pletely assimilates men-of-war and privateers of the two contending parties on precisely the same footing, so that, in order to solve the question, the proposition might be reversed and the question asked, what would have been done if, instead of a confederate vessel, one from the north had presented itself at Brest? Assuredly the partisans of the federals would have indulged in the loudest complaints if an attempt had been made to apply to the United States vessel the treatment which they now demand for the Florida, and if the liberty of refitting, to enable it to put to sea again, had been denied. Let us continue; the declaration next states that neither of the belligerents, according to the French law, shall be received into our ports with prizes. Now, as we have already said, and it is well known, the Florida had no prizes with her. The seamen, prisoners of war, whom she bad on board, could not be considered as a prize according to the meaning of the declaration, nor could their being landed on French soil be made the subject of a complaint against her. In this situation, we repeat, all that could be done was to carry into effect the assimilation between the two belligerents specified by our declaration of neutrality, and to treat the Florida exactly on the same footing as we would have treated a federal vessel of-war in the same situation. As to the assimilation in itself, as far as the south and the north are concerned, there is no need, in order to justify or to explain it, to resort to the supposition of the recognition of the south as an independent state. It is sufficient that the south should be a belligerent, and should be recognized as such, to be considered entitled to the advantages sanctioned by the laws of war. This leads us to examine a point which the adversaries of the south have largely commented on-the fact of the privateers' burning and sinking their prizes. Without seeking to excuse a measure which, in truth, must be considered as the very rigorous exercise of the rights of war carried to their extreme limits, we cannot refrain from remarking that as a matter of fact precedents might be found, and as a matter of law our own legislation tolerates the practice in more or less urgent cases. Thus Valin, in his "Commentaire de l'Ordonnance de la Marine," says that it is only forbidden to burn or sink captured vessels in the event of the captor wishing to dispose of his prize; and MM. Duverdy and Pistoye, the author of the Nouveau Traité des Prises-Maritimes,' in alluding to this passage of Valin, make the following observation : "What Valin declared, under the régime of the naval ordinance, we must repeat under the authority of the decree of Prairial, which has preserved the same expressions.' Our declaration of neutrality forbidding privateers to enter our harbors with prizes, the captors may thus consider it as a necessity, or an urgent need for them to burn their prizes, especially when they have themselves sustained damages which embarrass or retard them On that point some questions of interest to neutrals, the proprietors of the cargoes, may be raised; but the decision of those questions belongs to another order of ideas. Whatever may be the case, the fact of the belligerent burning his prize, constituting one of the rigorous consequences of the rights of war, it cannot in itself have any influence upon the neutrality of a foreign government, or modify in any way its duties or its rights." No. 346.j Mr. Dayton to Mr. Seward. PARIS, September 17, 1863. SIR: Herewith I send you the translation of a letter from Mr. Kenos, our consular representative at Brest. From this and from other information which I have received, it would seem that the Florida will not be detained in port as long as we have heretofore had reason to suppose; that she may leave in the course of two or three weeks. I am, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, &c. WILLIAM L. DAYTON. [Translation. -Enclosure.] CONSULAR AGENCY OF THE UNITED STATES, MONSIEUR LE MINISTRE: The reparations of the Florida go on with great speed, and this steamer will not be long before again going to sea. It is pretended that the seizures, operated on account of the misdoings of the Florida, are not all regular, and will not stop her. On the other hand, the commander, Maffitt, as well as his officers, declare that they fear no cruiser-that they will be able to avoid it It is presumable that the Florida will hereafter be detained but a short time in port I am, with respect, your excellency's very obedient servant, His Excellency WILLIAM L DAyton, Envoy Extrandmary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States, Paris KENOS. No. 347. Mr. Dayton to Mr. Seward. PARIS, September 16, 1863. SIR: I did not receive the communication for Mr. Mercier which Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys promised me until last night. It came then in an open envelope, with a note requesting me, after reading it, to seal it and send it by my next courier, (meaning thereby the next despatch bag.) Having sealed it according to request, I herewith send it in an envelope to you, begging that you will have it promptly delivered to Mr. Mercier. The despatch commences with a remark complimentary to myself, and then goes on to state that I had inquired of him as to the truth of certain rumors afloat, to wit, that the Emperor had decided to recognize the south, and had even already signed a treaty by which the south agreed to cede to France, for herself or to be reconveyed to Mexico, Texas and part of Louisiana, and that Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys, at the same time, asked me if I