the same unto him, which he has again signed after the reading thereof, on this 8th day of December, 1862. A true copy: FRANÇOIS BOUGÉRE. FAUCONNET, The Chancellor of the Consulate. [SEAL OF CONSULATE.] Mr. Mercier to Mr. Seward. [Translation.] COUNT MEJAN, Consul. LEGATION OF FRANCE IN THE UNITED STATES, Washington, January 17, 1863. SIR: Your excellency, in replying, on the 3d of November, 1862, to a communication from this legation, under date of the 29th of August of the same year, in reference to the fine which had been imposed by order No. 55, issued by General Butler, upon Messrs. Rochereau & Co., Jeannet, Questier & Co., and Levvis, French subjects, and in communicating to me the extracts from a report which General Butler had addressed upon the same subject to the War Department, did me the honor to say to me that, upon a cursory examination of that report, you had been disposed to consider the claimants as having lost all right to being treated as unoffending neutrals by taking an active part in the civil war having for its aim the overthrow of the government of the United States. Your excellency was pleased also to inform me at the same time, while recommending to my attention the report of General Butler, that the government of the United States would await a new expression of the views of the Emperor's legation upon the affair under consideration before making a definite reply to the note of the 29th of August. With respect to the legality itself of the act which the Frenchmen above mentioned have had to suffer, I have already had occasion to express to your excellency, through a note under date of the 14th November, how desirable it would be that the federal government should adopt the necessary measures, that the Frenchmen who were subjected at New Orleans to an exceptional form of government should have an efficient guarantee, in the shape of a legal recourse, against the arbitrary proceedings of an authority which seemed without any control; and your excellency informed me, confidentially, in a note dated the 18th November, that a judge had been designated to go to New Orleans, with the necessary powers to inquire into, without delay, all the reclamations which might arise in that city. This determination of the federal government cannot, doubtless, fail to produce results calculated to satisfy us; but, in the meanwhile, I have made efforts to enable me to reply to the various allegations which tend to bring (raise) suspicions upon the neutrality of our countrymen, and I take the liberty to submit to your excellency the following suggestions: At the time of the organization of the militia in the State of Louisiana, previous to the occupation of New Orleans by the federal forces, the foreigners were included therein, notwithstanding the protests of their agents, and particularly that of the Emperor's consul. The only thing that could be obtained was that, when formed into special corps, they should not be compelled to go beyond the limits of the city, in which they would only serve as a police. It was upon these conditions that Mr. Rochereau was elected colonel by the members of the French legion, and not as having been appointed by the governor of Louisiana. The governor having repeatedly offered arms to the legion, the latter, having been cautioned by the consul of France, and understanding fully the difference which exists between the service in a city guard and an active service which might compromit it both towards the government of the United States and that of the Emperor, always refused to receive them. Besides, the foreign corps only did service during the week which elapsed between the arrival of the fleet and that of the federal forces, and they have contributed materially to rescue the city from the sacking with which it was threatened; this is a fact which has been acknowledged by Admiral Farragut and by General Butler himself. By proving the extent to which the action of Mr. Rochereau was confined, at the time he was the colonel of a foreign corps, it is clear that the accusation brought against him falls of itself to the ground; neither can it be more fully sustained against Messrs. Jeannet, Questier & Co., one of whose clerks was serving in the legion under the same conditions as Mr. Rochereau; and with respect to the secret sympathies for the southern cause which are charged to the house of Mr. Levvis, it will be enough to state that Mr. Levvis, now concerned in this case, has left New Orleans some fourteen years since, and is, since that period, established in Paris. Finally, it is shown that the Messieurs Rochereau, as well as the Messieurs Jeannet, Questier & Co., have not subscribed to the loan for their own account, but, on the contrary, for their employers, residing in France. Their action is justified by this fact, that they had received important (large) sums for these employers, at a period when the transmission of the funds to France was out of the question, owing to the blockade, and in view of the enormous loss by exchange, which had fallen to two francs and eighty centimes to the dollar. The collections had been naturally made in confederate bills, (notes,) and the mandatories could not think of keeping these values when they were threatened daily with a new depreciation; it was, therefore, as natural as legitimate to place (invest) them in the most advantageous manner. This is what these gentlemen thought they were doing by purchasing, from second hands and through brokers, bonds issued by the municipality of New Orleans, acting in virtue of regular powers, and without troubling themselves about the intended use of the loan, which, moreover, was never put to that to which it had been intentionally destined. Therefore, and after having collected with respect to the neutrality of my fellow-countrymen the most satisfactory information, I again come to ask