and to confine herself to the enjoyment of her limited rights in the Belize. She has by this treaty of 1850 obligated herself not to occupy or colonize any part of Central America or to exercise any dominion therein. Notwithstanding these stipulations she still asserts the right to hold possession of and to exercise control over large districts of that country and important islands in the Bay of Honduras, the unquestionable appendages of the Central American States. This jurisdiction is not less mischievous in its effects, nor less objectionable to us, because it is covertly exercised (partly at least) in the name of a miserable tribe of Indians, who have in reality no political organization, no actual Government, not even the semblance of one, except that which is created by British authority and upheld by British power."

Mr. Marcy, Sec. of State, to Mr. Buchanan, July 2, 1853. MSS. Inst. Gr.
Brit.

"So far as I am aware, this Government has never had occasion to take the question of the proprietorship of those (the Mosquito) islands into consideration. I cannot say, beforehand, what would be the opinion of the Department on the subject, as we make it a rule to express no opinion upon a hypothetical case.

"It is obvious, however, from the names of the islands, that they were discovered by the Spaniards. Though this, unaccompanied by actual occupancy, may not have imparted to Spain any right of ownership to the exclusion of the citizens or subjects of other countries, yet, as the islands lie within a short distance of the Mosquito coast, it is quite probable that, if they had, for any purpose, been visited by persons not owing allegiance to Spain, she might have endeavored to prevent this. It is more certain that she would have endeavored to prevent any other nation from occupying them for military or naval purposes. The rights of sovereignty possessed by Spain in Central America extended, as we claim, over the territory actually conquered or obtained by contract from the aborigines, as well as over that the Indian title to which had not been extinguished. The British Government contends that the Indian title to the Mosquito coast has never been extinguished; and partly on that ground asserts the right to protect the inhabitants of that coast. It is not unlikely that that Government might also contend that the islands to which you refer belong by right of proximity to the Mosquito shore and, therefore, that its right of protection extends to them also."

Mr. Marcy, Sec. of State, to Messrs. Thompson and Oudeshuys, Dec. 27, 1853.
MSS. Dom. Let.

"The political condition of what is called the Mosquito Kingdom has for several years past been a matter of discussion between the United States and Great Britain. This Government has uniformly held that the Mosquito Indians are a savage tribe, and that though they have rights as the occupants of the country where, they are, they have no

sovereign or political authority there, and no capacity to transfer to individuals an absolute and permanent title to the lands in their possession, and that the right of eminent domain-which only can be the source of such title is in certain of the Central American States.

"If the emigrants (persons purposing to settle in the Mosquito Kingdom) should be formed into companies, commanded by officers, and furnished with arms, such organization would assume the character of a military expedition, and being hardly consistent with professions of peaceful objects, would devolve upor this Government the duty of inquiring whether it be not a violation of our neutrality act."

Mr. Marcy, Sec. of State, to Mr. Kinney, Feb. 4, 1855. MSS. Dom. Let.

Great Britain had not, at the time of the convention of April 19, 1850, "any rightful possessions in Central America, save only the usufructuary settlement at the Belize, if that really be in Central America; and at the same time, if she had any, she was bound by the express tenor and true construction of the convention, to evacuate the same, so as thus to stand on precisely the same footing in that respect as the United States."

Mr. Marcy, Sec. of State, to Mr. Dallas, July 26, 1856. MSS. Inst., Gr. Brit. Supra, § 150 f. [The whole of this instruction is of great importance, and should be carefully studied in this connection.]

The "statement for the Earl of Clarendon," by Mr. Buchanan, United States minister in London, dated January 6, 1854, given in the Brit. and For. St. Pap. for 1855-'56, vol. 46, contains the following passages:

"It would be a vain labor to trace the history of the connection of Great Britain with the Mosquito shore and other portions of Central America previous to her treaties with Spain of 1783 and 1786. This connection doubtless originated from her desire to break down the monopoly of trade which Spain so jealously enforced with her American colonies, and to introduce into them British manufactures. The attempts of Great Britain to accomplish this object were pertinaciously resisted by Spain, and became the source of continual difficulties between the two nations. After a long period of strife these were happily terminated by the treaties of 1783 and 1786, in as clear and explicit language as ever was employed on any similar occasion; and the history of the time rendered the meaning of this language, if possible, still more clear and explicit.

"Article VI of the treaty of peace of 3d September, 1783, was very distasteful to the King and Cabinet of Great Britain. This abundantly appears from Lord John Russell's 'Memorials and Correspondence of Charles James Fox.' The British Government, failing in their efforts to have this article deferred for six months, finally yielded a most reluctant consent to its insertion in the treaty.

