On my return from the country, at about 4 p. m., I found the tumult had been quelled; but I, nevertheless, reiterated the orders which had already been given by Mr. Beade to British and other subjects under our jurisdiction. I avail myself of this opportunity to repeat to you my regret, if any individual within the pale of our jurisdiction should have taken part in the proceedings you describe, and which I entirely disapprove of. Should you, however, think proper to prosecute any person under the jurisdiction of the British consulate general, you have only to take the usual steps for bringing the matter before her Majesty's consul. I have the honor to be, sir, your obedient humble servant, J. H. DRUMMOND HAY, [Translation] TANGIER, March 3, 1862. SIR: I have received the communication which you have done me the honor to address to me under date of the 1st instant, and regret to learn the scandalous events which gave rise to insults addressed to you and against the flag of the United States. Having no subjects here, my consular jurisdiction is naturally without power to intervene, but I can assure that if any countrymen had been in Tangier I would have immediately recalled them to a sense of their duties, had that been necessary. It is, however, befitting, sir, in answering your letter, to take up a passage, the bearing of which seems to me, at the least, strange. You say, "trusting in your early response to this communication, you will be able to acquit yourself honorably, &c., &c." You ought not to be ignorant, sir, that the case happening, I would only have to justify myself in the opinion of my own government, and never towards you, representing a foreign power. Accept, sir, the assurance of my high consideration. Mr. DE LONG, Consul General of the United States in Morocco. S. D'EHRENHOFF. [Translation.] AGENCY AND CONSULATE GENERAL OF HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF ITALY, Tangier, March 3, 1862. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of 1st March. I see, with regret, that you have been collecting, upon the events which passed on the 26th February, reports which are not exact. Representative of a free country, I could not hinder my countrymen from freely expressing their opinion; but as soon as I learned from the representative of Spain that a mob was going towards your consulate, fearing some unlawful act, immediately, in accord with this colleague, I sent all my soldiers, and all employed by me, to order all Italians to withdraw from the crowd, and to retire, and all, without exception obeyed my order, and this step was taken by me, without having received, either before, or afterwards, any communication on the part of the minister for foreign affairs. Although convinced that no one of my countrymen went near your consulate, nevertheless, if you choose to take legal proceedings against any one, this consulate will hasten to render justice to your complaint by instituting a judicial investigation. I hasten to give you these explanations, animated by the spirit of conciliation and respect for you, but, at the same time, I have the honor to tell you that the sole judge of my conduct is my government, and in that alone do I acknowledge the right to acquit or censure me. I have the honor to be your obedient servant, Mr. DE LONG, GUISEPPE DE MARTINO. Consul General of the United States in Morocco. [Translation.] LEGATION OF HER CATHOLIC MAJESTY IN MOROCCO, Tangier, March 2, 1862. The undersigned, charge d'affaires of her Catholic Majesty, has received the communication which, under yesterday's date, the consul general of the United States has pleased to address to him. The undersigned sees, with regret, that the consul general of the United States appears not to understand the facts which took place on the 26th of February last. Those facts are public, and no one in Tangier is ignorant of the attitude which, from the beginning of those events, without any incitement on the part of the authorities of Morocco, the legation of Spain assumed in respect to her subjects. This attitude grew out of the reprobation with which the undersigned always has regarded and always will regard every unlawful act which may tend to abridge, by intimidation or otherwise, the free action of the representatives of the Christian powers in Morocco. Notwithstanding this, the undersigned has the honor to state to the consul general of the United States that so soon as in the early hours of the morning of the 26th he could notice the excitement among the people of the city, he issued suitable preventive orders to the guard of the Spanish legation that they should not permit that Spaniards should take any part in any active demonstration. Later in the day when the undersigned received intelligence that the mob was going towards the house of the American consulate, the undersigned sent thither all his guards, suitably armed, with decided orders, by the employment of force if it should be necessary, they should send off from thence