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I will take an early opportunity to bring the subject again to the attention of the minister.

I have the honor to be, with great respect, your most obedient servant,

Hon. WILLIAM H SEWARD,

Secretary of State, &c., &c., &c.

H. S. SANFORD.

No. 20.]

Mr. Seward to Mr. Sanford.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, July 30, 1861. SIR: The accompanying transcript of an instruction to our minister to Great Britain, dated the 21st instant, and numbered 42, will place you in possession of the views of this government concerning the principle of the law which authorizes the President to close the ports that have been seized by the insurgents.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

HENRY S. SANFORD, Esq., &c., &c., &c., Brussels.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

No. 16.]

Mr. Sanford to Mr. Seward.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,
Brussels, July 30, 1861.

SIR: I called yesterday at the department of foreign affairs to press again upon the attention of Baron De Vrière the proposition of adhesion to the declaration of Paris, made to him near two months since, and he being out of town, I saw the secretary general, who, as before said, replaces the minister in his absence.

In reply to my question whether the government had come to any decision, he said that they were not yet sufficiently informed of the condition of this subject at other courts to give me any positive answer; that while he would not say that they would give a negative one, the policy and acts of Belgium being, as I was aware, doubtless most liberal, yet they did not feel, as a smaller power, justified in taking any step of this nature in advance of their neighbors.

I inquired whether there was any other objection to this proposed convention than he had indicated, in order to learn whether the addition of the Marcy proposition was considered an impediment. He said he was not prepared to give any other; that their position with regard to neighboring powers, to whom Belgium owed, in one sense, her nationality, was a delicate one, and they did not feel authorized to take any initiative in negotiations of this character; they left that to those powers who must necessarily have a controlling influence in general politics.

It is thus evident that this government will do nothing till after the great powers have decided upon a course of action in this matter.

I have the honor to be, with great respect, your most obedient servant, H. S. SANFORD.

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD,

Secretary of State, &c., &c., &c.

P. S.-I open my despatch to acknowledge the receipt of your despatches Nos. 12, 13, and 14, with their respective enclosures, which will have immediate action.

No. 22.]

Mr. Seward to Mr. Sanford.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

H. S. S.

Washington, August 5, 1861.

SIR: Your despatch No. 15, dated July 18, has been received. There is no especial urgency on our part for consideration by the Belgium government of our proposition to accede to the declaration of the congress of Paris before the similar propositions submitted to the British and French governments shall have been acted upon by them, although we hold ourselves ready to carry our overtures into effect when the Belgium government shall desire.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, HENRY S. SANFORD, Esq., &c., &c., &c., Brussels.

No. 23.]

Mr. Seward to Mr. Sanford.

DEPARTMENT Of State,

Washington, August 12, 1861.

SIR: Your despatch dated July 3 (No. 11) has been received.

I am quite content, under existing circumstances, with the disposition you propose in that paper to make of the subject of passports, and I acquiesce very cheerfully in the views which you take of the importance of vigilance in regard to the movements of disaffected citizens of our own country travelling in Europe.

WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, HENRY S. SANFORD, Esq., &., &c., &c., Brussels.

No. 24.]

Mr. Seward to Mr. Sanford.

DEPARTMENT OF State,

Washington, August 21, 1861.

SIR: Your despatch of July 30 (No. 16) has been received.

I am not disappointed, nor do I think we ought to be dissatisfied, with Mr. De Vrière's reply to your inquiry on the subject of maritime relations.

You are so frequently at Paris and London, that I may refer you to the legations at one of those places for the latest phase of our negotiation on the same subject with the government of Great Britain. That government having taken the lead in determining European relations to us, and other powers having silently acquiesced, we shall hardly expect them to anticipate her own final decision upon the case, as it is presented to all alike. I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD.

HENRY S. SANFORD, Esq., &c, &c., &c., Brussels.

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MEXICO.

No. 2.]

Mr. Seward to Mr. Corwin.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, April 6, 1861.

SIR: The actual condition of affairs in Mexico is so imperfectly understood here that the President finds it very difficult to give you particular and practical directions for the regulation of your conduct during your mission.

