Manuel Pacheco to Gustavus Koerner, May 25, 1864

Mr. Pacheco to Mr. Koerner.

Sir: I have had the honor to receive the confidential note which you were pleased to address me on the 20th instant, in which, referring to a private interview which you had with me, you have been pleased to renew the indications which you then addressed to me in the name of your government in respect to the good dispositions which animate the cabinet of Washington to contribute, by their mediation, to the arrangement of the difficulties pending with the republic of Peru, lending their support with pleasure to any reclamation of Spain founded on principles of justice and equity, and endeavoring to persuade the government of Peru to satisfy all such as may have this character.

The report you make of what occurred in the interview referred to is exact, and on that occasion, having in view the circumstances of the affair—the subject of our conversation—and considering also the state of it at that time, I could not do less than reply to the friendly and loyal offer which you made me in the name of your government, stating in that confidential way in which we were proceeding that the government of her Majesty was disposed to accept, if not the mediation, at least the good offices of the government of Washington, so as to arrive at an end which corresponded completely to the views of the government of her Majesty, always desirous to avoid conflicts with the Spanish American States.

The same disposition which I then made known to you would continue to exist to-day if the conditions and the situation of the affair were the same, and I should have taken pleasure in fixing in writing the statements which on that occasion I had the honor to address to you; but, unfortunately, it has not thus happened, and the government of her Majesty deeply laments it. Things have advanced, and the affair has taken a different aspect from what it then had.

Before the question of the reclamations against the Peruvian government, there has arisen another, which must be considered as independent and preliminary; so much the more grave, inasmuch as it affects more the decorum and dignity of Spain. I refer to the non-reception of the envoy Señor Salazar y Mozarredo, with whom the government of Peru has refused to treat.

It cannot be hidden from your good judgment that by this act, whose nature you will know how to appreciate, a state of things has been created whose solution is no longer susceptible of being moulded to the same conditions which appeared, and which we both considered attainable at our said interview. The question is not now upon principles of justice ignored, nor of material interests wounded, but upon an act which, as it may be interpreted to signify a purpose not to lend an ear to reason, involves an offence to Spain such as makes it incumbent upon the government which rules her destinies alone to demand satisfaction. If, in order to obtain this, the mediation of another friendly government should be accepted, that of her Majesty would furnish a motive for attributing to impotence what in any case would be only a desire to avoid extreme measures, and persuaded on my part that you will recognize the force of this observation, I do not doubt you will know how to explain to your government the special causes which place that of her Majesty in the situation of not being able to accept the mediation nor the good offices of any friendly power in the question pending between Spain and Peru.

The government of the Queen feels grateful beyond measure for the good desires of the cabinet of Washington, and certainly it would have been most pleasing if those circumstances had not intervened which now impede their contributing with their prudence and recognized wisdom to the termination of the affair which is the subject of this writing.

I avail myself of this opportunity to renew to you the assurance of my most distinguished consideration.