ADDENDUM. 



405 



an eminent statesman of New Granada, to an American diplomatic 

 functionary, of date the 5th of January 1854, of which the following is 

 a translation : 



" I said to Don Andres Bello by letter of the 3d of December : 



" is of opinion, and his government also, that the great 



American rivers, whose navigation is of interest to various nations, ought 

 to be considered as prolongations of the sea, open to all the world, by 

 natural right, and without the necessity of special treaty stipulations, 

 the Amazon being in this category. 



"How far will this doctrine, which modifies substantially the prin- 

 ciples set forth by the Congress of Vienna, be acceptable ? 



"He replied to me on the 14th. In the question of the freedom of 

 the Amazon and its tributary rivers, I coincide with the opinion of 



to which you refer. The high station and importance, tending 



to the general benefit, which commerce has taken in international affairs, 

 and which cannot fail to be higher and greater every day, ought to lead 

 to modifications in the doctrines of international law, which you know 

 is not a stationary or stereotyped science. It has always lent itself to 

 the variable exigencies of civilization; and being progressive, it will 

 accept new principles, or, rather, new applications of old principles to 

 present circumstances ; faithful to its primitive intention of moderating 

 the antagonism of nationalities ; of overthrowing the barriers of a too 

 exclusive spirit ; of embodying the Christian sentiment in international 

 relations ; and of fraternizing the people. 



" ' I would undertake with pleasure a new exposition of the laws of na- 

 tions in this relation, but I have not time. Mors atris circumvolat alis. 

 Others with greater knowledge and strength, will take charge of this 

 beautiful subject.' 



" I have a real pleasure in transcribing for you the opinion of the patri- 

 arch of South American literature — the publicist, venerated amongst us 

 for his knowledge and his virtues — an opinion so much in accordance 

 with oui's, and which, I have no doubt, will have its weight in the 

 decision of the Granadian Congress, against the Brazilian treaty of 

 navigation lately concluded at Bogota, and disapproved by the general 

 sentiment of my countrymen." 



We have now the facts of the case before us. Of the five Spanish 

 American republics who own tributaries of the Amazon, two have made 

 exclusive treaties with Brazil regarding their navigation, and I have 

 shown that there is a prospect that the legislative power of one of them 

 (New Granada) will not ratify the treaty ; of the action of one, (Vene- 

 zuela,) I know nothing, though I believe that, by general law, the navi- 



