matter, and that the explanations given by the Vienna cabinet have fully satisfied the minister of the United States, so that a first detachment of 1,000 volunteers was to embark on the 10th May at Trieste, for Mexico. To tell the truth, the Constitutionnel knows nothing of these facts of itself, but gets them from the Memorial Diplomatique, in which, for our part, we are far from having absolute confidence. It may be, after all, that Austria has not thought proper to pay attention to the protest from Washington, although she has at this moment affairs enough on hand not to seek for new ones. We shall soon know if it is true that one corps of volunteers set out three days ago for Vera Cruz, on board the Tampico; but even if this fact were exact, it would not be enough to prove that an understanding in regard to this question of volunteers exists at present between Austria and the United States. The very categoric language of Mr. Seward permits us to doubt this. We shall wait, therefore, until the texts of the arrangements concluded between the two governments is made known to us before we believe it, by the Constitutionnel's leave, which indorses statements of which it has no proof except the assertion of the Memorial Diplomatique, which are always to be received with caution.

No. 460.]

Mr. F. W. Seward to Mr. Bigelow.

DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

Washington, May 18, 1866.

SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of the 23d ultimo, enclosing a passport purporting to have been issued by the governor of Louisiana, which was presented at the legation in Paris to be visaed. Your proceedings in declining to recognize this instrument are, as a matter of course, approved.

The governors of the several States have been notified by circular, that the granting of passports by them, or by any other State authorities, is in contravention of the Constitution and laws of the United States, and of the law of nations, and that such instruments will not be recognized by this department, or by the governments of foreign nations.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

JOHN BIGELOW, Esq., &c., &c., &c.

No. 328.]

F. W. SEWARD,

Acting Secretary.

Mr. Bigelow to Mr. Seward.

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,

Paris, May 31, 1866.

His

SIR: I have your despatch No. 459, marked "confidential," and had proposed to discuss its contents to-day with the minister of foreign affairs. excellency, however, had received a summons to the palace, which compelled him to terminate his reception of the diplomatic corps abruptly. He remarked, with a smile, as I entered, that he knew what I came for-that I had a harsh message to him. "Am I not right?" he asked. I told him that I had been instructed, as he was aware, it seemed, to acquaint him with the disquiet which' certain reports in regard to the transport of fresh troops from different quarters of the world, to Mexico, had occasioned in the United States, and I expressed my fear that these reports, unless met promptly by some satisfactory assurances, might develop discussion upon another theatre imperfectly informed of the actual situation, and of the dispositions of the imperial government, thereby aggravating the difficulties with which both governments already had to contend. I then said, that as he was called elsewhere, I would wait upon him at any other more convenient hour that he would name. He proposed that I should call again on Saturday at 12 p. m.; mean time he wished me to be

assured, as he had assured me on several previous occasions, that the troops reported to have sailed for Vera Cruz were to replace others whose terms of service had expired, and in numbers less rather than more than were there before. He believed, also, that the orders for their shipment were given before the proposed recall of the army was announced. Upon all these points he expected to have more precise information from the minister of war to give me on Saturday. As I was going out, his excellency repeated what he has often said, that they were but too anxious to withdraw their troops from Mexico; that they would be withdrawn certainly not later, but probably sooner, than the time proposed.

I then took my leave without alluding to the other subjects about which I was specially instructed to confer with him.

I am, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant,

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD,

Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.

JOHN BIGELOW.

No. 336.]

Mr. Bigelow to Mr. Seward.

UNITED STATES LEGATION,
Paris, June 14, 1866.

