Before that interview I had already given to Lord Lyons what I have no doubt ought to be satisfactory explanations on the subject. I had also instructed Mr. Dayton, if he should find it profitable, to make the same explanations to the imperial government. It seems unnecessary to add to the explanation further than to say that Mr. Thouvenel seems to have been misled into the grievous error of supposing that we had initiated a proceeding to permanently ruin the harbors of our commercial cities temporarily occupied by the insurgents, and that the placing of artificial obstructions in channels which lead to Charleston harbor was only the beginning of that work of universal and unsparing destruetion. On the contrary, all that has been, at any time, intended, has been merely the temporary obstruction of some, not all, of the channels leading to Charleston harbor, leaving others free, except as closed by the blockade.

I might have been disposed to complain that Mr. Thouvenel has listened too favorably to exaggerations upon the subject, but I am prevented from doing so by the fact that in his instructions to you he expressly reserved himself for more authentic information, and that while he has directed you to converse with me upon the subject, he has generously refrained from requiring you to make any formal complaint to this government. The President appreciates the friendly spirit manifested in this prudent forbearance, as he does also the marked propriety which has distinguished your own proceedings in the question.

I believe, sir, that the reaction which I have so constantly promised you against the insurrection which has threatened to us so much danger and inflicted upon friendly nations so many evils has begun. If Europe, instead of believing what the traitorous emissaries of that insurrection report to our prejudice, and lending its sympathies to their unreal grievances, shall come to recognize the simple fact that the federal Union, while adhering to all its obligations and its treaties, is safely surmounting all its dangers, there will not be a port left in the hands of the insurgents a month after the hopes of foreign aid shall have been thus disappointed.

The speeches of his Majesty the Emperor of France and the Queen of Great Britain to the legislatures of their respective countries show a constancy in their purposes not to be drawn unnecessarily into this unhappy domestic contention; and therefore they cannot but exert a very salutary influence in the direction I have indicated. The administration of the Emperor cannot be an obscure one. It is already illustrated by the influence he has made France exert upon events having important bearings on the progress of society in Europe. It probably is yet to enjoy other triumphs of the same kind. But I venture to say that what will be regarded in after times as the crowning evidence of his wisdom and his virtue will be the magnanimity with which, resisting ephemeral though powerful political influences, he withheld his country from contentions beyond the ocean, which she could not heal, and into which she could not enter without convulsing human society to its centre and obstructing the course of civilization for centuries.

I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to you, sir, the assurance of my high consideration. WILLIAM H. SEWARD

Mr. HENRY MERCIER, &c., &c., &c.

Mr. Pelissier to Mr. Thouvenel.

[Translation.]

FRENCH MISSION TO MOROCCO,

Tangier, March 3, 1862.

Mr. MINISTER: Mr. De Long, consul general of the United States at Tangier, yesterday addressed to all the consular corps a strange circular on the subject of the disorders which preceded the shipping off of Messrs. Tunstall and Myers, mentioned in my reports of the 27th of last month. The letter of Mr. De Long has produced upon all his colleagues a very ill effect.

I have the honor to transmit to you a copy of this circular, and of the answer which on my part I believed it my duty to make.

Accept, &c.,

The MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS.

H. PELISSIER.

Circular addressed to the consular corps (at Tangier) by Mr. De Long, consul general of the United States.

[Translation.]

TANGIER, March 1, 1862.

SIR: On the afternoon of the 26th of last month the consulate of the United States was besieged, the American flag insulted, and my life placed in danger by an armed populace, composed of European subjects resident in the locality, under the protection of the representatives of foreign nations.

The circumstances which accompanied the recital made of this outrage lead me to believe that no one of the representatives above mentioned interfered to disperse that gang before measures had been taken by the minister for foreign affairs of the government of Morocco.

After the trials my beloved country is passing through, we shall have a Union and a Constitution, which we shall uphold and transmit intact to our children and our children's children through succeeding generations, and a flag everywhere known and respected will not have been insulted with impunity by a vile European populace on the coast of Africa; above all, proceeding from such authors or from those who have been in connivance with them.

Informing you thereof, in your prompt answer to this communication, you will please to exculpate yourself honorably, and put me in position to render to my government a satisfactory report.

I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant,

Mr. H. PELISSier,

JAMES DE LONG.

Chargé d'Affaires of France, ad interim, at Tangier.

