No. 245.] Mr. Seward to Mr. Pike. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, July 3, 1865. SIR: I have received your despatch of the 14th instant, No. 169, predicting a favorable reception in Europe of the intelligence of the withdrawal from the insurgents of the character of belligerents by those governments which have accorded to them privileges upon that ground. It is to be regretted that European maritime powers so tamely yielded to slaveholders' threats, and unnecessarily conceded a belligerent character to the rebels. The evils which have resulted from the concession are deplorable, but they are passed. I am, sir, your obedient servant, JAMES S. PIKE, Esq., &c., §x., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. No. 172.] Mr. Pike to Mr. Seward. UNITED STATES LEGATION, The Hague, August 2, 1865. SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your despatches of the 26th of June, and the 3d and 15th of July, Nos. 244, 245, and 246, and also your circular despatch of July 8, in relation to the execution of the conspirators against the lives of the late and of the present President, members of the cabinet, and others. Very copious criticisms on our affairs continue to be indulged in by European writers. The great herd of hostile commentators on our concerns, though confounded by results, cannot be abashed into silence. But they have written nobody down but themselves. Mr. John Bright, and some others of our friends, are the only public men of note who have not lost reputation as statesmen in consequence of their vaticinations concerning our war. The prices of our stocks here are rather retrograding. The imaginative views lately put forth by Dr. Elder, under the auspices of Mr. Jay Cooke, aiming to show that a great national debt promotes rather than hinders national prosperity, has provoked criticisms which, perhaps, have something to do with this result. Europeans have had too much practical acquaintance with war debts and taxation to have patience with such views. Of course, such speculations could have no influence if they had not a sort of semi-official sanction. I have the honor to be, with great respect, your most obedient servant, SIR: I am without any of your favors to acknowledge, excepting your pri vate notes. It is vacation time in Europe, when everybody spends a month away from home. There are no topics of commanding interest in the political world. The cholera, now menacing Europe from the shores of the Mediterranean, is regarded with solicitude, but hopes are entertained that the season is sufficiently far advanced to prevent its ravages in the north of Europe, during this season at least. The rate of money is low, but the market is feverish. This arises, in part, from the uncertainty in regard to the crops, and partly from considerations connected with the prospective supply of the great staple of cotton. This article is again entering into commercial and financial affairs as a disturbing element. Our stocks feel the influence of this state of things, besides having to carry weight on their own account, and they thus continue to fall, being now at a lower point than they have been since the close of the war. Another thing that influences them unfavorably is the hostility to the Mexican empire which appears to animate the people of the United States, and which, it is feared, may yet involve us with France. The apparent failure of the Atlantic telegraph cable is a great disappointment to very confident expectations. It is long since any subject has excited greater public interest than the daily progress of the Great Eastern, up to the period when communication was suddenly suspended. A cattle plague has appeared in England to an extent which excites great alarm, since the price of butchers' meat had already risen there to an unwonted height. It is alleged, in the discussions upon the subject, that it was imported from the continent, and especially from Holland; but there is nothing of the sort in this country. Holland has no grievances, and steadily progresses in the paths of political quiet and pecuniary prosperity. I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient servant, SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of August 7, No. 247, with its enclosures. I have communicated to this government what you desired in regard to Admiral de Vries, of Flushing. Admiral Goldsborough, with the Colorado and Frolic, is now at the Texel, and with his ships was recently at Flushing, and has visited us twice at The Hague. He leaves for Cherbourg next week. I have the honor to be, with great respect, your most obedient servant, JAMES S. PIKE. SIR: Your very interesting despatch of the 16th ultimo, No. 173, informing me of the important matters which are engaging the attention of the Eu ropean public, has been received, and I have, in reply, to inform you that I have invited the attention of the Secretary of the Treasury to that portion which relates to the financial situation in Europe. Upon representations which have been received from the diplomatic agents of the United States in Europe, the attention of the governors and provisional governors of the several States has been called to the reported progress of the cholera westward, and the adoption of such measures as will prevent its introduction into the United States has been recommended. SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch, No. 174, of the 23d of August, and your proceedings therein indicated are approved. I am, sir, your obedient servant, JAMES S. PIKE, Esq., &c., &c., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Mr. Pike to Mr. Seward. No. 175.] UNITED STATES LEGATION, The Hague, September 13, 1865. SIR: I am without any of your favors since my last, excepting your No. 248. The annual ceremony of opening the legislative chambers takes place the 18th instant, for