SIR: In compliance with your instruction of the 1st of May, No. 444, I spoke to-day with his excellency the minister of foreign affairs of the relations of Hayti and St. Domingo, and of the recent invocation by the latter of foreign influence to secure the recognition of her independence by Hayti. I ascertained in the course of a brief conversation that Mr. Drouyn de Lhuys had instructed the French agents in both extremities of the island to use their influence in favor of establishing peaceful and friendly relations between the two republics before the recent circular was issued by St. Domingo, but this instruction was general in its character, and related to no specific proposal from any quarter. I gathered from what he said that it was written not long after the flight of Salnave. I mentioned that we had received the same circular as that which had been addressed to the consul general of France, and I asked him whether he thought the counsel of foreign powers could contribute to the harmony of the two governments. He said, without hesitation, that he thought it could, and professed his readiness to unite with me in a note to the Haytian government. I replied that I had no instructions that would justify me in taking such a step, and if in view of what he had said my government should think it worth while to cooperate, that the separate and independent action of the governments addressed might, perhaps, be the most efficacious. He assented to the propriety of this suggestion, at the same time assuring me of his readiness to co-operate jointly or separately, and with or without pressure, to procure the recognition of the Dominican republic by Hayti, and the restoration of harmony between their respective governments.

Í declined to embrace his proposal to make a joint note-first, of course, because I had no instructions that would have authorized such a step, and secondly, because I did not suppose that even in that indirect way would the United States countenance the interference of France with the political administration of any American state.

I am, sir, with great respect, your very obedient,

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD,

Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.

JOHN BIGELOW.

No. 337.]

Mr. Bigelow to Mr. Seward.

LEGATION OF the United States,
Paris, June 14, 1866.

SIR: The following paragraph appeared last evening in the columns of La France:

[Translation.]

"The Presse, of Vienna, publishes despatches from Paris, announcing that the emperor of Mexico demands the financial support of France, and threatens to abdicate if he does not obtain it.

"It says, also, that the French government is determined to reject the demand, and has sent instructions to Marshal Bazaine, forbidding him to call a free election, in case of Maximilian's abdication.

We leave the responsibility of this news to the Free Presse; for it must be accepted with certain reserve, on account of its importance."

I spoke of this to Mr. Drouyn de Lhuys to-day, and asked if the facts warranted any such statement. He smiled and said, that France did not mean to place any more money in Mexico; that they had invested all they ever meant to in that quarter. I asked about the threat of abdication imputed to Maximilian. The "France," he replied, "is a little too advanced-a little rash." "Then he has not held out any such threats," I asked. No, not that we have heard of," was the reply; "but," he added, "while we are asking questions, what may Santa Anna be about in New York?" I replied that I had not a particle of information upon the subject, nor could I gather nourishment for a good suspicion upon the subject; that his name had not once been mentioned in my correspondence from the State Department, and I had been able to derive no distinct impressions from my private correspondence or from the press. I suggested that the name of Santa Anna had occurred to me at one time as a tertium quid, with which, perhaps, the French government might make a transaction, in case Maximilian failed finally to make himself acceptable to the Mexican people, but as yet I saw no evidence of his having the necessary prestige among the Mexicans for such a role. He assented to that view of Santa Anna's position, and then the conversation on the subject of Mexico dropped. I am, sir, with great respect, your very obedient servant,

Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD,

Department of State, Washington, D. C.

JOHN BIGELOW.

Mr. Bigelow to Mr. Seward.

No. 338.]

LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES,

Paris, June 14, 1866.

SIR: I have the honor to invite your attention to an important debate which occurred yesterday in the Corps Legislatif in reference to the new attitude assumed by France towards Mexico. The budget was under discussion, and Mr. Jules Favre availed himself of the occasion to arraign the government for its disastrous financiering in Mexico, and to compare the position of France, as revealed by the correspondence recently communicated to the Chambers, with that which she occupied, according to the government orators and the official press, a year ago. Mr. Favre concluded by inquiring of the orator for the government, Mr. Rouher, whether it would be safe to withdraw a part only of the French army from Mexico, and whether it would not be more prudent to withdraw them all in a body. Mr. Rouher made no reply. The government declined to enter into any dis

cussion of the subject: A sort of defence of the government was attempted by M. Jerome David, a reputed son of the late Prince Jerome Bonaparte, which relationship gave to his remarks their principal importance perhaps. He closed with a timidly phrased sort of warning to the United States not to tread upon the heels of the retiring army of occupation, which was the only part of his discourse of special significance.