Answer of Mr. Pelissier to the circular of Mr. De Long.

Mr. CONSUL GENERAL: I have the honor to answer the letter you have addressed to me of the date of yesterday.

As the representative of a great and generous nation, as a man, I have not been able, although remaining a neutral looker on, to approve the conduct which

you have thought you ought to take towards Messrs. Tunstall and Myers. I regret the disorder which was its consequence, but I thrust aside, as I ought, the participation which it has pleased you to suppose I had perhaps taken in the demonstration which took place at the American consulate on the 26th of last month. I do not know what can have led you to pretend to an explanation on the part of the French mission, and I am astonished at it. You should have reflected that an agent who respects himself could not, in a country like Morocco, give his assent to an attack directed against the hotel of a representative of a Christian power, friend or foe of his government.

I will now answer the strange passage of your letter, in which you seem to believe that I waited for the action of the local authority before giving orders to my countrymen. Your inquiries have been ill directed; Mr. Consul, you will allow me to tell you so. Quite on the contrary, I hastened, as soon as I knew what was passing at your house, to send a person employed at the mission to notify to the two or three Frenchmen, who might perhaps have been disposed to follow the crowd which was besieging your consulate, the order to withdraw themselves and to abstain from any hostile demonstration. Not one was found there, and it was afterwards only that Minister Bargass took his step with the consular corps.

I hope, Mr. Consul General, you will please to take into consideration the condescension which the agent of the French mission has practiced in answering your communication. I transmit, moreover, to my government, a copy your letter and my answer.

of

Mr. Thouvenel to Mr. Mercier.

[Translation.]

H. PELISSIER.

PARIS, March 13, 1862.

SIR: I think it proper to send you a copy of a despatch which I have just received from our agent at Tangier, with respect to an affair which has caused an excitement in that city which may be readily accounted for. Two Americans, belonging to the southern States of the Union, who had taken passage at Gibraltar on board the French packet-boat called La Ville de Malaga, bound to Cadiz, having landed at Tangier, were there, upon the requisition of the consul of the United States, arrested by the Moorish force, put in irons, and embarked on board a sloop-of-war sent for by Mr. De Long. You will see, sir, what impression this act caused among the foreign colony. The violent language and the threats of the American consul alone have induced the local authority to lend him to the end their co-operation, and, if the other foreign agents had not occupied themselves in pacifying their fellow countrymen, that incident might have led to unpleasant consequences for the consulate of the United States. The cabinet of Washington would not, without doubt, approve the conduct pursued on this occasion by its representative. The fact that Messrs. Myers and Tunstall, having taken passage for Cadiz on board a French boat, were but temporarily on shore when they were seized, and might believe themselves, as a consequence, still under the protection of our flag, this fact might authorize us, strictly speaking, to complain, on our own account, of the deplorable measures, under all aspects, which Mr. De Long has not hesitated to adopt. I do not desire, however, to put the question upon that ground. It is sufficient that we should recall to mind the conflict which arose at Smyrna, some years ago, between the commander of a vessel of the United States and the commander of an Austrian

brig, respecting a Hungarian refugee, Martin Costa, to be assured that the federal government will not judge of the incident referred to otherwise than we do. In fact, it has not been forgotten that Costa, having disembarked from an American vessel, and having been arrested by order of the consul of Austria, at once claimed the American protection; that, upon the order of the chargé d'affaires of the United States at Constantinople, the commander of the American corvette, the St. Louis, wrote to the commander of the Austrian brig, the Huzar, to demand from him, nolens volens, the surrender of Costa, held on board his vessel, and that this proceeding brought about finally, with the intervention of the foreign consuls, the release of the Hungarian refugee. It cannot be that, after the commander of an American vessel has drawn up, with the approbation of his government, demands so energetic on a similar occasion, that the United States can have any interest in defending acts which are so contrary, as that which Mr. De Long has permitted himself to commit, to the principles which they then honored themselves in defending.

Accept, &c.,

Mr. H. MERCier,

Minister of France at Washington.

THOUVENEL.

Extract from a despatch from Mr. Thouvenel, dated March 20, 1862, Paris.

[Translation.]