"Why this reluctant consent? Because Article VI stipulates that, with the exception of the territory between the river Wallis or Belize and the Rio Hondo, within which permission was granted to British subjects to cut log-wood, all the English who may be dispersed in any other parts, whether on the Spanish continent ("continente Espagnol"), or in any of the islands whatsoever dependent on the aforesaid Spanish continent, and for whatever reason it might be, without exception, shall

retire within the district above described in the space of eighteen months, to be computed from the exchange of ratifications.'

"And the treaty further expressly provides, that the permission granted to cut logwood shall not be considered as derogating, in any wise, from his [Catholic Majesty's] rights of sovereignty' over this logwood district; and it stipulates, moreover, 'that if any fortifications should have been actually heretofore erected within the limits marked out, His Britannic Majesty shall cause them all to be demolished, and he will order his subjects not to build any new ones.'

"But, notwithstanding these provisions, in the opinion of Mr. Fox, it was still in the power of the British Government 'to put our [their] own interpretation upon the words "continente Espagnol," and to deter mine, upon prudential considerations, whether the Mosquito shore comes under that description or not.'

"Hence the necessity for new negotiations which should determine, precisely and expressly, the territory embraced by the treaty of 1783. These produced the convention of the 14th of July, 1786; and its very first article removed every doubt on the subject. This declared that "His Britannic Majesty's subjects, and the other colonists who have hitherto enjoyed the protection of England, shall evacuate the country of the Mosquitos, as well as the continent in general, and the islands adjacent, without exception,' situated beyond the new limits prescribed by the convention within which British subjects were to be permitted to cut, not only logwood, but mahogany and all other wood; and even this district is indisputably acknowledged to belong of right to the Crown of Spain.'

"Thus what was meant by the 'continente Espagnol' in the treaty of 1783, is defined, beyond all doubt, by the convention of 1786; and the sovereignty of the Spanish King over the Mosquito shore, as well as over every other portion of the Spanish continent and the islands adjacent, is expressly recognized.

"It was just that Great Britain should interfere to protect the Mosquito Indians against the punishment to which they had exposed themselves as her allies from their legitimate and acknowledged sovereign. Article XIV of the convention, therefore, provides that His Catholic Majesty, prompted solely by motives of humanity, promises to the King of England that he will not exercise any act of severity against the Mosquitos inhabiting in part the countries which are to be evacuated by virtue of the present convention, on account of the connections which may have subsisted between the said Indians and the English; and His Britannic Majesty, on his part, will strictly prohibit all his subjects from furnishing armis or warlike stores to the Indians in general situated upon the frontiers of the Spanish possessions.'

"British honor required that these treaties with Spain should be faithfully observed; and from the contemporaneous history no doubt exists but that this was done; that the orders required by Article XV of the convention were issued by the British Government, and that they were strictly carried into execution.

In this connection a reference to the significant proceedings in the House of Lords on the 26th of March, 1787, ought not to be omitted. On that day a motion was made by Lord Rawdon that the terms of the convention of July 14, 1786, do not meet the favorable opinion of this House.' The motion was discussed at considerable length, and with great ability. The task of defending the ministry upon this occasion was undertaken by Lord Chancellor Thurlow, and was most trium

phantly performed. He abundantly justified the ministry for having surrendered the Mosquito shore to Spain; and proved that the Mosquitos were not our allies; they were not a people we were bound by treaty to protect.' His lordship repelled the argument that the settlement was a regular and legal settlement, with some sort of indignation; and so far from agreeing, as had been contended, that we had remained uniformly in the quiet and unquestionable possession of our claim to the territory he called upon the noble Viscount Stormont to declare, as a man of honor, whether he did not know the contrary.

"Lord Rawdon's motion to condemn the convention was rejected by a vote of 53 to 17.

"It is worthy of special remark that all sides of the House, whether approving or disapproving the convention, proceeded upon the express admission that it required Great Britain, employing its own language, 'to evacuate the country of the Mosquitos.' On this question the House of Lords was unanimous.

