boundary described in Article I of the present Convention shall be equally free and open to the vessels and boats of both parties; and that any islands which may be found therein, shall belong to that party on whose side of the main navigable channel they are situated. VII. The present Convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at as soon as possible, within the space of months. In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto the seals of their arms. SIR, Done at No. 140.-The Earl of Malmesbury to Mr. Wyke. Foreign Office, February 16, 1859. I THINK it right to observe that the proposed line of demarcation between the Republic of Guatemala and the British Settlement of Honduras, as described in my previous despatch of this date, is not exactly the same in terms as the line described by Mr. Stevenson to M. de Francisco Martin. In the first place, it has been deemed unnecessary to describe, in a Treaty with Guatemala, the sea-frontier, or any more of the landfrontier than that which relates to the territory of Guatemala; and, secondly, the continuation of the boundary northward from Garbutt's Falls is, in the draft, described simply by a due north line to the "Mexican frontier, instead of a line due north to Blue Creek, or to a point on the parallel of the source of Blue Creek. The object of this last alteration has been merely to make the proposed line as simple and clear as possible; the expectation of Her Majesty's Governments being, that the simpler description now proposed will make little, if any, real difference to either party in point of territory. I am, &c. Lord J. Russell. MALMESBURY. No. 141.-Lord Napier to the Earl of Malmesbury.- (Rec. Feb. 28.) MY LORD, Washington, February 15, 1859. HAVING been authorized, by the terms of your Lordship's despatch of the 24th of December last, to make, at my discretion, a communication in writing to the Secretary of State, embodying the views of Her Majesty's Government respecting the rights desired by Great Britain in the transit region, as well as with reference to the existing contracts or engagements of the Isthmus States with American citizens, I availed myself of a recent occasion to place in the hands of General Cass the accompanying extract of your Lordship's instruction above mentioned. By this communication the Secretary of State possesses a permanent record of the policy of Her Majesty's Government, which excludes all aim at separate privileges, and disclaims any wish to interfere with the existing rights of American associations, but which points to the early examination and adjustment of existing engagements in the interest of the rival Companies and of the maritime Powers. General Cass expressed his satisfaction in the views of Her Majesty's Government. The Earl of Malmesbury. I have, &c. NAPIER. (Inclosure.)—The Earl of Malmesbury to Lord Napier. (Extract.) Foreign Office, December 24, 1858. YOUR Lordship is fully aware that Her Majesty's Government have no desire to obtain for this country, by negotiations with the Governments of Central America, any advantages for British subjects which shall not be equally shared by the subjects and citizens of all other States whatsoever, and that, so long as the transit communication across the Isthmus is promptly and effectively made, it is a matter of perfect indifference to Her Majesty's Government by what association of individuals that desirable object is accomplished. Although Her Majesty's Government are of opinion that it is for the interest of all Governments, no less than of the rival Companies themselves, that any legal differences which may exist between the Companies should be speedily settled, yet Her Majesty's Government have no wish to interfere in those differences, and have, in fact, in the Drafts of Treaties which Sir William Ouseley is instructed to propose to the Governments of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, expressly declared that nothing therein contained is to be construed to affirm or deny the validity of any existing grant or contract. Lord Napier. MALMESBURY. No. 142.-The Earl of Malmesbury to Lord Lyons. MY LORD, Foreign Office, March 1, 1859. I TRANSMIT to your Lordship copies of two despatches which I addressed on the 16th ultimo to Mr. Wyke, instructing him to propose to the Government of Guatemala a Convention for the settlement of the boundary of the British Settlement of Belize. These papers are sent to your Lordship for your own information, and not with the view of your communicating them to the Government of The United States; but as Her Majesty's Government have no desire to make a secret of their proceedings which in any way bear upon the question of Central America, you may take an opportunity of mentioning to General Cass that they are endeavouring to settle with Guatemala, on the basis laid down in the Clarendon-Dallas Treaty, the boundary of the British Settlement of Belize, so far as it is conterminous with that Republic and in unison with that line of policy which I explained to Lord Napier in my despatch of the 8th of December last. Lord Lyons. I am, &c. MALMESBURY. No. 143.