The following papers were communicated to Congress by President Lincoln in connection with his annual message of 1861:

"Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, to ministers of the United States in Great Britain, France, Russia, Prussia, Austria, Belgium, Italy, and Denmark.

"DEPARTMENT OF STATE,

"Washington, April 24, 1861.

"The advocates of benevolence and the believers in human progress, encouraged by the slow though marked meliorations of the barbarities of war which have obtained in modern times, have been, as you are well aware, recently engaged with much assiduity in endeavoring to effect some modifications of the law of nations in regard to the rights of neutrals in maritime war. In the spirit of these movements the President of the United States, in the year 1854, submitted to the sev eral maritime nations two propositions, to which he solicited their assent, as permanent principles of international law, which were as follows:

"1. Free ships make free goods; that is to say, that the effects or goods belonging to subjects or citizens of a power or state at war are free from capture or confiscation when found on board of neutral vessels, with the exception of articles contraband of war.

"2. That the property of neutrals on board an enemy's vessel is not subject to confiscation unless the same be contraband of war.

"Several of the Governments to which these propositions were submitted expressed their willingness to accept them, while some others, which were in a state of war, intimated a desire to defer acting thereon until the return of peace should present what they thought would be a more auspicious season for such interesting negotiations.

"On the 16th of April, 1856, a congress was in session at Paris. It consisted of several maritime powers, represented by their plenipotentiaries, namely, Great Britain, Austria, France, Russia, Prussia, Sardinia, and Turkey. That congress having taken up the general subject to which allusion has already been made in this letter, on the day before mentioned, came to an agreement, which they adopted in the form of a declaration, to the effect following, namely:

"1. Privateering is and remains abolished.

"2. The neutral flag covers enemy's goods, with the exception of contraband of war.

"3. Neutral goods, with the exception of contraband of war, are not liable to capture under enemy's flag.

"4. Blockades, in order to be binding must be effective; that is to say, maintained by forces really sufficient to prevent access to the coast of the enemy.

"The agreement pledged.the parties constituting the congress to bring the declaration thus made to the knowledge of the states which had not 273

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been represented in that body, and to invite them to accede to it. The congress, however, at the same time insisted, in the first place, that the declaration should be binding only on the powers who were or should become parties to it as one whole and indivisible compact; and, secondly, that the parties who had agreed, and those who should afterwards accede to it, should, after the adoption of the same, enter into no arrangement on the application of maritime law in time of war without stipu lating for a strict observance of the four points resolved by the declaration.

"The declaration which I have thus substantially recited of course prevented all the powers which became parties to it from accepting the two propositions which had been before submitted to the maritime nations by the President of the United States.

"The declaration was, in due time, submitted by the Governments represented in the congress at Paris to the Government of the United States.

In

"The President, about the 14th of July, 1856, made known to the states concerned his unwillingness to accede to the declaration. making that announcement on behalf of this Government, my prede cessor, Mr. Marcy, called the attention of those states to the following points, namely:

"1st. That the second and third propositions contained in the Paris declaration are substantially the same with the two propositions which had before been submitted to the maritime states by the President.

"2d. That the Paris declaration, with the conditions annexed, was inadmissible by the United States in three respects, namely: 1st. That the Government of the United States could not give its assent to the first proposition contained in the declaration, namely, that "Privateering is and remains abolished," although it was willing to accept it with an amendment which should exempt the private property of individuals, though belonging to belligerent states, from seizure or confiscation by national vessels in maritime war. 2d. That for this reason the stipulation annexed to the declaration, viz, that the propositions must be taken altogether or rejected altogether, without modification, could not be allowed. 3d. That the fourth condition annexed to the declaration, which provided that the parties acceding to it should enter into no negotiation for any modifications of the law of maritime war with nations which should not contain the four points contained in the Paris declaration, seemed inconsistent with a proper regard to the national sovereignty of the United Sates.

"On the 29th of July, 1856, Mr. Mason, then minister of the United States at Paris, was instructed by the President to propose to the Government of France to enter into an arrangement for its adherence, with the United States, to the four principles of the declaration of the congress of Paris, provided the first of them should be amended as specified in Mr. Marcy's note to the Count de Sartiges on the 28th of July, 1856. Mr.

Mason accordingly brought the subject to the notice of the Imperial Government of France, which was disposed to entertain the matter favorably, but which failed to communicate its decision on the subject to him. Similar instructions regarding the matter were addressed by this Department to Mr. Dallas, our minister at London, on the 31st day of January, 1857; but the proposition above referred to had not been directly presented to the British Government by him when the administration of this Gov. ernment by Franklin Pierce, during whose term these proceedings occurred, came to an end, on the 3d of March, 1857, and was succeeded by that of James Buchanan, who directed the negotiations to be arrested for the purpose of enabling him to examine the questions involved, and they have ever since remained in that state of suspension.

