made by the authority to which you are accredited, which would be the most likely to be informed of such interference if it did exist, and the first to feel aggrieved thereby; your knowledge of the established policy of this Government in that respect, and its decided repugnance to all intermeddling in the internal concerns of other States; your own assurance to the contrary, and the confidence which the President reposes in your discretion and patriotism, secure him from the apprehension that the present embarrassed state of our affairs with that country is attributable to the indiscretion of the representative of the United States. But, howsoever produced, the fact is indubitable, that there exist towards you, in Mexico, feelings of the most hostile and injurious character; and the President regrets to find in the acts and omissions of the Federal Government the most convincing evidence that those prejudices, professedly personal to yourself, have exerted a sinister influence upon its conduct towards the country which you represent. Of the friendly feelings of President Guerrero there can be no doubt; but it is obvious that this amicable disposition is rendered altogether inoperative by the peculiar circumstances in which he is placed. This state of things must render your situation in the last degree unpleasant to yourself, and worse than unavailing in regard to a beneficial discharge of your official duties. From your despatches, and the communications of Commodore Porter, the President infers that such are your own views of the matter; and he learns from him that, disposed to avail yourself of the permission given by the late administration to return to this country, you wait only the course of events and the approbation of your Government to do so. The President directs me to say that he not only fully concurs in the propriety of your return, but is entirely satisfied that, unless the state of affairs in Mexico has undergone an almost total change since Commodore Porter left you, such a step on your part is indispensable to the public interest. He therefore gives his assent to your resignation of the office of envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States to the republic of Mexico; and has, as you will perceive by the accompanying papers, made provision for this event. It is, however, his anxious wish that your return should not be attended by any circumstance which might wear the appearance of censure, or afford countenance to the imputations of your enemies. A measure of that character would, from all that has as yet appeared, not only be unjust as it respects yourself, but also implicate the credit of this Government in regard to the support and protection due to those who represent the character and interests of our country abroad. He has, therefore, instructed me to say, that if so effectual a change of sentiment towards yourself shall have occurred since the date of your last despatches as to render your continuance at Mexico personally agreeable, and also satisfy you, beyond all reasonable doubt, that by continuing in your present station you can carry into effect the views of this Government in regard to the affairs which have been committed to you, it will then accord with his wishes that you remain where you are. In this event, you will return the papers intended for your successor. In deciding the question as to the selection of a proper person to represent this Government as chargé d'affaires near that of Mexico, the propriety of conferring that appointment upon Mr. Mason, the present secretary of legation, has been attentively considered. It would have afforded the President sincere pleasure to give that evidence of his confidence in Mr. Mason, and of his desire to promote his success in the pursuit to which he has devoted so much of his time, could this have been done consistently with his views of the public interest. He is, however, constrained, by considerations which it is not necessary here to state, to believe that the selection of Mr. Mason would, under existing circumstances, be inconsistent with the reasons which have induced his consent to your return. His views on the subject have been communicated to General Mason, and, I am happy to be able to say, meet with his concurrence. The President has conferred the appointment on Colonel Anthony Butler, of the State of Mississippi, who possesses qualifications peculiarly adapted to the station, and who will probably have arrived at Mexico before this despatch comes to your hands. Colonel Butler's commission, instructions, and other papers, are herewith sent. You will, in the event of its becoming necessary by your determination to return, embrace the earliest opportunity to present this gentleman to the Government of Mexico in his official character, and to instruct him fully in the unfinished business of the legation. On taking leave of President Guerrero, the President directs you to say that the United States are now, as they always have been, sincerely anxious to cultivate and maintain the most friendly relations with the republic of Mexico; that, the misrepresentations of the enemies of both to the contrary notwithstanding, it is nevertheless undeniably true that, from the foundation of that republic to the present day, every act of this Government towards her has been in strict accordance with the dictates of sincere and disinterested friendship; and that he considers himself as affording renewed evidence of the continuance of this friendly concern for her success and welfare in the promptness with which he renews the diplomatic relations between the two countries, interrupted by your retirement under circunstances the nature and tendency of which no one more fully understands or can better appreciate than President Guerrero; that it gives him pain to be compelled to view the course of the Mexican Government towards this country as altogether the reverse of what it would have been if the friendly and just sentiments of the United States had been as cordially reciprocated as they were sincerely entertained; that your successor has been fully instructed to represent, respectfully, but freely and firmly, the particular facts and circumstances which have forced. this conclusion upon the mind of the President, and is authorized and directed to contribute all in his power to subdue unjust prejudices, and work out a more auspicious state of things. He desires you, also, to express his apprehension that, unless a marked change is effected in the relations between the two countries, and that speedily, it will not, with the best intentions on his part, be in his power to prevent irritations, and possible collisions, which could not fail to prove injurious to the best interests of both republics, and to bring discredit on the cause of free government. He is persuaded that no one would more bitterly deplore so calamitous a result than President Guerrero; and he therefore enjoins it upon you to solicit his good offices for the preservation of peace and honest friendship, and authorizes you to promise a sincere and hearty cooperation on his part in whatever shall be calculated to promote them. The President considers it due to you, that in your interviews with the public functionaries of Mexico, you should be at liberty to speak without reserve of the election given in relation to your retirement; being fully satisfied that this permission will be used only so far as may be necessary to the vindication and preservation of your character, and at all times in subserviency to the permanent interests of your country. I am, with great respect, your obedient servant, JOEL R. POINSETT, Esq. M. VAN BUREN. Envoy Extraordinary and Min. Plen. U. S. at Mexico. OCTOBER 17, 1829. P. S. After this despatch had been fully prepared, and when the messenger was upon the point of leaving the city, a communication