moreover, met his cordial approbation, because it is his firm conviction that the Bay Islands are a part of the territory of Honduras, and justly subject to its government and to no other authority. Entertaining this opinion, it would be impossible for him to sanction any arrangement by which their restoration may be made dependent upon conditions either already prescribed or left to be prescribed hereafter. The case of these islands, as your lordship is aware, stands out in bold relief from all the other subjects embraced in the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. That instrument provided that neither of the parties should "colonize" any portion of Čentral America; and yet more than a year after its ratification, the colony of the Bay Islands was established by an act of the British Government. The United States have always considered that proceeding a violation of the treaty, even with the British construction of it; and the claim for its justification that the Bay Islands are dependencies of the Belize settlement cannot, it is believed, be maintained with success upon either American or British authority. It is directly at variance with the description given by Sir Charles Grey, the secretary of state for the colonies, in 1836, of the boundaries of the Belize settlement; and, from the discussions between the two governments which took place in London in 1854, it cannot be doubted that it was opposed also to the deliberate opinion of Lord Aberdeen, then at the head of the British cabinet.

Independently, however, of these considerations, there is another view of the subject which interposes insuperable obstacles to the desired action of the United States upon this treaty. The character or the extent of the concessions which England may demand of Honduras is nowhere defined in that instrument. Any grant, however inconsistent with the independence or the rights of that republic, if not inconsistent with the expresss provisions of the treaty, may be demanded by Great Britain, and, if rejected, what then will be the condition of the parties? Great Britain would retain the possession of these islands, with the implied concurrence of the United States, and this valuable group, overlooking one of the great avenues of communication of the world, and in the freedom and security of which the United States have a far deeper interest than any other nation, might thus eventually become a permanent portion of the British Empire. That the United States should decline to make themselves a party to such an arrangement can surely occasion neither surprise nor disappointment to the people or statesmen of Great Britain. I am, therefore, directed by the President to announce to your lordship that he cannot accept the projet of a treaty which, agreeably to your instructions, you have presented for his consideration. But, while feeling it his duty so to decide, he fully reciprocates the desire of your government to cement the amicable relations of the two countries, and, during his administration, no effort shall be wanting on his part to prevent any interruption of that friendly intercourse which both Great Britain and the United States have so many powerful motives to promote.

I have, &c.,

LEWIS CASS.

No. 19.]

46.-Lord Napier to Lord Clarendon.

[Extract.]

WASHINGTON, June 22, 1857. (Received July 7.) It is probable that if the pending discussions regarding Central America be not closed during the present summer, an attempt will be made in the next session of Congress to set aside the Clayton-Bulwer treaty. My impression to this effect is constantly deepened by reflection and by the information which reaches me from several quarters. There can be no doubt of the views of the President and Cabinet in this matter.

The EARL OF CLARENDON.

NAPIER.

47.-Lord Napier to Lord Clarendon.

[Extract.]

WASHINGTON, October 12, 1857. (Received October 30.)

MY LORD: I am now assured that the American Cabinet will shortly receive Mr. Yrissari in the quality of minister from Nicaragua, and that a treaty will be negotiated with him for the protection of the interoceanic passage by the River San Juan, similar to that contracted between Great Britain and Honduras for the guarantee of the railway projected across the territory of the latter state.

At the same time the Government of Nicaragua have recognized the existence of the old "American Atlantic and Pacific Ship Canal Company," which appeared to have lapsed during the operations of the "Accessory Transit Company," of filibustering notoriety. The original charter of the former association has been modified under the deliberations of the Nicaraguan minister and Mr. Joseph White, the legal adviser of that body. The company is under the nominal presidency of Mr. Stevens, of New York, and is said to comprise some persons of credit and substantial resources, but Mr. White is the active agent in the enterprise. If not officially recognized, his project is viewed with favor by the American Cabinet, and I think it may very probably be carried into operation.

WASHINGTON, October 20, 1857. MY LORD: I have had the honor to receive your lordship's communication of the 9th instant, in reference to the existing relations between Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and have submitted it to the consideration of the President.

