injury, such as a 3 days' imprisonment, which they have brought on themselves, purposely, for the sake of establishing a claim, which they then bring forward at some exorbitant rate. If the Minister supports these, he is accused, of course, of great injustice by the Mexican Government; if he refuses to do so, he brings down the most lavish abuse on himself and his acts by the disappointed claimant, as your Lordship will have recently seen was the case with me in the columns of the "Mexican Extraordinary," so that, act as he will, he is nearly sure to be in hot water either one way or the other.

I have prefaced what I am about to say relative to such claims with this explanation, as it was necessary to do so in order that your Lordship may fully understand what took place in our conferences on the 13th and 14th instant, with reference to this subject of "claims."

When it was proposed by General Prim that each Commissioner should communicate to his colleagues the ultimatum he was about to send in as an inclosure in our joint note to the President, they were severally produced and perused, and it then became evident at once that neither the General nor myself could for a moment think of supporting such an ultimatum as that drawn up and presented by M. de Saligny, the French Minister. We in vain endeavoured to make him modify it by withholding all mention of the "claims" properly so called, as we were both willing to do until the whole case connected with them could be referred home for instructions, and in the meantime we requested him only to press, in common with ourselves, for those demands specified in the Con. vention between our 3 Governments; but he persisted in saying that his instructions would not allow him to do so, and we were then, therefore, obliged to come to the conclusion that we had better each withdraw his ultimatum, until we could learn whether they were approved of and intended to be supported by the joint action of our respective Governments.

I herewith inclose copies of the ultimatum we each handed in, and your Lordship will then easily understand why neither General Prim nor myself could accept the responsibility, in the name of our Governments, of supporting that of M. de Saligny.

He fixes the amount of French unsettled claims at 12,000,000 dollars, stating that he has not examined into them, as it would take him, at least, a twelvemonth to do so; but his Government having instructed him to name some particular sum for the liquidation thereof, he has named the one above mentioned as being what he considers an approximation to their value by a million or two more or less.

Now, it becomes evident from such a statement, that this is a

very loose way of handling such a question as this, and the more so as the French demand is, that this and other sums claimed shall be paid without discussion by the Mexican Government, which is thus debarred from having the justice of the claims examined into either by themselves or by some third party.

As these discussions on the justice of our respective claims should be by all means avoided, we all came to the conclusion that, taking into consideration their vast importance, they should be carefully examined into and decided on by a Sub-Commission of 3 lawyers and an accountant, named by the 3 Governments, whose duty it should be to report to us the fair amount to be claimed by each Government, which, when thus ascertained, should then be insisted on in the name of all three. There is no doubt that this is the only practical solution of the difficulty we find ourselves placed in; for mutual recriminations between the Commissioners of the 3 Powers as to the justice of their respective demands against the Mexican Government can only lead to a total paralyzation of their joint action, and thus completely frustrate the intentions of the allies.

The next point General Prim and myself objected to in M. de Saligny's ultimatum was the demand founded on the claim of the Swiss house of Jecker and Co. in Mexico.

This I will endeavour to explain in as few words as possible, and I think your Lordship will agree with me that the claim is an extraordinary one, to say the least of it. When the Miramon Government were on their last legs, and totally penniless, the house of Jecker lent them 750,000 dollars, and received in return for the advance bonds to be payable at some future period to the amount of 15,000,000 dollars.

Shortly after this outrageous proceeding, Miramon was upset, and succeeded by his rival, Juarez, who was then called on by M. Jecker, who was under French protection, to pay the abovenamed enormous sum, on the plea that one Government must be held responsible for the acts and obligations of the other. Juarez refused to do so, and in this resolution was supported by the opinion of all impartial people in Mexico. I have always understood that his Government was willing to repay the original sum lent of 750,000 dollars, with 5 per cent. interest thereon; but repudiated the idea of their being liable for the 15,000,000 dollars.

I need hardly say that such terms as these could never have been accepted, and any attempt to enforce such demands must have brought on immediate hostilities between the Mexican Government and the allies.

General Prim's ultimatum appears to me to be a fair and just

one; and as to my own, drawn up in the absence of any special instructions bearing on the case in point, I trust it will meet with your Lordship's approbation.

Having, as already stated, agreed to suspend the presentation of our respective demands until we could obtain more explicit instructions relative to them, we then determined to alter the tone of our joint note to the President, which was finally sent in as I have now the honour to transmit to your Lordship. We made it as conciliatory and pacific as possible, with a view to getting the moderate and rational members of the Government to accept our intervention in a friendly instead of a hostile spirit.

As the Mexicans have determined to abandon their ports, and concentrate their forces in the interior, we lose all hold on them unless we follow them there, and by force dictate our own terms, which, with such a land force as the allies now have here, would be impossible, owing to the resistance we should meet with from the whole population against the Spanish portion of the expedition. To keep so large an agglomeration of European troops in this small town, with the sickly season rapidly approaching, would be worse than imprudent, and therefore it was determined to be absolutely necessary to move them into the interior, as far as the first tablelands, where are situated the towns of Jalapa, Cordova, and Orizaba. To arrive at these places, however, the troops would have to pass some most formidable mountain-passes, which the Mexicans have already fortified, and are determined to defend.

These considerations convinced both General Prim and myself that we must endeavour to obtain what was required by persuasion, instead of by force; and hence the extremely conciliatory tone of our joint note to the Mexican Government, which was dispatched on the 4th instant by our three officers, as already stated. They were instructed verbally to demand a more healthy location for the allied troops, and to point out Jalapa and Orizaba as suitable places, should they not be objected to by the Government.

