vided the first of them should be amended to the effect proposed by the President.

Neither of these Governments is understood to have objected to this amendment, but the negotiations were not prosecuted to a conclusion.

The President of The United States adheres to the opinion expressed by his predecessor, that it would be eminently desirable for the good of all nations that the property and effects of private individuals, not contraband, should be exempt from seizure and confiscation by national vessels in maritime war. But the proposal to that effect not having been accepted by the nations represented in the Congress of 1856, he now offers to accede to the invitation of the powers, and to accept the declaration promulgated by it, deferring to a future occasion the further prosecution of negotiations for the general adoption of the amendment above specified.

The Undersigned is [invested with full powers to conclude, on the part of the President, a Convention between the Government of The United States and that of His Majesty the King of Italy for the adoption of the declaration of the Congress of Paris, and begs leave to invite the attention of his Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs to the proposal. The Undersigned, &c.

(Extract.)

GEORGE P. MARSH.

Mr. Seward to Mr. Marsh.

Washington, November 22, 1861.

I HAVE your despatch of October 29.

The British and French Governments, which stand at the head of the maritime Powers, having declined our adhesion to the declaration of Paris without conditions which The United States cannot yield, there is no important object to be attained by pressing the same upon other powers. You will therefore let the matter rest in Italy for the present.

I think that when at no distant day it shall need to be renewed, the interest that shall move it forward will appear first on the other side of the Atlantic.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

UNITED STATES AND NETHERLANDS.
Mr. Murphy to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

The Hague, April 8, 1861. THE Undersigned, Minister Resident of The United States of America, has the honour to address his Excellency Baron Van Zuylen Van Nijevelt, Minister of Foreign Affairs of His Majesty the King of the Netherlands, on the subject of the present complication of the internal political affairs of The United States, and, for the better understanding of the views of his Government in

relation thereto, to invite the attention of his Excellency to the accompanying address of the President on assuming the administration of the Federal Union. His Excellency will find therein a statement of the alleged grievances, of the revolutionary nature of the proceedings of a number of the States of the Union which have attempted to secede and have formed a Provisional Government of their own, and of the line of policy which the Government of the Union will pursue for the purpose of preserving peace and for the maintenance of the Union.

The Undersigned will further remark, in explanation of this statement of the President in regard to the character of the seces sion movement, that the Government of The United States is not simply a confederation, but a union, which has been invested by the people of the different States, acting in their original sovereign capacity, with certain powers, which are exclusive and paramount throughout the Republic, such as the making of war and peace, the regulation of commerce, whether between the States themselves or with foreign nations, the establishment of post offices and post roads, the defining and punishing piracies and felonies on the high seas, the maintenance of a navy, and the laying and collecting taxes and duties for the common defence and welfare, besides various others entirely of a domestic bearing, but all operating on all the States and citirens thereof as one people. In other words, in all that concerns the foreign relations of the several States, as well as in many details of internal regulation, The United States are as much a consolidated Government as the kingdom of the Netherlands, with its provincial divisions and assemblies-the only difference being, that in The United States all powers not granted to the Federal Government are reserved to the States and the people, and, consequently, original and more extensive powers are exercised by the legislatures of the several States. Any attempt, therefore, on the part of any State or number of States, or of any section of a State, to interfere with the exercise of the powers conferred on the general Government by the Constitation is revolutionary: and any pretended or actual exercise of lie powers by them is an usurpation.

Pie condition of afairs now existing in The United States is altogether of an anomalous caracter, arising from the principles you which the Govemment is founded. Those principles acknowledge the right of self-government in the people, and the exercise of portier favdom of speech, of assemblare, and of the press. A wejority of the e'betors, in the mni under the forms preserbed by the Constitution, e't the Presite and thus give admistrative v..dla to the doveseat. In the canvass preeeding the election, which takes race every 4 years, discussions of

subjects of vital interest to the country are carried on in the press and on the stump with such effect that, although the voting body comprised over 3,000,000 of persons, probably not 5 per cent. of the whole number fail to vote on such occasions. Popular passion is aroused, every motive is appealed to by the rival parties, and, when a conclusion is reached, there is oftentimes a feeling of disappointment on the part of the minority. But this feeling has never heretofore interfered with the loyal submission to the will of the majority. In the recent canvass, the questions connected with the institution of slavery were almost exclusively agitated, principally in regard to its extension into the territories, or, as it might be termed in this country, the lands of the generality. The decision of the people has been adverse to such extension, but altogether by the votes of the non-slave-holding States. Advantage has been taken of this circumstance by designing men to make the minority, or rather that portion of it residing in the slave-holding States, believe that their constitutional rights, in regard to that species of property known as slaves, were in danger of being destroyed by the majority. The fear of such a consequence is groundless; but, acting upon such apprehensions, the people of the seceding States have precipitated themselves into their present position.

