stances not possible to be foreseen, including always the safety of the vessel you may send to examine her. There are treatises on maritime law which say-and the instructions given by the French minister of marine in 1854 to the admirals and commanders of her ships of war notice the same-that you should keep the inquiring vessel out of cannon shot of the vessel examined; but the treatises of the time, such as those of Ortolan and Negrin, with reason, contest this doctrine, because under such circumstances the best guide is the practical sense of the commander of the investigator; so, therefore, while recommending to you on this point the greatest prudence, so as to combine in the act in question moderation with the succor which the boat may need that goes to make the examination, you can thus manœuvre in observance of what is set out with in the beginning of this paragraph; because here is also the circumstance, that the principle established is also settled for cases like that treated of in the convention made 16th May, 1832, between the republic of the United States and that of Chili, and also as is believed in other later stipulations. 3. As soon as the merchant vessel heaves to, you will send a boat commanded by an officer. He, accompanied by two or three men, will board the vessel and proceed to verify her nationality, the description of the vessel, and her cargo, and whether or not engaged in lawful commerce-that is to say, whether she carries any contraband of war. To this end the officer will require of the captain to present the crew list, the bill of health from the port of departure, from which documents the nationality or ownership and legitimacy of her voyage may be deduced. If from the said examination it result that the vessel visited is neutral, and is going also to a neutral port, the visit is at an end, and the officer should leave the vessel at liberty without looking into the nature of her cargo, stating the fact on her papers. If the aforesaid vessel is bound for a hostile port, then the officer, besides examining said papers, must proceed to call upon the captain for those which show the nature of the cargo, and if it result from them that there is nothing contraband of war on board, the visit is at an end, the vessel at liberty, the annotation before mentioned also being made; but if from these documents it shall appear that contraband of war exists on board, you will proceed to the capture of the vessel, still bearing in mind that even in this case you cannot proceed to open the hatches, closets or chests for the purpose of seeing if there are other papers or suspicious merchandise. 4. It is well understood that what is inculcated in the paragraphs of this article in no way changes what I have pointed out to you, and what is already anticipated in respect of the blockade that may be kept up. 5. You must keep in mind that if fortuitous circumstances detach you from the blockade, and you go to the coast of a neutral country, the law of visit ceases in the territorial waters of the neutral country; and I have already warned you in article 10 that the extension of those waters is limited by the longest range of cannon shot of the vessels of this squadron— that is to say, within that range you cannot exercise the right of search. 6. I must repeat to you here what I cautioned you about in the last sentence of article 7: that it is of the greatest importance that the examination of the ship's papers be made, because this documentation must be the basis on which must be founded the validity or invalidity of the capture. 17. If, in consequence of the visit, the vessel should be captured, the officer will retain all the papers, giving a receipt for them to the captain, and will cause him to get her under sail so as to approach the visiting vessel, which will then return to her beat. As soon as the vessel visited closes up you will put a crew on board, and notify the officer in whose charge she may be to remain, and proceed to make inventory of everything she contains, sealing up her hatches as soon as that is completed. 18. You will keep on board the captured vessel, whether merchant or corsair, the individuals of her crew, but both women and children, and generally all persons who do not belong to the Chilian army or navy, nor have any connexion with either arm, may be landed at the first port at which the vessel may touch after being taken. The prize being of war, you will observe the caution already given you, and if you think proper may transfer part of her complement of men and until taking her into the port you may deem convenient, but you must exact a promise in writing that they shall not constitute part of that of other vessels-of-war or hostile cruisers. 19. That you may have no doubt about articles considered contraband of war, besides vessels under circumstances noted in article 6, and in continuation of articles mentioned, are cannon, mortars, fusiles, and every kind of arms, as well as all sorts of projectiles, guncarriages, quick-matches, fulminating and fuze, caps, matches, powder, saltpetre, sulphur fittings for military clothing, saddles and bridles, and accoutrements, campaign tents, and generally all instruments and objects manufactured for war. 20. You will not oppose the entry and departure of neutral vessels-of-war at the port you may be blockading. Additional article: For exact understanding of article 12 of these instructions you must bear in mind that the concession made in it that neutral vessels may depart from the ports of Chili "with a cargo shipped before the blockade" is on the understanding that the departure take place within the term fixed upon by the general of this squadron, and not after the expiration of that term. JOSÉ MANUEL PAREJA. Mr. Seward to Mr. Tassara. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 16, 1865. SIR: On the 9th of June last, your excellency, then being in the city of New York, had the goodness to address to Mr. William Hunter, then Acting Secretary of State of the United States, a very kind note, in which you informed him, in the name of her Most Catholic Majesty's government, that the news which had been then lately received of the assassination of the late President, and an attack upon the person of the Secretary of State, had excited a profound sense of horror and indignationon the part of the Crown, the representatives, and the people of Spain. Your note was accompanied by a copy of a communication which had been addressed to yourself by her Catholic Majesty's secretary of state, together with a copy of two resolutions, relating to the painful subjects before mentioned, which resolutions had been unanimously adopted by the Cortes. Subsequently to the receipt of your communication at this department, your excellency had the goodness to ask a personal audience of the President, and in the audience thereupon granted you were pleased to give an eloquent oral expression to the same just, honorable, and generous sentiments which were expressed in the communications to which I have before referred. These proceedings on the part of her Catholic Majesty's government and the people of Spain deserve an immediate written acknowledgment on the part of the President of the United States and the American people. I was charged with the duty of making those acknowledgments. I beg you therefore to convey to your government an assurance that the President received the communications referred to with sentiments of the most profound gratitude and sincere appreciation. They have served to awaken on the part of the American people, affections which, in the earliest stage of their existence, induced on their part an especial attachment to. Spain. I am sure they will serve to invigorate a friendship between the two nations, which no minister has ever more assiduously cultivated than your excellency. The papers which I now acknowledge will be deposited in the national archives, and will on the assembling of Congress be submitted to the legislature. I pray your excellency to have the goodness to make known to your government the personal circumstances, well understood by yourself, which, to the President's sincere regret, have so long delayed this communication. I avail myself of this occasion to offer to your excellency a renewed assurance of my most distinguished consideration. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Señor Don GABRIEL GARCIA Y. TASSARA, &c., &c., &c., Washington. Mr. Seward to Mr. Tassara DEPARTMENT OF STATE,, Washington, November 21, 1865. The undersigned, Secretary of State of the United States, has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the note addressed to him on the 15th instant by Mr. Tassara, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of her Catholic Majesty, and to state that the same has been submitted to the President of the United States. The note announces that in consequence of the declaration of war against Spain by the government of Chili, General Pareja, the commanding general of Spanish squadron in the Pacific, acting under instructions, had declared the ports of Chili blockaded from the 24th of September last. War having actually begun between the two sovereign states, doubtless with a due conviction of the solemnity and importance of the transaction entertained by both of them, a discussion by the government of the United States of the merits of the controversy would not be compatible with the respect which it entertains for these two friendly nations. Nevertheless, the undersigned trusts that each of them will allow the United States to say, with the utmost kindness and respect, that the war ought to have been averted, since the issue joined involves nothing more than the question whether one of the parties ought to pay to the other the courtesy of an artillery salute. The United States cannot but hope that the war, since it involves no other issue than this, will, through the good sense and friendly spirit of both countries, be brought to a speedy and harmless end. It seems to remain to say, on this occasion, only that while the war shall last, the government of the United States will observe the neutrality which is enjoined by its own municipal law, and by the law of nations. No armed vessel of either party will be allowed to bring their prizes into the ports of the United States. The undersigned offers to Mr. Tassara renewed assurances of his highest consideration. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Señor Don GABRIEL GARCIA Y. TASSARA, &c., &c., &c., Washington. Mr. Tassara to Mr. Seward. [Translation.] LEGATION OF SPAIN AT Washington, SIR: The undersigned, minister plenipotentiary of her Catholic Majesty, has had the honor of receiving the honorable Secretary's note of the 21st, in reply to his of the 15th, on Chilian affairs, and will transmit it to his government, whose prudent deliberation on the cause that led to the rupture, to its great regret, is well known to the United States. The undersigned embraces this occasion to offer to the honorable Secretary the assurances of his high consideration. The Hon. SECRETARY OF STATE GABRIEL G. TASSARA. of the United States, &c., &c., &c. |