F.

UNITED STATES CONSULATE, SMYRNA,

September 23, 1853.

SIR: I have had the honor to receive from Mr. J. P. Brown your despatch of the 19th instant, wherein you transmit an extract from the internuncio's letter specifying the terms of the agreement entered into by you and Mr. de Bruck, in regard to the release of Mr. Koszta.

Allow me, sir, to make some remarks relative to the above agreement, which have induced me to inform Mr. J. P. Brown that I abstain from giving my assent for Koszta's removal from the French hospital. I particularly notice the following paragraph of the agreement:

"Le gouvernement imperial se reserve cependant de procéder contre cet individu conformément à ses droits dés qu'il serait surpris une autre fois sur le territoire Ottoman."

This reserve made by the Austrian government to proceed against Mr. Koszta, in conformity with its rights, whenever he may again be found on the Ottoman territory, confirms the pretension of Austria, so loudly proclaimed by her to all Europe, that our conduct was an arbitrary one, and consequently that our claims on Koszta were ill-founded. To accede to this agreement would be, therefore, a disavowal of our conduct, by our own free will, and before our government has pronounced thereon, at least to our knowledge; Mr. Brown having told me that the legation had not received, up to the 17th instant, any news from the State Department relative to this question.

As I had the honor of remarking after Koszta's rescue, if we had the right of acting as we did, we ought to uphold the principle on which we acted, unless we should receive contrary orders from the Department of State. As the signer of the convention, I do not feel authorized to give my consent to the agreement, when it is against my own conviction-when I firmly believe that the paragraph in this agreement so closely touches the feelings and character of our country. Under similar circumstances, I would rather prefer being disapproved for an excess of zeal than submit the character of my country to a condition that, in my opinion and conviction, does not reflect to its credit. Further, as a point of right, our conduct has not been merely supported by public opinion in the United States, by the Hon. Judge Douglas, but also by every independent newspaper in Europe. Moreover, after the despatch I have received from the State Department in answer to my report on Koszta's case, it seems to me requisite to postpone any further action until we hear again from our government. The despatch is dated the 13th of August, as follows: "Your interesting despatch under date of July 5, marked duplicate,' has been received, and the important questions to which it gives rise are now under grave consideration." Whereby I naturally infer that the Hon. Secretary of State will, most probably, and on an early opportunity, give his instructions and views

on the matter.

I requested from Mr. Brown to be informed, if he knew, how far you were bound by the agreement passed between yourself and Mr. de Bruck, and he seemed not to know, as he gave me evasive answers·

but it is apparently conditional, as it depends on Koszta's acceptance of the conditions mentioned in your above despatch. Therefore the dignity of the legation cannot suffer by the non-execution of the same, or by a postponement thereof. Further, having read to Koszta the terms above referred to, he replied that if he were to sign such a writing with the paragraph to which I have already referred, it would not be with his "full and free agreement;" but if, he added, the agreement is approved by the United States government, he would then unhesitatingly do so.

I shall also take the liberty to add, that as the above agreement has been sent by Mr. de Bruck to his government for its approval, it seems to me but rational that, under the circumstances, it should also be submitted to our own for the same purpose. I shall send, by the first mail, to the Hon. Secretary of State, copies of our correspondence on the subject, and will await his instructions thereto.

I have the honor to be, your obedient servant,

E. S. OFFLEY.

P. S.-The Austrian consul general has just called on me to have an understanding as to the means of embarking Koszta. I informed him that I deem it my duty to lay some remarks before the legation referring to the agreement, and that, consequently, we will on a future day arrange the details aforementioned.

G.

CONSTANTINOPLE, September 26, 1853. SIR: Your letter of September 25d did not reach me till late last evening, after the departure of the Austrian post for Smyrna.

It is with extreme regret that I perceive you have allowed unfounded scruples to embarrass a question which is attended with much more difficulty and delicacy than you appear to be aware of. In communicating to you my proposal to Mr. de Bruck, on the 30th of July and 4th of August, I stated it as one of the conditions, that if Koszta voluntarily left the ship, our protection should be withdrawn from him. The ground on which I did this was my conviction that, if he were at liberty, the Turkish government would expel him from the country; or, if he persisted in remaining, would allow the Austrian authorities to seize him. I am not advised that Koszta made any objection to these terms; but, on the contrary, your letters give me reason to suppose that he was satisfied with them.

You totally misapprehended the legal effect of the passage cited from Mr. de Bruck's letter. The "rights" of Austria are her legal rights, and these are neither enlarged nor restricted by this reservation. If she had a legal right to seize him in the manner he was seized, we are in the wrong in resisting the seizure, and should be equally so in resisting it if attempted hereafter. His return to Smyrna would give Austria no new rights, nor was this reservation inserted with a view to claim

any such. The reservation is no part of the agreement between Mr. de Bruck and myself, and it merely serves to indicate that, by consenting to the release of the person, Austria does not intend to be considered as waiving the principle for which, though desired by us, she has contended, and still contends, namely the absolute legal jurisdiction over all those whom she claims as her subjects in the Turkish empire. It is not to be expected that, in corresponding with the American authorities abroad, the Austrian officials will yield any question of principle. All such are reserved for discussion between the two governments, and I can ask no modification of the conditions proposed and deliberately agreed upon. On the other hand, there is no assent, on our part, to the principle insisted on by Austria; no admission that Austria can lawfully exercise the rights she claims in case of Koszta's return. My proposal before, in substance, communicated to you, and which I understand to be satisfactory to Koszta himself, contained no such condition. Mr. de Bruck, in accepting my proposal, says he is authorized "à regler l'arrangement y relatif d'après l'offre que vous m'avez fait."

