No. 367. Mr. Dayton to Mr. Seward. [Extract.] PARIS, October 22, 1863. SIR: Your despatches Nos. 409 and 410 have been duly received. No. 409 refers more especially to the evidence received at your department in reference to the war steamers now being built at Bordeaux and Nantes for the rebels of the south, and you express the hope that I will "lose no time unnecessarily in bringing the transaction to the notice of Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys, and asking for the effectual interposition of the government to prevent the departure of the hostile expedition." My despatches, especially that dated September 22, last, and received by you doubtless after the writing of your despatch above referred to, will satisfy you that no time whatever has been lost; my application to Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys was immediate, before even copies of the papers were ready for him. And I am bound to say that his general answer, that they would maintain their neutrality, was equally prompt. I have already informed you that I told Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys this question was of so much importance that I was not content it should rest merely on my memory and report of conversations between us; that I had requested him to put his answer in writing, and to apply it not to general principles merely, but to the specific case-to the question of what would be done in respect to these vessels. He as constantly held to me the same language, to wit, that the building and arming of these vessels was a breach of neutrality which the government of France would not tolerate. In our last conversation (Tuesday, the 20th instant,) he said that he and the minister of marine had agreed upon their course of action as to this matter; that the minister of marine, would withdraw, (and I think he said he had already withdrawn,) as I had requested, the authorization to arm these vessels, and that he (Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys) had already made the minute or rough draft of a note to the proper department, which would be completed and sent the next day, requiring that his (the foreign) department should be properly notified and advised with before any of these vessels should be permitted to leave port. He said that these vessels could not, and would not, be permitted to leave port without the usual papers properly authenticated. He has promised me copies of the order of the minister of marine, withdrawing the authorization, and of his own note, in time for the mail of to-day. If they shall be received in season, they will be hereunto attached. He informs me that Mr. Arman, member of the corps legislatif, and Mr. Voruz, either a present or ex-member of that body, the parties contracting for these vessels and the armament, deny all knowledge of the existence of any such papers as we have submitted to the government, and yet continue to say that these vessels are for the China seas, and ultimate sale, if possible, to the government of China or Japan. They profess, I understand, to be quite indignant at the charges against them. I have myself no doubt of the genuineness of the papers; and Mr. Bigelow has been advising (with my assent) with Mr. Berryer, (the distinguished lawyer, and now an opposition member of the corps legislatif,) as to the propriety of prosecuting these parties in a French court of law, with a view to making an example of them, and in the hope of deterring others from like offences. The building and arming of these vessels for the rebels is, I think, a clear violation of certain penal enactments, but whether we can prosecute successfully or not I do not know. It has to be done through the intervention of the French procureur general. What would you advise in reference to this matter? No. 417.] Mr. Seward to Mr. Dayton. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, October 23, 1863. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the reception of your despatch of the 9th instant, (No. 361,) which brings me the views expressed by Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys concerning the situation in Mexico. Various considerations have induced the President to avoid taking any part in the speculative debates bearing on that situation which have been carried on in the capitals of Europe as well as in those of America. A determination to err on the side of strict neutrality, if we err at all, in a war which is carried on between two nations, with which the United States are maintaining relations of amity and friendship, was prominent among the considerations to which I have thus referred. The United States, nevertheless, when invited by France or Mexico, cannot omit to express themselves with perfect frankness upon new incidents, as they occur, in the progress of that war. Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys now speaks of an election which he expects to be held in Mexico, and to result in the choice of his Imperial Highness the Prince Maximilian of Austria to be Emperor of Mexico. We learn from other sources that the prince has declared his willingness to accept an imperial throne in Mexico on three conditions, namely: first, that he shall be called to it by the universal suffrage of the Mexican nation; secondly, that he shall receive indispensable guarantees for the integrity and independence of the proposed empire; and thirdly, that the head of his family, the Emperor of Austria, shall acquiesce. Referring to these facts, Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys intimates that an early acknowledgment of the proposed empire by the United States would be convenient to France, by relieving her, sooner than might be possible under other circumstances, from her troublesome complications in Mexico. Happily the French government has not been left uninformed that, in the opinion of the United States, the permanent establishment of a foreign and monarchical government in Mexico will be found neither easy nor desirable. You will inform Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys that this opinion remains unchanged. On the other hand, the United States cannot anticipate the action of the people of Mexico, nor have they the least purpose or desire to interfere with their proceedings, or control or interfere with their free choice, or disturb them in the enjoyment of whatever institutions of government they may, in the exercise of an absolute freedom, establish. It is proper, also, that Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys should be informed that the United States continue to regard Mexico as the theatre of a war which has not yet ended in the subversion of the government long existing there, with which the United States remain in the relation of peace and sincere friendship; and that, for this reason, the United States are not now at liberty to consider the question of recognizing a government which, in the further chances of war, may come into its place. The United States, consistently with their principles, can do no otherwise than leave the destinies of Mexico in the keeping of her own people, and recognize their sovereignty and · independence in whatever form they themselves shall choose that this govereignty and independence shall be manifested. I am, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM L. DAYTON, Esq., &c., &c., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. No. 418.] Mr. Seward to Mr. Dayton. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, October 23, 1863. SIR: Recurring to your despatch of October 9, (No. 361,) I have now to approve of the suggestions you made in the conversation with Mr. Drouyn de Î'Hnys therein related. While this government cheerfully confides in the assurances given by Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys of the just and friendly disposition of the Emperor towards the United States, it is only too manifest that distrust is taking strong hold of the American mind. I hope that the expected declaration of his Majesty may counteract that painful sentiment, so unfavorable to a good understanding between the two countries. I am, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM L. DAYTON, Esq., &c., &c., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. No. 368.] Mr. Dayton to Mr. Seward. PARIS, October 23, 1863. SIR: In my despatch No. 367, of yesterday, I said that Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys had promised to me copies of the order of the minister of marine withdrawing the authorization for the armament of the rebel vessels at Nantes and Bordeaux, and of his note to the minister. Instead thereof, I have this morning received a communication from him announcing the withdrawal of such authorization and the serving of notice upon Mr. Arman. I herewith enclose a copy and translation of this communication. I am, sir, your obedient servant, Hon. WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State, &c., &c., Sr. WILLIAM L. DAYTON. P. S.-I observe that Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys in his note says that I have affirmed the authenticity of the information furnished to him. I believe it to be authentic, and I have so said, though, of course, I have no personal knowledge of the handwriting of the parties whose letters and contracts I have submitted to him. I have affirmed their authenticity only as stated in my preceding despatches. D. Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys to Mr. Dayton. PARIS, October 22, 1863. SIR: I have the honor to announce to you, as a sequence to my letter of the 15th of this month, that M. the minister of marine has just notified Mr. Vorus of the withdrawal of the authorization which he had obtained for the armament of four vessels in course of construction at Nantes and Bordeaux. Notice has also been given to Mr. Arman, whose attention has been at the same time called to the responsibility which he might incur by acts in opposition to our declaration of the 18th of June, 1861. These measures testify, sir, to the scrupulous care which the government of the Emperor brings to the observance of the rules of a strict neutrality. It is in order to give to your government a new proof of our dispositions in this respect, that we have not hesitated to take into consideration the information, the authenticity of which you have affirmed to me. Accept the assurances of the high consideration with which I have the honor to be, sir, your very humble and very obedient servant, Mr. DAYTON, Minister of the United States at Paris. DROUYN DE L'HUYS. No. 420.] Mr. Seward to Mr. Dayton. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, October 24, 1863. SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of the 2d instant, (No. 356,) communicating a copy of a note of the 1st instant, addressed by you to Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys, relative to the proposed manning of the Florida in a French port with a crew brought thither from a British port. Your course in the matter is approved. SIR: Your despatch of October 8 (No. 359) has been received. Your proceedings therein related, in regard to the favors shown to the pirate Florida and her crew at Brest, and the positions assumed on that subject in your interview with Drouyn de l'Huys, are altogether approved. Α In connexion with this subject, I submit for your consideration the expediency of recalling the attention of Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys to a correspondence on the subject of privateers which took place between the French government and the government of the United States at the beginning of the Crimean war. statement of this correspondence accompanies this despatch. If the French government take the ground that the Florida is not a privateer, but a public armed vessel, it may be pertinent to ask, of what practical value to an exposed belligerent is the distinction made by a neutral between public armed vessels and privateers, if the other belligerent can, at its pleasure, create privateers into belligerents, by giving them commissions instead of letters of marque; and if, bearing such commissions, they can, to all practical intents, carry on the business of privateering? It would be difficult to see, in that case, what the interests of commerce have gained, or can gain, by the declaration of the congress of Paris against privateering. I am, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM L. DAYTON, Esq., &c., &c., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Memorandum. Under date of April 28, 1854, Mr. Sartiges, &c., &c., &c., minister plenipotentiary of France, addressed a communication to the Secretary of State, in which he stated that his Majesty the Emperor of the French and her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain had determined, in the war with Russia, not to authorize privateering by letters of marque, and that the government of his Majesty the Emperor of the French trusted that the government of the United States would, by way of just reciprocity, give orders that no privateers under the Russian flag should be allowed to be fitted out, or victualled, or admitted with its prizes in the ports of the United States, and that citizens of the United States would vigorously abstain from taking part in equipments of that kind, or in any other measure contrary to the duties of a strict neutrality. The Secretary of State replied to Mr. Sartiges, on the same day, that he was directed by the President to state that the government of the United States, while claiming the full enjoyment of their rights as a neutral power, would observe the strictest neutrality towards each and all the belligerents; that the laws of the United States imposed severe restrictions, not only upon its own citizens, but upon all persons who might be residents in this country, against equipping privateers, receiving commissions, or enlisting men therein, for the purpose of taking a part in any foreign war; that it was not apprehended that there would be any attempt to violate these laws; but should the just expectations of the President be disappointed, he would not fail in his duty to use the power with which he was invested to enforce obedience to them; that considerations of interest and the obligations of duty alike give assurance that the citizens of the United States would in no way compromit the neutrality of their country by participating in the contest in which the principal powers of Europe were unhappily engaged. A similar note was addressed to the department by Mr. Crampton, the Bristish minister, who received the same answer. No. 422.] Mr. Seward to Mr. Dayton. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, October 24, 1863. SIR: Your despatch of October 8 (No. 360) has been received. Your proceedings in laying before Mr. Drouyn de l'Huys additional documentary evidence concerning the hostile naval preparations at Nantes and Bordeaux, and also the representations you made to him on that occasion, are approved. The President waits with solicitude for the promised determination of the question. I am, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM L. DAYTON, Esq., Sc., &c., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. No. 370.] · Mr. Dayton to Mr. Seward. PARIS, October 27, 1863. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the reception of your despatches Nos 411, 412, and 413. Despatch No. 411 apprises me of the fact that the President awaits with unusual solicitude the answer of this government to my communication made to |