which the King and his ministers have already returned to town. The two bodies contrive to have about a dozen sessions a year between them. They practice a very old-fashioned and cumbrous form of legislation, as you may suppose, or they would have no need of such frequent sittings. The cattle plague has at length reached Holland, and spread in the interior. It is naturally regarded with alarm in a country so full of domestic animals as this, especially of the bovine race. The apprehended visitation of the cholera is now but little feared, as the cool weather already approaches. The crops in this part of Europe are generally good, in this country especially so. In England there has been much complaint, but the apprehensions of a bad harvest are less now than they were a fortnight ago, the weather since then having been remarkably fine. Still, prices have risen, and paying rates for our breadstuffs and provisions seem likely to prevail, a circumstance favorable to our finances. I have the honor to be, with great respect, your most obedient servant, SIR: I am without any of your favors excepting yours of the 2d instant, No. 252. There is little of public interest going on in Europe at this moment excepting what refers to the cholera and the cattle plague. A lively concern prevailed in regard to the former until a marked change of weather took place a few days ago. The exceptional condition of the atmosphere which has steadily prevailed since spring has led to constant apprehension of some unusual condition of the public health. The gales and storms which have occurred within the last week have now done much to dissipate the remains of this apprehension. The great atmospheric disturbance, it is believed, will also modify the plague raging among the cattle. This government has been especially active in obtaining the facts in regard to the spread of this murrain in Holland, the nature of the attacks, and the medical treatment in the various cases. This information it has given to the public, through the public journals, from day to day. When these labors shall be completed, I will endeavor to collect the facts of their experience for transmission to you. They may be of service, in case the pestilence should visit our shores. The recent publication by the British government of the late correspondence between Earl Russell and Mr. Adams on the Alabama and kindred claims has largely occupied public attention. The apparently positive announcement that the English government will not submit those claims to arbitration excites a little uneasiness. The report (I suppose unfounded) of a recent peremptory correspondence of our government with France on the Mexican question has had a similar effect. The popular mind is alert to snuff the daily apprehension in the conduct of the now "great republic." Following the scornful taunts of the last four years, these apprehensions are not, perhaps, unnatural. I have the honor to be, with great respect, your most obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. No. 257.] Mr. Seward to Mr. Pike. Department of STATE, Washington, November 6, 1865. SIR: You will excuse my delay in acknowledging your despatch of May 31, No. 168. Your proceedings therein referred to are approved, and your observations upon the European sentiment towards the United States are appreciated. I am, sir, your obedient servant, SIR: I have received your despatch of the 18th ultimo, No. 178, and shall cause that part of it which relates to cholera to be published. The despatch, as a whole, is approved. I am, sir, your obedient servant, JAMES S. PIKE, Esq., &c., &c., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. NETHERLANDS LEGATION. Mr. van Limburg to Mr. Seward. NEW YORK, December 28, 1864. SIR: I have just received information from the copy herewith of a telegram received by the consul of the Netherlands at New Orleans, and purporting that the Netherlands ship Geziena Hildegonda, Captain B. P. Janson, going from Liverpool to Matamoras, had been captured by the United States gunboat Pembina. I have the honor, sir, to beg you to be so good as to communicate to me the motives for this capture, prima facie astonishing, if not contrary to the law of nations, and I deem it my duty to protest, meantime, against whatever may be illegal therein and hurtful to the interests of the captain, owners, and other Netherlanders interested. I have the honor to reiterate to you the assurances of my high consideration. ROEST VAN LIMBURG. Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State of the U. S. of America, Washington. [Enclosure.] OFFICE UNITED STATES MILITARY TELEGRAPH. The following telegram received at New Orleans, December 15, 1864: [From Southwest Pass, dated December 15, 1864.] NETHERLANDS CONSUL: The Dutch brig Geziena Hildegonda has crossed the bar as a prize to the United States steam gunboat Pembina. I am from Liverpool, bound to Matamoras. Please advise the British consul of the above. AM. CONTURIE, Consul des Pays Bas. B. P. JANSON, Master. Mr. Seward to Mr. van Limburg. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, January 11, 1865. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 28th ultimo, relative to the alleged improper capture of the Netherlands ship Geziena Hildegonda by the United States gunboat Pembina, and, in reply, to inform you that I have transmitted a copy thereof to the Secretary of the Navy, requesting him to investigate the matter with a view to such proceedings as the result may warrant. Accept, sir, a renewed assurance of my high consideration. Mr. ROEST VAN LIMBURG. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Mr. Seward to Mr. van Limburg. DEPARTMENT of State, Washington, January 17, 1865. SIR: Referring to your note of the 28th ultimo, in which you ask to be informed of the motives which induced the capture of the Netherlands ship Ge |