lieve to be true. I confess that, until he so assured me, I was almost incredulous enough to suspect it might be a canard. The noteworthy feature of the affair is that the invading force was composed almost exclusively of regular Mexican soldiers, who composed a part of the garrison of Tapachula, in the Mexican department of Soconusco. They were in the employment of a Spaniard named José Garcia, a refugee from this city. The minister of war and of foreign affairs both tell me they do not believe that the reactionary party in Guatemala had any connection with the affair. Their present explanation of its origin is about as follows: That the leaders of the expedition, Garcia, Coyote, and others, who had been former military associates of President Barrios in the revolution of 1871, believing that they had been badly treated by Barrios, and thinking the present a favorable time to overthrow his government and obtain their revenge, employed or hired the Mexican troops. They express themselves as fully satisfied the Mexican authorities had no hand in the matter. This would seem to be correct, because the Mexican civil officer at Tapachula gave notice of the invasion, and a Mexican officer, with about two hundred men, is reported on the frontier for the purpose of assisting in the capture of the fugitives. It is, however, altogether an inexplicable affair to me at present. will report further if I can obtain reliable information. I am inclined to the opinion that the invasion was made with the knowledge and expected co-operation of the disaffected parties in Guatemala, who furnished the means, and that treachery has been the cause of the total defeat of their plans. I have, &c., No. 116. GEO. WILLIAMSON. No. 194.] Mr. Williamson to Mr. Fish. [Extract.] UNITED STATES LEGATION IN CENTRAL AMERICA, Guatemala, July 27, 1874. (Received September 9.) SIR: Referring to your instruction No. 79, I have the honor to inform you, that yesterday afternoon the council of war, composed of the chief officers of the army of Guatemala, over which Ex-President Grenados presided, concluded the trial of Gonzales and his confederate, Bulnes. The sentence of the court was, that the former should be degraded from his rank, be forever prohibited from holding any office of honor or profit in Guatemala, and be imprisoned for five years. The latter's sentence was the same in all respects, except that he is imprisoned for two years. Both have appealed to the supreme court of war, which is a civil tribunal for the final trial of military cases, and is composed of the same judges who constitute the supreme court of justice; so I am informed by the prime minister. As instructed by you, I communicated both to the minister of foreign affairs and to the prime minister that the Government of the United States felt "that the civilization of the age, and the immunity which the intercourse of governments exacts for their representatives in other lands," gave it the right to expect the stern visitation of the law upon the perpetrators of the outrage upon Vice-Consul Magee. Both of them professed to receive the declaration as an evidence of the friendly inter est which the United States takes in the welfare of Guatemala. To-day the prime minister told me he thought the sentence of the court was too lenient as to Gonzalez. He also stated the supreme court of war had the right to change the sentence and increase the punishment, and that the government would use its influence to have it do so. It is perhaps a coincidence that no steps (so far as I can learn) were taken to bring Gonzalez to trial until it became known the British dispatch war steamer Petrel had landed at San José with dispatches for the English chargé, and that the British Pacitic squadron had been ordered to rendezvous at Panama. The British chargé is very indignant at the sentence of the court, and has expressed to me and the French chargé his determination to notify the government of Guatemala that he considers the protocol annulled. He takes the ground that the punishment is totally inadequate to the offense, and that the government of Guatemala has shown its mala fides by permitting the smallest puishment to be imposed upon the accused that the law allows. He says, moreover, that such a punishment in Guatemala would be a farce, and that even if the supreme court does not reverse the sentence, or the president pardon the criminals in a few months, they will become heroes, instead of being degraded, in the eyes of the public. In this opinion I fully concur with him. In any country where there are guarantees that the punishment would be inflicted according to the sentence, it would seem to be sufficiently heavy. * I have, &c., No. 117. GEO. WILLIAMSON. No. 200.] Mr. Williamson to Mr. Fish. UNITED STATES LEGATION IN CENTRAL AMERICA, Guatemala, August 4, 1874. (Received Sept. 9.) SIR: I have the honor to report that the latest information from Nicaragua, through Mr. I. A. Gauffrau, acting consul at San Juan del Sur, justifies the apprehension that a revolution in that state is very probable. There is great excitement about the election of President in October. * In my No. 174 I had the honor to inform you that General Chamorro was the candidate who had the support of the government. He is still so, according to the latest information. An event has recently occurred in Leon, of Nicaragua, which appears to show the contempt or defiance of the authority of the