"The President of the United States has now taken the subject into consideration, and he is prepared to communicate his views upon it, with a disposition to bring the negotiation to a speedy and satisfactory conclusion,

"For that purpose you are hereby instructed to seek an early opportunity to call the attention of her Majesty's Government to the subject, and to ascertain whether it is disposed to enter into negotiations for the accession of the Government of the United States to the declaration of the Paris congress, with the conditions annexed by that body to the same; and if you shall find that Government so disposed, you will then enter into a convention to that effect, substantially in the form of a project for that purpose herewith transmitted to you; the convention to take effect from the time when the due ratifications of the same shall have been exchanged. It is presumed that you will need no special explanation of the sentiments of the President on this subject for the purpose of conducting the necessary conferences with the Government to which you are accredited. Its assent is expected on the ground that the proposition is accepted at its suggestion, and in the form it has preferred. For your own information it will be sufficient to say that the President adheres to the opinion expressed by my predecessor, Mr. Marcy, that it would be eminently desirable for the good of all nations that the property and effects of private individuals, not contraband, should be exempt from seizure and confiscation by national vessels in maritime war. If the time and circumstances were propitious to a prosecution of the negotiation with that object in view, he would direct that it should be assiduously pursued. But the right season seems to have passed, at least for the present. Europe seems once more on the verge of quite general wars. On the other hand, a portion of the American people have raised the standard of insurrection, and proclaimed a provisional Government, and, through their organs, have taken the bad resolution to invite privateers to prey upon the peaceful commerce of the United States.

"Prudence and humanity combine in persuading the President, under the circumstances, that it is wise to secure the lesser good offered

by the Paris congress, without waiting indefinitely in hope to obtain the greater one offered to the maritime nations by the President of the United States.

I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant,

"WILLIAM H. SEWARD."

The same, mutatis mutandis, to the ministers of the United States in France, Russia, Prussia, Austria, Belgium, Italy, and Denmark.

Convention upon the subject of the rights of belligerents and neutrals in time of war, between the United States of America and Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland.

The United States of America and Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, being equally animated by a desire to define with more precision the rights of belligerent and neutrals in time of war, have, for that purpose, conferred full powers, the President of the United States upou Charles F. Adams, accredited as their envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to her said Majesty, and Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, upon

And the said plenipotentiaries, after having exchanged their full powers, have concluded the following articles:

ARTICLE I.

1. Privateering is and remains abolished. 2. The neutral flag covers enemy's goods, with the exception of contraband of war. 3. Neutral goods, with the exception of contraband of war, are not liable to capture under enemy's flag. 4. Blockades, in order to be binding, must be effective; that is to say, maintained by a force sufficient cient really to prevent access to the coast of the enemy.

ARTICLE II.

The present convention shall be ratified by the President of the United States of America, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and by Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Washington, within the space of six months from the signature, or sooner if possible. In faith whereof, the respective plenipotentiaries have signed the present convention in duplicate, and have thereto affixed their seals.

Done at London, the

day of - in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one (1861).

"The rights which it asserts that France expects, as a neutral, from the United States, as a belligerent, are even less than this Government, on the 25th of April, instructed you to concede and guarantee to her by treaty, as a friend. On that day we offered to her our adhesion to the declaration of Paris, which contains four propositions, namely: 1st. That privateering shall be abolished. 2d. That a neutral flag covers enemy's goods not contraband of war. 3d. That goods of a neutral, not contraband, shall not be confiscated though found in an enemy's vessel. 4th. That blockades, in order to be lawful, must be maintained by competent force. We have always, when at war, conceded the three last of these rights to neutrals, a fortiori, we could not when at peace deny them to friendly nations. The first-named concession was proposed on the grounds already mentioned. We are still ready to guar

antee these rights, by convention with France, whenever she shall authorize either you or her minister here to enter into convention. There is no reservation or difficulty about their application in the present case. We hold all the citizens of the United States, loyal or disloyal, alike included by the law of nations and treaties; and we hold ourselves bound by the same obligations to see, so far as may be in our power, that all our citizens, whether maintaining this Government or engaged in overthrowing it, respect those rights in favor of France and of every other friendly nation. In any case, not only shall we allow no privateer or national vessel to violate the rights of friendly nations as I have thus described them, but we shall also employ all our naval force to prevent the insurgents from violating them just as much as we do to prevent them from violating the laws of our own country."

Mr. Seward, Sec. of State, to Mr. Dayton, June 6, 1861. MSS. Inst., France;
Dip. Corr., 1861.

"You are aware that the declaration of Paris enjoins each of the parties that had signed it not to negotiate any other changes of the law of nations concerning the rights of neutrals in maritime wars. We have supposed that this would operate to prevent Great Britain, and probably France, from receiving our accession to the declaration if we should insist on the amendment proposed by Mr. Marcy, namely, the exemption of private property of non-belligerents from confiscation. But we should now, as the instructions heretofore given you have already informed you, vastly prefer to have the amendment accepted. Nevertheless, if this cannot be done, let the convention be made for adherence to the declaration, pure and simple."

Mr. Seward, Sec. of State, to Mr. Sandford, June 21, 1861. MSS. Inst., Belgium.

"Your dispatch No. 12 (dated June 22) has been received. It relates to our proposition for accession to the declaration of Paris. This affair has become very much complicated, by reason of the irregular and extraordinary proceeding of the French Government in proposing to take notice of the domestic disturbance which has occurred in this country. I do not know that even now I can clear the matter up effectually without knowing what may be the result of the communication which, in my dispatch No. 19, I instructed you to make to the French Government. I will try, nevertheless, to do so. The instructions contained in my dispatch No. 4, dated 24th of April last, required you to tender to the French Government, without delay, our adhesion to the declaration of the congress of Paris, pure and simple.

"The reason why we wished it done immediately was, that we supposed the French Government would naturally feel a deep anxiety about the safety of their commerce, threatened distinctly with privateering by the insurgents, while at the same time, as this Government had heretofore persistently declined to relinquish the right of issuing letters of marque, it would be apprehended by France that we too should take up that form