think you have a right to complain of the tone of my communication of the 14th, to which it is a reply. In that despatch I endeavored, in terms as clear and concise as possible, to put the question which has given rise to the present correspondence in its proper light, and in doing so I conceive I was fulfilling a duty imperative on me to per- 256 THE PEESEXT CONDITION OF MEXICO, form, as no possible misunderstanding as to the views of her Majesty's govern- ment with reference to this matter must arise, as far as it lies in my power to prevent it. On the 17th of November last an outrage was committed by the de facto government of Mexico on the legation of a friendly power, which was not only a disgrace to its perpetrators, but a direct act of felony on the subjects of that power ; and this crime up to the present moment remains uaatoned for. It is not by the vain promises of an agreement, never yet acted up to, that such a scandal can either be forgotten or forgiven, and therefore I should be de- ceiving you were I not cle'arly to point out that her Majesty's government will hold the republic of Mexico and its government directly responsible for what is complained of. In succeeding to the offices of your predecessors, you have inherited their responsibilities, and international law renders these as binding on you as if the last three years' civil war had never existed, and you had peaceably succeeded to the places of the foimer administration. The continuance of the good rela- tions now existing between our respective governments renders the clear under- standing of this principle absolutely necessary, and therefore no false delicacy shall prevent my insisting upon it, however ungracious it may appear on my part thus repeatedly urging it upon your excellency's attention. You inform me that no doctrine was laid down in your excellency's note of the 12th, but that acts were therein recalled, "acts consigned in an agreement concluded between the accredited agents of our respective governments." I have looked in vain in that communication for the mention of any act of reparation, and have found only promises of redress to the eflfect that the per- sonal property of the individuals who committed the outrages shall, if condemned by the legal authorities, be held liable to indemnify the losses sustained by British subjects on the occasion referred to. Now, in the first place, the legal process which you mention has, up to the present moment, resulted in absolutely nothing; and in the second, had it even produced the full effects which you desired, the pecuniary resources thus ob- tained would have proved quite inadequate to cover the loss sustained, as it is notorious that the value of the united property of all the parties concerned in the legation robbery would not exceed one-sixth part of the money stolen on that occasion. Your excellency informs me that your government is disposed to treat ques- tions of right on the grounds of justice afld reason, but will not allow them to be prejudiced by being introduced incidentally and out of place, in violation of established form. It is in complete accordance with the rule that you have thus laid down that I now again call upon your government to treat this grave question on the prin- ciples of justice and right, by adopting serious measures for repairing the wrong done instead of repeating promises which have hitherto led to nothing, and which never can lead, as already pointed out, to anything but a partial repara- tion of an insult and an injury to the nation which I have the honor to re- present. I see no use whatever in prolonging a correspondence on this subject, which must be treated according to the well-defined principles of international law, and not according to the partial wishes of one of the parties interested in it. Having thus placed you in possession of the views of her Majesty's govern- ment with reference to this question, I avail, &c., C. LENNOX WYKE THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 257 No. 11. Sir C. TVy/ce to Lord J. Russell. Mexico, June 24, 1861. My Lord : On the recognition of tlie Juarez government by Mr. Mathew it was agreed on -vvith them that tlie remainder of the money due from the robbery of the "Laguna Seca" conducta should be repaid within four months from the date of such recognition. ^ The term having expired on the 11th instant, I then addressed a note to Seiior Guzman on the subject, copy of which I have herewith the honor to enclose,, together with the translation of his excellency's reply, by which your lordship' wiU perceive that the difficulty of the situation and the penury of the treasury are urged as excuses for. not fulfilling their engagement by the payment in specie of the debt owing. Such being the case he offers compensation in the shape of convents, farms recently belonging to the church, or even the national palace itself; and if these should not suffice, his excellency proposes that each in- dividual claim shall be admitted to the full amount in payment of duties on any future importations made by any of the parties having such claims. Nothing can apparently he fairer than such a proposal, but to anybody actually on the spot its unsatisfactory nature is at once apparent for the following reasons : Were this government to be upset and the church party to return to power, any such grants as those above named would at once be repudiated; and the remission of duties, which is the most plausible of the proposals made, might at any moment be set aside by a decree founded on the urgent necessities of the government for ready money to carry on their current expenses. On my cummunieating a copy of Scnor Guzman's note of the 12th, through Consul Glennie, to the parties interested, they, after due consideration, refused the offer made on these grounds ; at the same time saying that what they wanted was ready money to meet the engagements which had devolved on them in con- sequence of the robbery of the "Laguna Seca" conducta, which refusal I con- veyed to Seiior Guzman in a note dated the 22d instant, copy of which I have now the honor to enclose. Knowing the utter impossibility of obtaining ready money from a government which is actually penniless, I recommended the parties interested not to refuse listening to any further proposals that the Mexican commissioners might have to make them, and they, in compliance with, my recommendation, have accord- ingly named two members of their body to represent them in the conferences now about to take place with reference to this matter. Thus stands the case at present, and I fear that in this instance also the interests of British subjects will again be sacrificed to the reckless folly and bad faith of this government. I have, &c. 0. LENNOX WYKE Enclosure 1 in No. 11. Sir C. Wyke to Senor Guzman. Mexico, June 11, 1861. Sir : A few days ago I had the honor of explaining to your excellency the present position of wha,t is generally known as the "Laguna Seca" conducta claim, and as on that occasion I gathered from your excellency's remarks that the Mexican government considered itself bound to carry out in all sincerity the H. Ex. Doc. 100 17 258 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. aiTangements for repayment laid down in Senor Zarco's note to Mr. Mathew of the 12th of February last, I requei3t your excellency to inform me, at your earliest convenience, to -whom the sufferers by the above-named robbery are to apply, at the ports of Vera Oruz and Tampico, for the sum of money forcibly taken from them by Senor Degollado at Laguna Seca. This sum, as I believe your excellency is aware, amounts, with interest, to $285,569 38, and I may further add that every British subject interested in the question is furnished with, and ready to produce, the documents necessary to prove the legitimacy of his particular reclamation. I avail, &c. C. LENNOX WYKE. Enclosure 2 in No. 11. Senor Guzman to Sir C. Wyhe. [Translation.] Mexico, June 12, 1861. The undersigned, &c., has the honor to reply to the note of his excellency Sir 0. Lennox Wyke, &c., under date of yesterday, and to inform him' that the government of Jlexico always has been and ever will be ready to fulfil its en- gagements with British subjects. This is more especially the case with respect to the funds seized by General Degollado at Laguna Seca, so much so that even when the government was compelled to make a general suspension of payments care was taken not to include therein the funds in question. The government has spared no effort to get together sufficient moneys for meeting the debt, the payment of which, with the fullest intention of acting up to their engagements, they had fixed for the 11th instant. The difficulties, however, of the moment, combined with the penury of the treasmy — facts which are now publicly notorious, and have doubtless come -to the knowledge of j'our excellency — have rendered of no avail the efforts of government, and frustrated their best intentions ; still good security has been given, and no small portion of the Laguna Seca credits taken as cash-payments. Thus, then, the undersigned is under the painful necessity of informing your excellency that it will be quite impossible for the government to fulfil, at the specified time, their engagements in the matter of Laguna Seca, and they ai'e consequently placed in the painful position of having to enter into some fresh arrangement with the parties interested therein. If the financial crisis was of less import, if the government could count upon their actual resources being sufficient to cover even a portion of their most pressing liabilities, they would assign part of those resources for the settlement of the above preferential claim. Owing, however, to the extreme scarcity of money, and to the certainty that for the moment cash-payments are quite out of the question, they prefer avowing honestly their actual position to hazarding some new promise, which they would find themselves under the painful neces- sity of breaking. The government recognizes the just rights of the creditors, and are resolved upon making every possible sacrifice in order to satisfy them. Grovernment can dispose of convents and other valuable property. These, and even the national palace, are at the creditors' disposal; they may take their choice, and whatever they select shall at once be consigned to them at an equitable and conventional price. These same creditors, moreover, can count upon their credits being admitted as cash in any transactions, whether on account of duties, or otherwise, which they may have with government. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 259 In order satisfactorily to arraiige their business, Mr. Deputy Mata and Senor Zarco have been appointed commissioners to treat with the parties interested, who, on their part, piay likewise talk over the matter with those gentlemen, and make whatever propositions they may deem suitable, always remembering that the government will leave nothing undone to bring the question at issue to an ami- cable and successful termination. The imdersigned, &c. LEON GUZMAN. Enclosure 3 in No. 11. Sir C. Wylce to SeJior Guzman. Mexico, June 22, 1861. Sir : On the receipt of your excellency's note of the 12th instant I commu- nicated a copy of it to those persons directly interested in the question to which it referred. It was only yesterday that I was made acquainted with their views on the subject, which I wUl now put you in possession of as briefly as possible. They naturally cannot accept the plea of poverty put forward to excuse the non-pay- ment of so sacred an obligation as that contracted by the Mexican government with her Majesty's late charge d'affaires on the occasion of that government re- ceiving the formal recognition of Great Britain, when the repayment within the space of four months of the money belonging to British subjects that had been stolen from the coriducta of the Laguna Seca was one of the express conditions on which that recognition depended. Since that engagement was entered into several millions of hard dollars have passed through the hands of the Mexican government, so that they cannot, with anything like reason, plead their poverty as an excuse for not having provided the funds necessary to meet the demand now brought against them. It is clear that as specie was stolen money should be repaid, for it is with currency alone, or good bills to the same amount, that the engagements of the sufferers in this affair can be duly met. Farms, convents, or even the national palace itself, may be valuable property in its way, and yet not at all suit the wants of those who, as in the present instance, would not be able to convert it into ready money for their immediate- necessities. For these reasons the parties interested cannot accept the offer of indemnifi- cation made to them in your excellency's letter to me above mentioned, and must hold the Mexican government responsible for all »loss and prejudice accruing to them through that govarnment failing to repay the money O'vving within the time specified. As, however, it would not be courteous absolutely to refuse the offer made in your excellency's letter of the 12th, I have recommended the parties interested to name two amongst their number to wait on the commissioners appointed by your excellency, in order to learn from those gentlemen what further steps the Mexican government .intends taking with a view of satisfying this pending claim against them. I have just learned that Mr. Whitehead and Mr. Watson have been appointed by the English merchants to confer with your commissioners, Don Jos(^ M. Mata and Don Francisco Zarco, and I trust that, in the conferences about to be held between them, some means may be found for protecting the interests, and at the same time satisfying the just demands, of those persons in whose name I have had the honor to address you. I avail, &c. 0. LENNOX WTKE. 260 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. No. 12. Sir C. Wylce to Lm-d J, Russell. [Extract.] Mexico, June 25, 1861. A perusal of my preceding despatches and their enclosures will prove to your lordship that no further reliance can he placed on the promises or even the formal engagements of the Mexican government. If the old church party succeeds in driving from power the present ultra liberal administration, we shall then be even still worse off, as will be seen by the enclosed copy of a decree recently sent to me by ex-President Zuloaga, who, with his lieutenant, Marquez, is at the head of a considerable armed force, which, after twice defeating the government troops, is at this very moment attacking the gates of the city of Mexico. It will thus be seen that, with the contending parties, we have not a chance of obtaining justice from either as long as we confine ourselves to remonstrating instead of employing coercion. Under such circumstances it appears to me that only two courses are open to us, viz : either to withdraw the mission altogether from a country where its dig- nity is compromised, and where, consequently, it has become useless, or else to support its influence by such means as will compel obedience to our just demands, and obtain that redress for the wrongs' and grievances of British subjects which they are lawfully entitled to claim. There is but one way of obtaining such redress, and that is by employing her Majesty's naval forces simultaneously at the ports on both coasts of this repub- lic, when the moral effect produced would equal the material pressure, and insure prompt compliance with any conditions which we might choose to impose. Captain Aldham, who during the last three years has gained a very clear insight into the Mexican character, and the manner of evading their engage- ments so peculiar to their officials, is of opinion that the time for leniency is past, and that if we mean to protect the lives and properties of British subjects coercive measures must now be employed. Before he left the station I consulted with him upon the best means of using such coercion should it become inevitable, and I will now convey his views to your lordship in as few words as possible. He thinks that a blockade is not advisable, on account of the large force that would be required for that putpose on so extensive a line of coast, to say nothing of the commercial difificulties to which it would give rise, besides the fact that by so blockading we should actually be robbing ourselves of the percentage on the duties levied at Vera Cruz and Tampico. This plan, then, presenting so many objections. Captain Aldham is of opinion that the next best thing to be done is to take possession of the custom-houses of Vera Cruz, Tampico, and Matamoros, on the Atlantic ; and of either Acapulco, Mazatlan, or San Bias, on the Pacific;" to lower the duties on all goods landed at those places ; and to pay ourselves by the percentage to which we are enti- tled, but which we now never obtain, owing to the rascality of the Mexican authorities, who either suspend payment altogether, or only give us one-fifth of what we ought to receive. Reducing the tariff would naturally largely increase the importations, and thus enable us rapidly to pay off long an-ears of what is' now owing to us, and which we shall never obtain without some measure of this sort being adopted. It may be urged against this plan, that the Mexican government would place THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 261 a line of interior custom-houses for levying other duties, and thus partially defeat the object we have in view. But this objection is easily set aside by anybody really knowing the country, as the badly paid and venal officers serving on this second line would not be able to resist the temptations which the importers at the ports who had paid only a low entrance duty would know how to throw in their way ; besides, the Mexican traders themselves would not allow such an impost to be levied, and would, for their own interests, force the goods into the interior, when, by their sale, they would realize large profits. In order to take and hold these .places. Captain Aldham considers that a squadron of from six to ten vessels-of-war should be employed ; some of these should be of the frigate class, and others gunboats drawing not more than from seven to eight feet of water. Vera Cruz and Tampico ar^ the most important places on the Atlantic, owing to their trade and the specie shipped there, and these are the only places on either coast which would, in Captain Aldham's opinion, require any force to take possestiion of. Two frigates at the anchorage, and a garrison of 300 men for the Castle of San Juan de Ulloa, would be sufficient to hold the former town, it being completely commanded by the castle which is roomy and airy, and not unfitted. Captain Aldham says, for a British garrison. Tampico lies some seven miles up the river, which has seldom more than six to ten feet of water on the bar. There would be no difficulty in taking the place, and a ganison of from 100 to 200 men, with one or two gunboats, he thinks enough to hold it. On the Pacific coast, Acapulco is probably the most important place for trade ; Mazatlan comes next, and then San Bias. The former has a good anchorage, but its climate is rmhealthy. Mazatlan could easily be garrisoned by a small force, and there is high ground overlooking the town already fortified. San Bias is an open roadstead, and unsafe in the rainy season; it is of im- portance from its trade and the specie shipped there. For the object we have in view, I think taking one or two of these places quite sufficient, and the naval officer in command on that coast could use his discretion as to which of them he should occupy. Should her Majesty's government adopt a course which I am convinced will pre- vent all future difficulties with Mexico, the sooner measures are taken for carrying this plan into execution the better, for the sake of putting a stop to an accumu- lation of grievances and claims which will go on increasing until this govern- ment is taught that it cannot set every principle of justice at defiance with impunity. The French have only a small debt of $190,000 to recover, which is being chiefly paid off by 25 per cent, of the import duties levied at Vera Cruz on car- goes, brought in French ships. The Spanish claim 8 per cent, on all import duties for some claim of theirs which is in suspense, and therefore the interest thereon is not paid. Besides this they have what is known as the Padre Moran claim of $825,000, which receives about a sixth of the sum assigned to the British convention. I mention these obligations to foreign governments because they would gladly see our occupation of these ports, from a knowledge that, under our administra- tion, justice would be awarded to all, and that the money thus collected would be fairly distributed amongst the various claimants. From the moment that we show our determination no longer to suffer British subjects to be robbed and murdered with impunity we shall be respected, and every rational Mexican will approve of a measure which they themselves are the first to say is necessary, in order to put a stop to the excesses daily a^jd hourly committed under a government as corrupt as it is powerless to maintain order, or cause its own laws to be executed. 262 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. Enclosure in No. 12. Decree. [Translation.] Felix Zuloaga, general of brigade and president ad interim of tte Mexican republic, to its inhabitants. Be it known — That in virtue of the full powers with which I am invested, I have been pleased to decree the following : Article 1. The party in Mexico that at present assumes the title of govern- ment, not possessing any character of legality, all its acts are null and void, and for the same reason the government of Tacubaya does not recognize any engage- ments that may be entered into with the government that has intruded itself iato power. Art. 2. Every individual who shall lend to the faction denominated " Con- stitutional" any sort of help, whether as a loan or in any other manner, shall pay afterwards to the government of Tacubaya double the quantity that he may have furnished, and will remain subject to the penalties which he may have incurred, as settled by the law, as an enemy of his country. Art. 3. All foreigners, of whatever nationality they may be, are included m the preceding articles. Given at headquarters, at Tepeji del Eio, this 4th of June, 1861. FELIX ZULOAGA. Don Antonio Andrade, Under Secretary of State charged with the Department. I have the honor to communicate the above to your excellency for yoiu- in- formation, and for the due fulfilment of the same. God and order! J. ANTO. AlSfDEADE. Tepeji del Eio, June 4, 1861. No. 13. Sir C. Wyke to Lord J. Russell. Mexico, June 27, 1861. My Lord : Although the enclosed extract from this day's " Mexican Extra- ordinary" gives an account of the outrages perpetrated on British subjects which is not accurate in all its details, I still think it worthy of your lordship's notice, as showing at a glance the amount of wrong done, which still remains to be atoned for. The list is unfortunately by no means complete, but I forward it as it is, in order that your lordship may form an idea of the indignation felt by the English community in Mexico at being subjected to such brutality, without ever obtain- ing redress from the successive governments of this republic, each of which invariably asserts that it is not responsible for the acts of- its predecessor. I have, &c. C. LENNOX WYKE. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 263 Enclosure in No. 13. Extract from the "Mexican Extraordinary" of June 27, 1861. Foreign Interests in Mexico. — No. 2. British claims of the small and most distressing class. On tlie 25tli of last month we referred at some length to the condition of British interests in Mexico. We now resnme the subject, and shall notice on this occasion a portion of the most flagrant outrages which have been jjerpetrated upon British residents, leaving for another occasion the publication of more, and our own lengthened remarks. The robbery of the legation and the various " conductas" are subjects fresh in the memory of every one, and as these outrages affect the interests of the wealthy and influential, they are likely to absorb that attention which should, we submit, be shared by the humbler sufferer. Our mission is to lay facts before the world and thus to excite action, and it little matters whether it be from motives of duty or from shame, so long as our proper protectors are made to move. In continuation we give a brief notice of some of the objects of our present article: Mr. Bodmer's case. — This gentleman, who was her Majesty's vice-consul at Tasco, was shot in the balcony of his house whilst endeavoring to save an \va- fortunate Mexican from ill-treatment at the hands of some of Vicario's troops, who had made a sudden irruption into the town. Mr. Bodmer was a man uni- versally respected; upon three several occasions had he saved the city of Tasco from being sacked by one or other of the contending parties. He held a very lucrative appointment in the mine of the Pedregal, and has left a widow and three children, totally unprovided for. Mr. Burnand's case. — This gentleman was the first to establish a manufactory of glass in this, country. In the year 1852 he erected on some property, situated about five leagues from the city of Mexico, a manufactory on a very considerable scale, and had just got it into working order, when the whole of the premises were arbitrarily taken possession of by Santa Anna, and it was not until the end of 1856, when Gomonfort came to the head of affairs, that the property was restored to him, but in so dilapidated and ruined a condition that it was two years before he could place the factory in a proper state to resvime operations. In March 1860 the factory was attacked by a portion of the liberal forces and sacked, and on the 2d of April of the same year another body of men belonging to the same party entered the premises at night, attacked Mr. Burnand, inflicted on him sixteen sabre cuts, broke three of his ribs, left him for dead, and effectually de- stroyed all that had been spared by their predecessors. The life of Mr. Burnand was for a long time despaired of, his left aim had to be amputated, and he is now a man wreck. The shock was so great that his poor wife lost her senses, and his eldest daughter has now since been subject to epileptic fits. From being a man of considerable property, Mr. Burnand has been reduced almost to a state of starvation. Maimed, mutilated, and reduced in health, it is no longer in his power by his own exertion to provide for his unfortunate family, and all he has to look to is the reparation that may be exacted from the Mexican nation for these repeated and fearful outrages. Should this case fall under the observation of her Majesty's ministers, as we trust it will, surely immediate steps will be taken to relieve this gentleman and his family from the utter state of destitution into which they have been plunged. Dr. Duval's case. — Dr. Duval was an Englishman, bom at Kensington, near London. When the constitutional forces entered Tacubaya, on the 22d of March, 264 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 1859, he was at the head of the medical staff, a position he retained until the day of his death. On the 11th of April, Marquez entered I'acuhaya at the head of the reactionary forces, and, in taking possession of the hospital of San Diego, promised most solemnly that the lives of the sick and wounied, as -well as those of the medical men, were safe. At half-past 7 o'clock of the same evening, however, in spite of this assurance, and in violation of the ordinary laws of civihzed warfare. Dr. Duval, in company with seven other medical men, was taken out and shot. He was not allowed to communicate with any of his countrymen, and it was not until the following . morning that this monstrona murder became generally known. Notwithstanding the most strenuous efforts made by the Miramon government, with the connivance of Mr. Otway, to justify this horrid proceeding, so damning was the evidence that the British government could do no otherwise than insist upon some pecuniary compensation for the widow and child of their murdered citizen. The amount fixed was $25,000, but no steps were taken to exact this sum from the murderers during their continuance in power, nor has the same, as far as we can learn, been paid. Mr. NewalVs case. — Mr. Newall, an inhabitant of Zacatecas, a member of one of the oldest and most respected firms in the country, as agent for Mr. Davis, of San Luis Potosi, received the sum of $15,950, and gave the usual receipt. This receipt fell into the hands of Marquez, who sent for Mr. Newall, and required of him, at once, to hand over the money. Mr. Newall replied that it was im- possible for him to do so, as the money was not his. The general then called in a guard and said, "Take this man, put him in ' capilla,' (the place assigned to criminals for the few hours previous to their execution,) and without further orders shoot him to-morrow morfling before six o'clock." Mr. Newall was marched off, thrown into "capilla," and would, no doubt, have been shot, had not some of his friends raised the money amongst themselves, and paying it into the hands of Marquez, obtained his release. The English government showed their appreciation of the conduct of a citizen, who, at the risk of his life, refused to betray a trust reposed in him by another, by awarding him the very magnificent sum of <£500, the estimated value of a British merchant's life in Mexico. Mr. Pitman's case. — Mr. Pitman, of the firm of Simpson & Pitman, of San Luis Potosi, was imprisoned and made to pay the sum of $5,100, under the fol- lowing circumstances : When the constitutional forces were in possession of San Luis, Mr. Pitman, in the usual course of business, upon the admission of goods, paid the duties to the properly constituted authorities. Subsequently Miramon, the leader of the church faction, took possession of the town, and he demanded the payment over again of the same duties. Mr. Pitman, for refusing this exaction, was thrown into prison, and would have been marched off as a common soldier, had he not, to avoid the latter alternative, paid the amount. Mr. Davis's case. — This gentleman, in June, 1858, was assessed at $2,000 in a forced loan imposed upon the merchants of San Luis Potosi by General Mira- mon. This amount he refused to pay, as contrary to existing treaties. He was seized by Miramon, thrown into prison, subsequently marched off as a common soldier with the troops sent against the opposite faction, and only rescued by a friend who paid the $2,000, and obtained his release. Cases of Messrs. Whitehead and Fotts. — These gentlemen were both banished from the country for expressing their horror at the atrocities that followed the massacre at Tacubaya, on the 11th April, 1859. Application was made to Mr. Otway in writing, pointing out to him the im- minent peril to which Englishmen were exposed if abandoned to the unbridled and savage will of Miramon and Marquez, who, without even a form of trial, slaughtered so many innocent victims at Tacubaya, and in cold blood, rather THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 265 more tlian two years ago. Amongst the murdered men was Dr. Dtiral, an Euglish surgeon, who, with other medical men, was dragged from the bedside of the wounded, while amputating the shattered limbs and stanching the gushing arteries of numbers of poor creatures, who, from want of assistance, perished during that memorable and dreadful night. Lamentation brought them no aid. Marquez and Miramon had murdered the only ones who could give them com- fort, and they -bled to death ! Another English victim was, at the same time, waiting the moment of execu- tion. George Selly, a peaceable resident of Tacubaya, was seized and forced from his house, and, as poor Dr. Duval, without trial or inquiry, was taken out to be shot, but was miraculously saved by the timely interference of a Mexican officer, who met him on his way to the place of execution. As has been already mentioned, a brief statement of these horrors, signed by almost eyery Englishman here, was laid before Mr. Otway, imploring him to use his influence to check these cruelties, and asking protection for English- men from the grasp of these sanguinary men ; and, strange as it may seem, this document, by means better known than explained, made its appearance in the palace, where it was translated and published in pamphlet form, and the Miramon government accused the signers of having published it. The conse- quence of this was that orders were issued for the immediate banishment of five of those whose signatures appeared on the petition, Messrs. Potts and Wliitehead being of the number. Remonstrances and repeated denials on their part to Mr. Otway of all knowl- edge or complicity in the afiair were unavailing ; so, to satisfy the wishes and assist a zealous partisan in carrying out his treacherous designs against those ' he was paid to protect, the order was enforced, and these gentlemen left the country and laid their cases before Lord John Russell, who, on becoming acquainted with the outrage, demanded the withdrawal of the passports and fair indemnities. The amounts of these reclamations have been fixed in both cases in accord- ance with instructions from home, and demands have been made upon the Mexican government, and even payment promised; but, as these demands have not been insisted upon, the subject has remained where it was a year ago, whilst millions of dollars have been allowed to find their way into the pockets of people to whom the nation owed nothing. Those whose interests have been almost ruined by violence and plunder meet with but indifierence and neglect. Mr. Jones's claim. — In the year 1826 Mr. R. Lancaster Jones was secretary to her Britannic Majesty's consixl general in Mexico. ' On the solicitation of the governor of the State of Jalisco, and according to the popular spirit of the day in England, he went to Guadalajara and established a school on the Lancas- terian system. The Mexican government, permanently to secure ' his services, guaranteed him a fixed salary of $2,000 a year. From 1826 to 1834 this salary was paid, but in the latter year Mr. Jones was turned out of his employ- ment without any pretext and left destitute. The case was brought under the notice of the British legation, and in the year 1852 an arrangement was come to by which the Mexican government acknowledged the justice of the case and their indebtedness to Mr. Jones in $28,000. Not one dollar of this sum was ever paid to Mr. Jones, who died some years back in very distressed circumstances. The amount, with interest, is now claimed by the widow and children. A more cruel case it is almost impossible to conceive. A man holding an honorable a«d lucrative employment was, from purely philanthropic motives, induced to give it up, uj)on the promise of an annuity of S2,000 a year. After the interval of eight years the annuity is withheld, and the man and his family are left in absolute want. The robbery of a " conducta " may be a more striking event, and may more internally affect the interests of British merchants, 266 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. but can it be a comparison, in point of hardship, with the case of Mr. Jones ? And yet, forsooth, this injured man and his family have been allowed to drag through twenty-six years of suffering, and up to the present moment, no steps have been taken by our government to compel the payment of a sum which the Mexican government, in a settlement with her Majesty's legation, have themselves admitted to be due. George Belly. — Was residing in Tacubaya at the time the constitutional forces retired on the 11th April, 1859. About 12 o'clock on that day, whilst at breakfast with his wife and child, was seized in his own house and conducted to San Diego, and there confined with Duval and the other victims of the famed massacre, whose fate he providentially escaped. He was kept there until the middle of the next day, and then led in triumph, at the head of the prisoners, through the streets of Mexico ; was then taken to the citadel, locked up in a filthy dungeon, and there kept until the following day, when he was led out, in company with two others, and marched to Tacubaya to be shot, and providen- tially saved by the interference of a Mexican general, who met him on his way and who prevailed upon the officer in command to defer the execution, which gave time for the interference of Mr. Otway to take steps. The pretext for this barbarous treatment was that George Selly had ■ mixed himself up with the liberal party ; this was disproved by the evidence of twenty- two of the most respefitable inhabitants of Tacubaya, and the utmost that could be laid to his charge was, that during the continuance of the liberal forces in Tacubaya, he, as a means of livelihood, supplied the mess of four of the officers. After much delay, from the unrighteous opposition of Mr. Otway, his govern- ment, more than a year back, declared that " Selly's entire innocence had been amply vindicated, and had established his claim to be compensated for the indignities to which he has been exposed." For this fearful outrage a sum of 82,500 has, it is said, been asked as compensation, but no steps taken to enforce payment. Selly is a pooi; man. The case of Mr. Lynch. — On, the 11th June, 1858, Greneral Miramon, com- manding the reactionary forces at San Luis Potosi, imposed a forced loan upon the merchants of that town. Mr. Pitman, an English merchant residing in that town, was assessed at $10,000, and requu-ed to pay the amount before night of the same day (11th June) on pain of imprisonment. The assessment in this case ap- pears to have been excessive, as firms possessing larger capitals had been assessed in much smaller sums. Mr. Pitman called upon the general to remonstrate with him upon these arbitrary proceedings, but was unable to see him. He' was, how- ever, informed by others that it was Miramon's determination to carry out the loan, and that all who refused to pay, natives or foreigners, would be marched off as common soldiers with the troops about to leave that night. Mr. Pitman then applied to Mr. Ohabot, the English consul, but all that gentleman's exer- tions on his behalf proved unavailing. Mr. Pitman and his lady, fearing personal violence, took up their residence in Mr. Chabot's house, leaving his establishment in charge of Mr. Lynch, YAf. confidential clerk, never for one moment supposing that any outrage would be. committed against this latter gentleman. At six o'clock, however, of the following morning, the house was entered by order of Miramon. Mr. Lynch was taken to prison,- and would have been marched off as a common soldier, had not Mr. Pitman requested Mr. Ohabot to pay #6,000, the amount to which the assess- ment had been reduced, and so obtained his release. Case of Mr. R. J. Perry. — On the 18tK October,^ 1858, this gentleman was arbitrarily an-ested and thrown into prison by General Zuloaga, then president of the capital, and kept in close confinement for several days, without being allowed to communicate with his consul, friends, or counsel. He was detained in prison and under arrest twenty-eight days, without being brought to trial, or any charge or accusation being made against him ; without being consigned to THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. 