Governor of the town, which project was returned to said Commission with a view of their adopting some alterations we suggested, in order that it might again be submitted to us in its amended form, for our final approbation. I have, &c. Earl Russell. C. LENNOX WYKE. No. 69.-Sir C. Wyke to Earl Russell.—(Received March 31.) 1 MY LORD, Vera Cruz, February 17, 1862. THE tenth Conference was held on the 15th instant, to read two letters dated the 13th, from General Doblado, Minister for Foreign Affairs, which a special courier had just brought down from the city of Mexico. In the first, which was in reply to the one we had addressed him on the 9th of this month, he informs us that, with the President's sanction, he accepts the invitation made to him to meet General Prim on the 18th instant. In the second, which is an answer to ours of the 11th, he assures us that the Mexican Government has full confidence in the subordination of General Zaragoza, who will not in any way interfere with the proposed meeting. Admiral Jurien de la Gravière having expressed the desire to be furnished with an account of the operations of the Vera Cruz Custom-House since its occupation by the Spaniards, orders were issued to the Collector to furnish a report in triplicate, one for each Commissioner, of the vessels which had come into port since that date, the merchandize imported, and of the duties which should have been recovered thereon; together with an approximate calculation of the duties that will be recoverable on such goods as are now in bond, as well as of the moneys already collected, and of the actual expenditure of the Custom-House up to the present day. I have, &c. Earl Russell. C. LENNOX WYKE. (Inclosure 1.)-General Doblado to the Allied Commissioners. (Translation.) Mexico, February 13, 1862. THE Undersigned, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Mexican Republic, has the honour to acknowledge the receipt of the note which their Excellencies the Commissioners of Great Britain, France and Spain, addressed to him on the 9th instant, from Vera Cruz, and to inform them in reply that the President is willing that he should accept the invitation for a Conference, as mentioned in the above note, and set out with full powers for Orizaba to-morrow, so as to be at the place of meeting fixed upon by the Commissioners on the 19th instant, and receive the explanations which they have referred to in their communication. The 19th has been chosen for the interview, in order to give the Undersigned time for his journey. Should, however, any unforeseen accident prevent his coming on that day, he will take care duly to advise their Excellencies. The Undersigned, &c. The Allied Commissioners. DOBLADO. (Inclosure 2.)-General Doblado to the Allied Commissioners. (Translation.) Mexico, February 13, 1862 THE Undersigned, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Mexican Republic, has the honour to acknowledge receipt of the noto addressed to him on the 11th instant by the Commissioners of the Allied Powers, and to inform them, in reply, that his Government do not consider General Zaragoza will be guilty of insubordination, and that consequently there is no reason whatever why the Conference between the Undersigned and his Excellency the Count de Reus should not take place in the manner and at the spot already agreed upon, as has been stated in a separate note to their Excellencies bearing to-day's date. The Undersigned, &c. The Allied Commissioners. DOBLADO. No. 70.-Sir C. Wyke to Earl Russell.—(Received March 31.) (Extract.) Vera Cruz, February 22, 1862. IN my despatch of the 17th instant was inclosed a copy of a letter dated the 13th, from General Doblado, accepting the invitation we had made for an interview between himself and General Prim, who was duly authorized by us to afford him such explanations on the nature of our intervention as he might require. This interview took place on the 19th instant, at the Mexican head-quarters of the Soledad, and resulted, as I had always hoped it would do, in giving a much more favourable turn to affairs than appeared at all probable a few days before. General Prim, in the conversation which ensued, was enabled to convince Señor Doblado that the rumours he had heard of our coming here with the intention of upsetting the present Government and establishing a Monarchy in its stead was false; that we were, on the contrary, bound by the stipulations of the Convention of the 31st of October last not to interfere with the free choice of the Mexicans in the form of their government; and that neither of the 3 Powers were permitted by the same stipulations to seek for any special advantage or influence in the Republic. He added, that we had come here to obtain redress for certain grievances complained of by our countrymen, as well as to see that due and proper protection was afforded to them and to their property; and that if such was given to them by the present Government, there was no reason why we should not remain friends instead of becoming enemies. Until, however, this was done, our forces must remain in the Republic, and we must retain possession of the material guarantee we had obtained by the occupation of the Castle and Port of Vera Cruz. He concluded by saying that, in the meantime, we required a more healthy locality for our troops, and that consequently their march up to the table-land of Cordova must take place at once-he hoped peaceably, and with the consent of the Mexican Government; but, in the event of that being withheld, we should force the passes and occupy the line of Cordova, Orizaba, and Jalapa. To this Señor Doblado replied, that after this frank explanation, no further doubt as to our intentions could be entertained, and that if General Prim would consent to acknowledge, in the name of himself and his colleagues, the present Government of Mexico, and would treat with them for the settlement of pending differences, they, on their part, would consent to the occupation by the allied troops of the towns of Cordova, Orizaba, and Tehuacan, the latter as being better situated for us than Jalapa. Having thus met half-way in a spirit of conciliation, the understanding was soon complete, and 6 preliminary Articles were drawn up and signed by both officers, subject to our ratification on the one side, and to that of