from the even-handed justice of the government of the United States the restitution of the sums the payment of which has been imposed by General Butler, by way of a fine, upon unoffending neutrals. A solution of this affair is the more pressing, since General Butler has, by a new order, under date of the 9th December, 1862, imposed upon the same persons, to the same effect and for the same reasons, a fine equal to that imposed once before-that is to say, of the onefourth of their subscription to the loan, which now amounts to the one-half of it. I need scarcely call your excellency's attention to the character of this new measure, and I am confident that the government of the United States will render justice therein, as in the first one. The copy of the letter, enclosed herewith, addressed to General Butler by a Frenchman residing in Paris, whose funds were deposited in the house of Mr. Questier, and upon which a fine of $1,250 was imposed, and which the new order will raise to $2,500, will serve to demonstrate to your excellency the iniquitous and deplorable effects of a measure the legality of which could not be maintained even in principle. I embrace this occasion, sir, to renew to your excellency the assurances of my high consideration. Hon. WILLIAM H. Seward, &c., §c., &c. HENRI MERCIER. Mr. Seward to Mr. Mercier. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, . Washington, February 24, 1863. SIR: I have carefully considered the communication of Charles Heidsick, which you have placed in my hands, and given, also, as I trust, due weight to the representations which you have submitted to me upon the subject in question. I have also made inquiry of the military authorities who were concerned in the transaction at New Orleans, of which Mr. Heidsick complains. But I am unable to announce a change, on my part, of the convictions I have heretofore expressed to you concerning his case. I learn that when New Orleans was recovered from the insurgents and brought into military occupation by the national forces, that city had a large quantity of flour, bought, paid for, and stored at Mobile, and the municipal authorities of New Orleans desired permission to have the flour brought to the city for the benefit of the inhabitants threatened with famine. The commanding general, Major General Butler, assented to this proposition, and a general order was made, to the effect that a steamboat might pass from Mobile to New Orleans, for the purpose of bringing the flour to the latter place, but upon the express consideration that no passengers should be allowed upon the steamer except Mr. Greenwood, the agent of the city government of New Orleans. The steamer Dick Keys was used, and after she had made three voyages, she was put into the insurgent service, and the Natchez was substituted for the transportation of the flour from Mobile to New Orleans. About the end of June, 1862, the major general discovered that contraband commodities were carried by means of this steamer between the insurgents at Mobile and New Orleans, respectively. Charles Heidsick was domiciled at Mobile, and became there a tender or waiter at the bar-room of the truce boat Dick Keys, on her trip from that city to New Orleans. The military authorities at New Orleans understood that he obtained this place through a feigned sickness of the incumbent of it. Mr. Heidsick's position in society was that of a gentleman and merchant, selling wines, not in one country alone, but extensively in Europe, as well as in America. The simple fact of his descending to an occupation so obscure and humble as that of a bar-keeper on a mere freight boat, was calculated to draw down suspicion upon him from the necessarily vigilant military authorities. He virtually confesses this; for he answers that his purpose in taking upon himself the occupation was, to get letters to his address which he understood were lying in the French consulate at New Orleans. This confession is accompanied with the statement that he wished to obtain from the occupation the profits which could be derived from selling his wines, these profits being rendered important to him by a reverse of his pecuniary affairs. But, certainly, Major General Butler could be expected to know nothing of these compound motives or objects of Mr. Heidsick. He could only know Mr. Heidsick as he appeared to the public view. But Mr. Heidsick says that his name was fully registered, and was reported to the military authorities without objection being made. This is true; but what reason had Major General Butler, when he saw the name of Charles Heidsick as servant on board the Dick Keys, to identify him with Charles Heidsick of the renowned champagne vineyards in France? Again, it is admitted that Mr. Heidsick pursued his humble occupation on board of the boat after he had obtained or might have obtained his letters, although one voyage ought to have sufficed for that purpose. Major General Butler seems to have been warranted in suspecting that the object of selling wines, when it was avowed, was a pretence, for, without explanation, it is unreasonable to suppose that the crew of so pitiful a steamer as the Dick Keys would buy enough champagne of the bar tender to indemnify him for his time and expenses in selling it to them. Nor does it seem to have been altogether unreasonable on the part of Major General Butler to regard with suspicion the coincidence of the same Charles Heidsick being a bar-keeper not only on the Dick Keys when she was plying between Mobile and New Orleans, and his being found exercising exactly the same occupation on the Natchez, when that vessel replaced the Dick Keys in the same trade. Ultimately, however, the Natchez was found coming again to New Orleans, and then Mr. Charles Heidsick, now in the character of a bearer of despatches. He ceased to be a bar-tender when the intelligence boat