267 any judge, or any declaration taken from him, and even without being informed of the cause of his arrest ; and, finally, he was expelled the country at a few hours' notice, without being accused of any crime or misdemeanor. The consequence was, that he was suddenly pbliged to close, settle, and wind up, at any sacrifice, or abandon all his accounts and business transactions to a considerable magnitude he had pending in this country after a continued resi- dence in it for nearly eighteen years. Those outrageous proceedings have caused his total ruin, and he now finds himself, after having spent the best years of his life in acquiring, by his honest industry, comparative affluence, reduced to want and ruin. On his arrival in England he applied to the British government for protection and redress, and after overcoming innumerable difiiculties, has lately returned to this country under authority and at the suggestion of the foreign office, with the view of prosecuting his claim there, but as yet has done so without any result. The alleged pretext for his prosecution was his supposed sympathy with the party now in power; the real motive or cause, as is well known here, being private matters of too delicate a nature to be made the subject of oiir comment. Mr. Worrall's case. — Mr. Worrall was assessed for a forced loan, and on applying at the legation for advice, was shown by Mr. Otway a despatch from Lord Malmesbury, which recommends British subjects to pay such forced loans under protest and on compulsion. In consequence of having made this protest, Mr. Worrall was arrested a few days afterwards in the public streets of Mexico, by Lagarde, and sent off to Vera Cruz next morning, having thus to abandon heavy private interesfs in this country. On submitting his claim for indemnity at the foreign ofiice. Lord Malmesbury wrote him stating "that there was no justification for the conduct of the Mexican government in your case, and that it was his lordship's intention to instruct her Majesty's minister in Mexico to require that you shall be properly compensated for the treatment you have undergone and the losses you have sustained." Although a convention was signed by Mr. Otway in March, 1859, assigning Mr. Worrall an indemnity, and although this government even directed Mr. Worrall, through the foreign office, to apply to Messrs. Barings for its amount, yet no money was remitted, and up to the present moment not a dollar has been paid. Very little encouragement is given to British subjects standing up for treaty rights if the present case is a fair instance of home protection. Claim of Messrs. Bates, Jamison S^ Co. — This claiin is now represented by Messrs. Bates, Barton & Co., of the city of Mexico, and is for a sum of S8,815 02, the unpaid balance of a government order for $98,000 for import duties illegally exacted. The interest has only been calculated up to the month of April, 1859. Mr. Charles B. Lamhley. — Plunder of his house, on two separate occasions, by soldiers under the command of chiefs of the constitutional party. . Mr. Thomas Gillow. — Eepeated embargoes of wagons, mules, and horses for the transport of cannon and military stores. As this claimant farms a very considerable estate, it is unnecessary to point out how serious must have been all consequential damage?; in addition to those of the mere embargo. Mr. John Innes. — Plunder of his store at Ejutla, in the department of Oajaca, by soldiers of the central government party, under the command of Oobos. There are a number more claims of the same character preferred by Englishmen resident in Oajaca, of which we have not yet received full details. Mr. Daniel Owen. — Plunder of his goods by soldiers of' the central govern- ment, under the command of General Echeagaray, on the 17th April, 1858. Mr. John Sumner. — Plunder of his house at Tlalpam, on the 17th October 268 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO 1858, by a party of soldiers under the command of the constitutional chief, Don Ignacio Delgado. Mr. Thumas Fuller. — Embargo by General Pueblita in November, 1856, of wagons, mules, and effects belonging to Mr. Fuller's extensive carrying estab- lishment, thereby disabling him from fulfilling a contract with the Real del Monte Mining Company for carrying ore from that company's mines at Pachuca to their ore depot at Real del Monte. The loss of this contract, in- itself a most profitable one, is attested by the certificate of the director of the Real del Monte Company. It entailed upon Mr. Fuller very heavy additional expenses, as he had to maintain upwards of One hundred pack-mules without work. Subse- quently he was compelled to break up a very profitable carrying business, and sell the mules he was unable to maintain, in consequence of the loss of his con- tract, for a little more than half their original cost. In fact, this cruel outrage created such an embarrassment in the affairs of Mr. Fuller as to bring him to the verge of ruin, from which he has not recovered, and for which his claim will be very insufficient compensation. Mr. William Hooper. — Plunder of effects, consisting of wearing apparel, books, papers, accounts, and mathematical and other scientific instruments, by a body of revolutionary troops during tlie sacking of the city of Culiacan, department of Sinaloa, in the month of March, 1852, as attested by the judge of that city, Don Eustaquio Buelua, in a judicial document under date of 10th March, 1856. Mr. Elliot Turnhull. — This claim originated in the forcible entry of a large body of troops into TurnbuU's hacienda, about ten miles from the city of Puebla, in the month of May, 1858, and of robberies and destruction of property com- mitted by them. Mr Turnbull was especially recommended by her Majesty's ministers to obtain the necessary proofs. These proofs are now in his posses- sion, and consist of sworn declarations of several witnesses to the act, taken before the judge of the district. Extra dutie-i illegally exacted. Messrs. Graham, Geaves & Co $10,623- 74 Messrs. Bates, Barton & Co - 4,929 87 Messrs. Watermeyer, Kauifman & Co 5,545 22 Messrs. J. J. Schmidt & Co 5,246 82 These claims originated in the following manner : By a sudden and unex- pected decree issued by the general government on the 31st of May, 1858, an extra 10 per cent. " intemation" duty, and 20 per cent, import duty, were imposed on all goods coming from Vera Cruz. This imposition, contrary to the express stipulations of the existing tariff, was at once most energetically pro- tested against by her Majesty's minister. The decree, although not repealed, was never again acted upon by the Mexican government — a clear admission of its illegality. .The number of instances in which foreign governments have demanded and compelled restitution of sums thus illegally exacted are too well known to require enumeration, and it is unnecessary for us to point out how impossible it would be to carry out successfully any commercial- transactions under a system of tariff at any moment admitting of sudden and arbitrary changes by the Mexi- can government, or the illegality of their act : the sums exacted during the temporary operation of the decree still remain unpaid. These sums, requiring no further proof or verification than the production of custom-house receipts, ought, we submit, to be considered as admitted claims. Matamoros Fire Claim. — This is a claim for goods destroyed by fire at Matamoros in October, 1851. The goods were warehoused in a house occupied THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 269 by the government forces under General Avalos. The town was suddenly attacked by Carbajal, at the head of the rebel forces. The block of houses in which the goods were placed formed a prominent point in the line of defence, and was fortified and held by a portion of the government troops. It was sub- sequently set fire to by the rebels, and the whole of the goods were destroyed. No notice was given by G-eneral Avalos of his intention to fortify the block, nor was any time given or opportunity afforded for the removal of the goods. A certificate of General Avalos proves the occupation and fortification of the premises for the purposes of defence, and their destruction by fire. No valid objection has ever been raised- by the Mexican government to this claim, and their liability to make good the losses inflicted upon the losers, Messrs. Bates, Jamison & Co., under such circumstances, cannot admit of a doubt. The principle has been so clearly laid down in numberless cases, that to hold a different doctrine would be subversive of the very first principles of international law. To admit of a different principle m a country like Mexico, eA-er torn by internecine strife, would be to place the property of neutrals unconditionally at the mercy of military chiefs. The decree issued by President Juarez upon the occasion of the bombardment of Vera Cruz by General Mira- mon, in the month of April last year, providing for the indemnification of neu- trals whose property had suffered by that bombardment, places the question beyond dispute. The subject has been frequently urged upon the consideration of the Mexican government, but hitherto without results. The claim now put forward by Messrs. Bates, Barton & Co., as successors to Bates, Jamison & Co., is for — 226 packages of merchandise destroyed under the circumstances above detailed, of the value of $37,144 04 And interest, at 6 per cent., to April, 1859 20,389 07 Total 57,524 11 The foregoing list of claims against the Mexican nation, although it does not contain all, presents such a frightful catalogue of murder, spoliation, and robbery, that, except it was vouched for on the most solemn and truest grounds, would be scarcely credited ; scarcely credited, indeed, as having happened in a so-called civilized country against the subjects pf a friendly nation ; and yet this cata- logue of outrage is still very incomplete, for many individuals, such as Staines, Egerton, Gibson, and others, have lost their lives by attacks in the streets, in their dwelling-houses, and on the public roads. Justice has, indeed, here iron hands and leaden feet, but they are never lifted in favor of the defenceless foreigner ; some little show of inquiry, a constant and incessant persecution of witnesses, and never-ending expenses and outlay to, perhaps, some spirited prosecutor, endiag in a mockery of investigation and an impunity for crime, are generally the utmost attained. Who can ever tell of the bitter dying anguish of these neglected victims, and bow in their awful moments of desertion the hopeless conviction haunted them that no inquiry would be made of their fate, and no punishment fall on their assassins ? And who can tell what desolation the love of fathers, sons, and brothers may have caused in some far-away homestead ; how, instead of gladdening news, they have found that the angel of desolation has passed by and rendered their hearths desolate ! In the name of humanity outraged we call for energy in redress against this wholesale trampling on treaties and international laws, and exactions from a country that professes to belong to the family of nations, a regard to the ordi- nary tenets of humanity, and a concordance with the creed of civilization. 270 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. No. 14. Sir C. WyTce to Lord J. Russell. [Extract.] Mexico, June 28, 1861. The past montlj has been fertile in events not only tragic in themselves, but terrible also from affording convincing proof of the . degradation to which this unfortunate republic has been reduced by the vindictive spirit of contending factions. My correspondence by last mail informed your lordship that the church party was stiU in arms, led by ex-President Zuloaga and Ms lieutenant general, Mar- quez, who, at the head of between 2,000 and 3,000 men, were enabled not only to hold their ground, but actually to drive the government troops before them, and ravage the whole valley of Mexico. On the 2d instant news reached this city that Marquez had seized and shot Senor Ocampo, one of the leading men of the liberal party, and recently their minister for foreign affairs, who for the moment had retired from public life, and was living quietly on his estate in the country. This intelligence caused the greatest excitement here, and gave rise to threats of vengeance against those unfortunate members of the church party who were confined in the prisons of this city. The feeling of hatred against them became so strong that their relatives flocked to the different legations and implored our intercession with the government to protect the lives of the prisoners against the fury of the rabble. The French minister, as doyen of the diplomatic corps, called a meeting of the different foreign agents resident here, when it was unanimously agreed that we should seek an interA'iew with the president, calling on him in the name of humanity to save these unfortunate persons, and at the same time to vindicate the authority of his government against the attempts of that violent party in the State which meditated the commission of suth a crime. His excellency received us very graciously, and stated that we need not be under the least anxiety, as he had already given orders for the guards to be doubled at the different prisons, besides adopting other measures to frustrate the evil intentions of those who wished thus to disgrace themselves and the country to which they belonged. The president kept his word, for that very night when the rabble rushed to the prisons they were kept in check by the military, and obliged to disperse without effecting their object. This interview took place on the 4th instant, and there were present at it, besides, the president and the secretary of state for foreign affairs, the ministers of France, England, Prussia, the United States, and the charge d'affaires of Ecuador. " , In the congress stormy debates followed, and General Degollado, another dis- tinguished member of the liberal party, asked for a command in order to pursue Marquez, and revenge the death of his former colleague. His request was granted in the midst of the greatest enthusiasm, and in a few days he marched at the head of a division towards Toluco in pursuit of the enemy. Whilst reconnoitring with a small party on the 16th instant, he was surprised by General Galvez, his party was dispersed and cut to pieces, and he himself kiUed. The news of this event on reaching Mexico only added fuel to the fire, and General Ortega marched at the head of a strong body of government troops to repair the disaster. Marquez retired before him from the 14th to the 23d. The THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 271 pursuit was hotly maintained, and General Valle, the most promising officer of the liberal party, marched with 1,500 men to try and intercept Martjuez and force him to action. The latter by a masterly manoeuvre joined Galvez, and with the united forces feU upon Valle, utterly routed and dispersed his forces, took him prisoner, shot him, and then hung his body on a tree. But one of the government officers escaped to tell the tale ; the others, with many of the poor soldiers, were butchered after the action. These tidings spread terror in this community ; the national guard was called out, and the city has been declared under martial law. On the 25th a party of 400 of Marquez's men forced their way into the suburb of San Cosme, and at one time it was thought would have captured the city, as they were supposed to ■ be the vanguard of a much larger force. After carrying away some of their party who were prisoners in that part of the town, they retired with the loss of only one man killed and a few wounded. These events, by proving the miserable improvidence of the present govern- ment, have completely discredited President Juarez, and his retirement is now looked upon as an absolute necessity for the good of the commonwealth. As a preparatory step towards it. General Ortega has been elected vice-president,* in order to succeed to the presidential chair when Juarez resigns. Ortega, I fear, will do no better. Congress has voted ^10,000 apiece for the heads of Marquez and half a dozen other chiefs of the church party ; but there is no probability of the money being called for, which is so far fortunate for the credit of congress, as that sum is not at present to be found in the national treasury. I do not enter into details of persons carried off from here by Marquez to be either shot or ransomed, because by so doing I should only unnecessarily increase the length of this despatch, but will merely add that nothing I can write would give your lordship a correct idea of the miserable and disgraceful disorder which now reigns here, and which is only another proof, if one were wanted, of the utter incapacity of these people to govern themselves. The church party are daily gaining ground, and, it is feared, may eventually succeed in capturing this city and driving the present government again into the provinces, thereby renewing all the horrors of a civil war which has devastated this unfortunate country for the last three years. The Guzman ministry resigned ten days ago, and such are the difficulties of the situation that no men have been yet found who are willing to take their places. In the meantime business is brought to a standstill, and any note one has to address to the foreign department remains unanswered. No. 15. Earl Russell to Sir C. WyJce. Foreign Office, August 21, 1861. Sir: I have received and laid before the Queen your despatches of the 24th, 25th, 27th, and 28th of June, and I have to convey to you the entire approval of her Majesty's government of your conduct as therein reported. Her Majesty's government have read, with much concern, your account of the -deplorable condition of Mexico, but her Majesty's government cannot accept that condition aS an excuse for the want of good faith shown by the late acts of the Mexican government, and by the tone of Senor Guzman's correspondence with you. It appears to her Majesty's government to be useless to continue negotiations 272 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. with that government, either as regards the repayment of the proceeds of the conducta robbery, or the money stolen from the British legation, or the non- fulfilment of the Aldham and Dunlop compacts ; and her Majesty's government will, accordingly, in such manner as they shall deem most suitable, adopt more active measures to obtain redress. I have now to instruct you to demand, in the first instance, of the govern- ment of Mexico, that in the ports of Vera Cruz and Tampico commissioners shall be placed, who shall be named by the British government, for the purpose of appropriating to the powers having conventions with Mexico the assignments which those conventions prescribe, which shall be paid out of the receipts of the maritime custom-houses of the republic ; including, in the sums to be paid to the British government, the amount of the conducta robbery and the money stolen from the British legation. You will also require that the commissioners shall have the power of reducing by one-half, or in any less proportion, the duties now levied at those ports. If these terms are not complied with you will leave Mexico with all the members of your mission. I am, &c. KUSSELL. No. 16. Earl Russell to Sir C. Wyke. FoEBiGjv Office, August 21, 1861. Sir : With reference to your despatch of the 24th of June, and its several enclosures, I have to state to you that her Majesty's government must insist on the restoration of the $660,000 stolen from her Majesty's lagation, and that if that money is not restored friendly relations between the two governments cannot be maintained. I am, &c. RUSSELL. No. 17. Sir C. Wyke to Lord J. Russell. Mexico, July 11, 1861. My Lord : By the enclosed extract from this day's " Mexican Extraordi- nary" your lordship will perceive that another British subject has been mur- dered, under circumstances of peculiar atrocity. The deceased's nephew, after searching m vain throughout the village of Tacubaya for some sort of legal authority to take a deposition on the spot, and perform the usual formalities necessary in such a case,' was obliged to have the body removed into this city, when he reported to the British consul what had taken place, requesting him to acquaint the authorities therewith in order that some steps might be taken for the apprehension of the offenders. Mr. Glennie had considerable difficulty in overcoming the apathy' of the officials, both military and civil, for murder has now become a matter of such everyday occurrence that it excites little or no attention. At length, however, he succeeded, and, the usual forms having been gone through, the body was THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 273 next day interred, Mr. Walsham, Mr. Glennie, and a numerous body of British residents following it to the grave. On becoming aware of what had occurred, I addressed, in the absence of any minister for foreign affairs, a note to the oificial mayor of that department, copy of which I have herewith the honor to enclose, together with a translation of his reply thereto, by which your lordship will perceive that they were shamed into affording some protection to a place that ought never to have been left defenceless, and also that they promised to take measures for detecting the authors of this atrocious crime. It is impossible to give your lordship an idea of the state of anarchy and disorder into which this country is plunged under the misrule of this incompe- tent government. The high roads all over the republic are swarming with rob- bers, and murders are constantly committed in the most frequented streets of the capital, without the culprits ever being, in any one instance, either captured or punished. I shall spare no effort to ascertain who were poor Beale's assailants ; but, if I even succeed, there is not a chance of their being brought to justice, for crime is now triumphant, and no judge would dare, under existing circumstances, to vindicate the law, which, in matters of criminal jurisdiction, has become a dead letter. I have, &c., C. LENNOX WYKE. Enclosure 1 in No. 17. Extract fiom the " Memcan Extraordinary" of July 11, 1861. News topics. — The daily events of Mexico have become so alike that one is induced to ask, on getting up in the morning, " Who has been robbed ?" " Who has been murdered V Since our last publication the event that has caused most sensation has been the murder of Mr. H. M. Beale, one of the very oldest British residents of Mexico, at his residence at the village of Naples. The news of this melancholy event reached here early on the morning of the 7th, and caused that degree of horror and alarm (not surprise) which similar events are likely to create amongst people who exist in a state of anxiety for their own lives and property. The facts of this murder are as follows : About 1 1 o'clock on the night of the 6th a force of some twenty-five or more men on horseback made their appear- ance in the village of Naples. They were weU armed, and came in with a trumpet sounding. Soon after entering the place (which, by the way, is an embryo village of five or six houses) they made a descent upon the house of Mr. Beale, which is the principal one, and commenced to fire at the windows and doors. All the inmates of the house appear to have been in bed. Mr. Beale was awakened, and, it is believed, was wounded by the first discharge. He at once got up, and rushing to the room of an old lady (Mrs. Wylie) who was stopping with him, took her to the roof of the house for safety- He then descended to the lower floor, and, being unarmed, spoke with the assailants, whe had then broken into the house, and offered them the liberty to take what they might wish, supposing, as he had a right to do, that he could have no mortal enemies, and that their object was merely to rob. In reply to his offer and assurance that he had no arms, he was told that they only sought his life "as a foreigner," their mission being to kill foreigners, and not to rob. This declaration was followed by some remonstrance on his part, when he was struck upon the head with a sword, and the work of assassi- H. Ex. Doc. 100 18 ■274 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. nation commenced, amid the most frightful oaths, and cries of " Death to foreigners !" At the time of the attack there was another foreigner in the house, but he made his escape from a windtiw, and fled to Tacubaya, where he gave notice to a friend of Mr. Beale, (Mr. Bueron,) who proceeded to Naples. When he arrived he found the place deserted by the murderers, and poor Beale quite dead. The body was brought to this city the same day, and examined by physicians named for the pui-pose by the government. The wounds were numerous, made by fire-arms, swords, knives, &c. The head was laid open in two places, and disfigured by bruises, cuts, and gunshot wounds, in the most horrible manner. In the breast were four wounds, two by fire-arms, and two by knives or swords. Both arms had wounds, and two deep incisions, apparently made by sword thrusts, were found in the lower part of the body. The corpse altogether presented a most shocking spectacle, not that alone of the victim of murderers, but of cowardly fiends who had wreaked upon it their most envenomed hatred. The funeral of Mr. Beale took place the day following, and, notwithstanding a drenching rain, the attendance was numerous. The victim of this atrocity was a British subject of many years' residence in this country, who had always been noted for his pacific and inofiensive charac- ter. He had never taken any part in the politics of the country, and it is not known that he ever so much as expressed an opinion in favor of one party or the other. When warned a few days before his death of the existence of danger, he laughed at the idea, and urged his entire neutrality as a guarantee that no one would molest him. He was a hard-working man, and the new village where he resided owed its name and existence to his untiring industry and enterprise. He was a charitable man, as is well known by everybody, for, although unmarried, he had a considerable family made up of poor orphan children, who were fed, clothed, and cared for through his industry. His last act of kindness to Mrs. Wylie proves the true character of the deceased more than anything else. His first thought was to save the aged and infirm, and then go to face the danger. The death of this unfortunate man has, with reason, created a deep feeKng of alarm amongst the foreign residents of this place, who cannot longer look upon their situation but as precarious in the extreme. Had many others fallen as Mr. Beale has fallen, there might have been some explanation of the act — that they had been partisans, meddlers with the affairs of the country, or some of the many base reasons which have been advanced to palliate the murder of others of our countrymen. But here nothing of the kind can be advanced. Mr. Beale was " a foreigner," (a British subject,) and for being such has been mur- dered. The fact cannot be changed. We have not only the testimony of a child who witnessed the murder of Mr. Beale, and heard the threats of the assassins, but we have the fact that the houses of other foreigners in the same place were broken into, inquiries made for the owners, and, when they were found absent, the repetition of the same cries of "Death to foreigners!" and threats to come back and murder them also. It was providential that no others shared the fate of Mr. Beale. The authors of this atrocity are supposed to be of the clergy forces scattered through the valley. This is natural to suppose, although the fact will probably never be proved. It matters little, however, of what force or party they are. It is alarming enough to know they have murdered one of our countrymen, and have threatened to serve all of us in the same way, and that they are still at large to do as they please. Nothing has been done, as far as we can learn, to bring the criminals to justice, and we fear that it will be the fate of this case to pass like those of Staines, Gibson, Duval, Egerton, Bodmer, and others — on^ wail of horror, a home and hearth desolated, one or two fonnal stereotyped protests, and eternal THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 276 sileace. Surely we are an abandoned people. But the most terrible part of our abandonment is the anxiety, which no foreigner can free himself of, as to who may be the next victim. Enclosure 2 In No. 17. Sir C. Wyke to Senor Magarola. Mexico, July 8, 1861. Sir : I yesterday learnt with feeling of horror and indignation, which I will not attempt to describe, the barbarous murder of a British subject named Beale, at a farm called "Napoles," by a party of thirty or forty men, who, after destroy- ing their victim, left the house without removing a single article from it, thereby proving that their sole motive was vengeance against a man universally known as kind-hearted and inoffensive, and who had never taken any part in the dis- sensions which distract this unfortunate country. His son-in-law, who lives in Tacubaya, on hearing what had occured, searched in vain throughout the village for some legal authority to proceed to the spot with him in order to verify the facts and draw up a proces verbal duly proving the crime, and the circumstances under which it had been committed. Failing in his object, he next applied to the British consul in this city, who, on address- iag the authorities here, was informed that the corpse must be brought into Mexico, as there was no person competent in Tacubaya to perform the legal formalities necessary to be fulfilled in such a case as this. It is perfectly incredible that the government should thus leave a place like Tacubaya, within three miles of the capital, inhabited by thousands of people, and containing much valuable property, totally destitute of any authority what- ever, either civil or military, to protect the lives of those who have every right to claim the protection of a government which is bound to watch over them. In bringing this dreadful case to your notice I must request that you will inunediately inform me what steps have been taken for the detection and punish- ment of the assassins who have committed this murder, and let me know at the same time what measures have been adopted to prevent outrages of a similar nature being again perpretrated in a place close to the gates of the capital. If I had supposed Tacubaya had been thus left defenceless I should have warned all my countrymen to leave a place which everybody thought was under the direct and immediate protection of the general commanding the district. In conclusion I must again urge on you the necessity of giving me an immediate reply to the demand I now address you, not only for