every subject of her Majesty there might be among the multitude, and should not allow any Spaniard to commit the least disrespect to the dwelling of a foreign agent. The arrangements of the undersigned, dictated in concert with the represen tative of his Majesty Victor Emanuel, who acted in the same manner, were faithfully carried out. The undersigned is gratified in also bringing to the view of the consul general of the United States that if he has special reasons to believe that any Spaniard participated directly or indirectly in the act to which, in his communication, he refers, he can make it known to the undersigned, who will cause the proper judicial investigation to be made, and if thereby shown to be culpable he shall be punished. The undersigned, in giving these explanations to the consul general of the United States, considers it his duty to state explicitly that he grounds them. solely on the impulse of his sentiment of friendship and good will towards Mr. De Long. The undersigned avails of this occasion to reiterate to the consul general of the United States the expression of his sentiments of distinguished consideration. FRANCISCO MERY Y COLOM. The CONSUL GENERAL of the United States of America. [Translation.] CONSULATE GENERAL OF PORTUGAL IN MOROCCO, SIR: In view of the note which I had the honor to receive from you, dated the 1st instant, the contents whereof I have duly noted, I deem it my duty to place in your hands the following answer. It is not possible for me, at the moment when riots and tumults break out in this country out of my sight, to know whether or not Portuguese subjects are so implicated as to be subject to be proceeded against in conformity with our laws, unless the culpable, if such there be, are pointed out to me. I should pass beyond my attributes to notice upon hearsay riots and tumults, unless their existence interfere with me or my people, as such should be made known to the public authority which is competent to their suppression, but notwithstanding, when, on the 26th day of February, I was told of the disorders then occurring, I ordered notice to be given to the small number of my countrymen residing in this city that they must take good care not to mix up with matters which did not belong to them. This, being done, and being ignorant of the circumstances you mention relative to the history of the outrage to which you allude, I find it gratuitous that, directly or indirectly, any responsibility can be imputed to me in such a conjuncture, but it would be proper, if you are pleased to prefer an accusation before me against this or that individual subject to my jurisdiction, whom you may judge to have been involved in the grave events which are the subject of your said note, that I should, in respect to them, take such proceedings as pertain to my duty, adding that, if I do not mistake the purport of the last paragraph of your note, I know nothing of any obligations I am under of which I should honorably acquit myself as towards you, my government being the only tribunal competent to pass judgment on my actions. In addressing to you what I have thus said, I avail myself of this opportunity to reiterate to you, sir, the assurance of my highest consideration. JOSÉ MANUEL COLAÇO. Hon. J. DE LONG, Consul General of the United States of America at Tangier. Mr. De Long to Mr. Seward. CONSULATE OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to enclose a copy of a telegram and two letters, addressed by Horatio J. Perry, United States charge d'affaires at Madrid, to Captain Craven, of the United States ship-of-war Tuscarora, in relation to the arrest of Myers and Tunstall, which have been transmitted to me by said legation, accompanied with a letter of congratulation upon the subject, which I also enclose. In making the arrest I acted with a full knowledge of what I believed to be the law, and with a view of restraining these men from committing further depredations upon our commerce. I pursued the whole thing step by step, using the utmost caution to avoid leading my government into trouble, although on the 26th of February my life was in the greatest possible danger, brought about by Captain Semmes, of the pirate Sumter, through the interference of the governor of Gibraltar, as well as nearly the entire European population of Gibraltar and this place, where money was offered freely to the mob if they would secure the release of the prisoners. I believe I was the only man in the place on the day of the mob that was not excited. Even Prince Muley Abbas, who is residing here at present, and who is said to be a very intelligent, mild, innocent sort of a man, when he heard of the mob, made the remark-"what the devil have the Christians to do with the American consul's prisoners." During the short time I have been here my whole time and attention has been devoted to the interest of my government, and what is my reward! Last evening three letters came to this place addressed to different parties, from