ceased to ply, by Major General Butler's permission, between Mobile and New Orleans. On his coming to New Orleans in his new character, he was arrested on the suspicion of his being a spy. His explanations were not satisfactory. He was committed to Fort Jackson, which was at that time the only military prison in the department of Major General Butler. The French consul at New Orleans presented Heidsick's case to you, and you represented the same to me. Major General Butler reported upon it to the Secretary of War, and that report was submitted to me. The interference of this department for the release of Heidsick on a specific parole caused his discharge from confinement in lieu of his being tried by the proper tribunal as a spy, with whatever of hazards might have attended that proceeding. Having received his discharge upon that condition, his complaint that he has had no trial does not seem to me to be a reasonable one. Upon a careful review of the case, I am obliged to conclude that the privations of which Mr. Heidsick complains were drawn down upon himself by conduct and proceedings which were imprudent, even if not dangerous, and in intended violation of the military rules and regulations established at New Orleans. Nor can his complaint that he was not allowed an examination or trial be allowed. It is understood by this government from the military authorities at New Orleans that he would have been proceeded against and tried by competent authority upon the charge of being a spy. He did not wait the public convenience in that respect, but appealed through the intervention of his government, and his release was conceded upon the ground of comity and good will towards France, irrespectively of the merits of the complaints which were pending against Mr. Heidsick. He having thus been discharged, and having left the military department where the transaction occurred, it is now altogether too late to bring him to trial upon the complaint on which he was originally confined. I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to you, sir, the assurance of my high consideration. Mr. HENRY MERCIER, &c., &c., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Mr. Seward to Mr. Mercier. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, March 5, 1863. SIR: This department has received a further report from the military authorities at New Orleans relative to the complaint of Messrs. Rochereau & Co. presented by you. From this report it appears that William B. Hepp, a citizen of the United States, is a special partner of that house, and prior to first of October last took the oath of allegiance. The fund to which the firm were subscribers was notoriously designed to defend the city of New Orleans against the United States, and the subscription was voluntary on their part. It having become indispensable, in the opinion of the commanding general at that city, to levy a tax to save the poor there from starvation, it was deemed equitable to apportion the share of Messrs. Rochereau & Co. with reference to their subscription adverted to, especially as the persons for whom the relief was designed were, for the most part, the wives, children, and other dependents of insurgents in arms against the United States. The first instalment exacted amounted to five thousand dollars. No other has since been paid. The right of General Butler to make the exaction under the circumstances is believed to be clear in itself, and in accordance with precedents in other countries, especially in Europe. It is not to be understood, however, that the claim of Messrs. Rochereau & Company to restitution of that part of the sum exacted, in which Mr. Hepp, as a member of the firm, is not interested, is definitively denied. That question must be reserved for further consideration. I have the honor to be, sir, your very obedient servant, Mr. HENRY MERCIER, &c., &c., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Mr. Mercier to Mr. Seward. [Translation.] LEGATION OF FRANCE IN UNITED STATES, Washington, March 7, 1863. SIR: I have received the note your excellency has done me the honor to address to me, of to-day's date, as well as the copy of the letter and of the order of General Shepley, relative to the appointment of a commission of inquiry, which shall be charged with ascertaining the facts which have caused the complaint of Mr. Bougére. In thanking your excellency for this communication, I take the liberty again to say to you that an investigation conducted under such conditions seems to me the best means of arriving at the truth of the facts, and, consequently, at an equitable settlement of claims, and I shall regard with great satisfaction all those my countrymen have to make, worthy of submission henceforth to a like test. Accept, sir, the assurance of my very high consideration. Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State. HENRI MERCIER. Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys to Mr. Mercier. [Translation.] DEPARTMENT of Foreign AFFAIRS, POLITICAL DIVISION, SIR: Events in Poland have awakened pre-occupations common to all the cabinets. Whether in fact the strife which has burst out be looked upon from the standpoint of humanity, or from that of political interests, it must fix the solicitude of the powers. The disturbances which are periodically renewed attest the permanence of difficulties which time has not smoothed away, and demonstrated once gain the dangers they involve. Alike involved with these considerations, the courts of France, of England, and of Austria, have opened conferences with the view of presenting in concert to the cabinet of St. Petersburgh the reflections which this state of things suggests; and they have at once agreed to address to their representatives near his Majesty the Emperor Alexander, despatches which they have simultaneously remitted to the Russian government. |