the sake of justice to the deceased, but also for the due protection of those British subjects still resident in the actual vicinity of the city. I avail, &c. C. LENNOX WYKE. Enclosure 3 in No. 17. Sefior Magarola to Sir C. Wyke. [Translation.] ' National Palace, Mexico July 8, 1861. Sir : Before receiving your excellency's note of this day's date the govern- ment had been informed of the assassination committed on the person of Ae 276 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. British subject Beale, and had, in consequence, ordered all the necessary mea- sures for the investigation of the deed and the prosecution of the culprits so soon as they should he arrested. The government itself, full of indignation at this crime, desires that its authors should suffer condign punishment, and has again given orders to the general-in- ehief and to the governor of the district to take active measures, and to inform this department of what has already been done, and what it is their intention to do, not only in this case, but also about the matter which your excellency was pleased to lay before me. As soon as the information referred to has been received in this department I shall have the pleasure to transmit it to your excellency, assuring you in the meanwhile that this government will spare no effort, as far as it may be in its power, to give its protection to the life and property of the inhabitants of the district. I avail, &c., LUCAS DE PALACIO Y MAGAEOLA. No. 18. Sir C. Wyke to Lord J. Russell. [Extract.] Mexico, July 26, 1861. After a perusal of the despatches I had the honor of addressing to you by the last mail, your lordship will, probably, not be surprised to learn that this government, encouraged by the apparent impunity with which they stopped payment of the assignments stipulated for by the agreements entered into with Captains Dunlop and Aldham, should have gone a step further, and suspended all payments assigned to their foreign claimants by the British, JTrench, and Spanish conventions. This scandalous and dishonest act was announced in a new financial law issued by congress on the 17th instant, and published in newspapers and placards in the form of a decree by the president's order on the 19th. In this document, of which I have now the honor to enclose a translation, your lordship will perceive by article 1 that all payments, including the assign- ments destined for the London bondholders and the foreign conventions, are suspended for the space of two years. By article 13 the "contra registro," or duty on consumption of all foreign merchandise, is doubled within the federal district during the government's good pleasure, to enable them by these means, and those proposed by a tax on tobacco, to pay off in preference the debts con- tracted since the 29th of May last, as well as those they may incur for the expenses entailed on them in maintaining the public peace, or, in other words, carrying on the civil war. These are the two articles of the decree that directly affect foreigners ; the others bear more upon native interests, such as articles 12 and 13, by which the government is authorized to place an impost on tobacco, and to augment by 50 per cent., up to the end of December next, the excise duties on national products within the federal district, comprising an area of eighty-nine square miles, with a population of about 300,000 souls. The "Junta," mentioned in article 6, is what we should term a special finance committee appointed for the reduction of the national debt by means of funds accru- ing from property formerly belonging to the church and other corporate bodies. Two members of the Junta are to be named from the different creditors of the THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 277 State; but those foreigners to whom such an appointment has been oflEered have refused it with indignation. Such is the scheme by whi9h this government propose to free themselves from tlieir engagements tovrards foreign powers, and to procure money sufficient to enable them to go on in the old scrambling disorderly way, living from hand to mouth by augmenting duties, levying contributions, and repudiating engagements which they are bound in honor to fuliil. The same evening that this decree was published I wrote a note to Sefior Zamacona, minister for foreign affairs, asking him whether it was really authentic, as I could not bring myself to believe that the government actually meant thus to set at defiance an international obligation such as the British convention, which could not be put on one side at the will of one of the contracting parties, unless with the sanction of the other, and this too without in any way announcing their intention of doing so to this legation. In his reply of the 21st, herewith enclosed, your lordship will perceive the very lame attempt he makes to account for this important omission, for even the Tisit to which he refers was made twenty-four hours after the decree had been placarded in the streets of this capital. The second note, dated the 21st, translation of which I likewise enclose, is the one announcing the publication of the decree, to which he alludes in the first note as having been already sent to me, but which in reality only reached me an hour and a half after I had received the other. My letter of the 22d refutes the arguments he uses to justify the decree, and contradicts the insinuation that I must have known of its being about to be issued. My note of the 23d is an answer to the official announcement of the decree, by which I solemnly protest against it, and warn Senor Zamacona that unless this obnoxious measure is withdrawn in forty-eight hours I shall suspend all further official intercourse with the Mexican government until I receive instructions from her Majesty's government with reference to this matter. The full forty-eight hours having expired without my having received any answer whatever to this communication, I again addressed him on the evening of the 25th, formally suspending my relations as I had threatened to do. An hour later I received two notes from his excellency, by the former of which he endeavors to make out that there is no necessity whatever for the step I have taken, and requested me, therefore, still to maintain my official relations with this government ; this was in answer to my note written on the evening of the 23d, and the latter, in reply to the one of the 25th, complains that the full term of forty-eight hours was not accorded, for my note, which was written the day before at 5 o'clock, had not been received by him until 7 p. m. As in the first of these Senor Zamacona states the impossibility, according to his view of the case, of withdrawing the decree, I could not, after the announcement of my determination, reply to him officially, and I therefore answered some incorrect statements contained in his note by a private letter, copy of which I have the honor likewise to enclose. It is very evident by the tone of these communications that they are now alarmed at the turn affairs have taken ; but their wretched vanity and pride will prevent them from taking any step to remedy the evU, and therefore I see no chance of the measure being withdrawn. Your lordship will thus perceive that it has become impossible any longer to suffer the illegal and outrageous proceedings of a government which neither re- spects itself nor its most solemn engagements. It is only by adopting coercive measures that we can force them to give up a system of violent spoliation, which in reality is nearly as prejudicial to themselves as to those foreigners who are so unfortunate as to have brought their capital and industry to a country so misgoverned. On the publication of the decree, the British merchants resident here ad- 278 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. dressed a letter to me, praying for my interference in their behalf, against the increase of duties on all foreign articles of consumption thus imposed on them. I enclose copy of their letter, together with my reply thereto. As long as the present dishonest and incapable administration remains in power, things will go from bad to worse ; but with a government formed of re spectable men, could such be found, the resources of the country are so great that it might easily fulfil its engagements, and increase three-fold the amount of its exportations, not only of the precious metals, but of those productions for which they receive British manufactured goods in exchange. Mexico furnishes two-thirds of the silver now in circulation, and might be made one of the richest and most prosperous countries in the world ; so that it becomes the interest of Great Britain to put a stop, by force if necessary, to its present state of anarchy, and insist on its government paying what it owes to British subjects. The moderate party, which is now cowed by the two opposing ultra factions in the State, would then raise its head, and encouraged by adopting the measures I pointed out as necessary in my last month's correspondence, probably estabhsh by themselves such a government as we require ; but without this moral support they fear to move, and hence the continuation of the deplorable state of things, now existing. M. de Saligny, the French minister here, has acted in concert with me through- out this affair, and although the interests he has to defend are trifling in com- parison to ours, he has used even stronger language than I have, for he does not merely suspend, but actually breaks off all official intercourse with the govern- ment, unless they rescind the decree of the 17th instant. I have not the least hesitation in saying that unless her Majesty's government take the most decided measures for proving to this government that it cannot thus act with impunity, British subjects resident here will remain defenceless, and their property be at the mercy of a set of men who disregard their most solemn engagements, whenever such interfere with either their caprice or rapa- city. . From the tone of their notes to me anybody not on the spot would imagine that dire necessity had alone compelled them thus to act, whereas in reahty, 6,000,000 of hard dollars have actually passed through their hands within the last half year, to say nothing of the immense amount of church property in this district alone which has been dissipated in a manner, according to public rumor, utterly discreditable to the members of the government. Awaiting your lordship's instructions, I have, &c. P. S. — I have herewith the honor to transmit translations of another long pri- vate note from Senor Zamacona, containing only a repetition of the same sort o arguments he has used before. When I reply to it I shall merely acknowledge reception of a communication which in no way really affects the question at issue. Enclosure 1 in No. 18. Decree. [Translation.] The citizen Benito Juarez, constitutional President of the United Mexican States, to the inhabitants, know ye : That the sovereign congress of the union has deemed it well to address me the following decree : Article 1. From the date of this law, the government of the union will re- cover the complete product of the federal revenues, deducting from them only THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 279* the expenses of the administration of collecting, and all payments are suspended for two years, including the assignments for the loan made in London and for the foreign conventions. Art. 2. The maritime custom-houses and all the other collecting offices of the federal revenues will surrender all their products into the general treasury, being exclusively subject to the orders of the ministry of finances. On the 15th and on the last day of each month they will forward to the ministry a statement of their receipts and disbursements. Art. 3. Withui the term of one month the government will form and publish an economical estimate of all public expenses, based on the estimate of the 31st December, 1855, conveniently reduced. The government is to subject itself to this economical estimate from the day of its publication, and congress only has the faculty of making changes afterwards. Art. 4. The payments in this estimate are to be made in the following maimer : 1. The armed force in campaign and in garrison. The material of war. The invalids and disabled soldiers. These payments are to be made complete, but no surplus can be admitted. 2. The civil list in active service and the military list not in service. These payments, if under three hundred dollars, are to be made complete; if above three hundred dollars they are to be made in strict and equal proportion. 3. The classes pensioned by the nation are to be paid in strict and equal pro- ' portion, if the classes above mentioned have been paid before, as is ordered by the decree. Art. 5. If an order, not included in the estimates, is sent to the general treasury by government, an observation must be made by a communication of the government ; if repeated, the treasurer is to communicate it immediately to congress. If the treasurer does not make the observations here mentioned, he is to be destituted immediately. Art. 6. A superior committee of hacienda is instituted, composed of one president and four members named by government, with the sanction of con- gress. Two of them, at least, must be creditors of the nation. Art. 7. The attributes of the junta are the following : — 1. To pay the loan made in London and the foreign conventions ; 2. To pay the creditors not comprised in the law of the 30th November, 1850; 3. To pay legal and posterior credits against the nation up to the 30th June of this year, including those comprised in the law of the 17th December^ 1860; 4. To receive the payment of what is due to the nation, if it be unknown to the collecting offices; 5. To administer and sell the nationalized clergy property, and to execute all the attributes of the law of disamortization and nationalization. 6. To make arrangements, with the sanction of government, with all the per- sons interested in, or that have any business relative to, nationalized property ; 7. To distribute all the funds collected amongst the creditors of the nation. The product of the suppressed convents is to be applied to the creditors of the conducta of Laguna Seca, and after covering the estimates of the nunneries, the remainder is to be distributed to the creditors in the foreign conventions. Art. 8. In order that the junta may be able to fill the attributes conferred upon it by government, the following is assigned to it : — All the " pagares" existing in the special disamortization office ; the product of all pending redemption ; the capitals not redeemed belonging to the nation, the buildings of the suppressed convents, the lands and all existing materials. In the States and territories all the lands, convents, and buildings comprised in the law of nationalization, and all the products, except the 20 per cent, belong- ing to the same States and territories. The buildings and capitals expressly excepted by government are not comprised in this article. Art. 9. All this property will form a fund distinct of public credit ; the 280 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. employers in the district, the chiefs (" gefes superiores") of the finance depart- ment in the States and territories are to forward immediately to the junta the titles, deeds, notices, and corresponding documents. Art. 10. In the special law published for the conversion of public debt, the part to be delivered by the States is to be fixed and regulated- Art. 11. The government is authorized to publish a decree taxing tobacco ; this tax is to be collected for the federal treasury in all the republic. Art. 12. The government is authorized to increase, during the remaining months of this year, the alcabala of one-half per cent, more on national pro- ducts, excepting the articles of agricultural and manufacturing industry specified in the decree of the 24th September, 1855. Art. 13. The duty of " contra-registro" on foreign goods is increased to double in the district ; this increase is to be paid as long as the government may deem it necessary to fulfil the object of the following article. Art. 14. With the new product of the alcabala, the " contra-registro" and the tax imposed upon tobacco, the government will pay with preference all the debts contracted from the 29th of last May, and all those that it may contract for the re-establishment of public tranquillity, leaving extant all the orders that have been given on account of " refacciones" for the payment of the money taken in Laguna Seca. Art. 15. The governors of States and the employes of the collecting de- partment have no intervention whatever in the federal revenues. Art. 16. The government is authorized to reform and organize within one month all the offices on such a base that their estimates be reduced, and is authorized to increase the salaries of some employes, and to reduce their number. Given in the sessions haU of the congress of the union, on the 17th of July, 1861. GABINO BUSTAMANTE, Deputy Preddent. FEANOISOO OENDBJAS, Secretary. E. ROBLES GIL, Deputy Secretary. For which I order that it be printed, published, circulated, and given due respect. Given in the national palace in Mexico, the 17th July, 1861. BENITO JUAREZ. Enclosure 2 in No. 18. Sir C. Wyke to Senor Zamacona. Mexico, July 19, 1861. Sir : A printed paper, as strange in compilation as in the nature of its con- tents, was this day hawked about the principal thoroughfares of the city, and has now, I see, been reprinted in the columns of this evening's " Siglo." According to the wording of this document, it would appear that congress has thought fit to make a free gift of other people's property to the government of the republic by suspending for the space of two years the payment of all as- signments, as well to the London bondholders as to the parties interested in the foreign conventions. Until I hear from you to the contrary, I am bound to consider. this announce- ment in the light of a falsehood ; for I cannot bring myself to believe that a government which respects itself could sanction a gross violation of its most THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 281 sacred obligations to other nations, and then proclaim the fact of their having done so in a manner which, if possible, aggravates the offence. That the representatives of those nations who are thus slighted and injured should be allowed to learn, in the first instance by handbills circulated in the streets, that you have repudiated your engagements, is as unaccountable as the policy which could dictate a measure alike fatal to the character and credit of the republic. ,1 will not dwell on other obnoxious paragraphs of this publication, as at pre- sent I cannot believe it to be authentic; for when- your excellency did me the honor of calling on me to-day, you in no way alluded to a subject which would otherwise surely have formed the chief topic of- your conversation. Awaiting a reply at your earliest convenience, I avail, &c. 0. LENNOX WYKE. Enclosure 3 in No. 18. Senor Zamacona to Sir C. Wyke. [Translation.] Mexico, July 21, 1861. The undersigned, minister for foreign affairs, has had the honor of receiving from his excellency Sir Charles Lennox Wyke, her Britannic Majesty's envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, the note in which his excellency requests to be informed whether the decree of the federal congress providing for a total suspension of payments, not excepting those of the London bondholders and diplomatic conventions, is or is not authentic. His excellency's request might have been looked upon as anticipated by the explanation the undersigned had the pleasure of making yesterday at the lega- tion only a few minutes after the note, to which this is a reply, had been sent to the foreign office, indeed while it was yet on its way there; but the private character of that explanation renders it incumbent upon the undersigned to recapitulate a portion of it in the present communication. In the first place, he begs to assure Sir Charles Wyke that so soon as the decree of yesterday was made known to him through the department of finance, he proposed to bring it at once to the cognizance of his excellency, though anxious that this step should be preceded by a visit, at which it was the inten- tion of the undersigned to give Sir Charles Wyke a fuller and more detailed explanation of the decree in question, its purport, and probable results, than was compatible with the limits ©f an official note. In the meanwhile, however, the decree was duly and formally published and printed in the daily newspapers, and this will account for his excellency the British minister having seen it before he received either an explanatory communication or visit from the undersigned. Sir Charles Wyke will now allow the undersigned the liberty of stating that he does not consider his excellency has formed a correct estimate of this decree, when he says the congress therein makes a free gift to the government of other people's property. Her Majesty's worthy representative likewise goes on to qualify the act of congress as a total suspension of payments for the space of two years ; still it will not escape his keen judgment that the application of the term " free gift" to what is merely the act of ratifying certain obligations, and specifying the mode of fulfilling the same, amounts to a misnomer. Neither can the undersigned agree with Sir Charles Wyke in his opinion that 282 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. the decree in question is a violation of Mexico's most sacred obligations towards other nations. Such a phrase would imply the idea of a voluntary and delib- erate act ; whereas the republic, in suspending the payments due to the diplomatic conventions, yielded not "to the dictates of its own free will, but solely to the force of circumstances, which have rendered it morally and physically impossible for the nation to continue making those payments which have hitherto been made by means of the most strenuous exertions. When, then, such efforts have been unavailing, the government may be permitted to say so without any want of respect either for itself or for those nations with whom they may have en- gagements. To every obligation there is attached the tacit condition of possible fulfilment or non-fulfilment, and nobody has ever been judged faithless to his engagements, for having, when compelled to suspend payment, stated the simple fact of such engagements being incompatible with possibility. Of such a nature is the statement contained in the decree that has now passed congress, and her Majesty's minister should not be astonished that it did so pass congress, or that it was afterwards published without the previous consent of the diplomatic representatives in their chai-acter of protectors to foreign creditors, for it must be treated of as the mere declaration of a simple fact, in no way tending to the modification or prejudice of the interests connected with the public debt. It will not have escaped the clear judgment of Sir Charles Wyke, acquainted as is his excellency with the actual situation of the republic, that the suspension of payments which has lately been decreed, which only expresses what has long been the public feeling, and has formed the subject of confidential conversations with some members of the corps diplomatique, as well also as with some of those most interested in the foreign debt, has been brought about by an imperious necessity, which did not admit of any preliminary arrangement or adjustment. The government had to choose between two evils — either to respond to public opinion by adopting the only existing means of preserving order and reorgan- izing the whole administrative system, or to look quietly on and leave society to become an easy prey to the prevailing anarchy. Government, considering the preservation of order to be its first duty, and believing that for the positive good of all who had interests at stake in the country some one plan should be undertaken which would tend to consolidate those same interests, presumed they might count, to a certain extent, upon the assent of the creditors. Sir Charles Wyke, then, will thus understand why the undersigned, holding as he does these opinions, can neither look upon the decree originating this note as repudiating national engagements, nor as prejudicial to the good fame and credit of the republic. In order the better to understand the true force and purport of the decree, the undersigned would beg to refer her Majesty's minister to the note which has been addressed to the legation for the purpose of announcing to his excellency the act of congress ; and if Sir Charles Wyke considers that in the visit which the undersigned had the honor of paying yesterday at the mission he was only performing such an act of courtesy as should always precede any official or con- ' fidential conferences upon matters of business, his excellency will cease to wonder at the absence of special reference to the subject of this communication during the conversation which then took place. The undersigned, &c. MANUEL DE ZAMACONA THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 283 Enclosure 4 in No. 18. Senor Zamacona to Sir C. Wyke. [Translation.] Mexico, July 21, 1861. The undersigned, &c., has the honor to inform his excellency Sir C. Lennox Wyke, &c., that the decree which forms the enclosure to this note has passed the federal congress of the republic, and that the imdersigned brings it to the cognizance of his excellency on account of its connexion -with the diplomatic inventions and their payments. From the known ability and sound sense of her Britannic Majesty's minister, the Mexican government are led to hope that his excellency, so far from seeing in the above decree any cause for alarm on account of those interests which are under the protection of the British legation, will, on the contrary, perceive in this act of the legislature a proof that the republic is anxious to arrive at an estimate of their resources ; to organize those resources in the most profitable manner ; to cut at the root of such abuses as have hitherto brought censure upon the government, the supreme power being the first to submit to the restric- tions and other conditions necessary for this object ; and, at the same time, to place the engagements and obligations of the nation upon such a footing as wUl insure them in future a sure and lasting inviolability. To fulfil faithfully their international compacts, the Mexican government have made almost superhuman efibrts, and can show results of no ordinary kind ; such, for instance, as the present balance-sheet of the Mexican debt, whereby it is seen that no very notable change has been brought about therein by the continuous state of revolution. During this crisis, on the contrary, the position of foreign creditors has improved. In the midst of its greatest embarrassments the nation has gone even so far as to increase the rate of interest for paying off the public debt, and has thus deprived itself of the very means which were at its disposal for terminating the civil war ; in other words, the nation has paid its creditors their gold with the blood of its citizens. Since the revolution began the republic has been thirsting after peace, order, and security ; yet the government, fuUy convinced though they were of being able to right themselves if only they could count upon any means that would really admit of action, hesitated long before laying hands upon the funds des- tined for the payment of their foreign debt. So great, indeed, was their respect for these funds that they preferred to sacrifice their obligations to Mexicans, to trample under foot the most cherished principles of their country, nay, even to imprison persons of the highest respectability, in order to pbtain resources from the sums paid for their release, rather than touch a cent of the assignments des- tined for the diplomatic conventions and the London debt. So hateful an expedient, although it has served to prove their good faith to- wards other nations, has not been and never can be efficacious ; so that the gov- ernment has now to start afresh, as they should do, upon different principles, and with the fixed purpose of thoroughly reorganizing their plan, of administra- tion, and of having recourse, not to temporary expedients, but such a system of taxation as from its nature will, while adding fresh vigor to government, abolish once and for all the old system of forced imposts. To carry out this principle the republic has need of its entire revenue and of censcientious and practical persons to administer the same ; and this is the inten- tion of the law which the undersigned has the honor of placing in Sir Charles Wyke's hands. The present government of the republic has to meet, on the one hand, the demands of society and civilization for order, and guarantees, on the other, those 284 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. of the foreign creditors for nearly the entirety of the public revenue. So cir- cumstanced, no government could hesitate as to the course to be taken. The nation, then, has yielded to the cry of society and civilization, has given way before a pressure too heavy* for it to bear, but it has done so merely in order to recover strength and then return to the charge. The government of the undersigned originated the measures contained in the enclosed decree ; and possibly they are the first rulers in the country who have religiously and honestly undertaken seriously to consider tte nature of their obligations, and to discover the best means of meeting them. It is impossible for Mexico to attempt any administrative reform, or the re- establishment of peace and order, if she has to support the burdan of the national debt. » To enable her, however, to remove whatever has led to those numerous ques- tions which have so incessantly occupied the attention of foreign representatives and the finance department, and to do away with the system of forced imports — to enable her to free herself from the necessity of breaking through her own liberal principles and overtaxing foreign imports — to enable her, in short, to pro- cure some portion of the money now paid by the maritime custom-houses to- wards the extinction of the debt — it is necessary she should be allowed a short respite wherein to recover herself, as well as the full use for a few days of her entire revenue. In that case, by proper management and economy, public order and tranquillity would be re-established, and the revenue of the country, with the exception of what was absolutely requisite for the proper protection of society, set apart to meet the payment of arrears. The government of the undersigned considers that a debtor, so long as he is actuated by honorable feelings and a fuU determination to carry out his engage- ments, does not forfeit his dignity in presenting himself to his creditor and frankly confessing he is, though temporarily so, unable to pay his debts ; and the sole object which that government now has in view is to prove to the world that they are really and truly resolved upon attempting administrative reforms in the country, as the only means left likely to produce any amelioration in its political condition. They perfectly understand that they have to struggle against the unfavorable impression caused by the abuses and irregularities allowed in former times ; yet it does not escape them that they have inherited this fresh 33 Rafael Beraza 18, 521 85 Manuel Escandon 166, 749 65 Viuda de Echeverria 138, 158 25 E. Fagoaga 74, 627 32 Aguero Gonzalez y Oa 43, 005 47 J. Rodriguez de S. Miguel, for Madame Arismendi 8, 601 10 3,078,000 00 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 335 B. Statement of tTie amount received from all the custom-houses on account of the convention fund,, from 1852 to 1859. 1852 $261, 914 24 1853 406, 198 26 1854 540,514 26 1855 343, 107 52 1856 301,917 05 1857 104, 087 25 1858 130, 593 16 1859 420, 149 87 2,608,481 61 The anmial estimated produce of the import duties is from $7,000,000 to $8,000,000, but even taking the very low figure of $5,000,000, it wUl be seen that in no one year has the original assignment of 12 per cent, been paid. E. British Convention — Original capital, $4,984,914 84. Date. Sums that ought to have been paid on account of— Date. Sums actually paid on ac- count of — Capital. Interest. Capital. Interest. June 4, 1852 $124,622 87 124,622 87 124,622 87 124,622 87 124, 622 87 124,622 87 124,622 87 124,622 87 124,622 87 124,622 87 149,547 45 149,547 45 149,547 46 149,547 45 149,547 45 149,547 46 149,547 45 149,547 45 149, 547 45 $74,773 72 74,773 72 73,872 46 73,872 46 71,233 37 71,233 37 66,720 77 64,851 43 64,851 43 64,861 43 83,486 60 83,485 60 125,228 40 125,228 40 125,228 40 125,228 40 125,228 40 126,228 40 125,228 40 July 31, 1862 Dec. 4,1862 Sept. 6, 1863 Dec. 30, 1853 June 5,1854 Dec. 28, 1854 June 16, 1855 Dec. 20, 1865 July 12, 1856 Dec. 27, 1856 Jan. 25, 1858 May 20, 1868 May 12, 1859 Sept. 14, 1859 Jan. 5, 1860 Apr. 12, 1860 July 16, 1860 May 1,1861 July 12, 1861 $74,773 72 74,773 72 73,872 45 Dec. 4,1852 June 4, 1853 $60,084 84 Dec. 4,1853 June 4, 1854 175,939 05 73,872 45 71.233 37 Dec. 4,1854 June 4,1865 Dec. 4, 1855 300,839 61 124,622 87 71,233 73 66,720 77 64 851 43 June 4, 1856 64,861 43 64,861 43 83,485 60 Dec. 4,1856 June 4, 1857 149, 148 47 Dec. 4, 1857 83,485 60 June 4, 1868 125,228 40 Dec. 4, 1858 125,228 40 June 4, 1859 125,228 40 Dec. 4, 1859 125,228 40 June 4, 1860 125,228 40 Dec. 4, 1860 > 125,228 40 June 1,1861 125,228 40 Total... 2,592,156 75 1,744,604 14 810,634 84 1,744,604 14 336 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO, Padre Moran's Convention — Original capital, $983,000. Date. Sums which ought to have been paid on account of — Date. Sums actually paid on ac- count of— Capital. Interest. Capital. Interest. June 4, 1852 $24,575 00 24,575 00 24,575 00 24,575 00 24,575 00 24,575 00 24,575 00 24,575 00 24,575 00 24,575 00 29,490 00 29,490 00 29,490 00 29,490 00 29,490 00 29,490 00 29,490 00 29,490 00 29,490 00 $14,745 00 14,745 00 14,597 55 14,597 55 14.086 63 14,086 63 13,196 78 12,828 15 12,828 15 12,828 15 16,614 40 16,514 40 24,771 60 24,771 60 24,771 60 24,771 60 24,771 60 24,771 60 24,771 60 ■July 31,1852 Dec. 4, 1852 Sept. 5, 1853 Deo. 30, 1853 June 5,1854 Deo. 28, 1854 June 15, 1855 Dec. 20, 1855 July 12,1856 Deo. 27,1856 Jan. 25,1858 May 20, 1858 May 12,1859 Sept. 14, 1859 Jan. 5, 1860 Apr. 12, 1860 July 16, 1860 May 1, 1861 $14,745 00 14,745 00 14,597 55 Dec. 4, 1852 June 4 185.S $9,830 00 Dec. 4,1853 34,060 95 14,597 55 14,086 63 Deo. 4, 1854 June 4, 1855 Dec. 4, 1855 59,324 05 24,575 00 14,086 63 13,196 78 12,828 15 June 4, 1856 12,828 15 Dec. 4, 1856 June 4, 1857 29,490 00 12,828 15 16 514 40 Dec. 4, J 857 16,514 40 June 4, 1858 24,771 60 Dec. 4, 1858 24,771 60 June 4, 1859 24,771 60 Deo. 4, £859 24,771 60 June 4, 1860 24 771 60 Deo. 4, 1860 24,771 60 June 4, 1861 Total... 