X. Toutes les mesures qui seront jugées nécessaires pour régler la répartition entre les parties intéressées des sommes prélevées sur le produit des douanes, ainsi que le mode et les époques de paiement des indemnités stipulées ci-dessus, comme pour garantir l'exécution des conditions du présent ultimatum, seront arrêtés de concert entre les Plénipotentiaires de la France, de l'Angleterre, et de l'Espagne.

[Neither date nor signature.]

(Inclosure 2.)-Proposed despatch from the Count de Reus to General Doblado.

EXCELLENCY,

(Translation.) Vera Cruz, January 14, 1862. THE Government of Her Catholic Majesty, whom I have the honour to represent, has instructed me to demand from the Government of this Republic the satisfaction due for the outrages committed against the Spanish nation; the reparation of the injuries inflicted on the subjects of Her Majesty who reside in the Mexican territory; and the faithful observance of the solemn compacts which bind the Mexican Government towards that of Her Catholic Majesty. In fulfilment of these instructions, I have the honour to lay before your Excellency, in clear and definite terms, what the Spanish Government demands from the Government of Mexico:

1stly. The immediate nomination of a Representative of the Republic, who will have to leave in the shortest possible time for the Court of Madrid, with the express commission to give full satisfaction for the outrage committed on Her Majesty the Queen of Spain and the Spanish nation by the expulsion of the Ambassador Don Joaquin Francisco Pacheco.

2ndly. The immediate fulfilment of the Mon-Almonte Treaty, and the payment of the interest due from the date of the said Treaty.

3rdly. The granting of indemnities to the Spanish subjects to whom they may be due, for the injuries inflicted on them by the crimes committed in the Haciendas of San Vicente and Chiconcuaque, and in the mine of San Dimas; the recognition of the right which belongs to Spain to demand compensation for the injuries suffered by subjects of Her Majesty in consequence of the oppressive acts and outrages which have been committed, or may be committed, against them; the exemplary punishment of the perpetrators of these crimes, and of the authorities who, though able to do so, did not attempt to prevent them, and the solemn promise that for the future the repetition of such atrocious excesses will be avoided.

4thly. The payment of 40,000 hard dollars as value for the

Spanish barque " Conception," unlawfully seized, for her cargo, and for the injury suffered by her owners and freighters.

Your Excellency will be pleased to state, in reply, whether or no the Mexican Government is disposed to accede to these demands within the precise period of 4 days, counted from the moment in which this communication may be placed in the hands of your Excellency.

General Doblado.

SIR,

EL CONDE DE REUS.

(Inclosure 3.)—Proposed despatch from Sir C. Wyke to
General Doblado.

Vera Cruz, January 12, 1862. IN the joint note this day addressed to His Excellency the President by the Representatives of France and Spain as well as by myself, we have pointed out the imperious necessity which has compelled the three Powers we have the honour to represent, to adopt a united action for obtaining redress for those grievances of which we have such just cause to complain in common, reserving to ourselves separately the faculty of addressing to you, each in his turn, an ultimatum which we have been instructed by our respective Governments to present for acceptation to the Government of the Mexican Republic.

That of Great Britain which I have now the honour to transmit to your Excellency is as follows:

1. That your Government will give to that of Her Majesty a positive or material guarantee for the due and punctual fulfilment of all the stipulations contained in the various Treaties, Conventions, and Agreements at present existing between England and Mexico.

2. That the 660,000 dollars forcibly taken from the British Legation, and the 279,000 and odd dollars still remaining due of the money abstracted from the "conducta" at Laguna Seca, shall be immediately repaid with 6 per cent. interest on the first-named sum, and 12 per cent. on the second, counting from the day on which the money was unlawfully appropriated by the respective authors of these outrages; and that all such sums of money owing to the London bondholders and the Convention bondholders, as were in the hands of the Custom-House authorities at the time all payments were suspended by the Law of the 17th of July last, and all such sums as in consequence of that law have been since withheld from them, shall be repaid to the owners thereof with an interest of 6 per cent. thereon.

3. That Interventors to be named by the British Government, invested with the power of reducing the import duties by one-half if they consider it necessary to do so, shall be placed at the different

ports of the Republic, with an equal control over the receipts of their Custom-Houses as is exercised by the Mexican authorities themselves, so as to secure the just and proper distribution of that portion of the duties which is assigned to both classes of bondholders by the Conventions and Agreements above alluded to.

4. That all such claims of British subjects as have been already acknowledged by the Mexican Government shall be at once liquidated, and that all others not yet fully examined into shall, if fouuded in justice and right, be also acknowledged as valid when such has been proved to be the case, and paid with as little delay as possible.

The English, French, and Spanish officers who are ordered to present the despatch to His Excellency the President, in which this note forms an inclosure, will return here in 4 days after their arrival in Mexico, and Captain Tatham of Her Majesty's Navy will be happy to take charge of any communication you may wish to forward to me in reply to this note. General Doblado.

I avail, &c.

C. LENNOX WYKE.

(Inclosure 4.)-The Allied Commissioners to the President of Mexico. Vera Cruz, le 14 Janvier, 1862.

LES Soussignés, Représentants de Sa Majesté la Reine de la Grande Bretagne, de Sa Majesté l'Empereur des Français, et de Sa Majesté la Reine d'Espagne, ont l'honneur d'exposer à votre Excellence qu'ils ont reçu de leurs Gouvernements respectifs l'ordre de lui présenter un ultimatum dans lequel se trouveront exposées leurs justes réclamations.