You will find here annexed copy of a fresh despatch, which I received from our agent at Tangier, on the subject of the regretted incident which I acquainted you with by the last mail. You already know that the colleagues of Mr. De Long, although their impressions on the fact of the seizure of Messrs. Myers and Tunstall did not differ from those which were entertained by all the European population, busied themselves in calming the irritations of their countrymen against the American consul, and prevented any more serious danger to him personally. Far, however, from appreciating the generous intervention of his colleagues, Mr. De Long thought he had a right to address them a circular, the strange terms of which, to say no more, will incur, I have no doubt, the full disapproval of the cabinet of Washington. We must the more, in what regards us, attach some importance to it because Mr. Pelissier, who would have been completely justified, in our eyes, if he had abstained from replying to the consul of the United States, allowed himself, out of respect for the government which that agent represented, to enter into explanations from which the circumstances relieved him, and did so with a moderation of which the circular of Mr. De Long gave him no example.

Receive, &c.,

THOUVENEL.

The Acting Consul General of France in Morocco to His Excellency Mr.

Thouvenel. [Translation.]

TANGIER, February 27, 1862.

Messrs. Tunstall and Myers, about whom I had the honor to write you on the 20th of this month, were embarked yesterday afternoon on board the United States corvette, by Mr. De Long, consul general of that nation for

Morocco. This embarcation was not effected without some difficulty. It has produced amongst all here a bad impression; and the European population of our city, justly indignant at the conduct of Mr. De Long towards Messrs. Tunstall and Myers, sought to take his prisoners from him. I will take up things from the beginning.

As your excellency knows, the representatives of the Christian powers in Morocco have, by virtue of the treaties of their governments with this empire, the right to call in the aid of the local authorities to arrest their countrymen. It is this aid which Mr. De Long has maliciously called upon to arrest Messrs. Tunstall and Myers, who had landed, without any distrust, at Tangier to see a friend, and who believed there was no more danger there than in the streets of Gibraltar or of Cadiz. The Pacha was applied to for soldiers to arrest two Americans-granted them without more ample information, and Messrs. Tunstall and Myers found themselves suddenly seized upon as malefactors, chained, and conveyed to the American consulate, where they remained, tied hands and feet, until the moment of their embarcation. The brutal conduct of Mr. De Long has roused against him the indignation of all Tangier, and his colleagues, while they desire to observe perfect neutrality, cannot refrain from blaming him.

The day before yesterday the minister, Mr. Bargass, received a letter from the commander of the Sumter, informing him that Messrs. Myers and Tunstall were very worthy people; that the consul general of the northern States had caused them to be arrested only because they belonged to the southern States, which were at war with his government in consequence of their secession; that the Confederate States would soon be a nation recognized in Europe, and that he had been very much surprised to learn that the authorities of Morocco at Tangier had aided Mr. De Long in arresting Messrs. Myers and Tunstall while peace existed between their country and Morocco. He ended by requesting the liberation of Messrs. Tunstall and Myers. Sidi Mohammed Bargass, on the receipt of the letter from the commander of the Sumter, wrote to Mr. De Long to request him to release his prisoners, adding, in moderate terms, that the government of Morocco, which kept aloof from all questions existing among Christians, and wished to be at peace with all, would desire, under the circumstances, as the thing had taken place in Europe, to see the independence of her territory respected. Pending these incidents the United States corvette, summoned by Mr. De Long, arrived and anchored in the waters of Tangier, and the consul general went yesterday with her commander to reply to the communication from the minister of Morocco.

Here is the article of my treaty, said Mr. De Long to Sidi Bargass, which gives me the right to call for the aid of the local authority to arrest and ship my countrymen. Messrs. Myers and Tunstall are rebellious subjects of my country, of whom I have taken possession, and if you do not aid me with the strong hand, I will take down my flag, break its staff, and embark at once, and war will be declared against you by the United States. Nothing more was needed to frighten Minister Bargass, who then gave all his assistance to the American consul, after having had his promise, however, that their lives would be safe.

The European population of Tangier, as soon as it was known that the two prisoners were to be put on shipboard, went almost in a solid body to the American consulate to request their liberation from Mr. De Long. The consul general and the commander of the American corvette replied to this entirely pacific demonstration by insult and menace. Then knives were drawn, threats of death were uttered, and the crowd was already rushing into the apartments of the American hotel to carry off Messrs. Tunstall and Myers, when the consuls, informed of what was passing, called upon their countrymen to withdraw, and to abstain from any hostile demonstration. The authorities, on their side,