511,160 00 344,969 59 157,280 00 320, 197 99 G. OoNVENCioN Inglesa, lo dividendo, Julio 31 de 1852. Martinez del Rio Hermanos $1,670, 000 00 G. J. Martinez del Rio 15, 000 00 J. P. Martinez del Rio 12, 000 00 E. J. Perry 51, 000 00 Alejandro Grant ■ 97, 000 00 Rafael Beraza ' 22, 000 00 1,867,000 00 J. A. de Beistegui 1, 006, 000 00 B. DeMacua 546, 000 00 J. S. Bengough 301, 000 00 Manuel Escandon 187, 000 00 Muriel Hermanos ■ 186, 000 00 Viuda de Echeverria e hijos 182, 000 00 J. B. Echave, por Testamentaria de D. Manterola 129, 000 00 J. B. Echave, por Testamentaria de J. M. Echeverria 23, 000 00 McOalmont Geaves y Oa., Testamentaria de F. Montgomery . 117, 000 00 McCalmont Geaves y Oa., por la Oompafia Unida 9, 000 00 J. B. Jecker 103, 000 00 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 337 Jecker, Torre, y Ca., por C. de Luchet $65, 000 00 Id id. -Gme. Oocliran 28, 000 00 Id id. .M. Moreda 22, 000 00 Id id. .Estevan Miller 11, 000 00 J. M. Flores, Testamentaria de F. Fagoaga 90, 000 00 Agiiero Gonzales y Oa 57, 000 00 Sclimidt, Higson y Ca ^ 13, 000 00 C. Whitehead 7, 000 00 J. Rodriguez de S. Miguel 10, 000 00 J. J. de Eosas 7, 000 00 C. Gr. Kauffmaim 6, 000 00 Benjamin Laurent 5,000 00 Concurso de Guillermo de Drusina y Ca 3, 000 00 C. A. Fornachon 2, 000 00 Manning y Mackintosh 2, 000 00 Bates, Jamison, y Oa 914 84 Convencion Inglesa 4, 984, 914 84 Convencion Espaiiola (names not given) 983, 000 00 Names of proprietors or agents given in the account of the 2d dividend of' the Spanish contention, made December 4, 1852. M. J. de Lizardi 5^368, 625 00 Cayetano Eubio 245, 750 00 McOalmont Geaves & Oa., por M. de Embil y Oa 184, 312 50 Jecker, Torre, y Oa 184,-312 50 983,000 00 Convencion Inglesa, 19o dividendo, Julio 12 de 1861. Martinez del Eio Hermanos $417, 876 63 E. J. Peny 60, 880 00 Jose de Ansoategui 45, 254 66 514,011 29 Carlos Byrn •- . 1, 117, 698 94 Hei-menegildo de Viya 50, 000 00 Id. . -por Viya Hermanos 97, 103 45 Id. . .por Francisco Giffard 200, 603 46 Id. . .por Eafael Beraza 18, 480 00 Id. . .por J. de Mnnoz y Munoz 5, 793 10 Francisco G. de Luzarraga 368, 000 00 Francisco Morphy 206, 724 14 Graham GeaveS y Oa 88, 908 89 Id por F. Montgomery 98, 280 00 Antonio M. Priani ■ 170, 000 00 J. B. Echave 20, 000 00 Id por Testamentaria de D. Manterola 108, 360 00 Id por J. M. Echeverria 19, 320 00 H. E:$. Doc. 100 22 338 THE PEESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO, Viuda de Echeverria 6 hijos N. Davidson Manuel Soriano Alejandro Grant Agiiero Gonzales j Ca Miguel Bucli Francisco Buch Ra jmundo Mora Martin Garrera Manuel M. Eubio Benjamin Barton J. J. Schmidt y Oa., por Schmidt, Higson, y Ca Teodore Chavez Manuel Hernandez Jorge S. Whitehead C. y J. Whitehead J. B. Jecker y Ca., por Guillermo Cochran Id por Estevan Miller Francisco Colina Juan Antonio de Beistegui Juan Antonio de Beistegui por Testamentaria de Azurmendi J. Velasquez de Leon Josi^ C. Murphy G. E. Glennie P. Echeverria, por Menores Echeverria A. Pamanes 0. G. Kauffiman , J. Eodriguez de San Miguel J. J. de Rosas J. M. Landa, por E. Mugaburu Convencion Inglesa Convencion Espanola. Carlos Byrn Francisco J. de Luzarraga . Juan Antonio de Beistegui Miguel Bringas Francisco Morphy $120, ,103 02 100, ,000 00 100, ,000 00 100, 000 00 38, ,880 00 50, 000 00 10, ,000 00 69, ,613 98 68, 275 86 55, 600 00 43, 000 00 10, 920 00 46, 551 73 38, 000 00 36, 666 62 3, 242 23 23, 520 00 9, 240 00 30, 000 00 25, 000 00 3, 754 19 26, 827 59 24, 512 81 14, 600 00 12, 432 00 9, 793 10 8, 400 00 8, 400 00 5, 880 00 1, 383 61 4, 174, 280 00 $309,645 00 254, 822 50 154, 822 50 103, 240 22 3, 189 78 825, 720 00 Enclosure 2 in No. 43. THE PAKENHAM CONVENTION, SIGNED OCTOBER 15, '1842. Whereas it is expedient that a defi- Por cuanto es conveniente que se uite arrangement be conchided for the concluya un araeglo definitivo para el payment of certain sums acknowledged pago de ciertas cantidades reconocidas to be due by the Mexican government por el gobierno Mexicano a favor de to subjects of her Britannic Majesty, varies siibditos de su Magestad Brit- the discharge of which has, in some anica, cuyo pago, en algunos casos en THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 339 cases in tlie whole, and in others in part, been hitherto prevented by un- foreseen circumstances; the government of the Mexican republic have, from a desu-e to meet the wishes of that of Great Britain, consented to conclude with her Majesty's minister plenipo- tentiary a formal agreement for the above purpose ; wherefore the under- signed, her Britannic Majesty's minister plenipotentiary, having met in formal conference, by previous appointment, in the oiSce of foreign affairs, the minister of that department and the minister of finance, they have agreed to the fol- lowing articles : la totalidad, y en otros en parte, no ha podido hasta ahora vcrificarse por eir- cunstancias imprevistas, el gobierno de la repiiblica Slexicana, dispiiesto de conformarse con los deseos del de la Gran Bretaiaa, ha convenido en concluir con el ministro plenipotenciario de su Magestad un convenio formal para el objeto indicado : a cuyo fin, reunidos en conferencia formal citada previa- mente en el ministerio de relaciones exteriores y gobernacion,losinfrascritos ministros del citado ramo y del de hacienda, con el espresado ministro plenipotenciario de su Magestad Bri- tanica, han convenido en los articulos siguientes : Article I. Of the import duties accruing at the ports of A'^era Cruz and Tampico, from and after the date of the present agree- ment, there shall be set apart two per cent, in the former and one per cent, in the latter port, to be applied to the pay- ment of the sums acknowledged to be due up to tliis date to British subjects. The proceeds of these appropriations shall be paid over to the agent 0/ the parties interested in them, to be dis- tributed in proportion to their respective credits. The duties already disposed of by the government in their whole amount previously to the date of this agreement are not included in these appropriations, it being understood that the portion of the duties assigned by the present article shall not henceforward be disposed of for any other object. Article II. Such of the said credits as have hitherto gained interest by virtue of pre-existing agreements shall continue to gain interest at the rate in each case stipulated ; and such as have not hitherto been entitled to interest shall hereafter be entitled to it at the rate of twelve per cent, per annum. Articulo I. De los productos de los derechos de importacion qvie se causaren en los puertos do Vera Cruz y Tampico, desde la fecha del presente convenio en ade- lante, se separara un dos por ciento en el primero, y el uno por ciento en el segundo, que se aplicara al pago de las cantidades reconocidas hasta el dia a favor de siibditos Britanicos. Los pro- ductos de estas asignaciones se entre- garan al agente que designen los inter esados en ellas, para que las distribuya en justa prorata con proporcion al monto de los creditos que representen. No se comprenden en estas asigna- ciones los derechos de que en totalidad haya dispuesto el gobierno con anteri oridad a la fecha de este convenio, en- tendiendose que en lo sucesivo no se dispondra para otro objeto de la parte de derechos consignada por el presente articulo. Articulo II. Los creditos que hasta el dia han ganado interes a virtud de convenios pre-existentes,seguiran gozandalo segun la cuota estipulada en cada case ; y los que hasta ahora no lo han disfrutado, tendra derecho a el a razon de uu doce por Ciento anual. 340 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. Article III. It is moreover agreed that the in- terest accruing up to this date, and not yet discharged, shall be computed and added to the respective capitals ; and this new capital shall be entitled to interest at the rate of twelve per cent, per annum up to the date of its dis- charge. Article IV. In order to prevent any doubt or misapprehension as to the description of credits to be entitled to the benefit of the present agreement, it is declared that its application shall extend only to such credits as have been acknow- ledged by the Mexican government through the iuterference of the British mission, including the sums exacted from time to time from the subjects of her Majesty under the head of forced loans. Article V. It is formally declared by the parties to this agreement that it shall be con- sidered as having the same force and effect, and being equally binding, as a convention between the two govern- ments. In witness whereof we, the ministers aforesaid, have signed it, and sealed it with our respective seals. Done at Mexico, this fifteenth day of October, one thousand eight hundred and forty -two. [l-S.] R. PAKENHAM. L. s.l J. M. DE BOCANEGRA. L.s. G. ING-UERA8. Articulo III. Se conviene ademas que los intereses vencidos hasta esta fecha, que no han sido satisfechos, se liquidaran y agre- garan al capital respective, y este nuevo capital disfrutara tamhien del beneficio del doce por ciento de interes anual hasta su pago. Articulo IV. En obvio de cualquiera duda 6 mala inteligencia en cuanto a la clase de creditos que han de disfrutar de las ventajas del presente convenio, se de- clara que ellas se aplicaran solamente a los creditos que han sido reconocidos por el gobierno de Mexico a solicitud de la legacion Britanica, entre los que comprenden las cantidades exigidas en diversas epocas a siibditos de su Magestad en clase de prestamos for- zosos. Articulo V. Se deolara solemnemente por ambas partes que el presente convenio se con- siderara de la misma fuerza y valor que una convencibn entre los dos gobi- ernos, y que sera iguahnente obhga- torio. En {6 de lo cual los espresados minis- tros lo firmamos, y sellamos con nues- tros sellos respectivos. Fecho en Mexico, a quince de Octu- bre, de mil ochocientos cuarenta y dos. L.s. L. s. L. s.' J. M. DE BOOANEGEA. G. INGUERAS. R. PAKENHAM. Enclosure 3 in No. 43. SUB-CONVENTION, SIGNED BY MR. DOYLE, NOVEMBER 27, 1852. In virtue of the convention signed on the 4th of December, 1851,** be- tween the minister for foreign aifau-s of the Mexican republic and her Britannic En virtud de la convencion que se firmo el dia 4 de Diciembre de 1851* por el excelentisimo seiior ministro de relaciones de la repiiblica Mexicana y '■> See Enclosure 6 in No. 43. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 341 Majesty's cliarg^ d'affaires in that re- public, it was agreed that twelve per cent, of the sums received at the mari- time custom-houses should be set apart for the payment of the three per cent, interest and of five per cent, destined to pay off the capital of the sums in- cluded in that convention, and that " if at the end of the year the amounts due for interest and for paying off the capi- tal should not be covered, the general treasury, without waiting for any further orders, was to pay the amount due with the first drafts it received from the maritime custom-houses." It has been ascertained that, in con- sequence of the revolutionary move- ments which have been for some time existing, and which unfortunately still exist in various parts of the republic, there will be a large deficit on the 4th^ proximo in the amount necessary to pay the sums stipulated upon ia the aforesaid convention. With the view, however, of proving the entire good faith with which the Mexican govern- ment is resolved to carry the conven- tion of the 4th of last December into effect, and which has been partially delayed on the present occasion by the unforeseen circumstances above-men- tioned, a formal conference by previous appointment took place this day in the office of foreign affairs, the minister of that department, the minister of finance, and her Britannic Majesty's minister plenipotentiary being present, when the following agreement was come to, namely : That for the payment of the sums which may be ascertained to be due in the liquidation to be made on the 4th of next December, of the three per cent, interest, and of the five per cent, destined to pay off the capital under the English convention, there be set apart from that date a further sum of three per cent, of the import duties in the maritime custom-houses of Vera Cruz, Tampico, Acapulco, Manzanillo, Altata, and Guaymas, and in those of San Bias and Mazatlan, as soon as they return to the obedience they owe to the el encargado de negocios de su Mages- tad Britanica en dicha republica, se convenio qiie se separaria un doce por ciento de los derechos de importacion en las aduanas maritimas para pagar el tres por ciento de reditos y cinco por ciento de amortizacion de las sumas comprendidas en esa convencion, y que "si al fin del aBio no estuvieran cubier- tas los intereses y el cinco por ciento de amortizacion, la tesoreria general, sin necesidad de nueva orden, cubriria el deficit con la primeras libranzas que recibiera de las aduanas maritimas." Mas habiendose reconocido que, a consecuencia de los movimientos revo- lucionarios que de algun tiempo a esta parte se han presentado, y que por desgracia todavia existen actualmente en varies pvmtos de la republica, habra un deficit considerable para completar la suma que corresponde al dividendo que se debia pagar el dia 4 del proximo Diciembre conforme a la citada con- vencion ; y con el fin de manifestar la absoluta buena fd que el gobierno Mexi- cano quiere mostrar en el cumpliraiento de la convencion del 4 de Diciembre ultimo, y que en esta ocasion se ha diferido parcialmente por las circun- stancias imprevistas ya mencionadas, se cito una conferencia formal, la cual se ha efectuado el dia de hoy en el ministerio de relaciones, estando pre- sentes los senores ministros de rela- ciones y de hacienda, y el seiior minis- tro plenipotenciario de su Magestad Britanica, y se convino en el arreglo siguiente : Se destina para el pago de la canti- dad que por la proxima liquidaeion re- sulte deberse a la convencion Inglesa, por el tres por ciento de reditos y cinco por ciento de amortizacion correspon- dientes al afio que termina el 4 de Dici- embre proximo, un tres por ciento mas de lo que tiene senalado de los derechos de importacion que se causen en las aduanas maritimas de Vera Cruz, Tam- pico, Acapulco, Manzanillo, Altata, y Guaymas, y en las de San Bias y Ma- zatlan, cuando vuelvan el orden. 342 THE PEESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. This increase of three per cent, will Estc aumento del tres por ciento cease as soon as the deficit is made cesani en cuanto este cubierto el deficit good. es]Dresado. [l. s.] PEECY W. DOYLE. [l. s.] M. YANEZ. Enclosure i in No. 43. THE OTWAT CONVENTION, SIGNED AUGUST 10, 1858. At a conference held between the undersigned minister plenipotentiary of her Britannic Majesty and the minister for foreign affairs of the Mexican re- public, with the object of drawing up in due form the new arrangements rela- tive to the fulfilment of the convention of 4th December, 1851, for the pay- ment of claims of British subjects against the national treasury, which, by approval and sanction of his excel- lency the a,cting president of the re- public, were agreed to on the 31st of last month, in conformity with the con- tents of the confidential note addressed by the latter to the former on the same date, bearing in mind the previous cir- cumstances of this transaction, the ex- planations in various conferences with reference thereto, the statement given in .writing on the 23d of the same month by Messrs. Martinez del Rio Brothers, as parties interested in the same convention and agents thereof, and moreover all that which was stated verbally by Messrs. Martinez del Rio in the last conference as to the losses and injuries sustained in consequence of the delays and want of punctuality in the payments, the large amount which on this account is due to them, and the rights to which, in virtue of the said convention, they are entitled, especially those conceded by article VII, of which they might take advan- tage, as the case provided against has now arisen, being desirous of not car- rying matters to this extremity, but, on the contrary, to conciliate inasmuch as possible the interests of the creditors with the distressed position of the national finances in consequence of the circumstances in which the country Reunidos los infrascritos ministro de relaciones esteriores de la republica Mexicana y ministro plenipotenciario de su Magestad Britanica con el objeto de extender en debida forma los arre- glos . relatives al cumplimiento de la convencion de 4 de Diciembre de 1851, snbre pago de creditos de subditos Ingleses contra el erario nacional que, con aprobacion de su excelencia el presidcute interino de la republica que- daron acordados desde el 31 del mes proximo anterior, segun la nota confi- dencial que el primero paso al segundo en la misma fecha, teniendo en • con- sideracion los antecedentes de este ne- gocio, lo manifestado en diversas con- ferencias acerca de el, lo espuesto por escrito en 23 del mismo por los Seiiores Martinez del Rio, Hermanos, como in- teresados y agentes de la referida con- vencion, y cuanto de palabra espreso el Seiior Martinez del Rio en la ultima conferencia sobre los danos y peijuicios que ban sufrido con ocasion de las dila- ciones y falta de puntual cumplimiento en el pago, la crecida suma que por tal motivo se les debe, y los derechos que por tal convencion les competen, espe- cialmente los que les dejo 4 salvo el articulo VII, de que pudieran hoy hacer uso por haber llegado el caso previsto en el deseando no Uevar las cosas a este estremo, sine conciliar cuanto sea posible los intereses de los acreedores con el estado angustioso del erario por las circuustancias en que actualmente se encueutra la nacion, y aprovechando los bueno's sentimientos que siempre han mostrado los espre- sados acreedores, animado el gobierno por su parte de los mas sinceros deseos de proteger, cuanto esta & su alcance, THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 343 finds itself, and profiting by the favor- ble disposition always evinced by the said creditors, and, at the same time, the government being on their part animated by the most sincere desire to protect, in as far as may be in their power, the interests of British subject's, have agreed as follows : Article I. los interesps de los siibditos Britiinicos, han acordada los articulos siguientes : Articulo I. For the exact fulfilment, strict ob- servance, and in\'iolability of the con- ■\'ention of December 4, 1851, regard- ing British claims, and with the view of repairing in some degree the injuries sustained by the parties therein con- cerned from the want of the punctual payment of the quotas assigned, all dividends which from this time forward shall be declared on account of interest, shall be so at the rate of six per cent. per annum in lieu of three and four as hitherto stipulated. Article II. Para el exacto cumplimiento, estricta observaucia, e inviolabilidad de la con- vencion de 4 de Diciembre, de 1851, sobre creditos Ingleses, y reparar de alguna manera los peijuicios que han sufrido los comprendidos en ella por falta de pago puntual de los cuotas senaladas, todo dividendo que se haga desde esta fecha en adelante por cuenta de reditos sera A razon de seis por ciento al aiio en vez del tres y cuatro que estaba estipulado. Articulo II. The payments will continue to be made on the teims stipulated in the aforesaid convention, setting aside for that purpose the assigned quota of six- teen per cent, of the import duties of the maritime custom-houses, without any alteration or change whatever, and remitting the same iri bills, as agreed upon, for delivery to Messrs. Martinez del Eio Brothers. Los pages continuar^n haciendose en los terminos espresados en diclia con- venciou, separandose al efecto en las aduanas maritimas sinvariacion la cuota fijada de diez y seis por ciento de los derechos de importacion, remitiendose en libranzas, como esta dispuesto, para su entrega a los Sefiores Martinez del Kio, Hermanos. Article III. Articulo III. The amounts which have been omit- ted to be paid to the parties interested, and to which they have a just and in- disputable right, will be made good to them whenever the government shall possess sutEcient means, it being im- possible -to effect this at the present moment, in consequence of their urgent necessities and limited resources. Las cantidades que han dejado de pagarse a los interesados, A que tienen derecho justo e indisputable, les seran satisfechas cuando el gobierno tenga recuiTos bastantes, no pudiendo verifi- carse desde luego por sus urgentes atenciones y las escaseze's del erario. Article IV. The aforesaid convention of the 4th of December, 1851, and all the provi- sions necessary for its exact fulfilment, Articulo IV. Quedan en todo su vigor y fuerza la citada convencion de 4 de Diciembre de 1851, y las disposiciones que se 344 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. remain in full force and vigor without fui'ther alteration or change than what is expressly laid down and stipulated in the present agreement as to the in- crease of interest, without its heing in any way thereby understood to be modified, changed, altered, or with less force and vigor than heretofore, inas- much as that which is now agreed to is for the sole object and purpose, as already stated, of confirming and rati- fying the inviolability and punctual observance thereof; it will, conse- quently, hold the same force as though it had been literally inserted in the same, and Article VII thereof extended to the present agreement. In witness whereof, we, the said minister plenipotentiary of her Britan- nic Majesty and minister for foreign affairs of the republic of Mexico, have signed the present protocol, and have affixed thereto our respective seals. Done in the city of Mexico on the tenth day of the month of August, in the year of our Lord .one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight. [l. s.] L. 0. OTWAY. hubieren dictado para su exacto cum- plimiento sin mas diferencia que lo es- presamente estipulado en el presente convenio sobre aumento de redito, no entendiendose por esto inovaSa, altera- da, 6 con menos valor que antes; pues lo pactado ahora es como se ha dicho para confirmar y asegurar su inviola- bilidad y puntual observancia; tendra por tanto la misma fuerza que si literal- mente se hallara inserto en ella; hacien- dose estensivo & este arreglo lo con- tenido en su Articulo VII. En fe de lo cual los espresados min- istro de relaciones esteriores de la re- publica Mexicana y ministro plenipo- tenciario de su Magestad Britanica, hemos firmado y sellado con nuestros sellos respectivos al presente protocolo, en la ciudad de Mexico, a diez de Agosto, de mil ochocientos cincuenta y echo. [l. s.] J. M. DE CASTILLO T LANZAS. Enclosure 5 in No. 43. THE DOYLE CONVENTION, SIGNED DECEMBER 4, 1851. Habiendo el gobierno de la repiiblica Mexicana hecho presente la imposibilidad en que se encuentra de cumplir ciertos convenios y arreglos que existen entre el gobierno Mexicano y varies siibditos Britanicos, celebrados bajo la garantia de la legacion de su Magestad Britanica, porque la penuria del erario federal lo ha obligado a suspender el pago de las cuotas & que por aquellos convenios y arre- glos estaba obligado ; despues de largas y repetidas conferencias en que se han examinado detenidamente el estado de las rentas de la repiiblica, las cuantiosas obligaciones que sobre ellas pesan, y la conveniencia comun de fundar un arreglo sobre condiciones exiquibles y no sobre unas de dificil 6 incierto cumplimiento que ademas del perjuicio que causarian a los acreedores podrian comprometer la conservacion de la buena armonia que existe entre los gobiernos de ambos paises, deseando el de Mexico hacer justicia & las demandas de sus acreedores hasta donde se lo permiten sus ' recursos y la obligacion y derecho de conservarse, y convenidos los acreedores en hacer el sacrificio de sus reclames bajo las bases de un arreglo tak equitativo conjo lo permita la situacion pecuniaria del gobierno contdndose con la garantia y seguridad de que sera exactamente cumplido, los infrascritos ministro de relaciones de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, autorizado por el decreto de diez y siete de Octubre del corriente ano, y encargado de negocios de su Magestad Britanica, reunidos en conferencia diplomitica han convenido en los articulos siguientes: THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 345 Articulo I. Lob reclamantes interesados en las convenciones y arreglos existentes que corren con el nombre de la casa de Martinez del Eio hermanos, de Montgomery Nicod y CompaSia, representados, por la casa de Jecker y Oompafiia y de con- vencion Palienham firmada el 15 de Octubre de 1842, se presentaran k la tesoreria general para liacer la liquidacion de sus creditos con arreglo & este convenio, y la citada oficina lo verificari precisamente dentro del termino de treinta dias contados desde el de su fecba. Articulo II. El gobieruo Mexicano se obliga a pagar anualmente cinco por ciento de amorti- zacion de ese fondo consolidado, y tres por ciento de interes anual calculado sobre la disminucion progresiva que ocasiona la amortizacion. Articulo III. El pago de las cantidades anuales que se destinan a la amortizacion e intere- ses de los creditos comprendidos en el presente convenio se verificara por semestres vencidos, en manos del comisionado que al efecto nombraren los acreedores comprendidos en el. Para bacer efectivas las estipulaciones con- tenidas en el articulo anterior, el gobiemo Mexicano se obliga, a consignar sobre el producto de los derecbos de importacion que se cobren en las aduanas estab- lecidas en los puertos de la repiiblica, un tanto por ciento bastante para cubrir el monto del cinco por ciento de amortizacion, y del tres por ciento de interes que se seiiala a los creditos comprendidos en el presente convenio. Para que en ningun tiempo pueda diferirse 6 suspenderse el pago de ese cinco y tres por ciento, el gobiemo Mexicano se obliga a pasar una orden a los administradores de la espresada renta, senalandoles la cuota de los derecbos c^presados que deben remitir en libranzas separadas a la tesoreria general a favor de dicho comisionado, las cuales libranzas deberan serle entregadas en cuanto las reciba la espresada tesoreria. Si al fin del ano no estuvieren cubiertos los iutereses y el cinco por ciento de amortizacion, la tesoreria general, sin necesidad de nueva orden, cubrira el deficit con las primeras libranzas que reciba de las aduanas maritimas ; y cl comisionado, por su parte, si bubiese recibido mayor cantidad que la que importen los espresados Intereses y amortizacion anual, devolvera k la tesoreria general el escedente. Articulo IV. El ministro de relaciones de la repiiblica pasara al encargado de negocios de su Magestad Britanica una copia de la orden que por el de bacienda se trasmita a, los administradores de aduanas en cumplimiento del articulo anterior, la cual se considerara como si estuviese inserta y formara parte del presente convenio. Articulo V. Deseando el gobiemo Mexicano dar pi-uebas inequivocas de la justicia y equi- dad con que se propone proceder en este arreglo, se obliga a mejorar la condicion de sus acreedores, aumentando despues del quiato ano, contado desde esta fecba, el interes concedido al capital y a su amortizacion. En consecuencia, se obliga a pagarles el cuatro por ciento anual de interes y el seis por ciento anual de amortizacion al cumplirse dicho quinto ano, de tal manera que este aumento em- piece a correr desde el sesto. Articulo VI. Como el congreso Mexicano esta tratando No. 59. fBatificatioDB exchanged at London November IS, 1861. THE PRESENT CONDITION ,0F MEXICO. 367 Article I. Sa Majeste la Reine du Eoyaume Uni de la Grande Bretagne et d'Irlande, sa Majeste la Reine d'Espagne, et sa Majestd I'Empereur des Fran^ais, s'en- gagent k arreter aussitot aprfes la signature de la prdsente convention, lea dis- positions ndcessaires pour envoy er sur les cotes du Mexique des forces de terra et de mer combinees dont I'effectif sera determine par un ^change idterieur de communications entre leurs gouvernements, mais dont I'ensemble devra dtre suffisant pour pouvoir saisir et occuper les dififdrentes forteresses et positions militaires du littoral Mexicain. Les commandants des forces alli^es seront, en ontre, autoris^s k accomplir les autres operations qui seraient jugees, sur les lieux, les plus propres a rdaliser le but speciiie dans le preambule de la presente convention, et notamment, a as- surer la security des residents strangers. Touts les mesures dont il s'agit dans cet article seront prises au nom et pour le compte des hautes parties contractantes, sans acception de la nationalite par- ticuliere des forces employees a les executer. Article II. Les hautes parties contractantes s'engagent k ne recbercher pour elles-mdmes, dans I'emploi des mesures coercitives prevues par la presente convention, aucune acquisition de territoire ni aucun avantage particulier, et a n'exercer, dans les aiFaires intdrieures du Mexique, aucune influence de nature a porter atteinte au droit de la nation Mexicaine de choisir et de constituer librement la forme de son gouvemement. Article III. Une commission compos^e de trois commissaires, un nommd par chacune des puissances contractantes, sera tJtablie avec plein pouvoir de statuer sur toutes les questions que pourrait soulever I'emploi ou la distribution des sommes d'argent qui seront recouvr^es au Mexique, en ayant ^gard aux droits respectifs des trois parties contractantes. Article IV. Les bautes parties contractantes ddsirant, en outre, que les mesures qu'elles ont I'intention d'adopter n'aient pas un caract^re exclusif, et sacbant que le gouvemement des Etats Unis a, de son cdt^, des r(!clamations a faire valoir, comme elles, contre la rdpublique Mexicaine, conviennent qu'aussit6t aprfes la signature de la prfeente convention, H en sera communique une copie au gouvemement des Etats Unis ; que ce gouvemement sera invite a y acceder ; et qu'en prevision de cette accession leurs ministres respectifs a Washington seront immediatement munis de pleins pouvoirs k -reffet de conclure et de signer, collectivement ou separdment, avec le plenipotentiaire designd par le President des Etats Unis, une convention identique, sauf suppression du prdsent article, a ceUe qu'elles signent a la date de ce jour. Mais comme les hautes parties contractantes s'exposeraient, en apportant quelque retard a la mise k execution des Articles I et II de la prdsente convention, a manquer le but qu'elles ddsirent atteindre, elles sont tombdes d'accord de ne pas differer, en vue d'obtenir I'accession du gouvemement des Etats Unis, le commencement des operations sus mentionnees au dela de I'epoque a laqueUe leurs forces coinbinees pourront fitre reunies dans les parages de Vera Cruz. 368 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. Article V. La prdsente convention sera ratifiee, et les ratifications en seront (scliangdes k Londres, dans le ddlai de quinze jours. En foi de quoi les plenipotentiaires respectifs I'ont sign^, et j ont appose le sceau de leurs armes. Fait a Londres, en triple original, le trente-unidme jour du mois d'Octobre, de I'an de grace mil huit cent soixante-un. [l. s.l RUSSELL. [L. s.j XAVIER DE ISTUEIZ. [L. s.j FLAHAULT. [Translation.] Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, her Majesty the Queen of Spain, and his Majesty the Emperor of the French, feeling themselves compelled by the arbitrary and vexatious conduct of the authorities of the republic of Mexico to demand from those authorities more ef&cacious protection for the persons and properties of their subjects, as well as a fulfilment of the obligations contracted towards their Majesties by the republic of Mexico, have agreed to conclude a convention with a view to combine their common action, and, for this purpose,' have named as their plenipotentiaries, that is to say: Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the right honorable John Earl Russell, Viscount Amberley of Amberley and Ardsalla, a'peer of the United Kingdom, a member of her Britannic Majesty's privy council, her Majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs ; Her Majesty the Queen of Spain, Don Xavier de Isturiz yj Montero, knight of the illustrious order of the golden fleece, grand cross of the royal and distinguished order of Charles III, of the imperial order of the legion of honor of France, of the orders of the conception of Villaviciosa and Christ of Portugal, senator of the kingdom, late president of the council of ministers, and first secretary of state of her Catholic Majesty, and her envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to her Britannic Majesty; And his Majesty the Emperor of the French, his excellency the Count de Flahault de la Billarderie, senator, general of division, grand cross of the legion of honor, his Imperial Majesty's ambassador extraordinary to her Bri- tannic Majesty; Who, after having reciprocally communicated their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon the following articles : Article I. Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, her Majesty the Queen of Spain, and his Majesty the Emperor of the French, engage to make, immediately after the signature of the present convention, the necessary arrangements for despatching to the coasts of Mexico combined naval and military forces, the strength of which shall be determined by a further in- terchange of communications between their governments, but of which the total shall be sufficient to seize and occupy the several fortresses and military positions on the Mexican coast. The commanders of the allied forces shall be, moreover, authorized to execute the other operations which may be considered, on the spot, most suitable to effect the object specified in the preamble of the present convention, and specifically to insure the security of foreign residents THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 369 All tLe measures contemplated in this article shall be taken in the name and on account of the high contracting parties, without reference to the particular nationality of the forces employed to execute them. Article II. The high contracting parties engage not to seek for themselves, in the employ- ment of the coercive measures contemplated by the present convention, any acquisition of territoiy nor any special advantage, and not to exercise in the internal affairs of Mexico any influence of a nature to prejudice the right of the Mexican nation to choose and to constitute freely the form of its government. Article III. A commission composed of three commissioners, one to be named by each of the contracting powers, shall be established with full authority to determine all questions that may arise as to the application or distribution of the sums of money which may be recovered from Mexico, having regard to the respective rights of the three contracting parties. Article IV. The high contracting parties desiring, moreover, that the measures which they intend to adopt should not bear an exclusive character, and being aware that the government of the United States on its part has, like them, claims to enforce upon the Mexican republic, agree that immediately after the signature of the present convention a copy thereof shall be communicated to the government of the United States ; that that government shall be invited to accede to it ; and that in anticipation of that accession their respective ministers at Washington shall be at once fiimished with full powers for the purpose of concluding and signing, collectively or separately, with the plenipotentiary designated by the President of the United States, a convention identic, save the suppression of the present article, with that which they sign this day. But as by delaying to put into execution articles first and second of the present convention the high con- tracting parties woidd incur a risk of failing in the object which they desire to attain, they have agreed not to defer, with the view of obtaining the accession of the government of the United States, the commencement of the above-men- tioned operations beyond the time at which their combined forces can be assem- bled in the neighborhood of Vera Cruz. Article V. The present convention shall be ratified, and. the ratifications thereof shall be exchanged at London within fifteen days. In witness wherecjf the- respective plenipoteutiaiies have signed it, and have affixed thereto the seal of their arms. Done at London, in triplicate, the thirty-first day of the month of October, iii the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one. L. s. L. S- L. S, RUSSELL. XAVIER DE ISTURIZ. FLAHAULT. H. Ex. Doc. 100 24 370 THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. No. 61. Earl Russell to Earl Cowley. Foreign Office, November 1, 1861. My Lokd : I transmitli to you herewith a copy of a despatch which I have addressed to Sir 0. Wyke,* directing him to repair to Jamaica, and from thence to proceed to join the admiral wherever he may be. I am, &c. KUSSELL. No. 62. Earl Russell to Sir C. Wyke. Foreign Office, November 1, 1861. Sir : I have to instruct you forthwith to repair to Jamaica with all the mem- bers of her Majesty's mission. Admiral MUne has been du-ected to send a ship-of-war without delay to Vera Cruz, to receive you on board and convey you and your suite to Jamaica; and subsequently to convey you and one of the attaches of her Majesty's mission from Jamaica to Bermuda, or wherever the admiral may be. You wiU leave the rest of the mission at Jamaica until you requu-e their services. In joining the admiral you wiU embark on board the flag-ship. The admiral will deliver to you the further instructions for your guidance, which will be sent to his care. I am, &c. EUSSELL. No. 63. Earl Russell (o Earl Cowley. Foreign Office, November 1, 1861. My Lord : I transmit to your excellency herewith a copy x>f conventionf which I yesterday signed with the plenipotentiaries of France and Spain, ou the subject of the measures to be adopted towards Mexico. I also enclose drafts of the instructions which, in order to give effect to the provisions of this convention, I have, by the Queen's commands, addressed to the board of admiralty and to her Majesty's minister in Mexico.f I have com- municated copies of these drafts to the French ambassador and Spanish minister I shaU instruct Sir Charles Wyke, by the maH of to-morrow, to repair to Jamaica, and there await further instructions. Her Majesty's naval forces, of which the expedition, so far as this country is concerned, is to be composed, are already, or will be shortly, at Bermuda; and I will inform Count Flahault, and will enable your excellency to apprise M. Thouvenel in what manner and at what place it may, in the opinion of the « No. 62. t Enclosure In No. 60. J Nos. 59 and 60. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 371 board of admiralty, be advisable that the three squadrons should unite, bo as to proceed in company to the coast of Mexico. It will remain for the three powers to instruct their ministers at Washington to make to the government of the United States the communication contem- plated by the 4th article of the convention. Her Majesty's government propose to send their instructions to Lord Lyons by the mail of the 9th of November. I am, &c. EUSSELL. P. S. — Sir C. Wyke will receive his further instructions on board the admi- ral's ship. No. 64. Earl Russell to Sir J. Crampton. Foreign Office, November 1, 1861. Sir : I transmit to you herewith a copy of a convention* which I yesterday signed with the plenipotentiaries of Trance and Spain on the subject of the measures to be adopted towards Mexico. I also enclose drafts of the instructions which, in order to give effect to the provisions of this convention, I have, by the Queen's commands, addressed to the board of admiralty and to her Majesty's minister in Mexico. + I have communicated copies of these drafts to the French ambassador and Spanish minister. I shall instruct Sir C. "Wyke, by the mail of to-morrow, to repair to Jamaica, and there await further instructions. Her Majesty's naval forces of which the expedition, so far as this country is concerned, is to be composed, are already, or will be shortly, at Bermuda ; and I will inform M. de Isturiz, and will enable you to apprise the Spanish govern- ment, in what manner and at what place it may, in the opinion of the board of admiralty, be advisable that the three squadrons should unite, so as to proceed in company to the coast of Mexico. It wiU remain for the three powers to instruct their ministers at Washington to make to the government of the United States the communication contem- plated by the 4th article of the convention. Her Majesty's government propose to send their instructions to Lord Lyons by the mail of the 9th of November. I am, &c. EUSSELL. No. 65. Earl Russell to Earl Cowley. Foreign Office, Novemhen 1-, 1861. My Lord : With reference to my previous despatch of this day's date, f I enclose, for your excellency's information, and for communication to M. Thou- venel, a draft of a further instruction which it is my intention to address to Sir Charles Wyke with reference to the 2d article of the convention respecting the measures to be taken towards Mexico. § I am, &c. EUSSELL. ©Enclosure in No. 60. f Nob. 59 and 60. % No. 63. § No. 67, 372 THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO No. 66. Earl Russell to Sir J. Crampton. Foreign Office, 'November 1, 1861. Sir : With reference to my previous despatch of this day's date, I enclose, for your information, and for communication to the Spanish government, a draft of a further instruction vrhich it is my intention to address to Sir C. Wyke with reference to the 2d article of the convention respecting the measures to be taken towards Mexico.* I am, &c. RUSSELL. No. 67. Earl Russell to Sir C. Wyke. Foreign Office, November 1, 1861. Sir : You should be most careful to observe with strictness article 2 of the convention signed yesterday between Great Britain, France, and Spain, by which it is provided that no influence shall be used in the internal affairs of Mexico calculated to prejudice the right of the Mexican nation freely to choose and establish its own form of government. Should any Mexican, or any party in Mexico, ask your advice on such sub- jects, you will say that any regular form of government which shall protect the lives and properties of natives and of foreigners, and shall not permit British subjects to be attacked or annoyed on account of their occupations, their rights of property, or their religion, will secure the moral support of the British gov- ernment. I am, &c. EUSSELL. No. 68. The Secreta/ry to the Admiralty to Mr. Hammond. Admiralty, November 1, 1861. Sir : Earl Eussell having expressed his desire to be furnished with the views of my lords commissioners of the admiralty as to the most convenient rendez- vous for the combined English, French, and Spanish squadrons about to be sent to Mexico, I am commanded by their lordships to acquaint you as follows : The Spaniards having a good harbor at Havana, on the direct road to Vera Cruz, will probably assemble at that port. The French ships going from Europe will most likely touch at Guadalupe ; but as that island and Martinique are a long way from the entrance of the Gulf of Mexico, it seems probable that the French squadron would go on to Havana, or rather to Jamaica, as the more direct route, the latter island having the safe harbor of Port Royal, where water, coals, and provisions can be fiUed up. «« No. 67. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 373 The English ships would also naturally assemble at Port Eojal, and, assum- ing that the joint French and English squadrons meet there, the best rendezvous that could be given for the Spanish squadron to join them would be fifteen miles northwest of Cape St. Antonio, at the western end of Cuba. This cape is moderately high, and has a revolving light on it visible twenty miles, so that by night or by day it could be easily kept in sight. It is 175 miles, or one day's saU from Havana, and 540 miles, or three days' sail from Port Royal; and when the day of departure from Port Royal is fixed an aviso or despatch-vessel might be sent on the day before from Port Royal to Port Sagua, on the south coast of Cuba, (whence, no doubt, there is telegraphic communication to Havana,) to apprise the Spanish admiral. From Cape St. Antonft) to Vera Cruz the' distance is 650 miles, or rather more than three days' sail ; but there is no place on the coast'of Mexico at which a convenient rendezvous could be given, and it seems desirable that the combined squadrons should approach the coast in company. When the " nortes" or " northers" blow, the anchorage of Anton Lizardo, about twelve miles southeast of Vera Cruz, wiU be found a safe shelter, with space for a large fleet. I am, &c. W. G. ROMAINE. No. 69. Earl Russell to Earl Cowley, Foreign OFPrcB, Novemher 1, 1861. My Lord : I transmit to your excellency herewith, for communication to M. Thouvenel, a copy of a letter which I have received from the board of admiralty respecting the manner in which the junction of the aUied squadrons on their way to the coast of Mexico should be effected.* The Count de Flahault has been informed of the substance of this letter. I am, &c. RUSSELL. No. 70. Earl Russell to Sir J. Crampton. Foreign Office, Novemher \, 1861. Sir : I transmit to you herewith, for communication to the Spanish govern- ment, a copy of a letter which I have received from the board of admiralty respecting the manner in which the junction of the alHed squadrons on their way to the coast of Mexico should be effected.* M. de Isturiz has been informed of the contents of this memorandum. I am, &c. a • • RUSSELL. "No. 68. 374 THE PKESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. No. 71. Earl Russell to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. Foreign Office, November 1, 1861. My Lords : Her Majesty has been pleased to direct that a man-of-war should he at once sent to Vera Cruz to bring Sir 0. Wyke and the members of his mission to Jamaica. Sir C. Wyke and one of his attaches should be conveyed from Jamaica to Bermuda, or wherever Admiral Sir A. Milne may be, and received on board his flag-ship, leaving the rest of the mission at Jamaica. I am, &c. EUSSELL. No. 72. Sir J. Crampton to Earl Russell. [Extract.] Madrid, November 1, 1861. Marshal O'Donnell, in reply to my question as to the number of Spanish ships and troops intended to be sent on the expedition, replied that, as nearly as he could at present judge, the squadron would consist of 12 or 14 vessels, of different sizes, carrying altogether about 300 guns. These would be accompa- nied by two large steam transports, and the number of troops would amount to between 4,000 and 5,000 men. No. 73. Mr. Hammond to the Secretary to the Admiralty. Foreign Office, November 6, 1861. Sir : I am directed by Earl EusseU to request that you will acquaint the lords commissioners of the admiralty that he communicated to the French am- bassador the substance of your letter of the 1st instant, respecting the place at which the junction of the allied squadrons, about to proceed to Mexico, should be effected ; and that the French ambassador has informed me to-day that the French naval expedition will take its departure from France on Monday next, and will touch at the French colonies in the West Indies, and probably at Ja- maica, on its way to Havana, where it is expected to arrive between the 15th and 20th of December. Arrangements have already been made for its obtaiaing provisions and sup- plies at Havana, which, it is calculated, Jf will require four or five days to em- bark, so that the French expedition will probably be able to proceed on the 20th or 25th of December to the point off Cape St. Antonio, at which it was proposed in your letter that the squadrons should unite. I am, &c. E. HAMMOND. THE PEESENT CONDITIOK OF MEXICO. 375 No. 74. Earl Cowley to Earl Russell. Paris, November 5, 1861. My Lord : M. Dubois de Saligny is to be the French commissioner under article third of the convention of the 31st ultimo. He will also be named first plenipotentiary with Admiral Jurien de la Grraviere to frame, in concert with the plenipotentiaries of Great Britain and Spain, the demands to be made on the Mexican government. His instructions are not yet ready, but M. Thouvenel about to occupy himself on them. I have, &c. COWLEY. No. 75. Earl Cowley to Earl Russell. Paris, November 5, 1861. My Lord : I have communicated to M. Thouvenel, as instructed by your lordship's despatch of the 1st instant,* the draft of a further instruction, enclosed therein, which it is your lordship's intention to address to Sir Charles Wyke with reference to article 2 of the convention, respecting the measures to be taken towards Mexico, and his excellency expressed his full concurrence in them. I have, &c. COWLEY. No. 76. Earl Cowley to Earl Russell. Paris, November 5, 1861. My Lord : M. Thouvenel had already received from M. de Flahault, before I could communicate them to his excellency, the observations of the board of admiralty respecting the manner in which the junction of the allied squadrons on their way to the coast of Mexico should be effected, to which your lordship's despatch of the 1st instantt relates. His excellency said that he had already spoken with the minister of marine, and had found that arrangements had been made for the French squadron to take its final departure for Mexico from the Havana, whence it could put to sea in company with the Spanish squadron. There was no objection to Cape St. Antonio as the rendezvous of the allied squadrons. The French squadron wiU leave Toulon on. Monday next, but will call at Algiers to embark 500 Zouaves. The French admu-al will then be enabled to land about 2,500 men. I have, &c. COWLEY. - No. 65. t No. 69. 376 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. No. 77. Earl Russell to Lord Lyons. Foreign Office, November 6, 1861. My Lord : I transmit to you herewith a copy of a convention* between her Majesty the Queen of Spain and the Emperor of the French, for combined operations agaiast Mexico, which was signed at London on the 31st of October. Tour lordship wiU perceive that by article IV of this convention the con- tracting parties engage to communicate a copy of it to the government of the United States, and to invite that government to accede to it; and that, in anti- cipation of its consenting to do so, the representatives of the three powers at Washington shall be immediately furnished with full powers authorizing them, either jointly or separately, to conchide and sign with the plenipotentiary who may be named by the President of the United States an identical convention, with the omission merely of article IV. I have accordingly to instruct your lordship to make a proposal to that effect to the Secretary of State of the United States, in such form as may be agreed upon between yourself and the French and Spanish ministers, and you will receive the requisite full power to enable you, either jointly with them or sep- arately, to sign the convention with a plenipotentiary of the United States. You wUl take care not to conclude this matter, either ia form or substance, without coming to a complete and clear understanding with the French and Spanish ministers. I am, &c. EUSSELL. No. 78. Mr. Hammond to the Secretary to the Admiralty. Foreign Office, November 7, 1861. Sir : I am directed by Earl EusseU, with reference to my letter of yesterday, to request that you will acquaint the lords commissioners of the admiralty that his lordship would suggest that Rear Admiral Milne should be instructed to assemble the ships of his squadron at Port Royal, Jamaica, and should settle with the commanders of the French and Spanish squadrons, which will assemble at the Havana, on what date the British squadron shall appear off Cape St. Antonio to effect a junction with them. I am, &c. E. HAMMOND. No. 79. Earl Russell to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. Foreign Office, November 8, 1861. My Lords : With reference to my letter of the 31st of October, signifying to your lordships the Queen's commands as to the instructions to be given to » Enclosure in No. 60. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO, 377 Rear Admiral Milne for tlie guidance of his conduct in regard to affairs of Mexico, and more particularly to that passage in those instructions in which I refer to "the intention of the three powers severally to name a commissioner to frame, in concert with the officers commanding the naval forces of the three powers, the articles, an assent to which will be demanded of the Mexican gov- ernment, or of the persons exercising authority in Mexico," I have the honor to state to your lordships that Admiral Milne should be informed that, in the event of any difference of opinion between himself and Sir Charles Wyke as to the terms in which those articles should be framed, the opinion of Sir Charles Wyke, so far as Great Britain is concerned, should prevail. I am, &c. RUSSELL. No. 80. Earl Russell to Sir C. Wyke. [Extract] Foreign Office, November 15, 1861. The instructions of the Emperor of the French are similar in sutstance to those which I have transmitted to you. The French government have contemplated a case of which I had not taken notice. It is supposed that the Mexicans may withdraw from Vera Cruz, de- stroying their fortifications, and refuse to enter into any agreement or nego- tiation whatever. In such a case the French government maintain that the allied powers could not allow themselves to be baffled ; they could not permit their subjects to be ill-treated and defrauded, nor three powerful governments to be defied with impunity. The French government in such a case, therefore, suppose that the allied forces would march on Mexico, and there require the reparation which had not been obtained on the coast. I have nothing to say against this reasoning or the measure in contemplation. But, as regards her Majesty's forces, you are aware that no land forces have been directed to join the British portion of the expedition. A body of seven him.dred marines is the whole force set apart for this service which can be em- ployed on shore for any length of time. Neither the constitution of this force nor its amount would j,llow of its being employed in a march upon Mexico. You wUl, therefore, if such a case should arise, decline to direct the marines to take part in the operations against Mexico ; but it is essential that uniformity should be preserved in the demands to be made upon the de facto authorities of Mexico. I do not think it necessary to give you more detailed information. Her Ma- jesty's government have entire reliance upon your judgment and discretion. They would be unwilling to fetter that discretion by minute directions upon hypothetical cases. They would prefer, in regard to operations of much diffi- culty, where concert is necessary and the aspect of affairs may vary from day to day, to leave you to the guidance of your own judgment, enlightened as that judgment will be by local information and experience. Her Majesty's govern- ment are confident that Sir A. Milne and yourself wUl, in the performance of your present arduous duties, be guided by that zeal for the public service and by that judgment and* discrimination of which you have both given satisfac- tory proofs. 378 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. No. 81. Earl Russell to Sir C Wyke. Foreign Office, November 15, 1861. Sir : I enclose for your information and guidance a copy of a further letter which I have addressed to the lords commissioners of the admiralty,* modi- fying to a certaia extent that part of my previous letter of the 31st of October which related to operations on the Pacific coast of Mexico. Her Majesty's government are of opinion that if the Mexican authorities should accede to the terms which will be proposed to them, and should put the allied forces in possession of Vera Cruz, it may be unnecessary to undertake operations on the Pacific coast ; but, at all events, they think it best, before any such operations are commenced, that you, in conjunction with Admiral MUne, and with the ministers and commanders of France and Spain, should have the opportunity of determining whether such operations are desirable. If such is the case, you will apprise Eear Admiral Maitland of the result of your deliberations, and in requesting him to proceed to execute the contingent instructions with which he is furnished by the lords of the admiralty, you will further inform him of the steps which he should take for coUecing the duties of customs at the ports which he may occupy, and of the manner ia which he should dispose of the money which he may thereby raise. It is possible that the Mexican government, not opposing the occupation of Vera Cruz by the allies, may decline to enter into any convention, and may divert their exports to the ports on the Pacific. This is a contingency for which the instructions to Admiral Maitland are intended to provide. I am, &c. RUSSELL. No. 82. Earl Russell to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. Foreign Office, November 15, 1861. My Lords : With reference to that part of my letter to your lordships, of the 31st of October, in which I conveyed to you her Majesty's pleasure in regard to the operations to be undertaken by Eear Admiral Maitland on the coast of Mexico, ia execution of the convention between England, France, and Spain, I have the honor to acquaint your lordships that her Majesty has been pleased to direct that the previous instruction should be so far modified as to subject Hear Admiral Maitland's action to the information that he may receive from Sir Charles Wyke. It wUl, therefore, be, in the first instance, sufiicient that your lordships should du'ect Admiral Maitland to occupy Acapulco, or other ports on the Pacific coast of Mexico, with the exception of Mazatlan, on receiving information from Sir Charles Wyke that such an operation is desirable for the purposes of the con- vention ; and I will instruct Sir Charles Wyke, in the event of his making such a communication to Admiral Maitland, to acquaint him with the further steps which it may be advisable to take on obtaining possession of the ports in ques- tion. I am, &c. , RUSSELL. o No. 82. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 379 No. 83. Eail Cowley to Earl Russell. Paris, November 14, 1861- My Lord : The French ambassador at Madrid has informed M. Thouvenel that intelligence had been received by the Spanish government that the Spanish expedition against Mexico was to have put to sea on the 24th ultimo. Mai-shal Serrano, the governor of Cuba, had taken this determination in ignorance of the negotiations pursuing between the British, French, and Spanish governments to undertake this expedition in common; but, according to calcu- lations made hj the latter, it seemed probable that the despatches to Marshal Serrano, informing him of this circumstance, would have reached his excellency before the 24th ultimo, and would have prevented the departui-e of the Spanish BC[uadron. I have, &c. COWLEY. No. 84. Earl Russell to Earl Cowley. • Foreign Office, November 16, 1861. My Lord : I enclose, for your excellency's information, and for communica- tion to the French government, copies of communications, as marked in the mar- gin,* which I have addressed to the admiralty and to Sir Charles Wyke, on the subject of the projected operations against Mexico. I am, &c. EUSSELL. No. 85. Mr. Hammond to the Secretary to the Admiralty. Foreign Office, November 18, 1861. Sir : I am directed by Earl Eusaell to transmit to you, for the information of the lords commissioners of the admiralty, a copy of a despatch from her Majesty's ambassador at Paris, respecting the time of departure of the Spanish squadron for the coast of Mexico.! I am, &c. E. HAMMOND. » Nos. 80, 81, and 82. -j- No. 84. 380 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. No. 86. Earl Cowley to Earl Russell. Paris, November 19, 1861.- My Lord : I fear that some longer time may elapse than is expected by her Majesty's government before the Trench squadi-on destined for Mexico can reach the Havana, as Admiral Jurien de la Graviere has insisted on all the vessels composing it rendezvousing in the first instance at Teneriffe. I have, &c. COWLEY. No. 87. Sir J. Orampton to Earl Russell. [Extract.] Madrid, November 19, 1861. I have the honor to transmit, in translation, an extract from the official "Gazette" of this day's date, containing two royal decrees, the one appointing General Prim to be commandant-in-chief of the expeditionary corps to Mexico; the other appointing him to be plenipotentiary for the setUement of the questions pending with the republic of Mexico. Enclosure 1 in No. 87. Extract from the Madrid " Gazette" of November 19, 1861. [Translation.] WAE DEPARTMENT. Royal Decree. In consideration of the qualifications of Lieutenant General Don Juan Prim, Marquis of Castillejos, I name him commandant-in-chief of the expeditionary corps to Mexico. Given in the palace, November 3, 1861. (Signed by the royal hand.) Leopoldo O'Donnell, Minister of War. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 381 Enclosure 2 in No. 87. Extract from the Madrid '-Gazette" of November 19, 1861. [Translation.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE. Royal Decree. In consideration of the peculiar qualifications of Don Juan Prim, Count of Eens, Marquis of CastiUejos, I appoint him my plenipotentiary for tlie settle- ment of the questions pending with the republic of Mexico. Given in the palace, November 17, 1861. (Signed by the royal hand.) SaTUENINO CaLDERON CoiiLANTES, Minister of State. No. 88. Sir C. Wyke to Earl Russell. Mexico, October 28, 1861. My Lord : During the past month nothing worthy of note has taken place to change either for better or worse the chronic state of misery and disorder into which this unfortunate country has fallen, from the incapacity of its rulers, and the bitter spirit of party hatred which animates its contending factions. Marquez and the other chiefs of the reactionary party, after having for a while withdrawn from the immediate vicinity of Mexico, have retraced their steps, and are now within twenty leagues of the capital with a force variously estimated at between 3,000 and 4,000 men. A few days ago Marquez paid a second visit to the mining establishment of Real del Monte, in which EngUsh capital to a large amount is invested, and levied another forced contribution there to the amount of $50,000. Before he had time to do more mischief he was attacked by the government forces under General Tapia, who forced him to retreat, with the loss of six guns and the greater part of his badly armed infantry. ' He appears to have retired, however, in pretty good order, and having got between the government troops and the capital, actually intercepted and captured Tapia's despatches, giving an account of the late victory. The action of congress is entirely nullified by the opposition, which, without any real policy of their own, counteract every measure supported by govern- ment from a feeling of personal hostility to the president, whom they wish to displace, without apparently having chosen anybody to succeed him, should their efPorts eventually be crowned with success. Every day's experience only tends to prove the utter absurdity of attempting to govern the country with the limited powers granted to the executive by the present ultra-liberal constitution, and I see no hope of improvement unless it comes from a foreign intervention, or the formation of a rational government composed of the leadLag men of the moderate party, who, however, at present are void of moral courage and afraid to move, unless with some material support from abroad. I have, &c. C. LENNOX WYKE. 382 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. No. 89. Sir C. Wyke to Earl Russell. [Extract.] Mexico, October 28, 1861. I was much gratified in learning, by the receipt of your lordship's despatches of the 21st and Slst of August last, that the line of conduct I adopted in negotiating with this government to obtain the repayment of the $660,000 stolen from the legation, and the $400,000 from the Laguna Seca conducta, as reported in my correspondence of the months of June and July last, had been entirely approved of by her Majesty's government. The instructions contained in your lordship's despatch of the 21st of August enabled me to act in the only way that can be successful with a government which, from the patient forbearance hitherto shown by her Majesty's govern- ment, had come to the conclusion that they could commit any and every outrage with impunity. I was unwUIing to use the power with which your lordship had invested me by sending in an ultimatum, without first of all trying to reason them into the necessity of complying with the demands which, just in themselves, would soon be urged in such a manner as to compel the government of the republic to listen to them with attention. With this object in view, I wrote a note to Senor de Zamacona, the minister for foreign affairs, informing him that I had received by the English mail, which had just arrived, instructions from her Majesty's government, the tenor of which I was anxious to acquaint him with. He immediately replied that he would call on me at 4 o'clock the same day, at which hour he duly arrived at the legation. On my informing him of the nature of your lordship's instructions, and even reading them to him, in order that no doubt should exist on the subject, he was as much astonished as alarmed, and expressed an earnest wish that I should not communicate with him in writing on a subject so serious imtil he had acquainted the president and his colleagues, the other ministers, with the actual state of the case, after which he would call on me again and acquaint me with the views of his government. Eight days elapsed without my seeing him, and he then returned to negotiate with me for the settlement of a question the gravity of which he had at length become fully aware of. From that day to this, that is to say, during three weeks, he has been with me for two hcTurs at least out of every twenty-four, urging the impossibility of complying with your lordship's demands, and trying to obtain better terans than those I insisted on. I told him that I was willing in every way to spare their amour propre and extreme susceptibility as far as was consistent with my duty, but that the essen- tial substance of what was required must be conceded, or else I should withdraw the mission from the republic, which would thus have to bear the responsibility of a refusal. The two principal objections to be overcome consisted in the repayment of the $660,000 robbed from the legation, and the appointment of interventors at the different ports ; the first, because it involved the necessity of their practi- cally recognizing a principle they had hitherto always repudiated, viz., their responsibility for the acts of the other government ; and the second, because the presence of such agents was looked on as a national humiliation, which it would be disgraceful in them, as a government, to consent to. Added these was the all but impossibility of their procuring resources which THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 383 would enable them to comply with our demands. At this juncture Mr. Oorwin, the United States minister, informed them that he had instructions to negotiate a convention with them, by which, on their giving certain guarantees, such as pledging the remains of their church property, waste lands, &c., the American government would engage to pay 3 per cent, interest annually on their English debt, for the space of five years, provided at the end of that time Mexico would repay the money so advanced with 6 per cent, interest thereon. Senor de Zamacoua at once wished to hand me over to my American colleague, who, he felt sure, would guarantee the payment of the interest on the English debt, and thereby settle the very disagreeable questions existing between his government and this legation. He- seemed so pleased with this new solution of his pressing difiiculties that it was quite painful to wake him out of his happy day-dream by the declaration that such a combination could not be entertained, and that his government alone must be held responsible for what it owed us. After he had recovered from the perception of this unpleasant truth, he reflected that the money would still be forthcoming, and that he had only first of all to receive it from the United States in order to pay it back again to Great Britain. This point once settled, we set to work again, when he immediately stumbled over the insurmountable difEculty of the appointment of interventors for the reasons already stated, and, as if that was not sufficient, declared the impossibility of finding funds from which to pay the legation and Laguna Seca robberies. To this I replied, that if they refused our conditions, we should appoint the interventors, and by seizing their ports with a naval force, pay ourselves and their other creditors out of the duties levied at such ports. This brought him back again to the point j&om which we had diverged, and he then said, with some degree of truth, that, independent of the difficulty of getting the president to look at the question in its proper point of view, it was useless to wound the susceptibilities of the nation, as any agreement he made with me which had that result was certain to be repudiated by the congress, and would utterly de- feat the object we had in view. I then persuaded him that what I required could easily be reconciled with the national honor, and even prove highly ad- vantageous to tl* pecuniary interests of the republic, by giving it another fonn and putting aside the name of " interventor " altogether. This point at length settled, as I will hereafter explain, the next question was where the money was to come from wherewith to pay the sums before referred to, as 59 per cent, of their import duties being mortgaged to us alone, it was clear it could not be taken from the remaining 41 per cent, out of which they have to pay the French convention and other assignments to foreign creditors. Some time ago they made over 20 per cent, of some extra duties, called " mejoras materiales," to Don Manuel JEscaudon for the purpose of aiding him to construct a railroad between this city and Vera Cruz. Now as this railroad plan is little better than a chimera,- and they have no right to squander their money in this way whilst leaving their debts unpaid, I suggested the propriety of stopping Don Manuel's allowance, and employing one-half of it towards the liquidation of their debt to us, and keeping the other for their own more pressing necessities. I will not any longer take up your lordship's time by detailing the means by which, in long and weary interviews, I day by day gained my ground, until at length I think I may say I have carried my point, and brought Senor Zamacona to agree to a settlement of the difficulty on terms which, although slightly modified in form from what your lordship instructed me to demand, will still in substance, I trust, prove satisfactory to her Majesty's government. Our interviews only terminated this afternoon ; and as soon after the departure of the English mail as possible, I shall draw up the articles of a convention embodying the following agreement : 384 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 1. Eepayment of the legation and Laguna Seca robberies, with 6 per cent, interest on the first and 12 per cent, interest on the second, by the additional 10 per cent, on extra import duties above referred to as "mejoras materiales." 