These relations have attracted the earnest attention of the President, not only from the importance of the San Juan transit to the commerce of the world, but from the interest which is naturally felt by the United States in the neighboring republics of this continent. The President

has witnessed, therefore, the restoration of peace to Nicaragua and Costa Rica with the highest gratification; and he sincerely hopes that it may not again be interrupted either by the calamity of civil war or the invasion of their territory from other countries. Their security and welfare would undoubtedly be promoted by a just and friendly settlement between them of their mutual boundaries and jurisdiction; and I need hardly add that such an adjustment would be viewed with satisfaction by the United States. This government, however, has never admitted the pretensions of Costa Rica to an equal control with Nicaragua of the San Juan River, but has regarded the sovereignty of the river, and consequently of the interoceanic transit by that route, as rightfully belonging to the Republic of Nicaragua.

A similar view of the question appears to have been recognized by Great Britain, and, whatever may be the rights of Costa Rica with respect to the free passage of her own products by the river to the ocean, it is better, probably, that what has been thus acquiesced in, and has led moreover to important contracts and responsibilities, should not now be disturbed. But under any circumstances the commercial nations of the world can never permit the interoceanic passages of the isthmus to be rendered useless for all the great purposes which belong to them in consequence of the neglect or incapacity of the states through whose territories they happen to run. The United States, as I have before had occasion to assure your lordship, demand no exclusive privileges in these passages, but will always exert their influence to secure their free and unrestricted benefits, both in peace and war, to the commerce of the world. The rumored invasion of Central America, which your lordship apprehends may delay the re-establishment of the transit service through Nicaragua, has not escaped the attention of the President, and his views on the subject are clearly indicated in the circular from this Department of the 18th ultimo, which has been printed in the public journals, and has not escaped your lordship's notice.

No nation on earth, it is believed, appreciates its national rights and duties more highly than the United States, and no one is more ready to concede to other nations, whether strong or weak, that measure of justice which it claims for itself. Any such expedition as that which has been mentioned is forbidden, under severe penalties, by the laws of this country, and these laws the President will take care, on all proper occasions, to enforce.

I have thus endeavored to meet the frank suggestions of your lordship by restating, with corresponding frankness, the general policy of the United States with respect to the governments and the interoceanic transits of Central America; but since your lordship has referred to the Clayton-Bulwer treaty of 1850 as contemplating a "harmonious course of action and counsel between the contracting parties in the settlement of the Central American interests," you will pardon me for reminding your lordship that the differences which this treaty was intended to adjust between the United States and Great Britain still remain unsettled, while the treaty itself has became the subject of new and embarrassing complications.

Until these disagreements can be removed, and the states of Central America can be left to that independent control of their own affairs, with which the continued claims of Great Britain in that quarter seem to this government quite inconsistent, it is easy to see that the harmony of action and counsel between this government and that of Her Britannic Majesty, to which your lordship refers, must be always attended with difficulty, if not found impossible.

S. Ex. 194- -8

It was hoped that these differences would be removed by the approval, on the part of Great Britain, of the amended treaty of October 17, 1856, which had been sanctioned by the President in a spirit of amity towards that kingdom, although its provisions were not wholly in accordance with his views. But the British Government found it necessary to withhold their approval, and the treaty was returned from London unratified.

It was impossible for this government to consent to the treaty in its original form, for reasons which your lordship well understands, and no further discussion has been had on the subject between the two governments.

The President still entertains an earnest hope that all subjects of disagreement which now exist between the United States and Great Britain may be harmoniously adjusted at an early day, but he cannot be insensible to the long delay which has attended their negotiations on the subject of Central America, or to the serious difficulties which the continuance of this delay is calculated to produce.

I avail, &c.,

49.-Lord Napier to Lord Clarendon.

[Extract.]

LEWIS CASS.

No. 26.]