President which not uncommonly precedes revolutions in these states. A decree, of which a translated copy is herewith inclosed was issued by the President, dated the 25th of June, calling to the exercise of the executive power General Don Joaquin Zavalla. He states in the preamble his reasons are of a domestic nature, and also that he is authorized by the 51st article of the constitution. When the decree was served upon General Zavalla he declined to obey, alleging he had a sick family that required all his care. A guard was put at his door, and a fine of one hundred dollars per hour for every hour he continued to decline obedience was assessed against him by the government. He still continued contumacious, and a short time after President Quadra revoked the decree and resumed the executive power. I have no copy of the last decree. This event, I am informed, increased the excitement in Nicaragua. General Zavalla was supposed to be the friend of General Chamorro, the government candidate for the presidency. General Zavalla's prudence and reputed courage, as well as devotion to the fortunes of General Chamorro, were thought by the friends of the latter to be necessary to success. It is impossible to surmise what were General Zavalla's real motives for declining to obey the decree, but the reason assigned publicly is that he is a friend of General Chamorro, and that he wishes to use all his influence in his behalf, which he could not have done with honor if he had accepted the executive office. A highly honorable motive, I would say. This event is reported to indicate the state of feeling in Nicaragua at the present time, and to enable you to judge of the probable correctness of my opinion that a revolution there is very probable. I have, &c., GEO. WILLIAMSON. [Inclosure.-Translation.] Señor Lopez to Mr. Williamson. NATIONAL PALACE, SENOR: The supreme executive power has been pleased to issue the following de cree: The President of the republic of Nicaragua undergoing grave domestic troubles that require all his care, and not wishing for this cause to check the course of numerous general and particular affairs that are pending the consideration of the government and bed a careful attention, using the power that article 51 of the constitution confers, decrees: ARTICLE 1. Señor Senator-General Don Joaquin Zavalla be called to the exercise of the executive power, who will immediately enter upon the duties of the office. ART. 2. The señor minister is charged with the fulfillment of the present decree, and of communicating it to whom it may concern. Given in Managua, the 25th day of June, 1874. VICENTE QUADRA. ISIODORO LOPEZ. The minister of war in charge of the portfolio of government, servant, LOPEZ. No. 210.] No. 118. Mr. Williamson to Mr. Fish. UNITED STATES LEGATION IN CENTRAL AMERICA, Guatemala, August 11, 1874. (Received Sept. 23.) SIR: The supreme court of war has announced its decision in the rases of Gonzalez and Bulnes, the perpetrators of the outrage upon the British vice-consul, Magee. The sentence in the case of Gonzalez is, in all respects, like that of which you were informed in my dispatch No. 194, except the punishment is increased from five to ten years. The latter, Bulnes, is pronounced guilty of a misdemeanor, and is deprived of his right to hold any office of trust or profit under the government of Guatemala, but the judgment of imprisonment awarded against him by the council of war is reversed, and he is restored to his liberty. The minister of foreign affairs now tells me the cases must be finally tried before the supreme court of justice. The minister of war had previously informed me (as I understood him) that the decision of the supreme court of war was final. There seems to be a general feeling of indignation among foreigners at the release of Bulnes. He was the deliberate actor in the outrage, who, with his own hands, several hours in advance, made ready the sticks with which Magee was so barbarously beaten. His boasts that his influence with Prime Minister Samayoa was a perfect shield to himself and Gonzalez against any punishment for what they might do were made publicly at San José, both before and after the outrage. He instigated the drunken madman, Gonzalez, to commit the atrocious act, and morally is the guiltier of the two. He is to go "scot free," except that for the present he is deprived of the right to hold any office of trust or profit in Guatemala. The British chargé told me he had taken no steps yet to declare the proocol annulled, but that he had written to the government this morning protesting against the release of Bulnes, and requesting that his case be prosecuted rigorously. He says if this is not done he will retire his legation and turn over the further management of the affair to the admiral of the British fleet, which is hourly expected at San José. I have, &c., No. 119. GEO. WILLIAMSON. No. 213.] Mr. Williamson to Mr. Fish. UNITED STATES LEGATION IN CENTRAL AMERICA, Guatemala, August 15, 1874. (Received Sept. 23.) SIR: I have the honor to inclose you copies of two letters published in the last issue of the semi-official paper of this city, styled El Progreso. The original of that of Mr. Soto was intrusted to Mr. Rosa, late minister of foreign affairs at Guatemala, when he started on the confidential mission to Honduras from the government of Guatemala, referred to in the fourth and fifth paragraphs of my No. 174. It seems, although Mr. Rosa was recalled, he managed to have the letter of Mr. Soto published in the newspaper of Nicaragua. * These letters may have no special significance in themselves, but as public documents, illustrative, in some measure, of the policy of the present governments of Guatemala and Honduras, it seems proper to forward them for your consideration. I have, &c., GEO. WILLIAMSON. [Inclosure.