No complaint has been made in any quarter of any improper act of the general Government, or of any violation by it of its powers, or of the rights of slaveholders, as a ground for the existing discontent. The evils are anticipatory only, so far as the action of the general Government is concerned. On the other hand it is true that, notwithstanding the apprehensions and fears which have been excited in the bosoms of a portion of the American people in regard to the policy of the Government, and the steps which have been taken by them for the formation of an independent Government, it is not to be doubted that the great majority of the people of these seceding States still cherish a love for the Union of their fathers, its memories, its prestige, and its blessings. Independent of this fact, the permanent dismemberment of the Union is fraught with so much evil to them, as well as to the country at large, as to justify the belief that a calm view of the consequences, combined with their patriotism, will cause them to retrace their steps. A separate Government on their part entails the necessity not only of an entire new corps of officers of Government, but also of a standing army where none now is necessary, of an independent navy, of a cordon of revenue officers along an extensive coast and frontier line: all attended with heavy expense and increased taxes. These consequences, and the severance of family ties and brotherhood existing between individuals residing in different States, are to come home to them when passion and delusion shall have passed away; and

when they shall discover, as discover they will, that the general Government entertains no designs against their peace or property, but on the other hand will, as it is bound to do, defend both.

The Undersigned would also impress upon the Government of His Majesty the fact that no one questions the election of the President according to the provisions of the Constitution. He is the choice of the country, and is fairly entitled to the exercise of all the powers conferred upon the executive head of the Federal Government by the Constitution. Every citizen within every State is bound to obedience to his lawful authority. It is the sworn duty of the President to administer faithfully the Constitution and laws of The United States, and the obligation of every citizen and individual is perfect to uphold and sustain him in its performance. But the President will seek by a just and liberal administration, and by a paternal regard for the rights and feelings of all sections of the country, to give occasion and opportunity for the deliberate and loyal action of the people. It is under these circumstances that the President entertains the fullest confidence in the restoration of the harmony and unity of the Government at no very distant day.

The friendship and goodwill which His Majesty the King of the Netherlands has always manifested towards The United States, the President regards as an assurance that His Majesty's Government will not yield to solicitations to intervene in an unfriendly way in the domestic affairs of The United States. It is evident that any encouragement to disaffection from abroad would thwart the efforts of the President for a reconciliation, and defeat his just expectations in that regard. It is a question, moreover, which involves important interests to all nations with which The United States are in commercial relation, and to all constitutional Governments. The form of Government which the people of The United States have adopted, is one which experience has proven is best adapted for the peace and protection of the States, for the welfare of the people, and for the development of the enterprise and resources of its vast territory. Nor has its influence, it is believed, been without its salutary effect upon the fatherlands, whence that population has originally sprung.

It has, however, been a Government of example only as to other nations, and has steadily pursued the policy of not interfering with their internal affairs. Under it close commercial relations have sprung up, particularly with all the Western Powers of Europe, and with the kingdom of the Netherlands which have never for a moment -now more than three-fourths of a century-been interrupted. If at present there happen some inconveniences to the trading interests of the subjects of His Majesty, it will be the endeavour of the President to render them as light and transient as possible; and should any injury be sustained therefrom by the subjects of His Majesty,

the President is determined, the Undersigned is instructed to say, that they shall, so far as it may rest with him, be amply indemnified. Should a state of civil war be precipitated, by any cause whatever, those inconveniences would be turned into evils of a wide-spread and disastrous character to other nations. Not only would the channels of commerce be closed, or, at least seriously interrupted, and the agricultural and mining products of The United States, many of which have become necessary for other nations, be withheld; but the political systems of Europe and the causes of wellregulated and constitutional Government would suffer everywhere. A state of anarchy must ensue if the revolution be pursued. It is not to be expected that an empire of 31,000,000 of souls can be broken up, and the glories and blessings of its free Government be thrown away at the behest of 6,000,000, one-half of whom only are of the white race. The policy hitherto has been, on the part of the general Government, and will continue to be, to avert such a calamity; and in asking the non-intervention of friendly nations, while it pursues a course of peace itself, it demands, it is confidently believed, what is most consistent with the cause of humanity and good government everywhere. And to no Power is this caution addressed with more confidence than to His Majesty the King of the Netherlands. The Undersigned, &c.

HENRY C. MURPHY.

M. Zuylen de Nijevelt to Mr. Murphy.

(Translation.) The Hague, April 26, 1861. THE Undersigned, Minister for Foreign Affairs, has had the honour to receive the note which Mr. Murphy, Minister resident of the United States of America, has pleased to address to him on the subject of the existing complications of political affairs in The United States; the said note being accompanied, for the better understanding of the views of his Government, by the address delivered by his Excellency the President on assuming the administration of the Federal Union.

In calling, by his note, the attention of the Undersigned to the exposition contained in the address of the wrongs alleged by some States of the Union, of their proceedings to attempt a separation, and the formation of a separate Provisional Government, as well as on the line of conduct which the Federal Government proposes to follow for the purpose of preserving peace and upholding the Union, Mr. Murphy further remarks, in explaining this part of the President's address, upon the character of the secessional movement, that the Government of The United States is not merely a confederation but a union, invested by the people of the different States with [1860-61. LI.]

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