EXCITEMENT AGAINST FOREIGNERS. 49 



tiation proposed ; and on the publication of this trea- 

 ty, which Mr. Chatfield, the British consul general, con- 

 sidered disrespectful and injurious to his government, 

 he addressed a note to the vice-president, requesting a 

 categorical answer to the question " if the Federal 

 Government did exist or not'' (precisely what I was 

 anxious to know) ; to which he received no answer. 

 Afterward Mr. Chatfield visited Nicaragua, and the 

 government of that state sent him a communication, re- 

 questing his mediation in settling the difficulties be- 

 tween the states of San Salvador and Honduras, then 

 at war, and through him the guarantee of the Queen of 

 England to compel the fulfilment of any treaty made 

 between them. Mr. Chatfield, in his answer, referred 

 to his letter to the vice-president, and spoke of the gov- 

 ernment as the " so-called Federal Government.'' 

 The correspondence was published, and increased the 

 exasperation against Mr. Chatfield and foreigners gen- 

 erally ; they were denounced as instigators and sup- 

 porters of the revolution ; their rights and privileges as 

 residents discussed, and finally the injustice of their en- 

 joying the protection of the government ! without con- 

 tributing to the expenses of supporting it. The result 

 was, that on the levying of a new forced loan, foreign- 

 ers were included in the liability, and a peremptory or- 

 der was issued, requiring them, in case of refusal to pay, 

 to leave the country in eight days. The foreigners 

 were violently exasperated. There were not more 

 than a dozen in the state, and most of them being en- 

 gaged in business which it would be ruinous to leave, 

 were compelled to pay. Two or three who wanted to 

 leave before walked off, and called themselves mar- 

 tyrs, threatened the vengeance of their government, 

 and talked of the arrival of a British ship-of-war. Mr. 

 Vol. II.— G 5 