"At what period, then, did Great Britain renew her claims to the country of the Mosquitos, as well as the continent in general, and the islands adjacent, without exception? It certainly was not in 1801, when, under the Treaty of Amiens, she acquired the island of Trinidad from Spain, without any mention whatever of further acquisitions in America. It certainly was not in 1809, when she entered into a treaty of alliance, offensive and defensive, with Spain, to resist the Emperor Napoleon in his attempt to conquer the Spanish monarchy. It certainly was not in 1814, when the commercial treaties, which had previously existed between the two powers, including, it is presumed, those of 1783 and 1786, were revived. On all these occasions there was no mention whatever of any claims of Great Britain to the Mosquito protectorate, or to any of the Spanish-American territories which she had abandoned. It was not in 1817 and 1819, when acts of the British Parliament (57 and 59 George III), distinctly acknowledged that the British settlement at Belize was 'not within the territory and dominion of His Majesty,' but was merely a settlement for certain purposes, in the possession and under the protection of His Majesty;' thus evincing a determined purpose to observe with the most scrupulous good faith the treaties of 1783 and 1786 with Spain.

he

"In the very sensible book of Captain Bonnycastle, of the corps of British Royal Engineers, on Spanish-America, published at London, in 1818, he gives no intimation whatever that Great Britain had revived her claim to the Mosquito protectorate. On the contrary, describes the Mosquito shore as 'a tract of country which lies along part of the northern and eastern shore of Honduras,' which had 'been claimed by the British.' He adds, 'the English held this country for eighty years, and abandoned it in 1787 and 1788.'

"Thus matters continued until a considerable period after 1821, in which year the Spanish provinces composing the captain-generalship of Guatemala asserted and maintained their independence of Spain. It would be a work of supererogation to attempt to prove, at this period of the world's history, that these provinces having, by a successful revolution, become independent states, succeeded within their respective limits to all the territorial rights of Spain. This will surely not be denied by the British Government, which took so noble and prominent a part in securing the independence of all the Spanish-American provinces.

"Indeed, Great Britain has recorded her adhesion to this principle of international law in her treaty of December 26, 1826, with Mexico,

then recently a revolted Spanish colony. By this treaty, so far from claiming any right beyond the usufruct which had been conceded to her under the convention with Spain in 1786, she recognizes its continued existence and binding effect, as between herself and Mexico, by obtaining and accepting from the Government of the latter a stipulation that British subjects shall not be disturbed or molested in the peaceable exercise of whatever rights, privileges, and immunities they have at any time enjoyed within the limits described and laid down' by that convention. Whether the former Spanish sovereignty over Belize, subject to the British usufruct, reverted of right to Mexico or to Guatemala, may be seriously questioned; but, in either case, this recognition by Great Britain is equally conclusive.

"And here it may be appropriate to observe that Great Britain still continues in possession, not only of the district between the Rio Hondo and the Sibun, within which the King of Spain had granted her a license to cut mahogany and other woods, but the British settlers have extended this possession south to the river Sarstoon, one degree and a half of latitude beyond the limits described and laid down' by this convention. It is presumed that the encroachments of these settlers south of the Sibun have been made without the authority or sanction of the British Crown, and that no difficulty will exist in their removal. "Yet in view of all these antecedents the island of Ruatan, belonging to the State of Honduras, and within sight of its shores, was captured in 1841 by Colonel McDonald, then Her Britannic Majesty's superintendent at Belize, and the flag of Honduras was hauled down and that of Great Britain was hoisted in its place. This small State, incapable of making any effectual resistance, was compelled to submit, and the island has ever since been under British control. What makes this event more remarkable is that it is believed a similar act of violence had been committed on Ruatan by the superintendent of Belize in 1835; but on complaint by the Federal Government of the Central American States, then still in existence, the act was formally disavowed by the British Government, and the island was restored to the authorities of the Republic.

"No question can exist but that Ruatan was one of the islands adjacent to the American continent which had been restored by Great Britain to Spain under the treaties of 1783 and 1786. Indeed, the most approved British gazetteers and geographers up till the present date have borne testimony to this fact, apparently without information from that hitherto but little known portion of the world, that the island had again been seized by Her Majesty's superintendent at Belize, and was now a possession claimed by Great Britain.

"When Great Britain determined to resume her dominion over the Mosquito shore, in the name of a protectorate, is not known with any degree of certainty in the United States. The first information on the subject in the Department of State, at Washington, was contained in a dispatch of the 20th January, 1842, from William S. Murphy, esq., special agent of the American Government to Guatemala, in which he states that in a conversation with Colonel McDonald at Belize the latter had informed him that he had discovered and sent documents to England, which caused the British Government to revive their claim to the Mosquito territory.

"According to Bonnycastle the Mosquito shore 'lies along part of the northern and eastern shore of Honduras;' and by the map which accompanies his work, extends no further south than the mouth of the