Mr. Dayton to Mr. Seward, April 9, 1863

Mr. Dayton to Mr.
Seward

Sir: In a conference with Mr. Drouyn de l’Huys,
had this day, he inquired particularly as to our action in reference to
the issue of letters of marque. He has, without doubt, recently had
conversation with Lord Cowley on this subject. He stated that Lord
Cowley had given to him a copy of the late speech of Mr. Palmer, the
solicitor general of England, (delivered in the House of Commons,) on
the subject of the Alabama and the building of ships in their ports for
the confederates. He said the speech seemed carefully prepared
(trayaillé.) I told him that I thought it had been elaborated with much
care, but I had reason to know from a member of the House of Parliament,
present at its delivery, that it was thought by him, and many others,
that the learned solicitor general had gone too far; that he had
promulgated doctrines which England would not herself abide by, if we or
other powers should, under like circumstances, attempt to apply them to
her. I further told Mr. Drouyn de l’Huys our foreign enlistment act was
the same as that of England, and that the United States, during the
Crimean war, had enforced another rule; that we had promptly interfered,
as I had been informed, to prevent the building of one war vessel for
Russia, and had prevented the sailing of others. Strange as it may seem,
this appeared to be new to him, and he said if that were so, the fact
should be known. I assured him that the facts were, as I believed,
already known to the British government; that they appeared, in part, at
least, in the
correspondence between Mr. Adams and Earl Russel; that the French
journals seemed to take little interest in the publication of such
matter, and although these statements had been repeatedly made in the
American and in some English journals which were received by French
journalists, they had not been generally re-published here. He said, at
once, that this was wrong, and that an important fact of this nature
should be made known through the public press. I then told him that,
inasmuch as Lord Cowley had supplied him with the speech of Mr. Palmer
on this subject, I would make it my business forthwith to furnish him
with such evidence of the facts I had referred to as were within my
reach, which I shall immediately do. It was quite evident to me that the
British authorities had been making an effort to satisfy this government
that they were not to blame for what had occurred or might hereafter
occur in reference to the fitting out of war vessels for the rebels in
their ports. Mr. Drouyn de l’Huys, while not questioning our right to
issue letters of marque, seemed, I thought, to deprecate it as an act
uncalled for under existing circumstances, and calculated to produce
troublesome complications. He begged that, should anything of the kind
be done, it might be done with all proper precaution and guards to avoid
interference with the commerce of neutral powers. He said that we well
knew that the practice of France and her principals as to maritime law
had differed from those of England; that they had built no ships for the
insurgents, and had not interfered with us; that it was evidently not
the interest of the United States to take such course as would create
community of action upon these questions between England and France. I
referred him to the contents of your despatch No. 304, as the last
official intimation I had received on the subject, and assured him that,
should the President feel it his duty to act under the law of Congress,
it would be done with all the precaution and care of which the nature of
the proceedings was susceptible. That the President would, of course,
feel most anxious to surround his letters of marque, if the issue of
such should be made, with such guards as would, if possible, prevent
injurious collisions or complications with foreign powers. I then again
called his attention to the fact that all this trouble came from the
Alabama and the course of Great Britain in permitting ships-of-war to be
built for the insurgents in her ports. I thought it well, top,
(believing that Lord Cowley conferred with him on these subjects,) to
inform him distinctly that the exasperation of the citizens of the
United States, growing out of the depredations of the Alabama and
Florida, was so great that should the war ships now being built for the
rebels in British ports escape by the negligence of that government, I
did not believe it would be possible to keep the peace between the two
countries. I told him that a foreign war would affect us principally
through our commerce, and if this were to be cut up and destroyed by the
indirect action of Great Britain, the feeling would be that we might as
well meet her direct hostility at once. But I added, that we hoped to
avoid adding to our internal difficulties a foreign war, and I trusted,
for the interest of both countries and the world, that Great Britain
might be induced, in this respect, to stay her hand. I trust that he
will say this to Lord Cowley.

Before leaving, I said to Mr. Drouyn de l’Huys that I hoped he would
apprize me seasonably of anything of special interest to my country;
this he said he would cheerfully do.

He then began immediately to inform me of the condition of the Polish
question, which seemed uppermost in his mind. He said that France,
England, and Austria were about to express their views or wishes to
Russia; that they had substantially agreed upon the character of
representation they would make; that everything would be in the mildest
form, with no attempt at pressure, &c. It fact, it seemed to me that
France was about applying to
Russia the same policy she had proposed to apply to us; only in this
instance she had got the assent of other powers to act with her, which
in our case was wanting. But here, too, the Emperor took the initiative.
I said to Mr. Drouyn de l’Huys that these were questions of European
policy in which, although we had a general interest, it was altogether
subordinate to our interest in the affairs of our own country and
continent. He then said immediately there was nothing of special
interest for me there; that they had no news of importance from the
United States, and as to Mexico, he said again their purpose was to take
the city; to give some sort of order to the condition of things there,
repay themselves for debts, expenses, &c, and then leave the
country. That we might rest assured they were not going to charge
themselves with the government of Mexico. I told him that in the present
distracted condition of that country I did not see how it was possible
that France, if she got possession, could enforce the payment of the
debts due her and expenses. (I suppose he meant expenses of invasion,
although he did not say so.) I said that France would not be willing, I
supposed, to seize on the private property of Mexican citizens for the
purpose of meeting these claims, and there seemed to be no public
revenues adequate. To this he answered that the wealth of Mexico was
rather unused and scattered than exhausted; that there were sources of
wealth, mines, &c., which, properly worked, would meet all claims
upon the country. Here I think you have a view of the probable policy of
this government, an intimation which will serve as an index to point out
the future route which the government of France, if successful, at
present designs to follow. My fear would be that, estimating for herself
the debts and expenses due to her, working for herself the mines or
other sources of income, and keeping both sides of the account, it would
require a long possession before the profits of the adventure would
fully settle the balance.

My long conference with Mr. Drouyn de l’Huys was a very pleasant and
agreeable one. Our personal relations are in all respects kind. Before
leaving I asked for another copy of the diplomatic correspondence of
France for the past year, telling him, at the same time, that it was for
Mr. Romero, the Mexican minister at Washington, who had written to me
for it. He gave it to me at once, adding some other pamphlets about
Mexican affairs, which I told him I should forward to Mr. Romero. I use
the despatch bag for that purpose.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,