Our latest information was, in substance, that the provisional government of President Juarez, so long confined to the sea-coasts of the country, had finally overthrown its adversaries and established itself at the capital; that the opposing armies had been demoralized and dispersed, and that there was no longer any armed resistance in the States; that an election for president had been held, in conformity with the constitution of 1857, and that the now provisional president had probably secured a majority of the votes, although the result was as yet not certainly known. The pleasure which these events have inspired is unhappily diminished by rumors that the government is without sufficient authority or hold on the public confidence to maintain order; that robberies are of frequent occurrence on the high roads, and even that a member of our late legation in the country has been murdered on his way from the city of Mexico to Vera Cruz.

You will apply yourself at once, with energy and diligence, to investigate the truth of this last-mentioned occurrence, which, if found to have been accurately reported, will not only be regarded as a high offence against the dignity and honor of the United States, but will prove a severe shock to the sensibilities of the American people.

The President is unable to conceive that any satisfactory explanation of a transaction so injurious to the character of Mexico can be made. He will, however, wait for your report concerning it, though with the deepest anxiety, before taking action upon the subject.

I find the archives here full of complaints against the Mexican government for violations of contracts and spoliations and cruelties practiced against American citizens. These complaints have been lodged in this department, from time to time, during the long reign of civil war in which the factions of Mexico have kept that country involved, with a view to having them made the basis of demands for indemnity and satisfaction whenever government should regain in that country sufficient solidity to assume a character for responsibility. It is not the President's intention to send forward such claims at the present moment. He willingly defers the performance of a duty which at any time would seem ungracious, until the incoming administration in Mexico shall have had time, if possible, to cement its authority and reduce the yet disturbed elements of society to order and harmony. You will, however, be expected, in some manner which will be marked with firmness as well as liberality, to keep the government there in mind that such of these claims as shall be found just will, in due time, be presented and urged upon its consideration.

While now, as heretofore, it is a duty of this government to reason with Ex. Doc. 1-5

that of Mexico, and deprecate a continuance of the chronic reign of disorder there, a crisis has unhappily arrived, in which the performance of this duty is embarrassed by the occurrence of civil commotions in our own country, by which Mexico, in consequence of her proximity, is not unlikely to be affected. The spirit of discontent seems, at last, to have crossed the border, and to be engaged in an attempt to overthrow the authority of this government in some parts of the country which adjoin the Mexican republic. It is much to be feared that new embarrassments of the relations of the two countries will happen when authority so long prostrated on the Mexican side finds the power of the United States temporarily suspended on this side. of the frontier. Whatever evils shall thus occur, it is much to be feared will be aggravated by the intervention of the Indians, who have been heretofore with difficulty restrained from violence, even while the federal authority has been adequately maintained.

Both of the governments must address themselves to this new and annoying condition of things, with common dispositions to mitigate its evils and abridge its duration as much as possible.

The President does not expect that you will allude to the origin or causes of our domestic difficulties in your intercourse with the government of Mexico, although that government will rightfully as well as reasonably ask what are his expectations of their course and their end. On the contrary, the President will not suffer the representatives of the United States to engage in any discussion of the merits of those difficulties in the presence of foreign powers, much less to invoke even their censure against those of our fellow-citizens who have arrayed themselves in opposition to its authority.

But you are instructed to assure the government of Mexico that these difficulties, having arisen out of no deep and permanent popular discontent, either in regard to our system of government itself, or to the exercise of its authority, and being attended by social evils which are as ruinous as they are unnecessary, while no organic change that is contemplated could possibly bring to any portion of the American people any advantages of security, peace, prosperity, or happiness equal to those which the federal Union so effectually guaranties, the President confidently believes and expects that the people of the United States, in the exercise of the wisdom that hitherto has never failed them, will speedily and in a constitutional way adopt all necessary remedies for the restoration of the public peace and the preservation of the federal Union.

The success of this government in conducting affairs to that consummation may depend in some small degree on the action of the government and people of Mexico in this new emergency. The President could not fail to see that Mexico, instead of being benefited by the prostration or the obstruction of federal authority in this country, would be exposed by it to new and fearful dangers. On the other hand, a condition of anarchy in Mexico must necessarily operate as a seduction to those who are conspiring against the integrity of the Union to seek strength and aggrandizement for themselves by conquests in Mexico and other parts of Spanish America. Thus, even the dullest observer is at last able to see what was long ago distinctly seen by those who are endowed with any considerable perspicacity, that peace, order, and constitutional authority in each and all of the several republics of this continent are not exclusively an interest of any one or more of them, but a common and indispensable interest of them all.

This sentiment will serve as a key to open to you, in every case, the purposes, wishes, and expectations of the President in regard to your mission

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