2. The payment of arrears of interest due to the London and convention bondholders to be made good by consigning 30 per cent, of the import duties at all the ports for the former, and 29 per cent, for the latter, until said an-ears are paid off, when the percentage on such duties will again revert respectively to 25 and 12 per cent, as heretofore. 3. Such sums owing to both classes of bondholders as were in the hands of the custom-house authorities at the time of the suspension of payments caused by the law of the 17th of July last, shall be paid out of the aforesaid 10 per cent, extra duties styled " mejoras materiales," which, as already stated, are set aside for paying the claims arising out of the legation and,Laguna Seca robberies ; and these payments shall be rnade of said extra duties when the losses caused by those robberies have been reimbursed. 4. The consuls at the different ports shall be authorized to claim the inspection of any books, accounts, documents, or manifests in the respective custom-houses, as they consider necessary to verify the receipts and accounts of the same ; and, finally, any commercial house paying duties to the government on goods imported without first of all receiving the receipts from the bondholders' agents for their percentage on such duties shall, as well as the custom-house authorities, render themselves liable to be sued by law for the recovery of double the amount of such duties. 5. Before signing the convention containing the above stipulations, the govern- ment will address me an official note engaging to use their best efforts -to carry a measure through congress for the alteration of the tariff, whereby the duties on English manufactured goods shall be reduced to nearly one-half of what is now levied on them. Such, my lord, is the outline of the convention which I hope to sign with this government in the course of the ensuing month ; and if I succeed in doing so, I think the bondholders will have every reason to be satisfied with the bargain made for them. As it would have been impossible for this government to fiflfil such engage- ments without the pecuniary aid afforded to them by the American government, and as that aid will not be forthcoming untU the month of January next, the stipula,tions of this convention will not come into force until that period, dating from the 1st day of the month. The extended power given to our consuls, together with the agent's right to prosecute all parties defrauding the bondholders 'of their proper percentage on the' duties, are advantages only to be equalled by those arising from extending the collection of such percentage to all the pTjrts in the republic, instead of its being confined to Tampico and Vera Cruz. The reduction in duties will also have an immense effect in largely increasing our commercial relations with this country, which have hitherto been cramped by the enormous duties levied on our manufactured goods. With these people one must never count on anything until it is actually done ; therefore I must not boast of my success until the convention is actually signed, which I hope it will be within the next fortnight. As it was under the pressure of fear that this government has yielded, it be- comes absolutely necessary for our future prestige and influence here that a respectable naval force shall soon make its appearance in the wa:ters of Vera Cruz, and in the event of the Mexican government ever failing to comply with the engagements which they have entered into, I should be authorized to employ such naval force as I could then procure from Jamaica or elsewhere, in order to force them to perform their duty, without waiting untU I could obtain instruc- tions from home to that effect. THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. 385 With such power placed in. my hands I should he ahle to prevent much mis- chief, as well as future annoyance to her Majesty's government. I cannot speak in terms of sufficient praise of my American colleague, Mr. Corwin, who throughout this transaction has acted with me most cordially, hav- ing refused to negotiate his convention with this government until he learnt from me that I had settled all pending difficulties with them, as he was determined that the money to be advanced by his government should be applied for the purpose it was intended, and not uselessly sq[uandered, as it otherwise would have been, to no purpose. ' As the interest due on the French convention is a mere trifle in comparison to ours, I have strongly urged this government to satisfy the just reclainations of the French legation with respect to its suspension, and they have assured me that they will use their best efforts to come to some satisfactory arrangement of this c[uestion with M. de Saligny. No. 90. Earl Russell to Sir J. Granvpton. Foreign Office, November 28, 1861. Sir : I received last night, from Sir Charles Wyke, a despatch dated the 28th of October, the substance of which I propose now to communicate to you. I should explain, in the first instance, that in the proceedings reported in this despatch Sir Charles Wyke was engaged in carrying out the instructions con- tained in my despatch to him of the 21st of August, of which a copy is herewith enclosed for your information,* and from which you wiU learn the nature" of the demands which he was at that time instructed to make on the government of Mexico in the name of her Majesty's government. On the receipt of this instruction Sir C. Wyke placed himself in conmtnunica- tion with the Mexican authorities, with the view, if possible, to avoid the necessity of presenting an ultimatum. The two principal difficulties which Sir C. Wyke had to meet in the course of the discussions which followed were, first, the objection to the repayment of the sum robbed from her Majesty's legatipn; and, secondly, the proposed appointment of interventors at the ports. The objection to the first of these demands was grounded on the principle that Jhe actual authorities do not hold themselves responsible for the acts of their predecessors ; and as regards the interventors, it was urged that such an arrange- ment would be regarded as a'national kumiliation which it would be disgraceful for the Mexican government to consent to. , *^ The impossibility of raising funds to meet the pecuniary demands of her Ma- jesty's government was also m-ged upon Sir C. Wyke. But a proposal made by the minister of the United States placed the matter in a new aspect. That minister informed the Mexican authorities that he had instructions to negotiate a convention with them by which, on their giving certain guarantees, such as pledging the remains of the church property, -waste lands, &c., the Amer- ican government would engage to pay 3 per cent, per annum on the Mexican debt to England for the space of five years, provided that at the expiration of that period Mexico would repay the money so advanced, with 6 per cent, interest thereupon. The difficulties raised as to the repayment of the legation, and Laguna Seca robberies, and as to the appointment of interventors, came next under discussion; «» No. 16. H. Ex. Hoc. 100 r25 386 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. but Sir C. Wyke states that lie eventually carried Ms point, and that lie thinks he may say that he has brought Senor Zamacona, with whom the discussion was carried on, to agree to a settlement on teims which, though slightly modified from those proposed, might still prove satisfactory to her Majesty's government. The terms thus arrived at are contained in the articles herewith enclosed for your information,* and which Sir 0. Wyke proposed immediately to embody in the form of a convention, which he states that he hoped he should succeed in in- ducing the Mexican government to sign in the course of last month. As it was understood that it would be impossible for the Mexican government to fulfil such engagements without the. pecuniary aid afforded to them by the American government, and as that aid was not to be forthcoming until the month of January next, it was arranged that the stipulations of the proposed conven- tion should not come into force until the 1st of January, 1862. Such is the state of the case as reported by Sir 0. Wyke; but with reference to the fact that the convention was not ' yet signed, and that the terms agreed upon had only been conceded under the pressure of fear, Sir 0. Wyke has urged the presence of a naval force at Vera Oruz, and that he should be authorized, in case of necessity, to have recourse to force to compel a compliance with the British demands as then made. Sir C. Wyke has further urged the Mexican government to satisfy the claims of the French legation as regards the suspension of interest due on the French convention, and. the Mexican government have assured him that they would use their best efforts to come to some satisfactory arrangement with M. de Saligny. Having stated the history of these negotiations, and the result which has been reached, I have now to communicate to yoti the view which her Majesty's gov- ernment take of this transaction. The terms obtained by Sir Charles Wyke fulfil, generally speaking, the sep- arate requirements of Great Britain; but no security is obtained that those terms will be observed any better than former stipulations and engagements. That security, if to be found at all, is to be found in the convention which her Majesty has concluded with France and Spain. The advantage of having obtained the consent of the Mexican government to these conditions consists, first, in the precision with which Sir Charles Wyke has drawn up the British demands ; and, secondly, in the assent of the Mexican authorities to the terms thus laid before them. The task of the British commissioner is thus rendered easy, and the work of our respective missions will be facilitated. It would greatly add to the facility and abridge the time of negotiation if the government of the Queen of Spain shouldbe able to communicate to her Majesty's government the terms which they would think it necessary to require for the reparation of the wrongs they have sustained at the hands of Mexico, and the safety of their subjects for the future. I am, &c., EUSSELL. No. 91. Earl Russell to Earl Cowley. Foreign Office, December 2, 1861. My Lord: I received on the 27th instant, from Sir C. Wyke, a despatch' dated the 28th of October, the substance of which I propose now to Communicate to you. " See page 117. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 387 I sliould explain, in tlie first instance, that in the proceedings reported in this despatch Sir 0. Wyke was engaged in carrying out the instructions contained in my despatch to him of the 21st of August, of which a copy is herewith enclosed for your information,*, and from which you will learn the nature of the demands which he was at that time instructed to make on the government of Mexico in the name of her Majesty's government. On the receipt of this instruction Sir 0. Wyke placed himself in communica- tion with the Mexican authorities, with the view, if possible, to avoid the necessity of presenting an ultimatum. The two principal dif&culties which Sir C. Wyke had to meet in the discus- sions which followed were, first, the objection to the repayment of the sum robbed from her Majesty's legation; and, secondly, the proposed appointment of interventors at the ports. The objection to the first of these demands was granted on the principle that the actual authorities do not hold themselves responsible for the acts of their predecessors ; and, as regards the interventors, it was urged that such an arrange- ment would be regarded as a national humiliation, which it would be disgraceful, for the Mexican government to consent to. The impossibility of raising funds to meet the pecuniary demands of her Majesty's government was also urged upon Sir C. Wyke, but a proposal made by the minister of the United States placed the matter<*n a new light. .That minister informed the Mexican authorities that he had instructions to negotiate a convention with them, by which, on their giving certain guarantees,, such as pledging the remains of the church property, waste lands, &c., the- American government would engage to pay 3 per cent, per annum on the Mexican debt to England for the space of five years, provided that at the expiration of that period Mexico would repay the money so advanced, with 6 per cent, interest thereupon. The difficulties raised as to the repayment of the legation and Laguna Seca robberies, and as to the appointment of interventors, came next under discussion; but Sir G. Wyke states that he eventually can-ied his point, and that he thinks- he may say that he has brought Senor Zamacona, with whom the discussion was carried on, to agree to a settlement on terms which, though slightly modified, from those proposed, might still prove satisfactory to her Majesty's government.. The terms thus arrived at are contained in the articles herewith enclosed for your information,! and which Sir C. Wyke proposes immediately to embody in the form of a convention, which he states that he hoped he should succeed in. inducing the Mexican government to sign in the course of last month. As it was understood that it would be impossible for the Mexican goveminent to fulfil such engagements without the pecuniary aid afforded to them by the- American government, and as that aid was not to be forthcoming until the month, of January next, it was arranged that the stipulations of the proposed convention, should not come into force until the 1st of January, 1862. Such is the state of the case, as reported by Sir 0. Wyke; but Avith reference to the fact that the convention was not yet signed, and that the terms agreed upon had only been conceded under the pressure of fear. Sir 0. Wyke has urged, the presence of a naval force at Vera Cruz, and" that he should be authorized,, in case of necessity, to have recourse to force to compel a compliance with the- British demands as there made. Sir 0. Wyke has further urged the Mexican government to satisfy the claims- of the French legation as regards the suspension of interest due on the French- convention, and the Mexican government have assured him that they would use their best efforts to come to some satisfactory arrangement with M. de Saligny. Having stated the result of these negotiations, and the result which has been •No 15. f See page 117. 388 THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. reached, I have now to communicate to you the view which her Majesty's gov- ernment take of this transaction. The tei-ms obtained by Sir 0. Wyke fulfil, generally speaking, the separate requirements of Great Britain. But no security is obtained that those terms will be observed any better than any former stipulations and engagements. That security, if to be found at all, is to be found in the convention which her Majesty has concluded with Prance and Spain. The advantage of having obtained the consent of the Mexican government to these conditions consists, first, in the precision which Sir C. Wyke has drawn up the British demands; and, secondly, in the assent of the Mexican authorities to the terms |hus laid before them. The task of the British commissioners is thus rendered easy, and the work of our respective missions will be facilitated. It would greatly add to the facility and abridge the time of negotiation if the government of the Emperor of the French should be able to communicate to her Majesty's government the terms which they would think it necessary to require for the reparation of the wrongs they have sustained at the hands of Mexico, and the safety of their subjects for the future. I am, &c., RUSSELL. No. 92. Earl Russell to Earl Cowley. Foreign Office, December 4, 1861. My Lord : In the present state of our relations with the United States, her Majesty's government propose to send one line-of-battle ship and two frigates only to form part of the expedition to Mexico. 3Che number of supernumerary marines wilj. be 700. I am, &c., RUSSELL. No. 93. ■ Earl Russell to Sir J. Crampton. Foreign Office, December 4, 1861. Sib: Imflie present state of our relations with the United States, her Majesty's government propose to send one line-of-battle ship and two frigates only to form part of the expedition to Mexico. The number of supernumerary marines will still be 700. I am, &c., RUSSELL. THE PKESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. 389 No. 94. Earl Cowley to Earl Russell. Paris, December 3, 1861. My Lord : I have communicated to M. Thouvenel your lordship's despatch, No. 1324, of yesterday's date, in which your lordship informs me of the nego- tiations which have taken place between Sir Charles Wyke and the Mexican minister for foreign affairs for the settlement of British claims on the Mexican government. M. Thouvenel did not 'make any other remark than that he regretted that hfe' could not communicate to her Majesty's government the terms which the impe- rial government would require for the reparation of the wrongs they have sus- tained, and for the safety of French subjects in future. He had not himself the necessary information to enable him to form an opinion, and he had been unable, therefore, to furnish any instructions on this head to Admiral Jurien de la Gra- viere, which he had much desired to do. All that he could say was, that the greater part of the French claims were provided for by the convention which the Mexican government had set aside ; and, with regard to the others, he must leave it to the discretion of thfe commissioners to examine into and settle their amount. I have, &c., COWLEY. No. 95. Lord Lyons to Earl Russell. Washington, November 29, 1861. My Lord : M. Mercier and I received last week our instructions and full powers with regard to inviting the accession of the United States to the conven- tion for combined operations against Mexico, which was signed in London on the 31st of last month. But the fuU powers and instructions for M. Tassara, the Spanish minister, have not yet reached him. M. Mercier and I have there- fore been obliged to defer addressing to the government of the United States the formal invitation to accede to the convention. M. Mercier, however, on the 23d ultimo told Mr. Seward that instructions had been received by me and by himself, and that we should be glad to make the invitation, either collectively or separately, as he pleased ; in fact, to make it in whatever form he thought most convenient. Mr. Seward said that he presumed the invitation would be in writing, but that he was indifferent about the point of form. He did not give any hint of the nature of the answer which he should make on behalf of the United States government. M. Tassara expects to receive his instructions to-morrow or the next day. I have, &c., LYONS. 390 THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. No. 96. Lord Lyons to Earl Russell. Washington, December 3, 1861. My Lord : Witli reference to my despatcli of the _29th ultimo, I tave the honor to inform your lordship that on the following day M. Tassara, the Spanish minister, received the instructions and full powers necessary to enable him to join M. Mercier and me in inviting the government of the United States to ac- cede to the convention for comhined operations against Mexico, which was signed iri London on the 31st of October last. We lost no time in addressing a collec- tive note to Mr. Seward, inviting, in the name of the governments of Great Britain, Prance, and Spain, the accession of the United States to the convention. I have the honor to enclose a copy of the note. No answer has yet been made to it. I have, &c., LYONS. Enclosure in No. 96. MM. Tassara and Mercier and Lord Lyons to Mr. Seward. Washington, ce 30 Novemhre, 1861. Les soussignds, envoyds extraordinaires et ministres pldnipotentiaires de leurs Majestes la Eeine d'Espagne, I'Empereur des Fran^ais, et la Reine du Eoyaume Uni de la Grande Bretagne et d'Irlande, ont I'honneur de transmettre ci-joint a I'honorable Secretaire d'Etat le texte d'une convention conclue a Londres le 31 Octobre^entre leurs souyerains respectifs, dans le but d'obtenir par une action commune le redressement de leurs griefs centre la republique du Mexique. Ainsi qu'il a ^te stipuld entre les .hautes parties contractantes, les soussignds ont rcQU I'ordre d'inviter le gouvernement des Etats-Unis a accdder a cet acte ; et en adressant cette invitation a I'honorable Secretaire d'Etat, ils s'empressent de rinformer qu'ils sont munis de pleins pouvoirs n^cessaires a I'effet de con- clure et de signer collectivement ou s^pardment avec le pl^nipotentiaire design^ par le President des Etats-Unis une convention identique. Rien ne serait plus agrdable aux gouvernements d'Espagne, de France, et de la Grande Bretagne que de voir celui des Etats-Unis accueillir favorablement leur proposition, et en priant I'honorable Secretaire d'Etat de vouloir bien leur faire connaitre la decision du President, les soussignds, &c. GABRIEL J. TASSARA. HENRI MERCIER. LYONS. No. 97. Sir J. Crampton to Earl Russell. Madrid, Decemher 10, 1861. My Lord : On the receipt of your lordship's despatch of the 4th instant, I immediately infoi-med Marshal O'Donnell that, in the present gtate of our rela- THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 391 tions with the United States, hex Majesty's government proposed to send one line-of-battle ship and two frigates only, to form part of the expedition to Mexico. I have, &c., JOHN F. ORAMPTON. No. 98. Sir J. Crampton, to Earl Russell. Madrid, December 15, 1861. My Loed : I have communicated to M. Oalderon OoUantes the substance of your lordship's despatch of the 28th ultimo, giving the history of the negotia- tions between Sir C. Wyke and the Mexican government, and the result which had been reached ; andiacquainting me, at the same time, with the view which her Majesty's government take of this transaction. I told M. Oalderon OoUantes that the terms obtained by Sir Oharles Wyke fulfil, generally speaking, the separate requirements of Great Britain ; but I added that the agreement which had been thus come to with the Mexican gov- ernment in no way altered the position of her Majesty's government as regards the convention which Great Britain had concluded with Prance and Spain. That convention, I ob^rved, affords in fact the only security that the terms agreed upon by the Mexican government on this occasion shall be better observed than former stipulations and engagements. The advantage, therefore,- of having obtained the consent of the Mexican gov- ernment to these conditions consists in the precision with which the British de- mands have been stated, and the assent of the Mexican authorities to the terms laid before them. The task of the British commissioners was, I remarked, thus rendered easy, and the work of our respective missions would be facilitated ; but it was the opinion of her Majesty's government that it would greatly add to that facility if the government of the Queen of Spain should be able to communicate to them the terms which her Oatholic Majesty's government would think it neces- sary to require for the reparation of the wrongs they had sustained at the .hands of Mexico, and the safety of their subjects in future. M. Oalderon replied that he entirely entered into the views of her Majesty's government in this respect, and that, as far as Spain was concerned, nothing could be easier than to state with precision the terms which she on her part would require of the Mexican government. These teians are, in fact, embodied in the convention concluded with Mhamon, and confirmed by the treaty Mon- Almonte, which had been repudiated by the succeeding government of Mexico upon the same ihonstrous principle which the Mexican government had attempted to oppose to the demands of Sir 0. Wyke, viz : that the actual authorities do not consider themselves responsible to foreign nations for the acts of their prede- cessors. Upon the fulfilment of these engagements the Spanish government would insist, and all that they would demand in addition to them would be the infliction of due punishment upon the perpetrators of the assassinations which had since been committed upon Spanish subjects. This, he considered, however, to be a capital point ; for if the Mexican gov- ernment was unable or unwilling to administer justice in such flagrant cases, what hope could we entertain of their fulfilling other engagements ? If the lives of British subjects had in any instance been sacrified, he presumed that as a matter of course the punishment of the assassins would be made by her Majes- 392 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. ty's government a primary condition to any aiTangement with the Mexican gov- ernment. In conckision, M. Oalderon expressed the opinion that the readiest way of coming to the understanding proposed by her Majesty's government, with a view to facilitating the negotiations, would be that the commissioners of Spain and England should be instracted by their respective governments to communicate to each other the terms which each would think it necessary to insist upon in satis- faction for past wrongs, and as security for the future obsei-vance of international duties by Mexico. I have, &c., JOHN r. CEAMPTON. No. 99. M. Isturiz to Earl Russell. ♦ LoNDRES, 22 de Diciembre de I98I. My Lord : Cuando se celebro el convenio de ' 31 de Octubre para arreglar la accion mancomunada de Inglaterra, Espana, y Francia en la republica de Mdjico, tuve el honor de advertir a vuestra excelencia, de parte de mi gobiemo, que si no llegaban a tiempo las.ordenes que iban aenviarse al capitan general deCuba, era posible que la expedicion Espanola saliese del pueBto de laHabana sin agu- ardar la llegada de las otras escuadras. Debo ahora manifestar a vuegtra excelencia, de orden del gobiemo de la Eeina mi augusta soberana, que las ultimas noticias de Cuba recibidas en Madrid, cor- respondientes al 26 de Noviembre, hacen todavia mas posible la eventualidad de , que se trata. Parece efectivainente que dispuesta hacia ya tiempo en la Habana y lista para darse i, la mar la expedicion Espanola, ignorandose alii si se habia firmado el convenio entre Inglaterra, Espana y Francia, siendo por consiguiente desconocido cual seria el punto designado para la reunion de las tres escuadras ; y ocasionando gastos enormes el mantener la prolongacion iadefinida de una ex- pedicion nulitar tan considerable, el capitan general de Cuba, movido pgr estas poderosas consideraciones, hacia animo i. aquella fecha' de disponer la inmediata salida de las fuerzas Espafiolas con direccion k Vera Cruz. Al dar aviso d vuestra excelencia de estos hechos, apenas necesito anadir que si realmente han llegado a verificarse, el Oomandante ds la expedicion Espanola habrfi, Uevado ordenes de ponerse en todo de acuerdo con las fuerzas de las dos potencias amigas y aliadas que pudieran hallaxse en las agtias de Mejico ; y de todos modes, dado el case de que el^gefe Espanol haya roto las hostilidades y ocupado A Vera Oruz y el Castillo de San Juan de Ulloa, esta ocupacion se entendera hecha en nombre de las tres potencias coaligadas hasta que Ueguen las escuadras de Inglaterra y Francia y se resuelvalo mas conveniente de comun acuerdo. Con este motivo, &c. XAVIEE E. ISTUEIZ. [Translation.] Spanish Legation, London, December 22, 1861. My Lord: When the convention of the 31st October was concluded for de- determining the joint action of England, Spain, and France, in the republic of Mexico, I had the honor to acquaint your excellency that if the orders which THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 393 were to be transmitted to the captain general of Cuba should not reach him in time, it was possible that the Spanish expedition might leave the port of Havana without waiting for the arrival of the other squadrons. I have now to inform your excellency, by order of the government of the Queen my august sovereign, that the last intelligence from Cuba received in Madrid, reaching to the 26th November, shows this event to be stiU more likely. It appears, in fact, that the Spanish expedition had been for some time prepared at the Havana, and was ready to put to sea, as it was unknown there whether or not the convention between Eiigland, Spain, and France had been signed, and it was therefore unknown what place would be fixed upon for the meeting of the three squadrons ; and as the indefinite procrastination of so considerable a military expedition would occasion enormous expense, the captain general of Cuba, moved by these weighty considerations, was hastening, at that date, the immediate departure of the Spanish forces to Vera Cruz. In making known these facts to your excellency, I need scarcely add that if this should have really taken place, the commandant of the Spanish expedition will have had orders to put himself, in everything, in accordance with the forces of the two friendly and allied powers which may be in the waters of Mexico ; and, at all events, supposing that the Spanish commander has commenced hos- tilities and taken possession of Vera Cruz and the Castle of San Juan de Ulloa, this possession will be understood as taken in the name of the allied powers, until the squadrons of England and Prance shall arrive, and the most advisable action shall be determined by common accord. I have, &c., XAVIER E. ISTUEIZ. No. 100. Earl Russell to Sir J. Crampton. Foreign Office, Decemier 24, 1861. Sir : I enclose, {ox your information, a copy of a note which I have received from- M. Isturiz,* as to the course which would be pursued if the Spanish fleet should have left the Havana for Mexico before the arrival of the allied squadrons. I am, &c., KUSSELL. No. 101. Earl Russell to Sir J. Crarrvpton. Foreign Office, December 24, 1861. Sir : With reference to the concluding paragraph in your despatch of the 15th instant, I have to state to you that Sir 0. Wyke wiU be instructed to act in the manner proposed by Senor Oollantes, and to communicate to the commis- sioners of Spain the terms which, so far as British interests are concerned, her Majesty's government would think it necessary to insist upon as satisfaction for past wrongs, and as security for the future observance of international duties by Mexico. I am, &c., RUSSELL. e No. 99. 394 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. No. 102. Lord Lyons to Earl Russell. Washington, December 6, 1861. My Lord : I have the honor to enclose a copy of a note addressed to M. Tassai-a, M. Mercier, and to me, by which the government of the United States announces its refusal to accede to the convention for combined operations against Mexico, which was signed in London on the 31st of October last. The note was sent last night to M. Tassara, without any intimation that simi- lar notes had not been sent to M. Mercier and me. It consequently did not oc- cur to M. Tassara to communicate it to us ; and it was only accidentally that I learnt of its existence just in time to procure a copy for my messenger of to-day. I have, &c;., / LYONS. Enclosure in No. 102. Mr: Seward to MM. Tassafa and Mercier and Lord Lyons. Washington, December 4, 1861. The undersigned. Secretary of State of the United States, has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of a note which was addressed to him on the 30th day of November last, by M. Gabriel Gr." Tassara, minister plenipotentiary of her Majesty the Queen of Spain ; M. Henri Mercier, minister plenipotentiary of his Majesty the Emperor of the French ; and Lord Lyons, minister plenipotentiary of her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. With that paper the aforesaid ministers have submitted the text of a conven- tion which was concluded at Londoii on the 31st October last, between the sovereigns before named, with the view of obtaining, through a common action, the redress of their grievances against the republic of Mexico. In the preamble the high contracting parties say that they have been placed, by the arbitrary and vexatious conduct of the authorities of the republic of Mex- ico, under a necessity for exacting from the authorities a more effective protec- tion for the persons and property of their subjects, as well as the execution of obligations contracted with them by the republic of Mexico, and have agreed to conclude a convention between themselves, for the purpose of combining their common action in the case. In the first article the high contracting powers bind themselves to make, im- mediately after the "feigning of the convention, the necessary arrangements to send to the shores of Mexico land and sea forces combined, the effective number of which shall be determined in a further exchange of communications between the governments, but the total of which must be sufficient to enable them to seize and occupy the various fortifications and military positions of the Mexican sea- coast. Also, that the commanders of the allied forces shall be- authorized to ac- complish such other operations as may, on the spot, be deemed most suitable for realizing the end specified in the preamble, and.especially for insuring the safety of foreign residents. And that all the measures which are thus to be carried into effect shall be taken in the name and on account of the high contracting parties, without distinction of the particular nationality of the forces employed in executing them. In the second article the hig|i contracting parties bind themselves not to seek THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 395 for themselves, in the employment of the coercive measures foreseen by the present convention, any acquisition of territory, or any peculiar advantage, and not to exercise, in the subsequent affairs of Mexico, any influence of a character to impair the right of the Mexican nation to choose, and fully to constitute, the form of its own government. In the third article the high contracting parties agree that a commission, com- posed of three commissioner, one appointed by each of the contracting powers, shall he established, with full power to determine all questions wliich may arise from the employment and distribution of the sums of money which shall be re- ceived from Mexico, having regard to the respective rights of the contracting parties. In the fourth article the high contracting parties, expressing the desire that the measures which it is their intention to adopt may not have an exclusive diaracter, and recognizing the fact that the government of the United States, like themselves, has claims of its own to enforce against the Mexican republic, agree that immediately after the signing of the present convention a copy of it shall be communicated to the government of the United States, and that this government shall be invited to accede to it, and that, in anticipation of such ac- cession, their respective ministers at Washington shall be provided with full powers to conclude and sign, collectively or severally, with a plenipotentiary of the United States, to be designated by the President, such an instrument. But as the high contracting parties would expose themselves, in making any delay in carrying into effect Articles I and II of the convention, to peril in the end which they wish to attain, they have agreed not to defer, with a view to obtain- ing the accession of the United States, the commencement 'of the stipulated ope- rations beyond the period at which their combined forces may be united in the vicinity of Vera Cruz. The plenipotentiaries in their note to the undersigned invite the, United States to accede to the convention. The undersigned having submitted the sub- ject to the President will proceed to communicate his views thereon. First, as the undersigned has heretofore had the honor to inform each of the plenipotentiaries now addressed, the President does not feel himself at liberty to question, and he does not question, that the sovereigns represented have un- doubted right to decide for themselves the fact whether they have sustained grievajQces, and to resort to war with Mexico for the redress thereof, and have a right, also, tb levy the war severally or jointly. Secondly, the United States have a deep interest, which, however, they are happy to believe is an interest held by them in common with the high contract- ing powers and with all other civilized states, that neither of the sovereigns by whom the convention has been concluded shall seek or obtain any acquisition of territory, or any advantage peculiar to itself, and not equally left open to the United States and every other civilized state, within the territories of Mexico; and especially that neither one nor all of the contracting parties shall, as a result or consequence of the hostilities to be inaugurated under the convention, exer- cise in the subsequent affairs of Mexico any influence of a character to impair the right of the Mexican people to choose, and freely to constitute, the form of its own government. The undersigned renews on this occasion the acknowledgment heretofore given, that each of the high contacting parties had itiformed the United States, substantially, that they recognized this interest ; and he is authorized to express the satisfaction ot the President with the terms in which that recognition is clearly embodied in the treaty itself. It is true, as the high Contracting parties assume, that the United States have, on their part, claims to urge against Mexico. Upon due consideration, how- ever, the President is of opinion that it would be inexpedient to seek satisfac- tion of these claims at this time, through an act of accession to the.convention. 