Having come to this resolution, the Commissioners determined to withhold the transmission of the joint note we had written about the expulsion of the Spaniards from Tampico until we received a reply to the one sent up by the three officers.

Although the French Commissioners finally adopted the line of conduct I have described, they evidently did so with reluctance, owing to the extreme hostility of M. de Saligny to the Juarez Government, which Admiral de la Gravière seems also anxious to get rid of, with the hope of establishing a monarchy in its place. Whether such a change would be beneficial or not remains to be proved; but if it does take place, it should proceed from the will of

the nation itself, as any suggestion coming from us on such a subject could only be looked on by the Mexicans as an unwarrantable interference on our part.

If the present Government would frankly accept the sort of amicable protection we now offer them, an immense step will have been gained; for, in such a case, they could, relying on the support of our presence, use their own forces in putting down the formidable bands of robbers and malcontents who now infest all the great public thoroughfares, and, by restoring peace to the country, thereby enable the Government to collect its revenue, and offer the protection which it owes to foreigners resident in the Republic.

Earl Russell.

C. LENNOX WYKE.

(Inclosure 1.)—Ultimatum proposed to be presented to the Mexican Government by the French Commissioners.

Vera Cruz,

LES Soussignés, Représentants de la France, ont l'honneur, ainsi qu'il est dit dans la note collective adressée en date de ce jour au Gouvernement Mexicain par les Plénipotentiaires de la France, de l'Angleterre, et de l'Espagne, de formuler comme suit l'ultimatum dont ils ont ordre d'exiger au nom du Gouvernement de Sa Majesté l'Empereur l'acceptation pure et simple par le Mexique :

ART. I. Le Mexique s'engage à payer à la France une somme de 12,000,000 piastres à laquelle est évalué l'ensemble des réclamations Françaises, en raison des faits accomplis jusqu'au 31 Juillet dernier, sauf les exceptions stipulées dans les Articles II et IV ci-dessous.

En ce qui touche les faits accomplis depuis le 31 Juillet dernier, et pour lesquels il est fait ici une réserve expresse, le chiffre des réclamations auxquelles ils pourront donner lieu contre le Mexique sera fixé ultérieurement par les Plénipotentiaires de la France.

II. Les sommes restant dues sur la Convention de 1853, qui ne sont pas comprises dans l'Article I ci-dessus, devront être payées aux ayants-droit dans la forme et en tenant compte des échéances stipulées dans la dite Convention de 1853.

III. Le Mexique sera tenu à l'exécution pleine, loyale, et immédiate du contrat conclu, au mois de Février, 1859, entre le Gouvernement Mexicain et la Maison Jecker.

IV. Le Mexique s'oblige au paiement immédiat des 11,000 piastres formant le reliquat de l'indemnité qui a été stipulée en faveur de la veuve et des enfants de M. Ricke, Vice-Consul de France à Tépic, assassiné en Octobre, 1859.

Le Gouvernement Mexicain devra en outre, et ainsi qu'il en a déjà contracté l'obligation, destituer de ses grades et emplois, et punir

d'une façon exemplaire, le Colonel Rojas, un des assassins de M. Ricke, avec la condition expresse que Rojas ne pourra plus être investi d'aucun emploi, commandement, ni fonctions publiques quelconques.

V. Le Gouvernement Mexicain s'engage également à rechercher et à punir les auteurs des nombreux assassinats commis contre des Français, notamment les meurtriers du Sieur Davesne.

VI. Les auteurs des attentats commis le 14 Août dernier, contre le Ministre de l'Empereur, et des outrages auxquels le Représentant de la France a été en butte dans les premiers jours du mois de Novembre, 1861, seront soumis à un châtiment exemplaire; et le Gouvernement Mexicain sera tenu d'accorder à la France et à son Représentant les réparations et satisfactions dues en raison de ces déplorables excès.

VII. Pour assurer l'exécution des Articles V et VI ci-dessus, et le châtiment de tous les attentats qui ont été ou qui seraient commis contre la personne de Français résidant dans la République, le Ministre de France aura toujours le droit d'assister, en tout état de cause, et par tel délégué qu'il désignera à cet effet, à toutes instructions ouverts par la justice criminelle du pays.

Il sera investi du même droit relativement à toutes poursuites criminelles intentées contre ses nationaux.

VIII. Les indemnités stipulées dans le présent ultimatum porteront de droit, à dater du 17 Juillet dernier et jusqu'à parfait paiement, un intérêt annuel de 6 pour cent.

IX. En garantie de l'accomplissement des conditions financières et autres posées par le présent ultimatum, la France aura le droit d'occuper les ports de Vera Cruz, de Tampico, et tels autres ports de la République qu'elle croira à propos, et d'y établir des Commissaires désignés par le Gouvernement Impérial, lesquels auront pour mission d'assurer la remise entre les mains des Puissances qui y auront droit des fonds qui doivent être prélevés à leur profit, en exécution des Conventions étrangères, sur le produit des douanes maritimes du Mexique, et la remise entre les mains des Agents Français des sommes dues à la France.

Les Commissaires dont il s'agit seront, en outre, investis du pouvoir de réduire, soit de moitié, soit dans une moindre proportion suivant qu'ils le jugeront convenable, les droits actuellement perçus dans les ports de la République.

Il est expressément entendu que les marchandises ayant déjà acquitté les droits d'importation ne pourront, en aucun cas ni sous aucun prétexte que ce soit, être soumis par le Gouvernement Suprême ni par les autorités des Etats à aucuns droits additionnels de douane intérieure ou autres, excédant la proportion de 15 pour cent des droits payés à l'importation.