was received at this Department from the chargé d'affaires of the United Mexican States, requesting your recall in the name of his Government. In making this request, the Mexican Government exercises a right secured to it by the public law; and the motives which have influenced it in the adoption of the measure, as explained by Mr. Montoya, are, moreover, such as to entitle it to the most respectful consideration of the President, and to leave him, in his judgment, no alternative but that of a compliance with the application thus made on the part of the President of Mexico. He is, therefore, constrained to revoke the election above given you to remain or return according to circumstances, and to direct a discontinuance of your official functions as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States near the Government of the United Mexican States. The terms of the preceding communication, prepared before this application was made, will speak for the personal feelings of the President; and he looks to your intelligence and patriotism for a ready acquiescence on your part in the necessity of the course he has adopted. The delay unavoidably attendant upon any other, and the consequent danger to the public interest, would constitute insuperable. objections to its adoption. It is proper that I should say that the communication made to this Government by that of Mexico has evidently not originated in feelings of unkindness towards you personally. It alleges that public opinion has pronounced against you, in the most general, decided, and conclusive manner, in nearly all the States of the confederacy. It does not, however, affirm the truth of the charges which have been made against you, otherwise or farther than might be inferred from its statements that the public clamor against you has extended itself to the public authorities, to men of education, and to many who have been heretofore regarded as your friends. The President can well conceive that, in a state of things like that which exists in Mexico, there may be found sufficient motives for men of intelligence, including even those who, under other circumstances, would wish to be regarded as your friends, to yield themselves to the prevailing current, without being convinced of its justice. In the absence of a contrary allegation on the part of the Mexican Government, and confiding in your assurances, he still allows himself to believe that the prejudices which exist against you are without just cause. He therefore directs me to say to you that your recall is not to be regarded as founded on the assumption of ascertained misconduct; but on grounds reconcileable with your innocence of the imputations which have been cast upon you. This communication, together with the papers for Colonel Butler, will be delivered to you by Lieutenant Andrew Ross, of the marine corps, who is despatched as a special messenger for the purpose, and on whose intelligence, fidelity, and firmness the most implicit reliance may be placed. Among the papers will be found a copy of the instructions given by the Navy Department to Captain Conner, of the Erie, by which he is directed to obey your wishes in regard to your return in that vessel, if it should be most agreeable to you to do so. You will please deliver to Colonel Butler the papers intended for him, in a suitable time after the receipt of them; and the President submits it to your discretion to make such a modification of your address to President Guerrero, on taking leave of him, as is rendered proper by the character of this addition to your original instructions. Herewith, marked B, is your letter of recall, with a copy of the same to be communicated to the Minister of Foreign Affairs on your asking an audience of the President to deliver the original and to take leave of him. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, M. VAN BUREN. B. Andrew Jackson, President of the United States of America, to his excellency the President of the United Mexican States. GREAT AND GOOD FRIEND: The chargé d'affaires of the United Mexican States, near this Government, having communicated to me your excellency's desire that the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States of America, accredited by your excellency's Government, should, for reasons explained by him, be recalled from his present mission, I have thought proper, after full deliberation upon the subject of your excellency's request, and duly appreciating the motives by which you have been actuated in making it, and also with a view to remove every obstacle to the speedy termination of the important negotiations between the two republics, to comply with your excellency's desire. I have accordingly directed Mr. Poinsett to take leave of your excellency, and to convey to you the assurance of the continuance of our friendly sentiments towards the republic of Mexico; and in the full persuasion that this proceeding will be viewed by your excellency as an additional proof of the sincerity of these sentiments, I have designated a person to succeed Mr. Poinsett as the representative of this Government near that of your excellency, who will be instructed to repeat to you the expression of our desire to cement and perfect the bonds of friendship which unite the two nations, by a conclusion of the negotiations now pending between them. And so I recommend you to the protection of the Almighty. By the President: M. VAN BUREN, Secretary of State. No. 35. Mr. Van Buren to Mr. Poinsett. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 30, 1829. SIR: The enclosed despatch has been prepared and addressed to Colonel Butler, in the expectation that, ere it came to hand, the special messenger bearing your recall, and his commission as chargé d'affaires to succeed you, will have reached Mexico, and that the colonel will have been accredited as the official organ of diplomatic communication with the Mexican Government. Should, however, this expectation have been disappointed, and accident have delayed the arrival of Colonel Butler, or the receipt of his commission, you are requested, if this letter finds you still in the discharge of your official duties, to open the despatch herein sent, and to conform yourself to its contents, as if it were addressed to you in your character of envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the United States near the republic of Mexico. I am, with great respect, your obedient servant, JOEL R. POINSETT, Esq. M. VAN BUREN. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of No. 2. Mr. Van Buren to Mr. Butler. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, October 16, 1829. SIR: The President has conferred upon you the appointment of chargé d'affaires to represent the United States near the Government of Mexico; and you will receive herewith your commission, full power, credentials, and personal instructions. This appointment has been made in the expectation of Mr. Poinsett's return to the United States, and is altogether dependent upon his determination on that point, according to which your commission will be delivered to you or withheld by him. The instructions given, from time to time, by the late administration of this Government to Mr. Poinsett, with such explanations as he will furnish, together with the instructions recently sent from this Department, and with which you have been made fully acquainted, will place you in possession of all the information necessary to a prompt and faithful discharge of your official duties. From a full and deliberate review of the course which Mexico has allowed herself to pursue towards us, the President is well satisfied that but little of real advantage to the country can be expected from your labors until an entire change be effected in the disposition of that republic towards the United States. He hopes that, by a plain and candid exposi |