Des dettes sacrées et déjà reconnues par les Traités n'ont pas été acquittées; la sûreté individuelle de nos compatriotes a été compromise à un odieux système d'extorsions ont succédé le pillage et le meurtre. Un pareil état de choses devait contraindre les Gouvernements alliés à venir demander au Mexique non seulement des réparations pour le passé, mais aussi des garanties pour l'avenir; mais les Représentants soussignés, investis de la confiance de leurs Gouvernements, n'ont pas pensé qu'il leur suffirait d'exposer leurs griefs et d'en exiger la réparation immédiate.

Prenant en considération l'état actuel du Mexique, ils ont cru que leur mission pouvait avoir un but plus élevé et une fin plus généreuse.

Trois grandes nations n'ont point formé une puissante alliance uniquement pour venger les outrages dont a pu se rendre coupable vis-a-vis d'elles un peuple soumis lui-même à de cruelles épreuves. Il était plus digne d'elles, en unissant leurs armes, de tendre à ce malheureux peuple une main amie et de chercher à le sauver sans l'humilier. Le Mexique a été en proie à de trop fréquentes

convulsions; il est temps que le désordre et l'anarchie fassent place à un état normal fondé sur le respect de la loi et des droits des étrangers comme de ceux des citoyens.

Le peuple Mexicain a une existence qui lui est propre. Il a son histoire et sa nationalité. Les 3 nations alliées ne peuvent donc être soupçonnées de vouloir porter atteinte à l'indépendance du Mexique. Le rang qu'elles occupent en Europe, la loyauté dont elles ont toujours fait preuve, doivent les mettre à l'abri d'un pareil soupçon. Ce qu'elles voudraient obtenir c'est qu'un pays aussi richement doué par la Providence que l'a été le Mexique ne laissât point l'instabilité du pouvoir anéantir tant de dons précieux en entraîner fatalement la ruine de la République.

Nous venons ici pour être les témoins et au besoin les protecteurs de la régénération du Mexique. Nous venons assister à son organisation définitive sans vouloir intervenir en aucune façon dans la forme de son Gouvernement ni dans son administration intérieure. C'est au Mexique seul qu'il appartient de juger quelles sont les institutions qui lui conviennent, quelles sont celles qui s'accordent le mieux avec ses besoins et avec la civilisation du 19me siècle.

Nous pouvons montrer au peuple Mexicain quelle est la route qui le conduira surement à la prospérité. Seul il doit, sans intervention étrangère, et en obéissant à ses propres inspirations, s'engager dans cette route. C'est ainsi qu'il établira dans un pays si souvent troublé par les révolutions un ordre de choses stable et permanent. C'est ainsi qu'il trouvera facile l'accomplissement des devoirs internationaux, et qu'il pourra faire régner à l'intérieur l'ordre et la liberté.

C. LENNOX WYKE. E. JURIEN DE LA

HUGH DUNLOP.

GRAVIERE. DUBOIS DE SALIGNY.

EL CONDE DE REUS.

No. 31.-Sir C. Wyke to Earl Russell.-(Received March 2.) MY LORD,

Vera Cruz, January 25, 1862. Ar the fifth conference, which took place this morning, the principal questions brought forward were those mentioned in my despatch of the 16th instant, as having been adjourned for future consideration, namely, the collection of the Custom-House revenues and the appointment of civil authorities.

General Prim informed us that it had been found impossible to collect the duties on merchandize now in the Custom-House; that the merchants, principally German, had positively stated their inability to pay those duties in ready money; and that if we refused

to accept their bills, they would leave their goods in bond, and hold us responsible for all losses and damages thereby incurred.

That there was a scarcity of money in Vera Cruz at the present moment could not be doubted, though hardly to the extent set forward by the commercial body; yet it was equally certain that their bills on Mexico would be so much waste paper, as our object was to obtain at once a sufficient sum to defray the actual salaries of the Custom-House officers and cover other local charges and expenses.

As General Prim most truly remarked, this was a difficulty which had been overlooked by our respective Governments, who had imagined that, once Vera Cruz in the possession of the Allies, the collection of the revenue would be the simplest thing in the world -a supposition which, theoretically, looked well enough, but practically, and in the actual state of the country, could not be acted upon.

It was evident, however, that we should come to a dead-lock if matters continued as they were, and as the merchants remained obstinate, it was resolved that the matter should be referred to the Governor of the town and his Council, mentioned in my despatch of the 17th instant; our respective Consuls, as part of the Council, being requested to draw up some plan which, from their long residence here, was more likely than any other to offer some solution of this mercantile problem.

Mr. Consul Giffard having, meanwhile, drawn up, at my request, a separate plan for the proper working of the Custom-House, I presented it to my colleagues, who approved of it, and begged it might be transmitted to the Council above alluded to.

As yet nothing definitive has been settled upon these two important points, and I much fear that if the merchants determine upon making a stand, we shall be forced, against our will, to depart from the line of conduct we had laid down-to carry through all our measures in a spirit of moderation and friendship.

The next question discussed was that of the " Ayuntamiento," or Municipality.

It appeared from General Prim's statement, that this body, which had been formed by his predecessor, General Gasset, wished to resign.

As such an act at the present moment would greatly increase our embarrassments, it was agreed that we (the Commissioners) should jointly request them to continue in the discharge of their duties.

Like the merchants, however, they continue obstinate, and it remains to be seen what measures will have to be taken either for compelling the old municipality to act, or for instituting a new one.