Mr. Benjamin to Mr. Slidell, October 17, 1862

Mr. Benjamin to Mr. Slidell.

Sir: Since my No. 6 of 26th ultimo, of which
duplicate is herewith forwarded, some circumstances of a very remarkable
character have come to the knowledge of the president, to which your
earnest attention is invited.

On the 7th instant the president received from Governor Lubbock, of
Texas, a letter, of which a copy is annexed, marked A, with enclosures
Nos. 1 and 2.

The very singular nature of this correspondence initiated, as you will
perceive, by Mr. B. Théron, French consular agent and Spanish
vice-consul at Galveston, naturally excited a lively interest, but we
had not yet arrived at any satisfactory conclusion as to the nature and
extent, nor the source of the intrigue evidently
on foot, when, on the 13th instant, the president received from the Hon.
W. S. Oldham, senator from Texas, a letter, of which a copy, marked B,
is herewith enclosed.

The concurrent action of two French consular officers, at points so
remote from each other as
Galveston and Richmond; the evident understanding which exists between
them; the similarity of their views and conduct; the choice of Mr.
Oldham as the party to be approached, he being generally considered as
identified with the party opposed to the administration, while Mr.
Wigfall is its supporter; all concur in satisfying us that there is not
only concert of action between these officials, but that their conduct
has been dictated by some common superior. In plain language, we feel
authorized to infer that the French government has, for some interest of
its own, instructed some of its consular agents here to feel the way,
and if possible to provoke some movement on the part of the State of
Texas which shall result in its withdrawal from the confederacy. It is
difficult, if not impossible, on any other hypothesis, to account for
the conduct of these agents.

I have, in accordance with the instructions of the president, expelled
both Mr. Théron and Mr. Tabouelle from the confederacy, and have
forbidden their return without the previous permission of the
government. I enclose you copies of the orders of expulsion, marked C
and D.

In endeavoring to account for such a course of action on the part of the
French government, I can only attribute it to one or both of the
following causes:

1st. The Emperor of the French has determined to conquer and hold Mexico
as a colony, and is desirous of interposing a weak power between his new
colony and the confederate States, in order that he may feel secure
against any interference with his designs on Mexico.

2d. The French government is desirous of securing for itself an
independent source of cotton supply, to offset that possessed by Great
Britain in India, and designs to effect this purpose by taking under its
protection the State of Texas, which, after being acknowledged as an
independent republic, would, in its opinion, be in effect as dependent
on France and as subservient to French interests as if a French
colony.

It is more than probable that both these considerations would have weight
in the councils of the French cabinet, and we are not without suspicion
that the tortuous diplomacy of Mr. Seward may have had some influence in
inspiring such designs. The desire to weaken the confederacy, to exhibit
it to the world as “a rope of sand,” without consistence or cohesion,
and therefore not worthy of recognition as an independent member of the
family of nations, would afford ample motives for the adoption of such a
course by the cabinet of the United States, which is driven to a
diplomacy of expedients in the desperate effort to avert the impending
doom which awaits the party now in power in Washington.

One other suggestion occurs to me, which you may receive as purely
conjectural on my part. It is known to me personally that at the date of
the annexation of Texas to the United States, Mr. Dubois de Saligny, the
present French minister in Mexico, and who was at that time French
charge d’affaires to the republic of Texas, was vehemently opposed to
the annexation, and was active in endeavoring to obstruct and prevent
it. Even at that date the despatches of Mr. Guizot, which I had an
opportunity of reading, were filled with arguments to show that the
interests of Texas were identical with those of France, and that both
would be promoted by the maintenance of a separate nationality in Texas.
The intrigue now on foot, therefore, accords completely with a policy in
regard to Texas that may be almost said to be traditional with France;
and it is not impossible that the movement of the consular agents here
has received its first impulse from the French legation in Mexico,
instead of the cabinet of the Tuilleries.

These movements are not considered as having the slightest importance so
far as their effect on Texas is concerned. The answers of Governor
Lubbock and the letter of Mr. Oldham will satisfy you how little those
gentlemen were disposed to encourage such attempts, while the popular
feeling in Texas is best evinced
by the fact that she has seventy regiments of volunteers in our army. But the evidence thus afforded of a
disposition on the part of France to seize on this crisis of our fate as
her occasion for the promotion of selfish interests, and this too after
the assurances of friendly disposition, or, at worst, impartial
neutrality, which you have received from the leading public men of
France, cannot but awaken solicitude; and the president trusts that you
will use every effort to discover the source, extent, and designs of
these intrigues, and whether the United States are parties to them. It
may perhaps be in your power to make use of this discovery also by
awakening the British government to a sense of the fact that designs are
entertained of which that government is not probably aware, and which it
may be unwilling to see accomplished.

An enlarged and generous statesmanship would seem to indicate so clearly
that the establishment of southern independence on a secure basis (and
with a strength sufficient to counterbalance the power of the United
States as well as to prevent extensive French colonization on our
southern border) would promote the true interests of Great Britain, that
we find it difficult to account for her persistent refusal to recognize
our independence. The knowledge of a secret attempt on the part of
France to obtain separate advantages of such vast magnitude may perhaps
induce a change in the views of the British cabinet. I speak of the
attempt as secret, for it is scarcely possible to suppose that the
action of the French agents is taken with the concurrence or connivance
of the British government. If you come to the conclusion that these
conjectures are well founded, you are at liberty to make known to her
Majesty’s government the facts herein communicated, either through the
British minister at Paris or by concert with Mr. Mason. It is deemed
desirable that in either event you should advise Mr. Mason of the course
you may adopt, as it is very probable that the English government will
learn from Richmond the fact of the expulsion of the consuls, and the
cause of the action of this government, which, from its very nature, is
accompanied with some degree of publicity.

I enclose to Mr. Mason, for his information, a copy of this
communication.

Your obedient servant,