[ Extracts from "El Progreso," of Guatemala.-Translation. Señor Soto to Señor P. Leiva. GUATEMALA, May 15, 1874. MY ESTEEMED FRIEND: With pleasure I begin this letter, by congratulating you apon the confirmation that the Congress has given to your appointment as provisional President of Honduras. Receive, then, my sincere good wishes. Señor President Barrios has directed that my cousin-german, Don Ramon Rosa, proceed to your capital on a confidential mission that he has conferred on him near you, and I take this opportunity of presenting Rosa to you as a member of my family, and of recommending him to your friendship. Two steamers since I wrote to you concerning the business that has given rise to this mission of Señor Rosa's, and at present I will allow myself to speak fully, relying on the conviction I have of the rectitude of your intentions, your honor, and patriotism. Public opinion already, by words and in print, has pronounced against the last events that have transpired in Honduras; that is, the fall of the government of Arias, by the allied forces of Guatemala and Salvador, and especially the capture of Amapala. You understand perfectly the reasons for addressing to Señor Arias the paper signed by the two Presidents of the allied republics, which Señor General Gonzalez has had published. In that paper Señor Arias was invited to lay down the command and to call a popular election. In it the two Presidents assured Señor Arias that not only his life and liberty should be guaranteed, but that they would use all of their influence that the consideration due to his high character and personal merits should be respected and guarded. When Señor Arias surrendered in the Plaza of Comayagua, the article of surrender signed by the Generals Espinoza, Solares, and Lopez, guaranteed alike to Señor Arias, in the most solemn manner, his liberty and his life, and the same to his cabinet. With these antecedents it could not appear but strange that Ex-President Arias and his minister, del Cid, have been imprisoned, and it is still more strange that the latest information is that the Congress of that country is going to try Arias and submit his case to the common tribunals. I, on seeing the names of the deputies that assembled at the installation of the national convention, have found an explanation of these acts. There appear, in the first and greater part, true allies of the ultra-conservative party, and even those who composed the government of Utila! It is certainly not strange, then, that the national convention, so formed, pardoned Medina, and even applauded him, and condemned Arias to perpetual exile or death. I do not believe that these individuals are competent judges for trying the political conduct either of the former, Medina, or of the latter, Arias. In respect to Medina, the majority of them were partial to him, and even his accomplices; in respect to Arias, the whole of them were his personal and violent enemies. The vote, then, of this grand jury cannot be the expression of justice. At present I cannot conceive the right they have of trying Arias. As dictator, the public opinion of his country is his only judge, and as chief of a nation who has surrendered in virtue of the solemn agreement which the generals-in-chief of the forces of Honduras, Salvador, and Guatemala signed, an agreement in which was guaranteed the life of President Arias and his ministers, there is not any judge competent to try them, for the law of nations places them entirely beyond all jurisdiction, and accords them, as volEntary prisoners of war, immunity of life and property and a full guarantee of their Liberty. The government of Guatemala, since it feels it is compromised by itself and its general-in-chief to consider what is due to Señor Arias, cannot see with criminal indifference the evil course that is pursued against one of the most sincere liberals of Central America, who has afforded such valuable service to the cause of the revolution, and has always been their friend and ally. I firmly believe that the confidential mission which Señor Rosa undertakes to you will be appreciated at its true value, on account of the motives that cause it, motives which I do not doubt will find a warm response in your noble and patriotic breast. I believe, moreover, that this mission will free you from the exigencies and intrigues of the enemies of Señor Arias, who wish to cause your ruin; because you, working in formity with the agreement and for the sake of a friendly government which asks 'ce liberty of Señor Arias, free yourself from the charge and responsibilities these Ester political cliques wish to impose upon you. Frankly, my friend, I do not believe, nor do I wish to believe, that you have taken part in the disgraceful events that have been endured by and threaten Señor Arias high and noble spirit will always contradict even the suspicion that you can have fake part in them. Therefore, as I have shown you before this, and in the present der, arise the sympathy and interest I have for you personally and for your govern |