A translation of the debate, from the Moniteur, and a copy of the yellow-book containing the promised continuation of the correspondence on Mexican affairs, submitted a few days since to the Corps Legislatif, accompany this despatch. This latter document is chiefly remarkable for the limited amount of information on the Mexican question which it adds to the stock already in possession of the public.

I remain, sir, with great respect, your very obedient servant, Hon.. WILLIAM H. SEWARD,

Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.

JOHN BIGELOW.

[Extract from the Moniteur Universel of June 14, 1866.—Translation.]

CORPS LEGISLATIF, Sitting of Wednesday, June 13, 1866.

M. JULES FAVRE. The distribution recently made to the Chamber of documents calculated to enlighten us on the subject of our real position in Mexico, imposes upon us the duty of examining, in so far as relates to that particular point, into the action of government, and into the resolution which it intends to adopt.

This duty is the more stringent since the serious agitation in Europe, which is pointed out to us, may lead to complications in which our honor, our security, and our peace would become immediately involved. It is therefore indispensable that we should know what course is to be pursued in an expedition which might, in case of a conflict on the continent, have such serious consequences. For my part I have no need, in the observation which I ask the Chamber to kindly listen to, to inquire into all the facts, to examine all the difficulties arising from that great expedition. I have several times had occasion to express my views in that respect, and those views have not changed. The time does not seem to me to have yet arrived for telling the whole truth. While our troops are yet engaged in Mexico we must, gentlemen, restrain the judgment which our conscience shall oblige us to pass, basing ourselves upon the sentiment and the conscience of the Chamber.

All that appears to me opportune and politic to do for the present is to examine, in a few words, what has been done since we parted, and what remains for us to do. Now the solution presented by the government, although resembling those which we have constantly advocated, cannot, under present circumstances, meet with our full approval. They cannot receive our approval for reasons which can be easily understood; for reasons which are justified by the painful comparison of the documents submitted to us with the former declaration of the government.

You will remember the pride impressed in these declarations, to which you have so often paid the homage of your applause; how the speeches pronounced in this hall were full of pompous promises; how those who dared to deny the hopes of which Messrs. the ministers were the non-responsible editors, [laughter around the speaker, ] were called pessimists, peevish narrow-minds, incapable of understanding vast designs or generous thoughts.

Alas, gentlemen! the truth which government now reveals to us overthrows all these sad fictions.

I have said that I would be moderate. I shall keep my word, and I do so when, casting my eyes over the documents distributed to you, I discard the first of them; for, in my opinion, the only manner of treating it in a French Chamber is to say nothing about it. [Disturbazce.] M. GRANIER DE CASSAGNAC. I demand the floor.

M. JULES FAVRE. Yet, gentlemen, the government has been under the painful necessity of accepting that document and of declaring that, in view of the injunction it contains, we should leave Mexico.

It has done more; it has made on that question unexpected revelations which, all at once, have cast upon the whole situation a very different light from that under which it had heretofore been presented.

In fact, as you will remember, gentlemen, since that expedition was commenced you were incessantly foretold not only that our arms would be successful, but also that the undertaking would prove a complete success in a political point of view. Yet I may assert, with full confidence that I am not mistaken, that if the adhesion of the Chamber was obtained, as I deeply regret that it was, it was obtained never by telling the truth. [Approbation around the Speaker. Strong murmurs on the benches of the majority.]

