produce important results, and perhaps altogether change the military situation, while my speculations would be crossing the Atlantic. SIR: Your confidential despatch of September 1, (No. 51,) relating to the capture, imprisonment, probable trial, and ultimate fortunes of General Garibaldi, has been received. The proceeding you adopted in writing unofficially a note to a distinguished Italian statesman upon the subject, as well as the note itself, seem to have been equally inoffensive and judicious, and they are approved by the President. As you are well aware, the policy of this government is entire abstinence from all participation in controversies between foreign states, and even more complete abstinence, if that were possible, from connexion with domestic agitation in any foreign state. Under these circumstances, the information that jealousies of the United States have arisen in Italy is received with much surprise. The President has not recognized at all the insurrectionary movements which have recently occurred in Italy, and has proclaimed no nentrality between the state and the insurgents. We know there only the government, the authorities, and the flag of the kingdom of Italy. If American vessels have carried supplies to the insurgents, the fact is unknown to this government, nor has an intimation of such a proceeding, or such a purpose even, been received by the government or any of its responsible authorities. If any consul of ours has taken a part in these proceedings, he will be brought under the censure of the government, and will not be allowed to retain consular functions. If any naval officer in our service has lent aid to the insurrection, he will be deprived of his command. Intent upon the public defence in the domestic struggle in which we are engaged seldom free from apprehensions of foreign interference in that struggle in favor of the insurgents-this government intends that if it shall ever come from any quarter, it shall come not only without right, but without even provocation or other excuse. You will judge whether it is important to communicate any and what part of this instruction to the government of his Majesty. In any case, you will inform him that no foreign desire is more sincerely cherished by the United States than that for the stability, peace, prosperity, and welfare of the kingdom of Italy. I am, sir, your obedient servant, GEORGE P. MARSH, Esq., &c., &c., &c., Turin. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Mr. Marsh to Mr. Seward. [Extract.] No. 36.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: At a very early hour yesterday morning I received a telegram from Mr. Perry, of the American legation at Madrid, announcing the arrival of the privateer Sumter at Cadiz, with a number of prisoners taken from American ships captured and destroyed at sea by that vessel. I immediately communicated the fact, by telegraph, to the legation at Constantinople, to the consulate at Trieste, and to the consuls at all the principal ports in the kingdom of Italy, and addressed to the minister of foreign affairs a communication on the subject, a copy of which will be sent with my next despatch. I learn by late intelligence that, in spite of the protestations of the American consul at Cadiz, the Sumter was admitted into that port. I presume she will be allowed to coal and refit, and otherwise prepare herself for depredations on American shipping in the Mediterranean, and I fear the British authorities at Malta and Corfu, as well as the Greek government, will prove equally indulgent. There is, I imagine, no danger that the Italian government will allow any countenance to be given to confederate cruisers by its local authorities at present, but the fact cannot be disguised that the almost universal disapproval by European jurists of the seizure of the rebel commissioners on board the Trent, and the treatment of the subject by the American government, so far as it is yet known, combined with the malignant misrepresentations of the English press, and the impression produced by the insidious efforts of the British government to create a belief that the United States are seeking a quarrel with England, and, above all, the alleged want of evidence that the federal government intends or desires to take advantage of the present crisis for putting the question of the perpetuation and extension of domestic slavery on a more satisfactory footing. All these considerations are doing much to alienate from us the confidence and good will of that portion of European society whose favorable opinion has been always regarded as both in itself of most worth and practically of greatest value. In no part of the continent was the sympathy with the government of the Union at the commencement of the rebellion so strong or so universal as in Italy. Although that sympathy is greatly weakened, it is not yet lost, and I trust that events are near at hand which will restore it to its original strength and confirm this government in its disposition to show no favor to our rebellious citizens. The alarm of piracy excited some weeks since by the suspicious conduct of an American schooner off the southern coast of Italy created a great panic among our navigators, but, injurious as it was for the time, it may perhaps have been of service by preparing American shipmasters for the real danger which now threatens them. Many American ships have been sold to Italian subjects, and some are engaged in freighting on European account between Mediterranean and Atlantic ports. So far these vessels are safe, but our own proper commerce in this sea must suffer severely. The Sumter, and the other pirates which will follow her from America or be fitted out here by her officers, will be openly or secretly aided by the citizens of every state which has possessions bordering on the Mediterranean, except, I trust, Italy and France; and the many American ships now navigating this sea must either rot in harbor or expose themselves to imminent risk of capture, unless one or more armed vessels of sufficient speed and force to cope with the Sumter be sent out for their protection. This, I suppose, the necessities of the home service will render difficult, if not impracticable; but I doubt not that the wisdom of the government will devise a proper remedy as soon as the means for its application are at hand. * * * * * * * I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, * GEORGE P. MARSH. Secretary of State. Mr. Marsh to Mr. Seward. [Extract.] No. 37.