the President of the Republic on the other. In what I have already said, I have given the substance of the first 3 Articles of this Agreement. The fourth provides for the case in which our future negotiations with this Government should fail, when it is stipulated that the allied forces should withdraw one day's march on this side of the fortified passes of Chiquihuiti and Cerro Gordo, which are considered their strongest line of defence. Article V secures the safety of the allied hospitals left at the above-named towns, which are placed under the safeguard of the Mexican nation. It is agreed by Article VI that the Mexican flag shall also be hoisted in the castle and town of Vera Cruz on the same day that the allied troops begin their march into the interior. This, of course, will in no wise interfere with our military occupation and possession of both. Señor Doblado intimated a desire that the Custom-House should be returned to the Mexican Government, subject, however, of course, to the charges we had on it, and consented to the appointment of Interventors, whose duty it would be to see that such charges were duly levied in compliance with Treaty stipulations. To this proposal General Prim could not agree without having the sanction of his colleagues, and therefore it was left for future consideration. He returned to Vera Cruz from this interview at 11 o'clock at night, when a meeting was held at his house to submit to our consideration the above-named six preliminary Articles, which I herewith inclose for your Lordship's information. Having duly approved and ratified them, they were at once sent back to Señor Doblado, who dispatched them on the following morning to Mexico for the President's ratification, which it is hoped can be received here on the 25th instant. This meeting formed our twelfth Conference. The decree alluded to, which gave rise to some discussion in the above-named conference is, in point of fact, only a compilation of a number of bygone edicts against the abettors of rebellion and foreign invasion in general, which have been put together and once more brought forward for the present occasion; so that as it will probably again become a dead letter, we thought it much better on the whole not to take any serious notice of it, as, by doing so, we should only be giving undue importance to that which in itself, is an absurdity from the exaggerated severity of its enactments. If the President sanctions the agreement entered into with Señor Doblado, the allied troops begin the forward movement, as sickness among them is hourly increasing. This has taken place in what is considered as the healthy season, so that your Lordship may imagine what the mortality would be when the hot weather regularly sets in next month. Earl Russell. C. LENNOX WYKE. (Inclosure 1.)—Preliminaries agreed on between the Count de Reus and General Doblado. (Translation.) La Soledad, February 19, 1862. 1. As the Constitutional Government which at present rules in the Mexican Republic has made known to the Commissioners of the allied Powers that it is not in want of the help that they have so benevolently offered to the Mexican people, since it possesses in itself the elements of strength and of public opinion sufficient to preserve itself against any intestine revolt whatever, the allies from this time enter into negotiations ("entran en el terreno de los tratados") in order to adjust ("formalizar") all the claims that they have to make in the name of their respective nations. 2. Accordingly, and protesting as do protest the Representatives of the allied Powers, that they will attempt nothing against the independence, sovereignty, and integrity of the territory of the Republic, the negotiations will be opened in Orizaba, to which city will repair the Commissioners and two of the Ministers of the Government of the Republic, except in the case that by common consent it should be arranged to name Representatives delegated by both parties. 3. During the negotiations, the forces of the allied Powers will occupy the towns of Cordova, Orizaba, and Tehuacan, with their natural limits. 4. In order that it may not in the most remote degree be believed that the allies have signed these preliminaries in order to obtain the passage of the fortified positions garrisoned by the Mexican army, it is stipulated that in the unfortunate event of the negotiations being broken off, the forces of the allies will retire. from the said towns, and will place themselves in the line that is beyond the said fortifications, on the Vera Cruz side; Paso Ancho on the Cordova road, and Paso de Ovejas on that of Jalapa, being the principal extreme points. 5. Should the unfortunate event of the breaking off of negotiations take place, and the Allied troops retire to the line indicated in the preceding Article, the hospitals that the Allies may have will remain under the protection of the Mexican nation. 6. The day on which the Allied troops commence their march to occupy the places marked out in the 3rd Article, the Mexican flag shall be hoisted in the city of Vera Cruz, and on the castle of San Juan de Ulloa. Approved, C. LENNOX WYKE. HUGH DUNLOP. Approuvé les préliminaires ci-dessus, E. JURIEN. D. DE SALIGNY. EL CONDE DE REUS. (Inclosure 2.)-Protocol of the Twelfth Conference of the Allied (Translation.) Commissioners. IN the city of Vera Cruz, at 11 o'clock on the night of the 19th day of February of 1862, being assembled their Excellencies the Plenipotentiaries and Commanders of the Forces of the allied nations, and after the Protocol of the preceding Conference has been approved, the sitting is opened. The Count de Reuss addresses the meeting, in order to give an account to his colleagues of what had taken place in the Conference that he had had that very day, the 19th, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, and he does so in the following terms: "As agreed on, I started from Vera Cruz at dawn, on my way to Soledad; at a league from the said place Generals Doblado and Zaragoza were waiting for me with a carriage, and I continued my journey with those gentlemen, escorted by a squadron of Mexican carabineers. "As soon as we arrived at the Soledad, General Doblado and I went to a separate dwelling, and began our conference. "I found in the General a superior and intelligent person, and |