No. 254.] Mr. Dix to Mr. Seward. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I was at the foreign office again yesterday, and renewed my conversation with the Marquis de Moustier in regard to a treaty on the naturalization question. He said it should not be neglected, but that he did not think it would be possible to consider it till October, as the Emperor was to be absent, and his ministers, who had been very much confined to the city for two years, were to have long vacations. It would also be necessary, before entering into a negotiation, to examine the whole subject with great care in connection with domestic interests, as well as with the relations of France to other European states. In my dispatch No. 249, I anticipated and stated the same causes of delay; and I was well aware that nothing could be done during the absence of the Emperor. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. JOHN A. DIX. Mr. Seward to Mr. Dix. No. 195.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I have your dispatch of the 7th of August, No. 254. Certainly no one could object to the delay which Mr. Moustier finds it necessary to make in regard to entering into negotiations upon the naturalization question. I hope, however, that you will improve the earliest moment of convenience on the part of the French government for bringing the subject to a conclusion, so that the treaty, if one shall be made, can be submitted to the United States Senate as soon as it shall have reassembled. SIR: I enclose a transcript of a letter from the Honorable John A. Bingham, a member of the House of Representatives, together with a copy of its accompaniment, from E. G. Morgan, esq., of Ohio, requesting the intervention of this department in behalf of Philip Brailly, a naturalized citizen of the United States, now imprisoned in Paris for failure to perform military duty in 1848. You are instructed to use your good offices, unofficially, with a view to secure the liberation of Mr. Brailly. I am, sir, your obedient servant, JOHN A. DIX, Esq., &c., &c., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Mr. Bingham to Mr. Seward. CADIZ, OHIO, September 29, 1868. SIR: I have the 'honor to inclose herewith the letter of E. G. Morgan, requesting the intervention of the United States for the release of Philip Brailly, a citizen of the United States, wrongfully imprisoned in France. I have no doubt the statement of Mr. Morgan is correct, and therefore respectfully ask your attention to his suggestions and request. Very truly yours, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. JOHN A. BINGHAM. Mr. Morgan to Mr. Bingham. BELL AIR, OHIO, September 18, 1868. SIR: I write you in behalf of Philip Brailly, now in prison in Paris, France, a resi dent of our village, and a citizen of the United States; a man of property, of integrity, and highly respected by our community, who deeply sympathize with his family. The history of his case is this: In 1848, during the time of the republic of France, he left under a passport for the United States, to seek a home for himself and parents, being at that time about 18 years of age, as we learn from his passport in possession of his wife. Before he had secured a suitable location his father died. His mother, declining to leave the land of her birth and the grave of her husband, has manifested a parental desire to have her only child return to France and reside with her, near Paris. She is now growing old, and he, feeling anxious to see his mother once more, was induced by her pursuasions to visit France this summer, but with no intention of removing there; his mother having stated to him that she had consulted the authorities at Paris, and that the only penalty he would have to undergo would be a fine of $300, which she would willingly pay. On his arrival in Paris, he wrote his wife that on the following day he would report himself to the proper officer, since which time he has notwritten her; but she received a letter from a relative of his in Paris, inclosing a draft for a considerable sum of money from his mother, stating that he has been imprisoned for six months as a deserter from military duty. On receipt of this, please write me if anything can be done towards having him released. Hoping to enlist your active sympathy in his behalf, I am, respectfully, yours, &c., E. G. MORGAN. Hon. JOHN A. BINGHAM. Mr. Dix to Mr. Seward. No. 274.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: You are, no doubt, kept fully advised by Mr. Hale of the state of things at Madrid. Much anxiety is felt here in regard to the reorgani zation of the new government, in consequence of the known differences of opinion among the leading men, chiefly military commanders, who have things in their hands. Still the almost bloodless character of the revolution, the unanimity of feeling on the part of the army and the people with which the Queen has been disowned, and the great moderation with which affairs have been conducted thus far, inspire strong hopes of a satisfactory result. I write for the purpose of saying that those who represent the impe rial government in the absence of the Emperor declare emphatically that France will view political movements in Spain with "perfect serenity, to use their own phrase. Intervention at this moment would be so unwarrantable that there can be no reason to doubt the entire sincerity of this declaration; but it is not difficult to foresee a conjuncture of circumstances which would be considered as justifying a departure from it, and it would be unwise to count upon it as the evidence of a settled policy. The most effective restraint, should any desire be felt to profit by the temporary disorganization there, is, no doubt, to be found in the hostile feeling which exists in Prussia and Italy against the Emperor and his government. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. JOHN A. DIX. Mr. Dix to Mr. Seward. No. 279.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: Your dispatch No. 205, in regard to Philip Brailly, was received last evening. He was released from imprisonment some time since. You will perceive, by the inclosed copy of a dispatch addressed by me to the Marquis de Moustier, on the 20th September last, that the case was promptly attended to as soon as it was brought to my notice. It turned out that Brailly, instead of going before one of the civil judges to show that he had been naturalized as a citizen of the United States, made his application to a council of war, under bad advice, and did not take with him the proofs of his naturalization. On being advised officially of these facts by the Marquis de Moustier, I sent him a copy, certified under the seal of the legation, of Brailly's certificate of naturalization, and he was promptly released. The imperial government only asked that he should satisfy the established form of proceeding by going before a civil tribunal with his certificate and passport, and show that he had been naturalized as a citizen of the United States. He was at the legation about a week ago to procure his certificate, and as I have heard nothing from him since, I have no doubt that the matter has been satisfactorily arranged. He spoke of the great kindness with which he had been treated by the imperial authorities, and regarded his confinement as a detention rather than an imprisonment. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. JOHN A. DIX. Mr. Dix to the Marquis de Moustier. LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: It has been reported to me that Philip Brailly, a citizen of the United States, naturalized on the 23d of August, 1858, has been condemned by le premier consul de guerre of Paris to six months' imprisonment for insoumission, and that he is now detained at the prison Rue du Cherche-Midi, No. 37. The naturalization papers of Brailly are in possession of this legation, and they show him, as above stated, to have been a citizen of the United States more than 10 years. His condemnation is so directly at variance with the principle by which similar cases have been decided by the imperial government, that I deem it only necessary to call your excellency's attention to the subject to insure immediate action with a view to redress the wrong which has been committed. In your excellency's dispatch of 27th June, 1867, concerning a case then pending, you said: “Mr. Karcher having lost the quality of a Frenchman for more than three years, the offense with which he is charged is now covered by prescription. The minister of war has, therefore, considered it his duty to direct that this individual, who, moreover, has been up to this time provisionally at large, and who has not been subjected to any judicial process, should be merely erased from the list of delinquents at the recruiting depot of the lower Rhine." Your excellency will not be surprised, in view of the assurance conveyed by this decision, that the course of the consul de guerre in Brailly's case should be a source of extreme sensibility, and that your prompt interposition should be most earnestly invoked. I avail myself of the occasion to renew the assurances of the very distinguished consideration with which I am, &c., His Excellency the MARQUIS DE MOUSTIER, JOHN A. DIX. Minister of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Dix to Mr. Seward. No. 282.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: In my confidential dispatch, No. 255, of the 7th August last, I expressed the opinion that the question of disarmament was to become a very important one, and that it was already occupying in a quiet way the deliberate consideration of the most intelligent minds. I recall this subject to your recollection for the purpose of referring you to the remarks of Lord Stanley at the banquet at Liverpool, given to Mr. Reverdy Johnson, as a confirmation of the views contained in my dispatch. He denounced the whole system of armament by the great European powers as destructive to their productive industry and a scandal to their civilization. This bold and unreserved censure from so eminent a source cannot fail to make a serious impression, and may induce the governments of the principal states to come to an understanding on this grave question, and to do voluntarily what will otherwise be forced upon them at no very distant day. In support of the views I expressed to you, I inclose a translation of an article published last week in La France, a paper devoted to the interests of the imperial government, and at the same time an advocate of liberal reforms. It is supposed also to be strongly on the side of the Empress, and sometimes the exponent of her views. The financial ruin which the enormous military preparations of the great European states are bringing upon them is very forcibly presented. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, yours, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. JOHN A. DIX. [From the La France of October 30, 1868.-Translation.] We confess it with profound sadness, what is passing at this moment is absolute folly, The continent cannot remain any longer in this state of mistrust, by which the material and moral credit of the governments are compromised, and both their finances and principles ruined at the same time. Prussia had a magnificent amount of money saved, and now she has arrived at a deficit; Austria and Italy are striking examples of the disas ters entailed by excessive military expenditure; Turkey has long since been reduced to borrowing to be able to pay the interest on her loans; Russia is struggling with expedients of paper money, like Italy and Austria; France has been obliged to ask, this year, 450,000,000 from the patriotism of the public, and if the present situation is prolonged, who can affirm that this sacrifice will be the last? Again, if it was only a question of money, the great nations would perhaps be rich enough to pay for their security at that price; but confidence is unsettled, opinion is excited, the public is agitated, and, not knowing exactly to what the general uneasiness is to be attributed, lays the responsibility on those who govern, and accuses at the same time both the men and the institutions. Let those who have charge of nations reflect, for the straightforwardness of their intentions and the clearness of their declarations do not suffice to calm the anxiety of interests and of minds. Like them, public opinion desires peace; but we believe that it wishes for tranquillity in another fashion than by optimist phrases, which seem to be contradicted by exaggerated armaments. The maxim of the ancient law, si ris pacem, para bellum, frightens instead of reassuring it. Only on that day will it be appeased when it shall see substituted, in the relations of states, for that doctrine of distrust, this axiom of true civilization: Si vis pacem, para pacem. Mr. Dix to Mr. Seward. No. 286.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to inclose herewith a translation of a letter which I have received from Mr. Drouyn de Lhuys, late minister of foreign affairs in France, containing the expression of his thanks to you for a copy of the work entitled "Tributes of the Nations to Abraham Lincoln." I am, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. JOHN A. DIX. Mr. Drouyn de Lhuys to Mr. Dix. [Translation.] PARIS, November 8, 1868. SIR: I have the honor to thank you for the copy of a work, which you addressed to me, entitled "Tributes of the Nations to Abraham Lincoln," and I pray you to express to Mr. Seward my great and sincere gratitude for this kind souvenir. I avail myself of the occasion to offer to you, sir, the assurance of the distinguished consideration with which I am your very humble and obedient servant, General Dix, &c., &c., &c., Paris. DROUYN DE LHUYS. FRENCH LEGATION. Mr. Berthemy to Mr. Seward. [Translation.] LEGATION OF FRANCE, Washington, March 14, 1868. SIR: On addressing you in the month of June, 1866, about the convention concluded at Geneva the 22d of August, 1864, in respect to the initiative of the Swiss federal council for the amelioration of the condi |