To his Excellency the Hon. Geo. Williamson to Señor Herrera, November 15, 1873

Mr. Williamson to Señor Herrera.

Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the interesting circular issued by your government, under date 24th ultimo, touching the late treaty between Guatemala, Salvador and Nicaragua. You will please accept my thanks.

I beg to reiterate to you more formally the substance of what I had the honor to address verbally to your esteemed predecessor, Mr. Montufor, during our last interview”, about the 19th of August. Substantially, I stated to him, if without offense to either party, and by their joint consent, the good offices of my Government could be employed with a fair prospect of success in bringing to an honorable and peaceable settlement the long-vexed question of boundary between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, that I felt authorized to tender them. Since then I have made a similar offer to the government of Nicaragua, and I am pleased to inform you it was accepted with cordiality by the president and his minister of foreign affairs. I now make the offer to your government, accompanied with the remark that as the Government of the United States is only animated in this tender of good offices by its friendly disposition to the states at variance upon this question of boundary, and is not willing to seem to assume either the part of interfering in affairs of other states without invitation, or to have her benevolent intentions become liable to misconstruction, that you will be pleased to understand, if your government considers the discussion of the question of boundary with Nicaragua has been removed beyond the limits of diplomacy, I shall thank you to say so in the same frank and friendly spirit which inspires this note.

I have, &c.,