WASHINGTON, October 22, 1857. (Received November 9.) On receiving an intimation from your lordship that Her Majesty's Government had determined to send out a special minister to Central America, with a view of adjusting the questions under discussion in that quarter, I sought an interview with the President for the purpose of communicating this intelligence to his Excellency.

The President received me on the afternoon of the 19th instant, and I was enabled to report to your lordship by the mail of the same day, in a private form, the substance of a conversation which I have now the honor to submit to your lordship with more accuracy and extension.

I stated to the President that, since the failure of the late overtures consequent on the non-ratification of the treaty of 1856, Her Majesty's Government had considered the several alternatives of action which were open to their selection, and on a review of the whole case, had resolved to dispatch a representative of authority and experience to Central America, charged to make a definitive settlement of all the matters with regard to which the United States and England were still at vari

ance.

This conclusion had been embraced for some time past, and the delay which had occurred was referable partly to the difficulty of selecting a competent person for a duty which involved much personal inconvenience, and demanded peculiar qualifications, and partly to the nature of the intelligence from India, which had of late absorbed the attention of the English cabinet.

Her Majesty's Government had, however, now appointed Sir William Gore Ouseley for the service alluded to, and felt the greater satisfaction in doing so because he was intimately known to the President and enjoyed his good opinion.

I could not state exactly the character of the instructions with which

Sir William Ouseley would be charged, but I might infer from all that had reached me that they would virtually be to the following effect:

The efforts of the new plenipotentiary would be directed to those objects which had been dealt with in the treaty of 1856, now laid aside, viz, the cession of the Bay Islands to Honduras, the substitution of the sovereignty of Nicaragua for the protectorate of England in Mosquito, and the regulation of the frontiers of Belize.

In short, I believed it was the intention of Her Majesty's Government to carry the Clayton-Bulwer treaty into execution according to the general tenor of the interpretation put upon it by the United States, but to do so by separate negotiation with the Central American Republics, in lieu of a direct engagement with the Federal Government.

The President commenced his observations by referring to the Clayton-Bulwer treaty as a fruitful source of misunderstanding between the contracting parties. Without that treaty the United States and Great Britain might long since have co-operated for the welfare of Central America. That treaty had never been acceptable to the people of the United States, and would not have obtained a vote in the Senate, had the least suspicion existed of the sense in which it was to be construed by Great Britain; yet if it were now the intention of Her Majesty's Government to execute it according to the American interpretation, that was as much as he could insist upon.

In any arrangement entered into with this purpose, he must, however, remark that the Government of the United States could not recognize as satisfactory the cession of the Bay Islands to Honduras, with stipulations similar to those contained in the treaty lately negotiated between England and that republic, which left the Bay Islands as much under the protection of Great Britain as Mosquito. He did not know what had become of that treaty.

I replied that I felt convinced it had been the intention of Her Majesty's Government to deliver the islands to Honduras in full sovereignty, and that the franchises awarded to them by the treaty were designed for the freedom of trade, the protection of the vested interests of British subjects, and the welfare of the inhabitants.

I added that his excellency was well aware of the convictions conscientiously held in England respecting slavery, and of the respect which Her Majesty's Government owed to public feeling on that subject. I might plainly affirm that a principal motive in framing securities for the after government of the Bay Islands had been the apprehension that, when relinquished by the English authorities, those islands would be settled by planters from the United States, who would bring their negroes with them, and thus establish slavery on soil which had, justly or unjustly, been declared to be a colonial dependency of Great Britain.

Her Majesty's Government, moreover, regarded the Bay Islands as forming, in a manner, one of the termini of the Honduras transit route, and therefore desired to see them endowed with the privileges of a free port, the Island of Tigre, in the Gulf of Fonsega, at the other extremity, having long possessed those immunities.

The President contended that the stipulations were uncalled for and that Her Majesty's Government might have surrendered the islands freely, and subsequently enforced on the Government of Honduras a due respect to the claims of British settlers.

In reply to his excellency, I allowed that the articles establishing the administrative independence of the islands might have been larger than was necessary. I had observed the same impression in the corre