392 



DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. 



must accord with its necessities, and therefore can 

 seldom be conformed to precedents. Great Britain, 

 when entering on the negotiations, had manifestly 

 come to entertain doubts of her ultimate success ; and it 

 is certain that the councils of the Colonies could not 

 fail to take new courage, if not to gain other ad- 

 vantage when the parent State compromised so far as to 

 treat of peace on the terms of conceding their indepen- 

 dence. 



It is true, indeed, that peace must come at some time, 

 and that conferences must attend, if they are not al- 

 lowed to precede the pacification. There is, however, 

 a better form for such conferences than the one which 

 M. Drouyn de 1'Huys suggests. The latter would be 

 palpably in derogation ofthe Constitution of the United 

 States, and would carry no weight, because destitute 

 of the sanction necessary to bind either the disloyal or 

 the loyal portions of the people. On the other hand, 

 the Congress of the United States furnishes a consti- 

 tutional forum for debates between the alienated par- 

 ties. Senators and representatives from the loyal por- 

 tion of the people are there already, freely empowered 

 to confer; and seats also are vacant, and inviting sen- 

 ators and representatives of this discontented party 

 who may be constitutionally sent there from the States 

 involved in the insurrection. Moreover, the confer- 

 ences which can thus be held in Congress have this 

 great advantage over any that could be organized upon 

 the plan of M. Drouyn de 1'Huys, namely that the 

 Congress, if it were thought wise, could call a national 

 convention to adopt its recommendations, and give 

 them all the solemnity and binding force of organic 

 law. Such conferences between the alienated parties 

 may be said to have already begun. Maryland, Vir- 

 ginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri States 

 which are claimed by the insurgents are already 

 represented in Congress, and submitting with perfect 

 freedom and in a proper spirit their advice upon the 

 course best calculated to bring about, in the shortest 

 time, a firm, lasting, and honorable peace. Represen- 

 tatives have been sent also from Louisiana, and others 

 are understood to be coming from Arkansas. 



There is a preponderating argument in favor of the 

 Congressional form of conference over that which is 

 suggested by M. Drouyn de 1'Huys, namely, that while 

 an accession to the latter would bring this Government 

 into a concurrence with the insurgents in disregarding 

 and setting aside an important part ofthe Constitution 

 ofthe United States, and so would be of pernicious ex- 

 ample, the Congressional conference, on the contrary, 

 preserves and gives new strength to that sacred writ- 

 ing which must continue through future ages the sheet 

 anchor ofthe Republic. 



You will be at liberty to read this despatch to M. 

 Drouyn de 1'Huys, and to give him a copy if he shall 

 desire it. 



To the end that you may be informed of the whole 

 case, I transmit a copy of M. Drouyn de 1'Huys's de- 

 spatch. 



I am, sir, your obedient servant, 



WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 



The correspondence with France during the 

 year 1862 presents only a single instance of a 

 complaint on the part of the United States 

 Government. It is the case of an American citi- 

 zen injured by some French soldiers at Vera 

 Cruz. Throughout these pages her friendship 

 appears steadfast and sincere. Not an instance 

 of a departure from strict neutrality is found. 

 No armed vessel left her ports, nor contraband 

 articles were shipped by her citizens. Her min- 

 ister expressly declares that if any suggestions 

 looking to a peaceful close of this bloody Amer- 

 ican conflict should be made by his govern- 

 ment, and refused by the American, nothing 

 would follow. Mr. Dayton writes that he said 

 to him, on October 13 : " Suppose your offer, 



or suggestion, if made, shall be refused, what 

 will be the consequences ? " He replied : 

 "Nothing; we would be friends as we had 

 been before." 



Russia. The correspondence with Russia is 

 unimportant, exoept so far as it indicates the 

 friendly spirit of that government towards this 

 country. In absence of Mr. Simon Cameron, 

 who succeeded Mr. C. M. Clay, the secretary 

 of legation, Mr. Bayard Taylor, reports a 

 conference with Prince Gortchakoff on October 

 29. " Your situation," said he, " is getting 

 worse and worse. The chances of preserving 

 the Union are growing more and more despe- 

 rate. Can nothing be done to stop this dread- 

 ful war ? Can yon find no basis of arrange- 

 ment before your strength is so exhausted that 

 you must lose for many years to come your po- 

 sition in the world? " 



Spain. Only one or two points of interest 

 appear in the correspondence with the govern- 

 ment of Spain, conducted, in the absence of 

 General Schurz, through the secretary of lega- 

 tion, Mr. Horatio J. Perry. On the 22d of 

 April, Mr. Seward writes to Mr. Perry: "I 

 think that you may be able to satisfy that emi- 

 nent minister, Mr. Calderon Collantes, that the 

 largest term which can readily be claimed for 

 this civil war is a period of two years from its 

 date." 



Subsequently, General Schurz resigned the 

 mission to Spain, and was succeeded by Mr. 

 Gustavus Koerner, of Illinois. 



A protest was made by the government of 

 the United States upon the annexation of Do- 

 minica to Spain. 



On the llth ^f July, in a conversation with 

 Mr. Perry, the Spanish minister for Foreign Af- 

 fairs, Mr. Collantes, alluded to the treaty re- 

 cently negotiated with Great Britain for the 

 suppression of the slave trade. The conference 

 is thus stated by Mr. Perry : 



At a recent interview with Mr. Calderon Collantes, 

 that minister inquired if I had received a copy of the 

 treaty recently concluded between the United States 

 and England, concerning the mutual right of search, 

 for the suppression of the African slave trade. He 

 was much surprised that, after combating that prin- 

 ciple so long, the United States should have yielded 

 now a right so exceedingly liable to be abused in prac- 

 tice, and he was very curious to know what provisions 

 had been stipulated to guard the exercise of the right 

 from such abuse. 



I replied, regretting I could give no information 

 other than what Mr. Calderon had himself seen in the 

 newspapers. I understood, however, that the stoppage 

 ofthe use ofthe American flag in the slave trade was 

 an object which would naturally commend itself to the 

 favor of the present government of the United States, 

 and I inquired if Spain had not herself conceded the 

 same right. 



Mr. Calderon said that she had, at a period of her 

 history which could not be recalled with pleasure, but 

 that ever since he himself had held the portfolio of 

 foreign affairs he had been desirous of an opportunity 

 to revise that whole treaty in which the right of search 

 was thus granted to Great Britain. The exercise of 

 this right was vexatious, and, besides, the English 

 were always talking in Parliament and out, of their 

 having purchased this right of Spain for 40,000 ster- 

 ling money, always putting their money forward, and 



