the government at home had countenanced the scheme. He referred the noble lord to what had been before stated relative to the conduct of Governor Lyttleton, in 1763, and of Lord George Germaine, in 1777, as an ample proof that, let what would have been the state of the Mosquito shore, or the opinion of this country, in 1744 or 1748, the idea of settling there had been changed completely since, and the fortifications recently abandoned and withdrawn.' After some further debate, (the particulars of which are not given,) the question was taken and decided against Lord Rawdon's motion to condemn the convention by a vote of fifty-three to seventeen.* Nothing could be more fatal-not the treaty of 1786 itself-to the pretensions set up by Great Britain for herself and the Mosquito Indians than this debate and the vote on the motion to censure the treaty of 1786. The lords who supported the motion of censure on the administration, for having made the treaty, assert, it is true, that Great Britain and her ally, the Mosquitos, had rights before the treaty of 1786, but admit that these rights were given up by that treaty. This position destroys the pretensions of Great Britain, both for herself and the Mosquitos, of having rights there after that treaty. On the other hand, Lord Thurlow, in his defence of the administration, denied all claims on the part of the Mosquito Indians, as well as on the part of Great Britain, except what was given by the clause relative to the Belize. His position, which was concurred in by nearly the whole house of lords, is therefore equally fatal to these pretensions of the British government. In one view or the other, the vote of the whole house of lords is an acknowledgment that Great Britain, after 1786, had no rights whatever in Central America, or in that vicinity, except the limited usufruct to a small tract of country-the Belize not claimed as a part of Central America, and that the Mosquito Indians had no sovereign rights to any territory whatever. The acts of parliament show that Great Britain had no dominion. there-none even in the Belize-and by four treaties, three with Spain and one with the United States, (that of the 19th of April, 1850,) she has precluded herself from interposing in the affairs of Central America. I therefore trust you will encounter but little difficulty in inducing her to abandon unfounded pretensions, and to respect these solemn treaty stipulations. The whole Central American question, so far as Great Britain has seen fit to connect herself with it, is entirely confided to your management, under such instructions as you may from time to time desire, or such as the President may consider himself called upon to furnish, in the progress of the discussions which may arise theron. * * * * * * I am sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, * * * JAMES BUCHANAN, Esq., dc., &c. W. L. MARCY. * This debate is found more at large in Parliamentary Register, 1787, vol. 22. [No. 11.] Mr. Marcy to Mr. Buchanan. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, September 12, 1853. SIR: Your two dispatches, No. 3, (July 27,) and No. 4, (August 24,) have been received. I herewith transmit to you the President's full power to conclude a treaty with Great Britain in regard to the Central American questions. A copy of the dispatch of her majesty's principal secretary of state for foreign affairs to Mr. Crampton, containing the "overtures," &c., dated January 19, 1853, was forwarded to you from this department on the 30th of July last. I do not find any other document on file in the State Department containing overtures, &c., on the Central American questions, but it is probable that in the conferences between my predecessors and the British minister, in relation to the Mosquito protectorate and the affairs of San Juan, (Greytown,) overtures may have been suggested by him. The general views of the President in regard to Central American affairs were presented in the first instructions with which you were furnished. The President did not deem it necessary to be more explicit as to the points of difference which might arise until he was fully possessed of the views of her majesty's government. The main object to be accomplished is to induce the British government to withdraw from all interference in the political affairs of Central American States and the adjacent islands. It is quite evident, judging by communications received from her majesty's government, particularly in regard to the difficulties at San Juan de Nicaragua, that a difference of opinion between it and the United States exists as to the construction and effect of the Clayton and Bulwer treaty, but how wide that difference is, and on what particular points it is raised, have not yet been very clearly disclosed. This difference will be, as the President presumes, fully known when these matters shall be brought by you under the consideration of the British government. Your intimate knowledge of the subject in all its bearings, and of the general views of the President which are embodied in your instructions, will enable you to cover the whole American ground in opening the negotiation. How much will be conceded and how much contested by Great Britain remains to be seen. Until points of difference are discussed, and the views opposed to those here entertained are fully considered, the President does not deem it advisable to fix on ultimata. These, if desired in a more advanced state of the negotiation, will be furnished. In relation to the Belize I believe your instructions are sufficiently explicit. To the territorial extent, and for the limited uses, described in her treaty of 1786 with Spain, Great Britain has a right to continue in possession of that country. Though the United States cannot claim as a matter of right that she shall altogether withdraw from Belize, it is a very important object to prevail on her to give up that territory, now regarded as of very little value. This government is not aware that Great Britain claims to have full sovereignty over it; but, if she does, the United States would contest that claim, and regard the assertion of it as an infringement of the Monroe doctrinea doctrine which it is the policy of the President to maintain. I believe Great Britain has never defined the character of her claim to possess what is called "the colony of the Bay Islands." It does not appear to be one of her organized colonies. She has not, in explicit language, claimed sovereignty over it, though her acts have indicated such a purpose. Whatever may have been her rights or pretension to rights over this colony, they were all given up, according to the view here taken of the subject, by the Clayton and Bulwer treaty. The President cannot conceive that Great Britain can have any plausible grounds for excepting this possession from the operation of that treaty, and