396 THE PKESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. Among the reasons for this decision which the undersigned is authorized to as- sign, are, first, that the United States, so far as it is practicable, prefer to adhere to a traditional policy recommended to them by the father of their country, and confirmed by a happy experience, which forbids their making alliances with foreign nations. Secondly, Mexico being a neighbor of the United States on this continent, and possessing a system of government similar to our own in many of its important features, the United States habitually cherish a decided good wiU towards that republic, and a lively interest in its security, prosperity, and welfare. * Animated by these sentiments, the United States do not feel inclined to re- sort to forcible remedies for their claims at the present moment, when the gov- ernment of Mexico is deeply disturbed by faction within, and exposed to war with foreign nations ; and, of course, the same sentiments render them still more disinclined to allied war against Mexico than to war to be urged against her by themselves alone. The undersigned is further authorized to state to the plenipotentiaries, for the information of the -sovereigns of Spain, France, and Great Britain, that the " United States are so earnestly anxious for the safety and welfare of the republic of Mexico that they have already empowered their minister residing there to enter into a treaty with the Mexican republic, conceding to it some material aid and advantages which, it is hoped, may enable that republic to satisfy the just claims and demands of the said sovereigns, and to avert the war which those sovereigns have agreed among each other to levy against Mexico. The sover- eigns need not be informed that this proposal to Mexico has been made, not in hostility to them, but with a knowledge of the proceedings frankly communicated to them, and with the hope that they might find, through the increased ability of Mexico to result from the treaty, and her willingness to treat with them upon just terms, a mode of arresting the hostilities which it is the object of the con- vention now under consideration to inaugurate. What has thus far been done by the American minister at Mexico under these instructions has not yet become known to this government, and the infor- mation is looked for with deep interest. Should these negotiations ofier any sufficient ground on which to justify a proposition to the high contracting parties in behalf of Mexico, the undersigned will hasten to submit such a proposition to those powers. But it is to be under- stood, first, that Mexico shall have acceded to such a treaty ; and, secondly, that it shall be acceptable to the President and Senate of the United States. In the meantime the high contracting parties are iiiformed that the President deems it his duty that a naval force should remain in the Gulf of Mexico, suffi- cient to look after the interests of American citizens in Mexico during the con- flict which may arise between the high contracting parties and that republic ; and, secondly, that the American minister residing in Mexico be authorized to seek such conference in Mexico with the belligerent parties as may guard either of them against inadvertent injury to the just rights of the United States, if any such shall be endangered. The undersigned having thus submitted all the views and sentiments of this government on this important subject to the high contracting parties in a spirit of peace and friendship not only towards Mexico, but towards the high contract- ing parties themselves, feels assured that there will be nothing in the watchful- ness which it is thus proposed to exercise that can affiDrd any cause for anxiety to any of the parties in question. The undersigned, &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO, 397 No. 103. Lord Lyons to Earl Russell. Washington, December 9, 1861. My Lord : I have the honor to transmit to your lordsliip a copy of a col- lective note, by wMcli M. Tassara, M. Mercier, and I" have acknowledged the receipt of Mr. Seward's note of the 4th instant, conveying the refusal of the United States government to accede to the convention of the Slst- October for combined operations against Mexico. I purpose to communicate a copy of Mr. Seward's note to Sir Charles Wyke, sending It under flying seal to Vice- Admiral Sir Alexander Milne. I have, &c., LYONS. Enclosure in No. 103. MM. Tassara and Mercier and Lord Lyons to Mr. Seward. Washington, ce 7 Decemhre, 1861. Les soussign^s, envoyes extraordinaires et ministres pldnipotentiaires de leurs Majestes la Eeine d'Espagne, I'Empereur des Fran^ais et la Eeine du Royaume Uni de la Grande Bretagne et d'Irlande, ont I'honneur d'accuser reception a I'honorable Secretaire d'Etat de la note qu'il a bien voulu leur adresser sous le date du 4 de ce mois, en r^ponse a celle par laqueUe Us lui ont communique le texte de la convention conclue a Londres entre leurs souverains dans le but de rdgler par une action commune leurs diffdrends avec la republique Mexicaine, et ont invito le gouvernement des Etats Unis a accdder ^ cet acte. lis vont s'em- presser de transmettre cette reponse a leurs cours respectives. Les soussignds, &c. GABRIEL J. TASSARA. HENRI MERCIER. LYONS. No. 104. Earl Russell to M. de Isturiz. FoKEiGN Office, Decemher 24, 1861. M. LB MiNiSTRE : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 22d instant, in which, in pursuance of instructions from your government, you have had the goodness to conununicate to me the course which will be pur- sued if the Spanish fleet at the Havana should have left for Mexico prior to the arrival of the allied squadrons, and should have taken possession of Vera Cruz. I am, &c., RUSSELL. 398 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. No. 105. Earl Russell to Sir J. Crampton. Foreign Office, December 27, 1861. Sir : I enclose for yom- information copies of despatches from Lord Lyons,* reporting the answer wliicli the government of the United States have returned to the invitation adressed to it to accede to the convention of the 31st of October for combined operations in Mexico. I am, &c., EUSSELL. No. 106. Sir C. Wyhe to Earl Russell. [Extract.] Mexico, Novemher 25, 1861. By the last mail I was enabled to give your lordship some idea of the effect produced upon President Juarez and his cabinet by the instructions contained in your lordship's despatches of the 21st and 31st of August last, while I at the same time explained to your lordship for what reasons and to what extent I had taken upon myself the responsibility of modifying those instructions. The result of these modifications was, as I had the honor of stating in my despatch of the 28th ultimo, that I obtained a starting point from which to com- mence my operations with some chance of success. It would, of course, have been far easier to demand from this government a plain " yes" or " no" to the ultimatum I was instructed to present to them, but I felt sure her Majesty's government, determined though they were to obtain from Mexico the satisfaction that had been so long denied them, would prefer doing so by ordinary means to employing force. In order, therefore to obtain what was required, I did not hesitate to adopt a line of conduct which, by being somewhat more palatable to the susceptible Mexicans, would not in reality interfere with the requirements of her Majesty's government. Your lordship will have seen that, even under these circumstances, it was only after the greatest trouble I obtained the outline of a convention that was em- bodied in my despatch of the 28th ultimo, above alluded to. Since that time my difficulties have greatly increased. I nevertheless continued my negotiations with this government through the medium of their minister for foreign affairs, with whom I consented to treat unofficially at the legation, and it wiU now be my duty to lay before your lord- ship the results which have been arrived at. First of all comes the reduction of the tariff. I had informed Senor Zamacona that unless the government consented to a honafide reduction it would be useless for us to think of negotiating a convention having for its basis the old system of duties ; that her Majesty's government insisted upon this point, and that it wotdd be far better for his government to yield with a good grace than eventually to be forced into compliance with our demands. This, in the eyes of the minister for foreign affairs, seemed an insurmountable difficulty, for, said he, congress will be certain to throw out any bill that carries « Nos. 97, 103, and 104. THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 399 witli it even tlie semblance of foreign interference. This I know to be too true, and I therefore proposed that the reduction should come apparently from con- gress itself, as a voluntary act resulting from the report of the mixed commission which some time back had been named for examining into the state of the present tariff. This idea struck Seiior Zamacona as a good one, and he promised to do his best to have it carried out. Fresh obstacles, however, soon presented them- selves, whUe intrigues of every kind were being practiced to prevent congress sanctioning any reformation whatever in the tariff. Luckily at this moment the finance department was offered to a person of considerable merit, socially and politically, Senor Gonzales Echeverria, who had just retm-ned from Evirope for the purpose of settling his affau-s in the country previous to leaving it for good. When, however, Senor Echeverria looked iato the state of his department he found everything in such hopeless confusion that he refused to undertake the charge. I was then asked to see him as a last hope. During our interview I was so much struck with his good common sense, and with the clear notion he had formed of his country's - condition, that I tried to persuade him to accept office. At first he refused, telling me that it was too late to do any good, and that he was convinced nothing but foreign .intervention could now save Mexico; but I am happy to say that I at least got him to consent to my request. -f His acceptance of office, added to my carefully abstaining from menacing con- gress in any way, and to Senor Zamacona's untu-ing exertions, seem tQ have produced the desired effect, for when the tariff commission a few days ago pre- sented to congress their proposed reform it was duly taken into consideration, and, though not accepted as it stood, was not de facto rejected. AccordiQg to the existing tariff, goods, besides paying high import duties, were compelled to satisfy endless additional duties after leaving the custom- house, and before coming into the market. The commission therefore proposed a reduction of 50 per cent, on the import duties, and a further reduction, though not of an equal amount, on the additional duties. I at once, upon this plan of reform becoming known, called a meeting of the British merchants here, in order to obtain their opinion in the matter. They, one and all, owned that the reduction was very much in favor of trade generally, but Mr. Whitehead, agent for the London bondholders, considered that as the assignments due to the body he represented came out of the import duties, and as those duties were to be diminished by one-half, whereas the additional duties, which were not taxed with assignments, were not reduced in the same propor- tion, he would . be the loser, inasmuch as it would require the introduction of double the amount of goods annually to enable government to pay the bond- holders their assigned quota of import duties, and that such an event could hardly be expected with the additional duties at so high a figure. I explained that so long as Mexico, by reducing her tariff, really benefited trade, we had no right to insist upon her effectually crippling herself for the sake of being able actually to square the balance-sheet of the bondholder, or fix the exact ticket to be placed on each separate piece of shirting that came into the country. Congress, however, threw out the proposal for a reduction of fifty per cent., and passed -a law, copy of which I beg to enclose herewith, by which govern- ment was authorized to refoiTa the tariff upon a basis of forty per cent, reduction on the import duties, and to reduce the additional duties by about forty-two per cent., making a clear reduction on all duties to which foreign goods are liable of somewhat more than forty-one per cent. This plan was preferable to the first for many reasons ; though it was not quite so beneficial for trade generally, yet it affected pretty equally both the bondholder and the merchant, and had the ' immense advantage of taking the 400 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. tariff reform out of the hands of congress, and placing it under the sole control of .government. When Senor Zamacona asked me if I would consent to the system of reduc- tion on the above basis, I told him I could have no objection to it if government would add a clause clearly specifying that neither as regarding import, export, or additional duties, would any change whatever be allowed without at least six months' notice being given. Here a fresh dispute arose, as it appeared to the minister for foreign afiairs that my request implied a doubt as to the honesty of his government. I insisted, however, upon this clause as a sine qua non. Had I not done so the govern- ment might at any moment have added to their list of additional duties upon the plea of necessity, and so entirely annulled the advantges of the new tariff system. Besides the abpve clause, I have obtained a further one, providing for the tariff coming into operation within four months of its publication. The government wanted it to come into operation two months after date, while the merchants required six months' law, so that I had no alternative but to take a period be- tween the two. This, my lord, is the outline of the proposed new tariff; it will not be possible to have the tariff itself worked out in detail for this mail, and I can therefore merely give your lordship an idea of the result that will be produced by en- closing a comparative statement of duties payable on a svipposed cargo under the )o. 10) 600 500 350 350 100 440 .380 380 Don Carlos del Camino . Don Nicolas Chicarro Don Me. Diaz Herrera.. Don Juan Pita la Vega . Don Adolfo Navarite Don Jos6 Carranza..... Don Jos^ Alvarado Don Ml. Mcurohin Don Pedro del Castillo . Don Ml. de la Rigada .. Don Josfe R. de Arrias.. Don R. M. Venalet Don Pablo Lugo Vinas.. Don Ramon Bran Don Aleyo Rodriguez .. Don Sunico Flag-ship. Enclosure 4 in No. 110. List of the principal staff officers of the Spanish expedition to Mexico. Commander-in-chief, Don Manuel Gasset; second in command, Brigadier General Don Carlos de VaJgos ; chief of the staff, Colonel Don Juan Vidarte, of Bobadilla ; colonel commandant of artillery, Marques de la Concordia ; colonel commandant of engineers, Don Nicolas Valdes y Fernandez; commissary gene- ral, Don Baltasar Llopisy y Caparros ; surgeon general, Don Joaquin Rosell y Fio ; colonel commandant of 1st, Brigadier Don Francisco Aparicio y Pardo ; colonel commandant of 2d, Brigadier Don Vincente Diaz de Caballas ; colonel commandant of artiUery, Don Antonio Fernandez Ouevos ; colonel commandant of engineers, Don Andres Gortia, of Goyeneche. 2d battalion, Cazadores de Baileu y TJniou ; 1st battalion, Napoles ; 1st battalion, Cuba ; 4 companies 1st battalion, Napoles ; 4 companies of 2d battalion, Rey. H. Ex. Doc. 100 21 418 , THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. No. 111.' Ziord Lyons to Earl Russell. Washington, Decemher 21, 1861. My Lord: In my despatch of the lOtli September last I informed your lordship that instructions had been sent to Mr. Oorwin, the United States minister ia Mexico, to conclude a convention with the Mexican government, in virtue of which the United States should assume the obligation to pay the interest on the foreign debt of that country. Mr. Seward told me this morning that Mr. Corwin had not concluded the pro- posed convention, but had sent, in Keu of it, a draught of a convention providing for the United States advancing to Mexico a very large sum to enable her to discharge her obligations to foreign creditors. Mr. Seward said that if Mr. Corwin had sent a convention in the terms of his draught, already signed, the President would, no doubt, have recommended it to the Senate for ratification. Since, however, a draught only had been sent, it had been determined, in conformity with a plan occasionally adopted in important cases, to ask the Senate before- hand whether it advised the President to conclude a treaty on the terms proposed. Mr. Seward proceeded to say that Mr. Oorwin would, in all probability, have signed the treaty at once, had he not been displeased by the rejection, by the Mexican congress, of a " very proper" treaty negotiated by Sir Charles Wyke. Mr. Corwin had, Mr. Seward said, given Sir Charles Wyke all the support in his power, and had declined to conclude his own treaty when he found that the treaty made by Sir Charles had been rejected. I told Mr. Seward that I had received a private letter from Sir Charles Wyke, speaking in the highest terms of Mr. Oorwin. Mr. Seward observed that, as the draught of the treaty was before the Senate in secret session, it would not be right for him to acquaint me with the exact sum to be advanced by the United States, or with other details. I have reason to suppose that Mr. Corwin was instructed not to engage for the payment of money by the United States unless the Mexican government should previously come to such an arrangement with Great Britain as should render it pretty certain that the money would not be paid in vain ; that it would not fail to prevent the combined expedition, or at all events to prevent Great Britain taking part in it. Some of the details of Mr. Oorwin's draitght have transpired, or at any rate very confident assertions are made concerning them. It is stated that the sum to be advanced is, in all, $9,000,000 ; #500,000 to be paid at the expiration of thirty days from the ratification of the treaty, and a like sum at the expiration of each successive period of thirty days, until $5,000,000 have been advanced; the remaining $4,000,000 to be advanced in half-yearly payments of $2,000,000, the first to be made six months after the payment of the last sum of $500,000. As security the American government is to have a mortgage on all the public lands, minerals, &c., of Lower California, Chihuahua, and two other provinces bordering on the United States. A commission composed of three Mexicans and two Americans is to assume the administration of the land, &c., thus mortgaged. It ia understood, however, that Mr. Corwin will still be instructed to abstain from signing the treaty, unless there be a reasonable prospect of its attaining the object the United States government have in view, that of removing the com- bined fleets to a distance from the Gulf of Mexico and the coasts of this country. I have, &c., LYONS. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 419 No. 112. M. Isturiz to Earl Russell. Legacion de Espana en Londres, 13 de Enero de 1862. My Lord : El gobiemo de la Reina mi augusta soberana me comunica con fecha 7 del actual las instrucciones que apenas recibio en 13 de Diciembre las 6rdenes necesarias para el cumplimiento de la convencion firmada en Londres el 31 de Octubre ultimo, se apresuro d. remitir el capitan general de Cuba d los gefes del ej^rcito y escuadra de la expedicion que habia enviado &, Mejico, en virtud de ordenes anteriores y en completa ignorancia de los pormenores y arreglos que fueron consecuencia de la citada convencion. A mi vez tengo el honor de transmitir a vuestra excelencia una copia de estas instrucciones, cuyo tenor es sin duda el mas & proposito para asegurar, de acuerdo con lo estipulado en 31 de Octubre, la accion mancomunada de las tres potencias en la republica de Mejico. Con este, &c., XAVIER E ISTURIZ. [Translation.] Spanish Legation, London, January 13, 1862. My Lord : The government of the Queen my aiigust sovereign communicated to me on the 7th instant the instructions which the captain general of Cuba, so soon as he received on the 13th December the orders necessary for carrying out the convention signed in London the 31st October last, hastened to transmit to the heads of the army and squadron of the expedition which he had sent to Mexico, in furtherance of preceding orders, and in entire ignorance of the details and arrangements made in consequence of that convention. I have now the honor to forward to your excellency a copy of those instruc- tions, the tenor of which is doubtless most suitable to secure, in accordance with what was stipulated on the 31st October, the joint action of the three powers in the republic of Mexico. I have, &c., XAVIER E ISTURIZ. Enclosure in No. 112. Instructions addressed by the captain general of Cuba, on the 12th of December, 1861, to the heads of the Spanish expedition to Mexico. 1. Si al recibo de este despacho no se hubiesen emprendido ya operaciones militares deberd, suspenderse toda agresion, permaneciendo las tropas a bordo si en eUo no hay inconveniente 6 peligro ; si en efecto lo hubiese procurardn V.EE. desembarcar y formar un campamento atrincherado, donde permanecera la division k la defensiva sin proceder d agresion de ningun gdndro y protegida por la escuadra. 2. Si como lo afirman todas las noticias aqui recibidas, han sido abandonados por los Mejicanos la plaza de Vera Cruz y el Castillo de San Juan de Ulua, y las tropas han ocupado ya ambos puntos, debdran V.EE. conservarlos, rechazando 420 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. los ataques de que pudiera ser objeto, pero sis tomar nunca la iaiciativa de operacion alguna militar. 3. En los dos supuestos precedentes esperaran la llegada del nuevo general ministro plenipotenciario, i quien Bupongo se le han comunicado por el gobiemo todas las instrucciones necesarias acerca de la conducta ulterior de la expedicion. Con la llegada del Sefior Prim concidira probablemente la de los almirantes Frances 6 Ingles, j en semejante caso cumple solo i V.EE. atenerse & los acuerdos de las tres potencias. 4. Si la plaza j el castiUo estuviesen en aptitud de defenderse j el ataque se hubiese emprendido, se procederi como convenga al cumplimiento de las nuevas oi'denes de su Magestad si el honor de nuestras armas lo permite, j sino se Uevara 4 cabo lo que pueda ser necesario d, la gloria del nombre Espanol. 5. Si el bloqueo se hubiese establecido al recibo de esta comunicacion decla- raran V.EE. en suspenso sus efectos hasta la llegada de los aliados. No pre- scindiran sin embargo de la posesion de la aduana si ja, estuviesen en eUa ; pero la entregaran inmediatamente & disposicion de los plenipotenciaiios luego que esten reunidos. Como V.EE. han podido comprender, las cinco disposiciones precedentes se reasumen en un pensamiento general reducido A conservar un perfecto statu quo hasta que lleguen los representantes de las potencias aliadas. A la discrecion de V.EE. corresponde, dado el estado de cosas que yo no puedo conocer desde aqui, annonizar lo que se ha hecho con lo demas que deba hacerse, evitando conflictos j complicaciones con las potencias firmantes del convenio. Dios, &c. FEANCISCO SEREANO. [Translation] 1. If, at the receipt of this despatch, no military operations shall have been undertaken, all aggression must be suspended, the troops remaining on board ship if there shall be no inconvenience or danger therein ; but if in fact there should be any, you will land and form an entrenched camp, where the division will remain on the defensive, without proceeding to an attack of any sort, and under protection of the squadron. 2. If, as it is asserted by all the information hitherto received, the place of Vera Cruz and the Castle San Juan de Ulloa have been abandoned by the Mex- icans, and both points are in occupation of the troops, you will maintain them, repulsing any attacks that may be ipade against them, but without ever taking the initiative of any military operation. 3. In these two supposed cases you will await the arrival of the new general minister plenipotentiary, to whom, I presume, all the instructions necessary for the ulterior conduct of the expedition will have been communicated by the gov- ernment. The arrival of Senor Prim will probably coincide with that of the French and English admirals, and in such case you will have to attend only to the concurrent resolves of the three powers. 4. If the place and the castle shall be in a defensive attitude and the attack shall have been commenced, you shall proceed according to the new orders of her Majesty, if the honor of our aims allow it, and if not, you will complete what may be requisite for the glory of the Spanish name. 5. If the blockade shall be estabhshed on the receipt of this communication, you will declare the effects thereof to be in suspense until the anival of the allies. Nevertheless, you will not give up possession of the custom-house, if you shall be in possession of it ; but you will immediately place it at the dis- posal of the plenipotentiaries so soon as they shall have met. As you will have understood, the five preceding articles may be summed up THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. . 421 in one general idea, of maintaining a perfect statu quo ijntil the arrival of tlie representatives of the allied powers. It is left to your discretion, according to the state of things which I cannot be acquainted with from this place, to har- monize what is done with what remains to be done, avoiding conflicts and com- plications with the powers who have signed the agreement God preserve, &c. FEAl^CISCO SEKRANO. No. 113. Earl Russell to M. Isturiz. Foreign Office, January 16, 1862. M. LE MiNiSTRE : I beg leave to thank you for your note of the 13th instant, in which you communicate to me the instructions addressed by the captain general of Cuba to the commander of her Catholic Majesty's military and naval forces in Mexic6. I have at the same time the honor to inform you that, whilst those instruc- tions are considered satisfactory by her Majesty's government, they have not yet been able to understand why the Spanish expedition set out before the arrival of the British and French forces. I am, &c., EUSSELL. No. 114. Earl Cowley to Earl Russell, [Extract.] Paris, January 17, 1862. M. Thouvenel informed me this afternoon that the Emperor had determined to re-enforce the expeditionary corps sent to Mexico. M. de Flahault, his excel- lency said, would be instructed to state the reasons of this determination to your lordship, and he (M. Thouvenel) hoped that it would not be opposed by her Majesty's government. No. 115. M. Isturiz to Earl Russell. Legacion de EspaSa en Londres, 18 de Enero de 1862. My Lord : He tenido el honor de recibir la comunicacion de vuestra excel- encia fecha 16 del actual, en respueata il la dota que le dirigi el dia 13, trasla- ddndole las instrucciones enviadas por el capitan general de Cuba a los gefes de la expedicion de Mejico. Manifiesta en ella vuestra excelencia que considera I 422 THE PRESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. satisfactorias aquellas instinicciones, pero que el gobierno de su Magestad Britanica no ha podido comprender aun porque salio de Cuba la expediciou Espanola antes de la llegada de las faerzas Ingleaas j Francesas. Creia baber explicado Buficientemente este punto en mi nota de 22 de Diciembre ultimo ; pero puesto ue todavia necesita aclaraciones, dire A vuestra excelencia que, segun los despachos elcapitan general de Cuba, las ordenes para suspender la expedicion, enviadas por la via de Nueva York con la esperanza de que llegasen mas pronto i su destine, no fueron recibidas en Cuba hasta la mitad de Diciembre, j que el capitan gen- eral, ignorante de los pormenores del tratado j del punto fijado para la reunion de las escuadras y temeroso de Uegar tarde d Vera Cruz, juzgo oportuno no demorar la salida deuna expediciou que hacia mucho tiempo que se hallaba lista de todo punto. Si en la conferencia que tuve el honor de celebrar con vuestra excelencia el dia 7 del corriente se hubiese tocado esta duda, hubiera yo tenido el mayor gusto en desvanecerla, como espero lo quedara ahora con estas francas explicaciones. Con este, &c., XAVIER E ISTUEIZ. [Translation.] Spanish Legation, London, January 18, 1862. My Lord : I have had the honor to receive your excellency's communication dated the 16th instant, in reply to the note which I addressed you on the 13th, transmitting to you the instructions sent by the captain general of Cuba to the heads of the expedition to Mexico. In that communication your excellency informs me that you consider those instructions satisfactory, but that her Britan-. nic Majesty's government could not yet understand why the Spanish expedition left Cuba before the arrival of the English and French forces. I thought I had sufficiently explained this point in my note of the 22d of December last, but since it still requires explanation, I have to inform your excellency that accord- ing to the despatches of the captain general of Cuba the orders to suspend the expedition, which were sent via New York in the hope that they would the sooner reach their destination, were not received in Cuba till the middle of De- cember, and that the captain general, unacquainted with the details of the treaty, and with the point fixed for the meeting of the squadrons, being also fearful of arriving too late at Vera Cruz, thought it right not to delay the departure of an expedition which had been for a long time ready in every point. If this doubt had been mentioned at the interview which I had the honor to have with your excellency on the 7th instant, I should have already had very great pleasure in clearing it up, as I hope will be done by this frank explanation. I have, &c., XAVIER E ISTUEIZ. No. 116. Earl Russell to Earl Cowley. [Extract.] Foreign Office, January 20, 1862. I saw Count Flahault yesterday. His excellency informed me that he was instructed to state that the French government considered it necessary to send THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 423 an additional land force to Mexico. I had been prepared for this communication by your excellency's despatch of the 17th of January. Count Flahault went on to say that the precipitate step taken by General Serrano in commencing operations, without waiting for the forces of France and England, was calculated to enhance the difficulties of the expedition ; that it now seemed inevitable that the allied forces must advance into the interior of Mexico, and not only would the force at present agreed upon be insufficient for such an operation, but the operation itself would assume a character in regard to which the Emperor could not allow the French force to be in a position of infe- riority to that of Spain, or to run the risk of being compromised. His Imperial Majesty has therefore determined to send a re-enforcement of between 3,000 and 4,000 men to Mexico. I told Count Flahault that I very much regretted this step: I had no objec- tion to offer on behalf of her Majesty's government to the validity of the argu- ment that the forces of France should not be inferior in number to those of Spain. I would, therefore, only observe that it would not be possible for her Majesty's government to detach any greater amount of troops for operations on shore than the force of marines abeady sent to the Mexican coast. No. 117. Earl Russell to M. Isturiz. Foreign Office, January 23, 1862. M. LB MiNiSTRB : In acknowledging the receipt of your excellency's commu- nication of the 18th January last, I have to state to your excellency that although her Majesty's government are not entirely satisfied with the explanation offered by your excellency as to the departure from Cuba of the Spanish expedition to Mexico before the time agreed upon between the three powers, they are williug to accept your excellency's declaration that it has been the intention of her Catholic Majesty's government to act in conformity with the provisions of the treaty of the 20th of November, 1861. I am, &c., RUSSELL. No. 118. Earl Russeli to Sir J. Orampton. Foreign Office, January 19, 1862. Sir : Although her Majesty's government are satisfied, from the explanations given by M. Isturiz, that the government of her Catholic Majesty has given instructions to her Catholic Majesty's commanders at Havana in conformity with the agreements entered into with her Majesty and his Majesty the Emperor of the French, yet the proceedings of Marshal Serrano are calculated to produce some uneasiness. The departure of the Spanish expedition from Havana, and the military occu- pation of Vera Cruz, to say nothing of the tone of the proclamation issued by the Spaaish government, demonstrate that a combined expedition, at a great 424 THE PEESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. distance irom Europe, is subject to the discretion at all times, to tlie rashness sometimes, of the separate commanders and diplomatic agents. I wish you to read to Marshal O'Donnell and M. Oalderon CoUantes the preamble and the article of our convention which define what our intervention is intended to do, and what it is not intended to do. You will point out that the allied forces are not to be used for the purpose of depriving the Mexicans of their undoubted right of choosing their own form of government. Should the Mexicans choose to constitute a new government which can restore order and preserve amicable relations with foreign nations, her Majesty's govern- ment will be delighted to hail the formation, and to support the consolidation, of such a government. If, on the contrary, the troops of foreign powers are to be used to set up a government repugnant to the sentiments of Mexico, and to sup- port it by military force, her Majesty's government could expect no other result from such an attempt than discord and disappointment. In such a case the allied governments would only have to choose between withdrawing from such an enterprise with some shame, or extending then interference beyond the limits, scope, and intention of the triple convention. You will explain to Marshal O'Donnell that this apprehension on our part does not arise from any suspicion of the good faith of the government of her Catholic Majesty; but commanders acting at a distance require to be very closely watched, lest they should commit their principals to unwarrantable proceedings. You will read this despatch to M. Oalderon OoUantes. I am, &c., RUSSELL. No. 119. Earl Cowley to Earl Russell. [Extract.] Paris, January 24, 1862. I have heard from so many quarters that the language of officers going with the re-enforcements to Mexico is, that it is for the purpose of placing the Arch- duke Maximilian upon the throne ot that country, that I have thought it neces- sary to question M. Thouvenel upon the subject. I inquired of M. Thouvenel whether any negotiations had been pending be- tween this government and that of Austria with reference to the Archduke Maximilian. His excellency replied in the negative. He said that the negotia- tions had been carried on by Mexicans only, who had come over for the purpose and gone to Vienna. No. 120. Earl Russell to Sir C. Wyke. Foreign Office, January 27, 1862. Sir : I have received and laid before the Queen your despatches from the 18th to the 28th November. Since I last wrote to you, the Emperor of the French has decided to send 3,000 more troops to Vera Cruz. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 425 It is supposed tliat tiese troops Tnll inarcli at once with the French, and a pai-t of the Spanish troops already there, to the city of Mexico. It is said that the Archduke .Ferdinand Maximilian will he invited by a large hody of Mexicans to place himself on the throne of Mexico, and that the Mexi- can people will gladly hail such a change. I have little to add to my former instructions on this head. If the Mexican people, hy a spontaneous movement, place the Austrian archduke on the throne of Mexico, there is nothing in the convention to prevent it. On the other hand, we could be no parties to a forcible intervention for this purpose. The Mexicans must consult their own interests. I have to add to my former instructions respecting the admirals in the Atlantic and Pacific, that you will make no objection to the withdrawal of the marines from Vera Cruz when the unhealthy season shall arrive. You will also not object to any measures which may be concerted between the senior British naval officer at Vera Cruz and Admiral Maitland for the occupa- tion or blockade of any or all the Mexican ports on the Pacific which it may be thought necessary, for the purposes of the convention, to occupy or to blockade. Acapulco, San Bias, and Mazatlan, are the ports chiefly alluded to in this in- struction. I am, &c., RUSSELL. No. 121. Sir C. Wyhe to Earl Russell. Mexico, December 14, 1861. My Lord : I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your lordship's de- spatch of the 1st of November last, instructing me to proceed to Jamaica, with all the members of her Majesty's mission here, as soon as Admiral Sir Alexander Milne could send a vessel-of-war to Vera Cruz for that purpose. Having just heard of the arrival of her Majesty's ship " Ariadne " at that port, I yesterday wrote to Seiior Doblado, the newly-appointed minister for foreign affairs, requesting to be furnished with my passports, to enable me to leave the territory of the republic. I have the honor to enclose copy of my letter to his excellency, together with his reply thereto. I quit Mexico for Vera Cruz the day after to-morrow, leaving Mr. Consul Glennie in charge of the archives of the legation; and in the event of hostilities taking place between her Majesty's forces and those of the republic, I have re- quested M. Kint de Roodenbeeck, the Belgian chargd d'affaires, to take British subjects and their interests here under his protection. I herewith enclose copy of the communication which I addressed to him with reference to this matter, together with his reply thereto. I shall wait at Vera Cruz for the English mail, which ought to arrive there on the 27th instant, and immediately after its arrival shall proceed on to Jamaica to join the admiral, who esjpects to be there in the first week of January. I have, &c., C. LENNOX WYKE. 426 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICd Enclosure 1 in No. 121. Sir C. Wyhe to Senor Doblado. Mexico, December 13, 1861. Sir : The ultimatum of her Majesty's government, which 1 presented to that of the republic on the 24th ultimo, having remained up to the present moment unanswered, no other course is now open to me than to demand my passports, so as to enable me and the other members of her Majesty's mission to leave' Mexico. Mr. Glennie, the English consul here, will remain in charge of the archives of the legation, as well also as of British subjects and their interests in the republic. Should, however, hostilities hereafter unfortunately ensue between the forces of our respective governments, it will then become necessary to place my country- men and their property here under the protection of a neutral flag, for which purpose I have requested M. Kirit de Eoodenbeeck, the Belgian charge d'affaires, to take charge of them, which, from the intimate relations of friend- ship existing between the governments of Belgium and Great Britain, he has most willingly consented to do. This I consider necessary more as a matter of form than for any other reason, so convinced am I that under such circumstances the government of Mexico will consider it as a point of honor to afford every protection and guarantee to British subjects whose interests may oblige them to remain as residents within the territory of the republic. In order to avoid great inconvenience both to the Mexican government as well as to the whole commercial body, I shall leave Don Rafael Beraza here to direct, as heretofore, the courier service of this legation, which 1 am sure will continue to receive every protection and assistance from your government. My intention is to leave this city for Vera Cruz on Monday next, and I should feel obliged if your excellency would give the necessary instructions in the proper quarter to furnish me with a proper escort for our due protection on the road. I have, &c., 0. LENNOX WYKE. Enclosuije 2 In No. 121. Senor Doblado to Sir C. Wyke. [Translation.] G-OVERNMENT HousE, Mexico, December 14, 1861. The undersigned, minister for foreign affairs, has had the honor to receive the note of his excellency Sir Charles Wyke, &c., dated the 13th instant, in which he is pleased to state that, as his ultimatum of the 24th ultimo has not been answered, the legation will be under the necessity of leaving Mexico ; adding that Mr. Glennie, British consul, remained charged with the protection of the British subjects, and that in the unfortunate event of a rupture, this commission was intrusted to the Belgian charge d'affaires, but rather as a form than for any other motive, since his excellency rests assured that Mexico will, as a point of honor, give every sort of guarantee to British subjects, and concludes by announcing that Don Rafael Beraza will remain in this capital in order to superintend the couriers of the legation, which legation intending to leave next THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 427 Monday, lie requests that the necessary escort should be furnished him, in order to protect him on his journey. Complying with the request of his excellency, the undersigned has the honor to annex herewith the necessary passport, at the same time that he hastens to transmit to him a copy of the circular issued on the 5th instant by the supreme government of the republic, in which the desires of that legation are anticipated, assuring, as it does, guarantees to all the foreigners residing in the country, even in the imfortunate event of a rupture. The orders are given for the placing of the escorts that have to protect the person of his excellency, Sir Charles Wyke, up to Vera Cruz, and the post- master general is agreed that Don Eafael Beraza should remain charged with the transmission of the correspondence of the legation. The citizen president being authorized in every possible way by the supreme congress to make treaties with friendly nations without the necessity of obtain- ing the approval of that body, he has still the hope of renewing the negotia- tions with his excellency the British minister that were interrupted, always on the understanding, as is indispensable, that that legation should be sufficiently authorized by the government of her Britannic Majesty, for Mexico is disposed to do whatever may be compatible with justice and the national dignity. The undersigned, &c. MANUEL DOBLADO. Enclosure 3 in No. 121. Circular addressed to governors of States. MlNISTERE DES EeLATIONS, Mexico, le 5 Decembre, 1861. La situation d(51icate oii en est venue la r^publique avec les puissances dtrangeres met la nation et le gouvernement dans le devoir imp^rieux de veiller plus que jamais a ce que les garanties conc^d^es aux strangers par les lois du pays et le droit des gens soient respectdes d'une manifere inviolable. La justice du Mexique dans ses differends avec quelques unes de ces puissances ofire une probability que les conflits seront ^cartds, lorsqu'on examinera de plus prfes les motifs puissants qui sont venus s'interposer acci- dentellement comme une difficulte dans le d^veloppement des relations cordiales que le Mexique a d^sir^, meme au prix de grands sacrifices, cultiver et resserrer avec les nations amies. Une preuve de ces d^sirs est la franche et gi^n^reuse hospitality avec laquelle le pays a re9a dans son seia les enfants de ces nations, en leur concedant les plus grandes franchises dans I'exercice du commerce, de I'agriculture, de Indus- trie et des arts. Si quelquefois des ^vdnements qui ont portd prejudice, non seulement aux dtrangers, mais encore aux nationaux dans une mesure beaucoup plus grande, le Mexique n'a jamais cessd ndanmoins de manifester son amour pour la justice et la civilisation, ni de faire tout ce qu'exigent ces demiferes, dans I'intdrfit de son nom et de son decorum. Oependant, des difficultds inattendues obligent aujourd'hui la nation d, donner de nouvelles preuves et de plus grands ttooignages de loyaut6 et d'honneur aux puissances dtrangferes, et k d^mentir, par des actes d'humanit^ et d'iUustration, la note de semi-barbares qu'on diverse sur eUe, grace aux manoeuvres exdcrables et aux informations mensong^res de spdculateurs sans conscience et de quelques enfants ddnaturds du Mexique qui feraient sa honte, s'll n'^tait certain que les nations, comme les families, ne peuvent ^tre responsables devant la veritable 428 THE PEESENT CONDITION OP MEXICO. civilisation de I'ingi-atitude et des vices personnels d'une minority d'hommes qui, dans tons les pays et dans tons les temps, ont pr(5tendu ternir I'tJclat des socii^t^s les plus ^clairees. En consideration de ce qui pr^cfede, le citoyen president a bien voulu decider que je vous recommande, comme j'ai I'honneur de le faire, de veiller, aujourd'hui plus que jamais, par tous les moyens que vous suggdrera votre prudence, votre circonspection et votre patriotisme, a ce que les garanties conc^ddes aux etrangers par les traitds et par le droit des gens deviennent efficaces, en ^cartant ainsi tout motif ou tout prdtexte qui put les engager a ne pas conserver la stricte neutralitd k laquelle ils sent obliges dans les questions pendantes avec le gouvernement respectif. II appartient a votre jugement et k votre tact bien connus de diriger vers un but profitable I'exaltation du patriotisme, et d'empScber que les excita- tions populaires dans les conflits de la nation ne d^bordent centre les strangers laborienx et pacifiques, auxquels on doit entiere protection, de m6me qu'on doit appliquer strictement la loi aux turbulents et aux s^ditieux. II est supei-flu de vous demontrer combien la situation actuelle serait aggrav^ par des desordres qui, dans les circonstances du moment, viendraient justifier dans une certaine mesure les inculpations que Ton fait au Mexique, et combien, au contraire, contribuerait au bon succ^s de sa defense I'attitude digne d'un peuple qui soutient, dans son inddpendance, et son decorum, son amour pour I'bumanitd et la civilisation. En accomplissant I'ordre du citojen president, il m'est agr^able de vous reit- drer, &c. Dieu, liberty et r^forme. JUAN DE D. AEIAS. Au Oitoyen Gouverneur de I'Etat de . Enclosure 4 in No. 121. Sir C. Wyhe to M. de Roodenheeck. Mexico, December 13, 1861. Sir and Dear Colleague : On quitting Mexico I leave Mr. Glennie, our consul here, in charge of the archives of the legation, as "well also as of the in- interests of those British residents in the republic whose affairs, either public or private, will not permit them to leave the country at the present time. For the moment such protection will prove sufficient ; but in the event of hostilities hereafter occurring between her Majesty's forces and those of this republic, it will become necessary that EngliKshmen and their property here should be placed under the protection of a neutral flag. With this object iu view, and taking into consideration the intimate and friendly relations existing between our respective governments, I know nobody more fitting to take charge of British interests than yourself, provided you would not object to do so under the cu-cumstances I have named ; in which case, with fuU confidence in your tact and judgment, I should feel certain that my country- men would receive every protection and assistance which you may have it in your power to afford during the absence from this capital of a British legation. I have, &c., C. LENNOX WTKE THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 429 Enclosure 5 in No. 121. M. de Roodenbeeck to Sir C. Wyke. LfeGATION DE BeLGIQDE, Mexico, le 14 Deoembre, 1861. Monsieur et Cher CoLLfeeuE : J'ai re9u la d^p^cte en date d'Mer par laquelle vous m'avez fait I'honneur de m'informer, que lors de votre ddpart de Mexico voua confierez les archives de la legation de sa Majesty Britannique et les interSts de vos nationaux a M. G-lennie, votre consul dans cette residence ; mais que si des actes d'hostilite devaient avoir lieu entre les forces de la Grande Bretagne et celles du Mexique vous desirez que les nationaux Anglais et leurs proprietds soient places sous la protection du pavilion et de la legation Beiges. Je m'empresse de vous manifester, Monsieur et cher coUegue, que je serai heureux de faire tout ce qui sera en mon pouvoir pour que durant I'Bloignement de la legation de sa Majesty Britannique, vos compatriotes et leurs proprettSs soient parfaitement respect^s. N'importe dans quelle Eventuality, ils trouveront aupres le la legation du Roi mon auguste souverain la m6me protection et la meme assistance que mes propres nationaux. Je saisis, &c., T'KINT DE ROODENBEECK. No. 122. Sir C. Wyke to Earl Russell. [Extract] Vera Cruz, December 29, 1862. I arrived here on the evening of the 24th from Mexico, intending to leave this place in her Majesty's ship " Ariadne " for Jamaica immediately after the arrival of the English mail, which I fully expected would have brought yom- lordship's replies to my official correspondence of the 29th of October last. The steamer " Clyde " arrived at this port the day before yesterday, without, however, having brought any despatches for me, so that I conclude they have been sent to Jamaica under the admiral's address. Yesterday morning Captain Von Donop, of her Majesty's ship " Jason," called to show me a letter from Commodore Dunlop, dated the 23d instant, from the Havana, by which I learnt that it was not the admiral's intention to proceed to Jamaica as announced, but that he was expected with the squadron at the Havana on the 26th instant en route for Vera Cruz. Under these circumstances, had I proceeded even at once to that place in the "Ariadne," I should probably have crossed without meeting him on the way. This consideration induced me to remain where I was ; and by way of avoid- ing any further uncertainty, I immediately despatched Mr. Walsham in the " Ariadne " with a letter for the admiral, begging his excellency at once to for- ward to me my despatches in case the present critical state of our relations with the United States should prevent his coming on here, as Captain Von Donop thought it not at all improbable that he would now return to the north. As this place has been in possession of the Spaniards since the 17th instant, there could be no impropriety in my remaining here, as I am no longer residing in a. town under the authority of the Mexican government. 430 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. The English and French squadrons are expected here three or four days hence, hut they may be detained for a -week or ten days more in consequence of the heavy northerly gales which so frequently blow on this coast at the present season. Until the admiral's amval, or Mr. Walsham's return, I of course remain igno- rant of the nature of your lordship's instructions, as well also of the stipulations of the convention which I hear has been signed by the plenipotentiaries of England, France, and Spain. No. 123. Sir C. Wyhe to Earl Russell. [Extract] Vera Cruz, December 29, 1861. On my arrival here, a few days ago, I found that Vera Cruz had formally been taken possession of, on the 17th instant, by a Spanish force, under the command of General Gasset, composed of 6,500 men and 300 horses. They were brought here from the Havana in twenty-six transports and vessels-of-war, commanded by Admiral Rubalcava, who having summoned the place to surren- der, both castle and town were delivered up to him without resistance. All the Mexican authorities, with many of the inhabitants, retired into the interior, and nothing has since occurred to disturb the peaceable occupation of the town, which the Spaniards hold in the name of the allies as weU as their own, until the arrival of the English and French admirals. They have formed an administration for the service of the custom-house, post office, town council, &c. All duties levied are to be divided hereafter, according to the claims of each nation on the government of the republic. On arriving here, the governor of the town immediately sent me a guard of honor, which I dispensed with, and both himself and the general-in-chief offered their services to me in the kindest manner. The day following I called on them, and they, as well as the admiral, then assured me that everything they had done was considered by them as a mere temporary measure employed until the arrival of the allies. Their troops are a very fine body of men, and are kept under strict discipline, so that no complaints have been made against them by the inhabitants of the town. The Mexicans are fortifying some very strong mountain passes, where they mean to resist the march of the allies on the capital ; but as long as the Span- iards keep within their lines here they do not intend to molest them, except by cutting off, as far as they can, all supplies of provisions from entering the town. As fresh meat was becoming scarce here a few days ago, General Gasset was about seizing on three of the neighboring villages to obtain cattle, but I strongly advised him not to take such a step before the arrival of the French and EJnglish forces, as by so doing he would only bring on a collision with the Mexican forces outside the town, which it was most advisable to avoid, owing to the bitter feel- ing still existing in this country against the Spaniards. The general most readily yielded to my wishes, and although the troops were already out and under arms, he consented to change his projected expedition into a mere military promenade, to be made round the outer works of the town. I at the same time wrote to General Uraga, commanding the Mexican forces outside, strongly advising him to allow provisions to enter the town for the sake THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 431 of Ms own countrymen shut up in it, and also to avoid any hostile movement until the arrival of the allied squadrons in this harbor. This suggestion -was also well received, as the general replied that he would do all in his power to carry out my wishes. I am most anxious to give time for the formation of a respectahle government, ■who will understand that it is for their interest to receive the intei-vention in a friendly and not a hostile spirit, so as to aid them to re-estahlish order, and take the opinion of those who alone are entitled to have a voice in the matter. Hitherto the men of property and intelligence have been completely silenced and domineered over by the rabble, who elected from their own class the mem- bers of a congress which, besides being a disgrace to the country, rendered anything like good government impossible. The nation are now thoroughly frightened at the formidable coalition formed against them, and will be more disposed to grant what we want before blood has been shed and their passion excited, than they will be when once "engaged in a struggle with the Spaniards. The rejection of my convention by the congress, as described in my last month's correspondence, had the effect of breaking up the late cabinet, and the crisis which then ensued brought General Doblado forward, who would only consent to form a government on the condition of having full powers conferred on him by congress, authorizing him to settle pending questions with the three powers as he deemed best. Having obtained these he adjourned the assembly until April next, and now remains unfettered to make the best arrangement he can with us. He is a man of such talent -and influence in the country that the reactionary chiefs began to lay down their arms and give in their adhesion on his appoint- ment becoming known, and he is now engaged in forming his cabinet from the best men he could find, irrespective of their political opinions. His first act was to entreat me not to leave Mexico, as he was, he said, now able to conclude an arrangement with me that would give England positive guar- antees for the due fulfilment of their engagements towards us. As this overture was made to me after the arrival of last month's mail bringing English news- papers in which it was positively stated that a convention was about being signed, binding the three powers to a joint intervention in Mexico, I could not, of course, take advantage of an offer which, under other circumstances, I should have gladly availed myself of. Everything depends on the manner in which matters are managed here at first. If the intervention is properly received it will prove a blessing to the country ; but, on the other hand, violent measures at first will spoil all, and en- gage us in an undertaking the difficulties of which can hardly be overrated. Fortunately, the Spanish commander, both military and naval, appear to be men of great prudence and discretion, and up to the present moment they have shown a spirit of justice and conciliation which speaks highly in their favor. In a long conversation I had with Admiral Eubalcava the day before yester- day, he expressed his opinion on this subject in terms nearly identical to those I have now used in giving my own. I have the honor to enclose an extract from the " Trait d'Union," in which your lordship will find the summons of the Spanish admiral demanding the sur- render of the town, as well as the president's address to the nation on the pres- ent state of afiairs. 432 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. Enclosure in No. 123. Extract from the "Trait cV Union" of Decemher 19, 1861. LA SOMMATION DC CHEF DE L'ESGADEE ESPAGNOL. COMMANDANCE GrfeNfeRALB DE FORCES NaVALBS DB Sa MaJBSTE CATHOLiaUE DANS LBS ANTILLES. M. LE GouvERNEUR: La longue sdrie d'outrages inflig^s au gouvemement de sa Majesty Oatholique par celui de la repiiblique Mexicaine, les violences reit^- rees, commises centre des sujets Espagnols ct robstination aveugle avec laqueUe le gouvernement du Mexique s'est refuse constamment a ^center les justes recla- mations de I'Espagne, toujoiirs presentees avec la moderation et le decorum propres a une nation aussi noble ("hidalgo,") ont mis mon gouvemement dans le cas de rejeter tout espoir d'obtenir, par la voie de la .conciliation, un reglement satisfaisant des graves differends existant entre les deux pays. Le gouvemement de sa Majeste Catholique, resolu, cependant, a obtenir reparation complete ("cumplida") pour tant d'outrages, m'a ordonne de commencer mes operations en occupant la place de Vera Oruz et la chateau de San Juan de Ulua, qui seront conserves, comme gage ("prenda pretoria ") jusqu'^ ce que le- gouverne- ment de sa Majesty s'assure que, dans ravemr,.la nation Espagnole sera trait^e avec la consideration qui lui est due, et que les pactes qui seront c^lebr^s entre les deux gouvernements seront religieusement observes. Vous me communiquerez, par Tinterm^diaire de M. le Consul Fran9ais, chargd de representer les int(^rets commerciaux de I'Espagne, dans le di^lai le vingt- quatre heures, compt^es du moment oii vous recevrez la pr^sente sommation, si vous Stea ou non dispose a me livrer la place et le chateau; dans I'intelligence que si la response est negative, ou si je n'ai re^u aucune r^ponse a I'expiration du delai, vous pouvez des ce moment considerer les hostilitds commencdes, et I'armt^e Espagnole d^barquera dans ce but. Je ne dois pas vous cacher que s'il est vrai que je fais la prdsente sommation seulement au nom de I'Espagne, suivant les instructions que j'ai regues, I'occu- pation de la place et du chateau servira egalement de garantie pour les droits et les reclamations qu'auront a faire valoir contre le gouvemement Mexicain, les gouvernements de la France et de la Grande Bretagne. II me reste a vous faire observer que la mission de forces Espagnoles ne se rattache en rien a la politique int«5rieure du pays (" en nada se roza con la po- litica interior del pais ") : toutes les opinions seront respectdes ; on ne commettra aucun acte censurable, et du moment ou nos troupes occuperont Vera Oruz, les chefs Espagnols rdpondront de la security des personnes et des int&'ets de ses habitants, quelle que soit leur nationalit(^. II vous appartient ainsi qu'aux autres autoritees de donner des garanties aux dtrangers jusqu'a ce que la dite occupa- tion se realise, soit pacifiquement, soit de vive force. Si les sujets Espagnols et les autres (Strangers ^talent persecutes et maltraites, les forces qui composent cette expedition se verraient dans la dure mais imperieuse necessite de recomir aux represailles. J'entretiens Tespoir que, quelle que soit votre resolution, vous agirez avec la prudence qu'on doit attendre, et vous penetrant que les forces Espagnoles, toujours humaines, toujours nobles et loyales, meme avec leurs ennemis, ne feront pas le premier pas dans la voie des violences reprouvees mfeme en cas de guerre, vous eviterez toute sorte de crimes dont le seul resultat serait de rendre plus difficile, sinon impossible, le reglement des questions Internationales pen- dantes. Je profite, &c. Vapeur "Isabel la Catoiica," et mouillage d'Anton Lizardo, le 14 Decembre, 1861. JOAQUIN GUTIERREZ DE RUBALCAVA. M. le GouvERNEUR de I'Etat de Vera Cruz, S^c. THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. 433 Le Gouvernement Supreme d, M. le Gouverneur de I'Etat de Vera Cruz. MiNISTERE DBS EeLATIONS ExTEKIEURES ET DE GoBEENACION. Le citoyen president, a qui j'ai rendu compte de la communication officielle que vous a adressee le commandant des forces navales Espagnoles, et de celle que vous avez envoyee a ce chef rdponse, m'ordonne de vous dire de suivre ponctueEement les instructions qui vous ont fSt^ donates par anticipation, pour le cas, aujourd'hui realise, de la rupture ouverte des hostUites de la part des sujets de I'Espagne, et de laisser, en matifere militaire. Taction libre au citoyen General tJraga, qui commande-en- chief I'armde Mexicaine, afin qu'il agisse ^ga,le- ment, dans so sphfere, conform^ment aux instructions ddtaillees qui lui ont ete donndes. II serait peu convenable pour le gouvernement de la rdpublique de s'adresser a un chef qui, passant par dessus les formes du droit des gens, commence par intimer la reddition d'une place. . Le cri de guerre que la nation a lancd spon- tanement, marque au gouvernement le chemin qu'il doit suivre, et ce ne sera pas le citoyen president de la rdpublique qui reculera devant une invasion dtrangere, avec d'autant plus de raison que, daiis la cnconstance, le Mexique ne fait que repousser la force par la force, eri vertu de son droit naturel incontestable. Je vous adresse egalement, par disposition supreme, un exemplaire du ddcret et de la circulaire qui sont envoyes aujourd'hui, par extraordinaire, aux citoyens gouverneurs des etats, en vous recommandant de seconder, avec I'energie et I'activitd que commandent les circonstances, la pensde du gouverneflient; le citoyen president ne doute pas qu'a I'aide de cette jfidfele execution, I'invasion qui menace de detruire notre liberty et notre inddpendance sera rdpoussee. Liberte et rdforme ! Mexico, le 17 Decembre, 1861. ' MANUEL DOBLADO. Au Citoyen Gouveeneur de l'Etat de Vera Cruz. Circulaire aux Gouverneurs d'Etats. Ministere DBS Eelations Exteeieures et db Gobernacion. Par ordre du citoyen president, j'ai I'honneur de vous remettre copie des communications ofEcielles echangdes entre le commandant des forces Espagnoles a Vera Cruz et le citoyen gouverneur de cet etat, ainsi que du ddcret et manifeste que le magistrat supreme de la rdpublique a cru devoir publier aujourd'hui, pour que les etats se preparent a la defense de I'independance. Aprds avoir epuisd les moyens d'un arrangement pacfique entre I'Espagne et le Mexique, le gouvernement de la rdpublique, fort de la conscience de sa justice et ressentant I'impulsion de I'opinion populaire prononcde pour la guerre, accepte celle qu'ont commencde les forces Espagnoles d'une manifere si inusitde, parceque son droit de repousser la force par la force est incontestable, et il proteste, devant le monde civilisd, que la responsabilitd des dvenements postdrieurs retombera toute entidre et uniquement sur le gouvernement de la Eeine d'Espagne qui a fait siennes, d'une manidre si inconsiddree, les injustes accusations sur lesquelles out entendu speculer les ennemis de la liberty du Mexique. Malgrd nos dissensions intestines, le sentiment pour I'inddpendsince et la haine . centre les anciens dominateurs du pays se maintiennent vivants, bien que la seconde soit attenude par I'effet des lumiferes et de la civilisation du sifecle. Le citoyen president, en arborant le drapeau de la nationality Mexicaine, ne fait que suivre le toiTent de I'opinion gendrale, et a la plaisir de voir groupds H. Ex. Doc. 100 28 434 THE PRESENT CONDITION OF MEXICO. autour de lui, an jour du conflit national, la plupart des Mexicains qui restaient d^sunis pour cause d'opinions politiques, mais qui ont abandonno les partis in- testins au premier appel de la patrie. Bien qiie le gouvemement ait tout droit d'expulser du territorie de la r^pub- lique les Espagnols qui j resident, il n'a pas voulu le faire quant a present, ear il a confiance en ce que ces demiers, r^pondant a la g^nerosite avec laquelle on les traite, observeront la stricte neutrality que leur position leur conseille. Le citoyen president a donneS ainsi un noveau tdmoignage de la prudence avec laquelle il s'est conduit dans ses relations ext^rieures, en prouvant, par des faits irrdfutables, qu'U n'a pas la faute si ces relations en sont venues au malheureux ^tat dans lequel elles se trouvent actuellement. Le citoyen pr(^sident esp^re done qu'en donnant une prompte et stricte execu- tion au d^cret dont j'ai parl^ des le d^but, vous mettrez en marche, aussitot que possible, le contingent de force armde qui vous est signale, et que vous userez en outre de toutes les ressources que vous permet votre gouvemement pour mettre I'etat de votre digne commandement dans I'attitude imposante qui lui correspond, en excitant par tons les habitants du meme etat, aiin qu'ils contribuent a la de- fense commune, et pour que, dans le cas malbeureux ou I'ennemi pen^trerait dans I'intdrievir, tons les habitants du pays se levent en masse et opposent, avec leur ^p^e efleur Constance, une muraille invincible a I'audace de nos envabisseips. Que la memoire d'Hidalgo, de Morelos et de Guerrero soit un exemple pour les Mexicains, et que la banniere qui flottera dans les rangs de notre armee, a I'heure du combat, ait pour inscription : "Vive I'lndependance ! Vive la R^publique!" Liberty et reforme. Mexico, le 17 Decembre, 1861. MANUEL DOBLADO. Au Citoyen Gouverneur de l'Etat de . WM tl