had not heard other rumors calculated to disturb the good relations existing between our two countries-as that the United States had made its protest against the action of the French government in Mexico; had sent its fleet to Vera Cruz; and made a treaty offensive and defensive with Russia. He goes on to say that these suggestions were made less with a view to inquiring as to their truth than for the purpose of fortifying me against a belief in the rumors I had first referred to, the truth of which rumors he expressly denied. He then tells Mr. Mercier that I said I had no knowledge of and did not believe in the report that our navy was before Vera Cruz, or that we had made a treaty offensive and defensive with Russia, and that if you had instructed me to make a formal protest against their proceedings in Mexico I should have done so, which I had not; although, under the influence of your general correspondence on this subject, I had made him aware of the painful impression caused in my country by European intervention in Mexico, and our anxious solicitude as to any interference with the form of government there. He then tells Mr. Mercier that he had attached little importance to the rumors he had referred to, which probably originated in the same source as those to which I had referred. He then says to Mr. Mercier, "I repeated to him (Mr. Dayton) that which I had already often said to him, that we were not seeking, either for ourselves or others, any acquisition in America. I added (says he) that I hoped the good sense of the people of the United States would do justice to the exaggerations and false suppositions by the aid of which it was sought to mislead and embitter opinion, and that I counted upon his concurrence to try and make prevail a more just appreciation of our intentions and of the necessities which our policy obeyed." He then directs Mr. Mercier to communicate this conversation to you, and to use the text thereof to correct false judgments and unjustifiable imputations about him. I should add that as this despatch is, in part, in reference to the intentions of France in Mexico, in which you and the country are just now so much interested, I have thought it best to avoid mistakes by sending you the above, the last twenty lines of which are little less than a translation of that part of Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys's despatch. SIR: Another note, just received from our consular representative at Brest, informs me that the repairs of the Florida are advancing very rapidly, and that she will not require more than fifteen days more to complete them. Seventy-five of her crew, however, have been shipped to England, and landed at Cardiff. Captain Maffitt, whose health is bad and is much worn, it is said, is to come to Paris to-day, to take some repose from his labors. The seizure of the Florida to answer damages to French citizens, so much spoken of in the journals, will not, I fear, operate to detain her. I am, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, &c. WM. L. DAYTON. Mr. Dayton to Mr. Seward. No. 349.] PARIS, September 18, 1863. SIR: I have this morning called the attention of Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys to the evidence showing that at least four, if not five, ships are being built in the ship-yards of Bordeaux and Nantes for the confederates. This evidence is the same as that sent to you from the Paris consulate, and which I referred to in my despatch No. 344. It is conclusive, I think, as to the facts charged. Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys expressed himself as greatly surprised, and I doubt not he was so. He assured me he had no knowledge of anything of the kind, and that the government would maintain its neutrality. He thanked me for calling his attention promptly to this matter, the importance of which he fully recognized. He requested copies of the original papers; said that he would at once investigate the facts and the French legislation bearing on the question, and then let me know what would be done. It seems to me that their action on this subject is likely to afford a pretty good test of their future intentions. As to what the law may be it does not, I apprehend, much matter: if they mean that good relations with our country shall be preserved, they will stop the building of these ships, or at least the arming and delivery of them; if they mean to break with us, they will let them go on. The United States ship Kearsarge, Captain Winslow, arrived in the port of Brest yesterday. I am, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, WM. L. DAYTON. Secretary of State, &c. No. 399.] Mr. Seward to Mr. Dayton. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, September 19, 1863. SIR: Your despatch of the 3d of September, No. 341, has been received. Reserving, for the present, remarks upon the political aspect of the reception of the Florida at Brest, I have submitted the despatch to the Secretary of the Navy, and asked his consideration of your suggestion, in regard to sending a force to intercept the Florida on her leaving that harbor. I will make the Secretary's decision known to you as soon as it shall have been received from him. SIR: The French forces are understood to hold in subjection to the new provisional government established in Mexico three of the States, while all the other constituent members of the public of Mexico still remain under its authority. There are already indications of designs, in those States, to seek aid in the United States, with the consent of this government, if attainable, and without it if it shall be refused; and for this purpose inducements