he is quite sure she can allege none to which he could concede; yet he thinks it the wiser course to give her an opportunity to explain her views thereon before presenting a solemn and formal protest against her further occupancy of that colony. The President expects that you will treat this subject in such a manner as to leave no doubt on the minds of her majesty's ministers that the abandonment of that colony will be insisted on by the United States. It is presumed that the only part of that colony to which England will be disposed to attach much value, or have any inducement to retain, is the island of Ruatan. From an intimation made to me, it may be that she will take the position that this island does not belong to any of the Central American States, but it is to be regarded in the same condition as one of the West India islands. By reference to the treaties between Great Britain and Spain, you will find this island clearly recognized as a Spanish possession, and a part of the old viceroyalty of Guatemala. Should an attempt be made to distinguish between this island and the States of Central America, upon the ground above suggested, it is probable that more full information than we now have in regard to that subject may be obtained from, or through, Mr. Molina, the diplomatic representative near this government from Costa Rica and Guatemala. On receiving an intimation from you that further information thereon may be necessary, every effort will be here made to procure and forward it to you. A copy of the convention of the 8th of February last will be forwarded to you. With this will be sent a copy of the Congressional Globe, if it can be procured, containing the debates of the last session of Congress, and the called session of the Senate. I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, JAMES BUCHANAN, Esq., &c., &c., &c. W. L. MARCY. Mr. Marcy to Mr. Buchanan. [No. 21.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, December 1, 1853. SIR: Your dispatch (No. 16) of the 12th ultimo, came to hand yes terday, and was laid before the President. He approves entirely of the suggestion made by you to Lord Clarendon to place the Mosquito Indians in the same relation to Nicaragua that our own Indians sustain to the United States, since it is in strict accordance with the views of this government on the subject, as will be seen from the following extract from the department's instructions to Mr. Borland, under date of the 17th of June last: "Admitting these Indians to be what the United States and Nicaragua regard them-a savage tribe, having only possessory rights to the country they occupy, and not the sovereignty of it-they cannot fairly be required to yield up their actual possessions without some compensation. Might not this most troublesome element in this Central American question be removed by Nicaragua, in a way_just_in itself, and entirely compatible with her national honor? Let her arrange this matter as we arrange those of the same character with the Indian tribes inhabiting portions of our own territory. I think it would be proper for you to urge upon Nicaragua this view of the subject. An inconsiderable annuity secured to the Mosquitos for their right of occupancy to the country in their possession given up to Nicaragua, would, I believe, cause the British government to abandon their protectorate over them; assurance of this is given to the United States. Such a course would not, in my opinion, be an acknowledgment, directly or by implication, of the rightful interference by the government of Great Britain in the Mosquito question." The sequel of the agreement between Messrs. Webster and Crampton, about which enquiry is made by you, was an instruction to Mr. Kerr, the chargé d'affaires of the United States to Nicaragua, directing him to present the agreement to the Nicaraguan government for its assent thereto. He complied with the instruction, but the application was rejected. Mr. Walsh was also sent to the republic of Costa Rica, as a special agent of this government, with instructions to present the agreement to the consideration of the government of that republic. This he did, and it was accepted by the Costa Rican government. The department has no spare copy of the document containing the letter of Lord Palmerston to Mr. Castillon, asked for by you; but if you will turn to the tenth volume of Executive Documents, 1st session 31st Congress, page 304, the letter referred to may there be found. As it regards your enquiry about the number of the Mosquito Indians, I am unable to ascertain, with any degree of certainty, what that number is. I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, JAMES BUCHANAN, Esq., &c., &c., &c. W. L. MARCY. [No. 19.] Mr. Buchanan to Mr. Marcy. [Extracts.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatches Nos. 20, 21, 22, and 23, of 19th November, and 1st, 3d, and 16th December, respectively. * * I have not deemed it advisable to press the Central American negotiation since my last interview with Lord Clarendon in November. The causes for this delay have been, the unsettled condition of the British cabinet in consequence of the resignation of Lord Palmerston, and his subsequent withdrawal of that resignation, the state of the Russo-Turkish question, to which the ministry have been devoting themselves fruitlessly, as it is now believed, to the task of preventing a war between Great Britain and Russia, and the desire which I felt to receive your instructions in regard to the suggestion which I had made to Lord Clarendon, that the Mosquito Indians might be placed in the same relation to Nicaragua that our own Indians sustain to the United States. Your satisfactory dispatch (No. 21) has removed all doubts on this latter subject. I have reason to believe that my omission to press the Central American questions at the present most important crisis between Great Britain and Russia, has been properly appreciated by Lord Clarendon. On Monday last, however, I addressed his lordship a note, requesting an interview, to which I have received his answer, appointing to-morrow (Friday) at half-past three o'clock for our meeting, too late for the next steamer. Indeed, I had reason to expect that ere this he would himself have taken the initiative, and have invited me to an interview. * * I am, sir, &c., * * * * * JAMES BUCHANAN. Hon. W. L. MARCY, &c., &c., &c., Washington. [No. 20.] Mr. Buchanan to Mr. Marcy. [Extracts.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, SIR: I had a long interview on Friday last with Lord Clarendon at the foreign office. We had much desultory and pleasant conversation. on various topics; but in my report I shall confine myself to the substance of what passed between us in relation to the pending questions between the two governments. After our conversation had ended on the fishery and reciprocity |