DIPLOMATIC CORRESPOXDEXCE. 



389 



and to the position of the several divisions of 

 the Federal army, and also in the following 

 , statement contained in a despatch from his 

 Majesty's Government to its ministers at Lon- 

 don and St. Petersburg. (See PUBLIC DOCU- 

 MENTS.) In that despatch M. Drouyn de 1'Huys 

 said : " There has existed between the belli- 

 gerents, from the very outset of the war, an 

 equality of strength which has been almost 

 constantly maintained ever since ; and after so 

 much bloodshed, they are now, in this respect, 

 very nearly in the same position as at first. 

 Nothing justifies the expectation of any more 

 decided military operations at an early day." 

 In his letter, Mr. Dayton proceeds to describe 

 the result of the army operations, and the 

 ground lost by the Confederate States, respect- 

 ing which he thus concludes : 



In a word, the insurgents do not now hold a foot of 

 ground which they did not hold early in the war, while 

 the flag of the Union has been constantly advanced, 

 and now floats somewhere on the soil or over the forti- 

 fications of every slave State (save one). Their 

 armies have in the mean time been driven from an 

 area of country embracing in the aggregate not less 

 than one hundred thousand square mites, and occupied 

 by a population ranging from pne million and a half to 

 two millions of people. 



He then examines the census returns for the 

 population of the antagonist portions of the 

 Union, and considers the money and other 

 resources, thus intending to show the degree 

 of inequality between the combatants, for the 

 purpose of modifying the opinion of the French 

 minister. 



On the 23d, M. Drouyn de 1'Huys replied as 

 follows : 



It is none the less true that, notwithstanding the 

 inequality of numbers and of financial means, notwith- 

 standing local advantages and partial conquests, the 

 conditions of soil and of climate seem to oppose in- 

 superable obstacles to the progress of the struggle, and 

 that the equal energy of both sides tends to impress 

 upon it a character of indomitable desperation. I am 

 prepared to render homage with you to the courage 

 which the Americans upon the one side and the other 

 have shown thus far; but this courage, even while it 

 excites the admiration of the world, is only calculated 

 to render more uncertain the result of the combats, 

 and to retard the termination of the disasters of this 

 bloody war. 



_You know, sir, what feelings this sad spectacle has 

 given rise to in us ; you know the step which a pro- 

 found sympathy for America has inspired in the Gov- 

 ernment of the Emperor, in the hope of opening a way 

 to a reconciliation. This step you know also ought 

 and could take place in the opinion of the Emperor 

 only with the consent and concurrence of the two bel- 

 ligerent parties. At present the reception given to 

 our proposition by the Cabinets of London and St. 

 Petersburg prevents us from thinking of pursuing it 

 further ; but I can assure you, sir, that our friendly 

 dispositions have not changed. If some day the 

 Americans, tired of turning their valor against "them- 

 selves, should wish to have recourse to us in order to 

 seek in concert the means of terminating this conflict, 

 they would find us always ready (be it in associating 

 ourselves with other Powers, or be it separately) to aid 

 them with our cooperation, and to testify, by our good 

 ofllces, feelings which have not ceased to animate 

 France in regard to them. 



A despatch from Mr. Seward to Mr. Dayton, 

 dated Xov. 30th, expresses the views of the 



Government on the unsuccessful proposition of 

 France to Great Britain and Russia. He says : 



An inconclusive conference concerning the United 

 States has been held between these Powers, all of 

 whom avow themselves as friends of the United States, 

 and yet the United States were carefully excluded from 

 the conference. Neither party in the conference pro- 

 posed any combination to coerce the will or control the 

 policy of the United States. 



Under these circumstances the United States are 

 pot called upon to say what they would have done if 

 the proposition of France, which was declined by Rus- 

 sia and Great Britain, had been adopted and carried 

 into effect. Nor are we called upon to discuss the 

 propriety of the positions and proceedings respectively 

 of the several parties in the conference. Such a de- 

 bate upon a subject which has already lost its practical 

 character, or which, to speak more accurately, has not 

 attained such a character, might produce irritations 

 and jealousies which the President desires to avoid. 



On the loth of January, 1863, Mr. Dayton 

 writes to Mr. Seward that a despatch will 

 shortly be sent by M. Drouyn de 1'Huys to M. 

 Mercier, the French ambassador at Washington, 

 requesting him to suggest to the Federal Gov- 

 ernment, the propriety of appointing commis- 

 sioners to treat with the South for peace, and 

 for union, if possible ; if not possible, for such 

 terms of separation as may be mutually agreed 

 upon. The despatch proposed no interference 

 of any kind by a foreign Power, nor required 

 or asked any cessation of hostilities pending 

 the negotiation, but like the negotiation for 

 peace in 1783, between the United States and 

 Great Britain, permitted everything to proceed 

 as if no effort for a settlement were being 

 made. 



The despatch thus alluded to was addressed 

 to M. Mercier by M. Drouyn de 1'Huys on the 

 9th of January, and was as follows : 



DEPARTMENT OF FOP.EIGN AFFAIRS, 

 Political Division, Paris, January 9, 1863. f 

 SIR : If, in forming the purpose of assisting, by the 

 proffer of our good offices, to snorten the period of those 

 hostilities which are desolating the American conti- 

 nent, we had not been guided, beyond all, by the friend- 

 ship which actuates the Government of the Emperor 

 in regard to the United States, the little success of our 

 overtures might chill the interest with which we fol- 

 low the fluctuations of this contest. But the sentiment 

 to which we have yielded is too sincere for indifference 

 to find a place in our thoughts, and that we would 

 cease to be painfully affected whilst the war continues 

 to rage. \S e cannot regard without profound regret 

 this war, worse than civil, comparable to the most 

 terrible distractions of the ancient Republics, and 

 whose disasters multiply in proportion to the resources 

 and the valor which each of the belligerent parties 

 develop. 



The Government of his Majesty have, therefore, se- 

 riously examined the objections which have been made 

 to us, where we have suggested the idea of a friendly 

 mediation, and we have asked ourselves whether they 

 are truly of a nature to set aside as premature every 

 tentative to a reconciliation. On one part has been 

 opposed to us the repugnance of the United States to 

 admit the intervention of foreign influence in the dis- 

 pute ; on the other the hope, which the Federal Gov- 

 ernment has not abandoned, of attaining its solution 

 by force of arms. 



Assuredly, sir, recourse to the good offices of one or 

 more neutral Powers contains nothing incompatible 

 with the pride so legitimate amidst a great nation, and 

 wars purely international are not those alone which 