are held out, well calculated to excite sympathies in a border population. The United States government has hitherto practiced strict neutrality between the French and Mexico, and all the more cheerfully, because it has relied on the assurances given by the French government that it did not intend permanent occupation of that country or any violence to the sovereignty of its people. The proceedings of the French in Mexico are regarded by many in that country, and in this, as at variance with those assurances. Owing to this circumstance, it becomes very difficult for this government to enforce a rigid observance of its neutrality laws. The President thinks it desirable that you should seek an opportunity to mention these facts to Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys, and to suggest to him that the interests of the United States, and, as it seems to us, the interests of France herself, require that a solution of the present complications in Mexico be made, as early as may be convenient, upon the basis of the unity and independence of Mexico. I cannot be misinterpreting the sentiments of the United States in saying that they do not desire an annexation of Mexico, or any part of it; nor do they desire any special interest, control, or influence there, but they are deeply interested in the re-establishment of unity, peace, and order in the neighboring republic, and exceedingly desirous that there may not arise out of the war in Mexico any cause of alienation between them and France. Insomuch as these sentiments are by no means ungenerous, the President unhesitatingly believes that they are the sentiments of the Emperor himself in regard to Mexico. I am, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM L. DAYTON, Esq., &c., &c., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. No. 401.] Mr. Seward to Mr. Dayton. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I enclose, for your information, a translation of a note of the 20th of July last, which has been addressed to me by Mr. J. M. Arroyo, who calls himself under secretary of state and foreign affairs of the Mexican empire, setting forth recent proceedings, with a view to the organization of the new government at Mexico; also a copy of a memorandum which has been left with me by a person calling himself General Cortes, alleged to have been formerly governor of the Mexican State of Sonora. No reply has been, or probably will be, made to either of these papers. The undersigned, under secretary of state and of foreign affairs of the Mexican empire, has the honor to address the present communication to his excellency the Secretary of State and of Foreign Affairs of the United States of America, to the end that he may be pleased to place within the knowledge of his governinent the recent important events which have finally resulted in the organization of an appropriate, strong, and durable government, with a view that the nation might be constituted. This capital having been occupied on the 10th ultimo by the allied Franco-Mexican army, the first care of the general-in-chief was to issue a decree convening a superior gubernative junto of thirty-five members, composed of the most distinguished notabilities; and, moreover, another of two hundred and fifteen notables, in order that, united to the former, they might form an assembly of two hundred and fifty persons selected from all classes of society, and from all the departments, which, in conformity to public law and to the traditional usages of the country, should express the wish of the nation as to the form of government that would best suit it. The gubernative junto having met, decreed the establishment of a provisional executive power composed of three members, appointing the most excellent the generals of division, Don Juan N. Almonte and Don Mariano Salas, and the most illustrious the archbishop of Mexico, Don Pelagio Antonio de Labastida, at present absent in Europe, and to act as his substitute the most illustrious Don Juan B. Ormaechea, bishop elect of Tulancingo, who, in such character, immediately took up the reins of government. The assembly of the notables having convened in conformity to the decree of the thirteenth of June last, was engaged in causing to be made the important declaration in regard to the form of government, with a view to its permanent stability and the future happiness of the nation. The final result of their labors has been the solemn decree, a copy of which the undersigned has the satisfaction to enclose to his excellency, in which appears the following declaration: 1st. The Mexican nation adopts, as its form of government, a limited hereditary monarchy, with a Catholic prince. 2d. The sovereign shall take the title of Emperor of Mexico. 3d. The imperial crown of Mexico is offered to his imperial and royal highness the Prince Ferdinand Maximilian, Archduke of Austria, for himself and his descendants. 4th. If, under circumstances which cannot be foreseen, the Archduke of Austria, Ferdinand Maximilian, should not take possession of the throne which is offered to him, the Mexican nation relies on the good will of his Majesty Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, to indicate for it another Catholic prince. This solemn and explicit declaration was received by all classes of society with gratification, and even with enthusiasm, manifested in such a way that the undersigned does not fear to anticipate its complete realization; and so much the more so, since he receives every day numerous manifestations of accession, notice of which his excellency will see in the official journal of the empire, which is annexed. |