I cannot follow your argument further, and it is enough to say that you have entirely misconstrued the object and legal meaning of the reservation under discussion.

I have received full instructions from the government of the United States on the subject, and, upon due consideration, I have to say that no other terms of release will be proposed by me than those already agreed upon, and that Koszta must accept them, if he expects further aid and countenance from this legation. The responsibility of declining them, and of all the consequences of that step, must rest upon himself; and, unless I receive immediate notice that he accedes to them, I shall inform the Austrian internuncio, and the French embassy, that he refuses to avail himself of the favorable arrangement made in his behalf. With respect to the written assent of Koszta, it should be remembered that it is a mere matter between himself and the legation, and is not intended to be communicated to the internunciature or government of Austria.

There are, as I have already hinted, many difficulties and embarrassments attending the question; and I hope Koszta will not have the folly to aggravate them, by a refusal to accede to terms which are certainly the best that Austria, not to mention other governments more or less directly concerned in the question, will consent to.

I now repeat my instructions, that in case of further difficulty, you are to be guided by the direction of Mr. Brown, if still at Smyrna. I am, sir, &c.,

E. S. OFFLEY, Esq.,

United States Consul, Smyrna.

GEORGE P. MARSH.

H.

UNITED STATES CONSULATE, SMYRNA,

September 26, 1853.

SIR: I had the honor of addressing you on the 23d instant, in answer to your despatch dated the 19th of the same month, relative to Mr. Koszta, and I now beg to enclose herewith a copy of a note which I have since received from him, dated the 24th instant, wherein he gives his reasons for refusing to sign the writing you requested of him, testifying his consent to the terms of the agreement passed between yourself and Mr. de Bruck, and wherein he requests me to forward the same (the agreement) to the United States government for its approval, which I shall do by to-morrow's French mail.

I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant,

E. S. OFFLEY.

I.

[Translation.]

SMYRNA, September 24, 1853.

SIR: You have had the kindness to inform me of the arrangement made in my behalf by his excellency Mr. Marsh with the Austrian minister at Constantinople, the last clause of which charges you to obtain from me written evidence of my full and entire consent to all the terms of that arrangement.

By this convention, the right which Austria pretends to have to cause political refugees on Turkish territory to be pursued and seized is openly avowed. Austria never had such right in Turkey; and even lately, the public opinion of the English and French governments has disputed this pretended right.

I am obliged to give a reversat* (to pledge myself) never to return to Turkey; and the moment I am again found upon Ottoman territory, the Austrian government reserves itself to proceed against my person according to its rights. Thus, by this arrangement, his excellency again gives a right to Austria which she does not possess at present, and guaranties rights which he disputes himself at this day, which will never be recognised by Turkey, and which will always be disputed by England and France.

When I left for America, no one forbade me to return to the country whose government has tendered its hospitality to all those who in 1849, on account of their misfortunes, have asked its protection. And shall this now be forbidden me? Shall I be prohibited from returning to Turkey as an American citizen? Thus again this convention seeks to accomplish more yet: it forbids an American citizen to return to Turkey, and gives a right to Austria to cause an American citizen to be seized. At such a price I can accept neither life nor liberty. Never

* "Donnez un reversat,"-unintelligible.—Translator.

will I give my consent to an arrangement which strikes a blow at the sovereignty of an American citizen.

These are the reasons why I cannot give you to-day my written consent; and I beg that you will have the kindness to send this convention to America, and if the American government approves of it, I, who am so grateful, so much indebted to the government and the people of America, I shall deem it my duty to sign it without any further hesitation.

Be pleased, in conclusion, to accept my compliments, and I am, &c., MARTIN KOSZTA.

Mr. E. S. OFFLEY,

United States Consul at Smyrna.

J.

[Translation.]

BUYUKDERE, September 16, 1853. MONSIEUR LE MINISTRE RESIDENT: I have had the honor to receive the note you were pleased to address me yesterday, and I hasten to testify to you the pleasure I have experienced, on account of the obliging manner with which you have appreciated the decision of the imperial cabinet, which I communicated to you in my letter of the 14th of this month.

Nothing remains for us, therefore, than to provide the most proper means for carrying out the arrangement upon which we have agreed, concerning the transportation of Martin Koszta to America in a manner suited to the dignity of our two governments, and to the consideration they mutually owe each other.

I shall confide the execution of this task to the consul general of Austria at Smyrna, and my instructions in relation to it will be forwarded to him on Monday next by the Austrian steamer, without the aid of a special messenger, and they will be confined to recommending him to select, in concert with the person deputed by you to superintend the embarkation of Martin Koszta, the moment and the place the most proper to avoid giving any fresh publicity to an affair which has already gained a degree of notoriety that cannot be sufficiently la

mented.

Relying upon the delicacy of your sentiments, I have no doubt but that you will hasten to give your co-operation to that effect, and I beg, Monsieur le Ministre, that you will accept the renewed assurance of my distinguished consideration.

DE BRUCK.

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