I will not enter upon this point into an examination which I have from the first declared to be untimely. You remember the declarations of the honorable minister of state concerning the relations of France with Maximilian when a convention was binding them to each other; you remember the bulletins succeeding each other every fortnight, and in which you were always told of the enthusiasm of the Mexicans for their new sovereign, of the success of the latter, both in a financial and in a political point of view, of the desertion of all the bands which opposed the raising of his throne. These things shall find their place in another discussion, which we now reserve, and to remain true to what I have had the honor to say to you, I shall merely examine the facts as set forth in official declarations nearest us, as they date from last year.

Well, at that time, when we ventured to express our disapprobation and our mistrust, we were proudly answered that the policy we were attacking was far above our views; that it was the proudest jewel in the crown of the sovereign; that the glory of France, radiating even to America, would establish upon these far-off shores a civilization which we would have cause to be proud of, and M. the minister of state, in the sitting of January 27, 1864, summed up all his views in these eloquent words:

"And now let me express my whole thought. Passions shall subside, the remembrance of the money questions disappear in the impulse of public prosperity, truth become free from its present shackles, the day of posterity shall come. Then, if any one looks over our old debates, and our antiquated quarrels, and takes up the pen of the historian, he will say, that one was a man of genius, who, in spite of opposition, obstacles, and doubts, had the courage to open to the nation of which he was the chief new sources of prosperity."

And the Moniteur testifies that this passage was received with applause. [Smiles around the speaker.]

"He was the apostle of a daring but far-seeing and wise policy, who did not confine his views to the present generation; he understood both his time and the future, who saw that the European equilibrium rests no longer, as it formerly did, on the Alps or the Pyrenees, the Vistula or the Black sea-[we find it so now, unfortunately]-but that it embraces the whole world, and that such great interests should be the object of the care of France, however far the French flag may have to go to protect them.

"Yes, that shall be a page of glory, and the writer of it shall say, like the sovereign when speaking to the assembled nation, the distant expeditions, commenced for the purpose of avenging our honor have terminated in the triumph of our interests."

And the Moniteur here also testifies that the words of the minister were received with prolonged applause.

Such, gentlemen, is history, as written by the bold and confident hand of Mr. the minister of state.

By the side of this document is another of no less importance. At the opening of our labors the Emperor pronounced these words in reference to Mexico:

"In Mexico the new throne is becoming consolidated, the country is getting pacified, its immense resources are developing; these are the happy results of the courage of our soldiers, the good sense of the Mexican people, and the intelligence and energy of its sovereign."

These words find their confirmation in some lines of the "Expose of the situation of the Empire," where I read :

The results obtained by our expedition to Mexico in 1862 and 1863 have, in 1864, received a solemn confirmation. Under the shadow of the French flag a regular government has been established in that country, devoted for over fifty years to anarchy and internal dissensions. In the early part of the month of July Emperor Maximilian has taken pos'session of the throne, and supported by an army, is preparing in security an era of peace and prosperity for his new country."

I acknowledge, however, that this concert of praise was disturbed by a voice which, on this question, had great authority. It was that of a warrior who had led our victorious armies in Mexico. He said to the Senate, in the discussion of the address of March 11, 1865: "Yes, unfortunately, everything is to be done over again in Mexico. The moral sense there is thoroughly perverted; there is no longer any administration, nor justice, nor army, nor national spirit; we may almost say there is no longer anything"

A MEMBER. But robbers.

M. JULES FAVRE. These words are not very reassuring.

It is true that the honorable marshal added:

"But this is not the fault of the nation; at the bottom they are good, they are generous, they have the proud and noble feeling of the people from whom they are descended-of the Castilians, the proud Castilians; I therefore do not in the least despair of that country." These, gentlemen, were, so to speak, attenuating circumstances granted to Mexico; it was forgiven on account of the generosity of its character. The honorable marshal permitted himself to be carried away by a feeling of patriotic indulgence towards that country which, however, he condemned in that severe judgment that it was lacking in moral sense, had no justice, no army, no nationality, and that where there was nothing, one was trying to establish something.

Such was the appearance of things in 1865. Yet you know, gentlemen, that at that time