Doc No. 73. 



ment of the bells of the cathedral and churches, and repeated salvos of 

 artillery. In the great square the military of the city were paraded, and 

 with this escort I passed to the residence of the United States consul. Dr. 

 J. W. Livingston. These demonstrations have been followed by a com- 

 plimentary civic and military ball , and by a public dinner, in which the 

 United States and its government were toasted to an almost unanswerable 

 extent. Besides addresses from several of the municipalities, and other 

 public testimonials of friendship and good feeling, there have been afforded 

 abundant private evidences quite as conclusive. You will find a more 

 detailed account of the proceedings alluded to, in the copies of the official 

 paper of the State, which I enclose herewith. I have referred to them 

 here, simply to illustrate the present favorable disposition of the govern- 

 ment and the people of this State towards us as a nation. 



Upon the 9th of July, (four days after my arrival,) I presented my cre- 

 dentials to the government. Advantage was taken of the occasion to renew 

 some of the demonstrations which attended my arrival. My own remarks, 

 and those of the Director of the State, in reply, are given at length in the 

 official gazette. It will not be improper to add, that the publication of 

 these in San Salvador and Honduras was received by the firing of guns, 

 the ringing of bells, and other marks of satisfaction. 



I transmitted with my last despatch (No. 2) a copy of a letter which I 

 had addressed to this government, in relation to the proceedings of Mr. 

 Hise at Guatemala. Since my arrival here the commissioner appointed 

 on the part of this government (Mr. Selva) has returned. As I antici- 

 pated, he brought with him a commercial treaty," and a special con- 

 vention respecting a canal, and other matters." As I understand that 

 Mr. Hise left Guatemala for the United States on the 21st of June, I pre- 

 sume the documents referred to have already passed into the hands of the 

 department. 1 will only add, therefore, that I conceive the provisions of 

 the special convention" are most extraordinary, and in conffict with 

 the policy which the United States has hitherto uniformly preserved in 

 its foreign relations. I am surprised to the last degree, that this gentle- 

 man should venture to take so important a step, in the total absence, as I 

 believe, of all authority. But I am the more surprised that he should 

 have written in the terms he has done to this government while he had Mr. 

 Buchanan's instructions before him informing him that it ^^was not deemed 

 advisable to empower him to conclude a treaty with either Honduras, 

 Nicaragua, or Costa Rica." In this connexion, I beg to call the special 

 attention of the department to the accompanying copies of Mr. Hise's 

 official correspondence with this government at Guatemala, and also to a 

 copy of a letter written subsequent to that event, addressed to the United 

 States consul at this point. These are collectively designated as docu- 

 ment B. 



Not entirely satisfied that Mr. Hise's treaty is the best which human 

 ingenuity can devise, and convinced that it cannot receive the sanction 

 of the government at home, I have proceeded as if it had no existence, 

 and shall endeavor to arrange the terms of a new treaty, in conformity 

 with the settled principles of our foreign policy, and my instructions. A 

 commissioner, invested with full powers, (Don Hermenegildo Zepeda, a 

 man of great moderation and high repute,) has been appointed to treat 

 with me; but by common consent, nothing definite will be done until 

 the conclusion of the contract now pending between the American Canal 