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: The news of the settlement of the difficulty between the United States and England on the affair of the Trent has been received in Italy with lively satisfaction, and although on the question of the legal right the opinion of lawyers and statesmen was nearly unanimous against the seizure, yet I believe that, both here and elsewhere in Europe, the conduct of the American government, as now understood, is thought to have been not only more dignified, but at least not less honorable than that of England. The violent and mendacious language of the British press now receives the condemnation it deserves, and I have no doubt that the cause of the Union will be essentially advanced in European estimation by an event which the President and his cabinet have, with such wisdom and skill, converted from an apparently unlucky accident into an instrument of good. The result will serve, I think, to do something towards dispelling an error almost universal among European statesmen, and which I have seldom passed a day on this side of the Atlantic without having occasion to combat-the assumption, namely, that the American Union is less a republic than an unbridled democracy, of which the federal government is but a blind instrument The illumination in some of the great cities on the receipt of the intelligence of the capture of the commissioners, the compliments to Captain Wilkes, the various spirited resolutions proposed in the House of Representatives, were cited as evidences of a popular feeling which an Executive elected by the people would be powerless to resist, and nothing short of the actual result of the affair could have convinced Europe that in this, as in most other important crises, the government is left free to initiate the national policy. * * * * * * * I have the honor to be, sir, with great respect, your obedient servant, I saw Garibaldi the other day for the first time. The conversation turned principally on American affairs, and he manifested the same warm interest he has always shown in the triumph of the Union cause, and the same high respect for the wisdom of the present administration which I have the pleasure of hearing expressed in every quarter with which my position brings me into relation. * * * * * The recent victories of the Union forces over the rebel troops have been received with much satisfaction in Italy, and those branches of industry which had suffered from the stagnation of American trade-the silk manufacture, especially-are rapidly reviving in the hope of the restoration of peace and commercial activity. The news of these successes, I learn, have produced a marked effect upon the feelings and opinions of very many Americans, resident in Europe, who have been much annoyed with scruples as to the lawfulness of the "war which the present administration is waging against the South." I learn from Mr. Powers and others, loyal Americans at Florence, that there have been some remarkable instances of change of position on this question, in that city, within the last few days. I am, sir, with high respect, your obedient servant, MONS. MINISTER: I have just received your despatch of December 30, and thank you for the intelligence you give on the affair of the Trent. I need not tell you with what satisfaction the government and people of Italy have received the news of the happy solution of a question which, for a moment, put in doubt the peace of the world. Attached by the closest ties of sympathy to the two nations which have so highly exalted in the two hemispheres the glory of the Anglo Saxon race, the royal government was justly apprehensive of the consequences of the strife which might have arisen between England and North America. Such strife in effect, whatever the issue, could have had only results adverse to civilization and to the general prosperity; it would have shaken confidence in the principle of "self-government," which serves as a common basis for the political institutions of the Anglo Saxon race, and have brought on, if protracted, complications from which the whole world would have suffered. Moreover, although we should in preference fix our attention on the questions which touch upon the accomplishment of the great work of Italian unity, we were far from being indifferent to the discussion which had sprung up between America and England. You are not ignorant, Mr. Minister, that the royal government has always been attached to the principle of the freedom of the seas. At the Congress of Paris it united with eagerness in the declaration of April 30, 1856, and hoped that declaration, as soon as it could have the assent of the United States of America, would, in time, become the point of departure for fresh progress in the practical operation of international law. Knowing the bold and persevering efforts which the government at Washington had made for fifty years past to defend the rights of neutrals, we hesitated to believe that it desired to change its character all at once, and become the champion of theories which history has shown to be calamitous, and which public opinion has condemned forever. By continuing to remain attached to principles whose defence has constituted one of the causes of the glory of North America, Mr. Lincoln and his ministry have given an example of wisdom and moderation which will have the best results for America as well as for the European nations. ANNUAL MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT. Be pleased, then, earnestly to felicitate, in the name of the King's gov ernment, the President and his ministry, by giving, if requested, a copy of this despatch. Accept, Mr. Minister, the assurance of my very distinguished consideration. The CHEVALIER BERTINATTI, Minister of Italy at Washington. RICASOLI. Mr. Seward to the Chevalier Bertinatti. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I have the President's directions to express to you the satisfaction he has derived from the despatch which was addressed to you by Baron Ricasoli on the subject of the Trent affair, a copy of which you so kindly put into my hands. This government, after a full examination of the subject, decided that it could not detain the persons taken from the Trent by Captain Wilkes without disavowing its own liberal interpretations of the law of maritime war. It rejoiced, therefore, in the accidental circumstance that had given it an opportunity to show the same devotion to the freedom of commerce as a belligerent that it had always before manifested as an interested neutral power. If at any time the government had entertained doubts of the wisdom of its proceeding in the case, they would all now disappear at once before the congratulations which it is receiving from the most generous and enlightened nations that have been passionless observers of the transaction. Among those nations, while all have spoken with cordiality and without reserve, none have spoken with truer magnanimity or more manifest sincerity and earnest sympathy than the kingdom of Italy, the newest and most free of those nations founded upon the principle of the sovereignty of the people. Her utterance comes evidently from the very heart of a people who yet remember the sad experience how liberty is certainly lost through the loss of their national unity. Have the goodness, Mr. Bertinatti, to assure the Baron Ricasoli, and through him the great and chivalrous Prince who reigns over Italy, that their persuasions to the restoration of the American Union, in its amplest constitutional proportions, shall be early submitted to the American people. They will have more than ordinary prophetic weight as the voice of a nation that is risen from among the dead. The American government and people are unanimous in their wishes for the peace, prosperity and happiness of Italy. Be pleased to accept, sir, the renewed assurance of my very high consideration. WILLIAM H. SEWARD Chevalier J. BERTINATTI, &c., &c., &c. |