Brown, my late predecessor, informing them "that the Senate had not confirmed my appointment, and that the President had appointed a Mr. McMath, of Ohio, in my place, and that he would be here shortly." This information came at a very inopportune moment, as it will be freely circulated throughout Europe that I have been recalled for my arrest of Myers and Tunstall, and besides, what effect this news may have upon the minds of the Moorish authorities is yet to be revealed. On the 10th instant the United States steamer Kearsarge paid a visit to this place, to inquire after the safety of the United States consulate, pursuant to the event of the 26th of February, which interview was very interesting. Assurances of the protection of the United States consulate, as well as the kindly relations between the United States government and this country, were entertained by the Moorish minister at the time. Arrangements were also made about exchanging a salute, which took place shortly after. The Kearsarge remained here until the next day, and then returned to Algeciras. I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant, Pray take the Tangier prisoners in custody aboard your ship if it can be done without losing sight of the Sumter. HORATIO J. PERRY, LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, CAPTAIN; After welcoming you to this coast, where the presence of the privateer Sumter has long called for the attention of our navy, I beg to say that Mr. Sprague, United States consul at Gibraltar and consular agent for Algeciras, has reported to me the arrest by United States Consul De Long, at Tangier, of a person calling himself a lieutenant of the Sumter, in company with Mr. Tunstall, late United States consul at Cadiz, who was deprived of his consulate for alleged infidelity to the government he was serving. In reference to this case I feel it my duty to inform you that I do not regard the proceeding alluded to in the way it seems to have struck Mr. Sprague, according to his communication to you of the 19th instant. The rules of neutrality vary in different states, and especially the rules which obtain among civilized nations are not applicable to the Mahomedan or semibarbarous powers. Consuls enjoy, in Morocco, an almost absolute jurisdiction over the persons of their fellow citizens or subjects, to the exclusion of the local jurisdiction of the town, or that of the Emperor. Mr. De Long, therefore, infringes no rule of public law in arresting a citizen of the United States within his jurisdiction, for the crime of treason or for robbery on the high seas, any more than if the arrest were for any other crime, and I beg you, if you can manage it without losing sight of the Sumter herself, to attend to Mr. De Long's request, and to receive the persons he has arrested aboard your ship as prisoners, to be taken home to the United States for trial under our laws. A telegram to the same effect has been sent you to-day, of which please find copy enclosed. Respectfully your obedient servant, Captain CRAVEN, HORATIO J. PERRY, United States Chargé d'Affaires. Commanding United States steam corvette Tuscarora, at Algeciras. No. 3.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, CAPTAIN: A telegraphic despatch last evening tells me of the arrival of the Kearsarge at Cadiz. Information has already reached me by mail that our consul, Mr. De Long, was in some trouble at Tangier on account of the arrest of Messrs. Myers and Tunstall, referred to in my letter of February 26. But as I have subsequent notice that these persons were safely embarked aboard the Ino and had arrived in her at Algeciras, it is to be hoped that all difficulty has ceased at Tangier. If, unfortunately, this should not be the case, you will allow me to express my opinion that the just and patriotic action of our consul ought to be sustained at all hazards, and the honor and authority of our consulate general at Tangier must be maintained. From my information it seems that the Moorish authorities have, from the first, been well disposed and their action unobjectionable; the whole difficulty is supposed to have arisen from the intrigues of other foreigner at Tangier, to which, perhaps, the authorities of Gibraltar are not wholly strangers. But neither the government of Great Britain nor that of any other Christian power can ever have authorized, nor will it sanction, such proceedings. The act of Mr. De Long was perfectly legal and proper, and was performed in the legitimate exercise of precisely the same kind of authority claimed and exercised by all the consuls of the Christian powers over the subjects of their respective governments found within their jurisdiction. It is not probable in any case that the secession sympathies of a few of the subordinate authorities of Great Britain will be powerful enough to lead that government into the mistake of attempting, in any way, so diminish the consular authority and jurisdiction of the Christian powers in the Mahomedan states, or |