-Sir W. G. Ouseley to the Earl of Malmesbury. (Received March 4.) MY LORD, Leon, January 5, 1859. WITH reference to my despatch of the 28th ultimo, inclosing a copy of my address to the President of Nicaragua, on the occasion of presenting my credentials, I have now the honour to transmit a translation of his Excellency's reply, which has just reached me. The inclosed copy is made verbatim from the translation sent to me by the Nicaraguan Minister, the original Spanish not having yet been forwarded to Her Majesty's Mission. The Earl of Malmesbury. I have, &c. W. G. OUSELEY. (Inclosure.)-Reply of President Martinez to Sir W. G. Ouseley's Remarks on presenting his Credentials. MR. MINISTER, (Translation.) THOUGH the kind feelings of the august Sovereign of Great Britain and Ireland are well known and acknowledged by the people of Nicaragua, I congratulate myself on hearing them from her worthy Representative; and at the same time I am very happy to express to your Excellency the assurance of their reciprocity on the part of this Republic towards the Queen and towards the nation she so wisely rules. I highly appreciate the noble feelings by which your Excellency is animated on discharging your honourable mission, as well because they evince the principles of strict morality in which your heart is abundant, on lamenting the cruelties of foreign Vandalism in Nicaragua, as on account of the policy humanitary and of social communion, which in your interesting allocution is expressed. England no doubt is abundant in eminent men, but the appointment which from among them her august Sovereign has made in the person of Sir Gore Ouseley witnesses her happy election. The precedents of your Excellency, your social connections in the Republic of The United States, your relations of friendship with President Buchanan, and the sympathy that the reports of your' appointment produced in the Presidents and States of Central America, and especially in the men near the actual administration of Nicaragua, all promised a result satisfactory to both countries and to all the commercial nations of the world. Sir W. G. Ouseley. MARTINEZ. No. 144.-Sir W. G. Ouseley to the Earl of Malmesbury. (Received March 4.) (Extract.) Leon, January 8, 1859. THE Treaty with Nicaragua had been so far agreed upon between the Minister for Foreign Relations and myself, that I think it would have been signed to-morrow, but for the arrival of a Government courier from Greytown with despatches from your Lordship, forwarded by Mr. Consul Green. I alluded more particularly to that of the 10th of November last, which I had the honour yesterday to receive. I had agreed to some alterations and additions of either a merely verbal or unimportant character; but I had also consented, as authorized by your Lordship's instructions conveyed in your despatch of the 14th of October last, further confirmed by the tenor of your despatch of the 26th of October, to modify Article XXII in the sense of the alterations in The United States Treaty proposed by General Xeres at Washington. At the same time, I thought it advisable to strengthen and render more precise and indisputable the provisions of Article XX, giving us all the advantages enjoyed by the most favoured nations. It is most satisfactory to me to find that I had anticipated the arguments, and almost the precise words, used in your Lordship's despatch of the 10th of November, recommending that Nicaragua should accept, in the Treaties with England and France, the terms. insisted on by The United States. It was in order to hasten the completion of the Treaty that I had agreed to the alteration in question. As I now find that your Lordship prefers that Article XXII should remain as in the draft, I shall endeavour to have it re-inserted with as little delay as possible. The Earl of Malmesbury. W. G. OUSELEY. No. 145.-Sir W. G. Ouseley to the Earl of Malmesbury. (Received March 4.) MY LORD, Leon, January 15, 1859. I HAVE the honour to transmit to your Lordship copies of a letter that I lately received from Don Nasario Toledo, Minister and Secretary of State for the Foreign Relations of Costa Rica, welcoming me, on the part of the President of that State, to Central America, and of my answer to his Excellency. The Earl of Malmesbury. I have, &c. W. G. OUSELEY. (Inclosure 1.)-Señor Toledo to Sir W. G. Ouseley. (Translation.) December 16, 1858. THE Undersigned has great satisfaction in complying with the orders of his Excellency the President in offering his salutations to your Excellency, and in congratulating you on your arrival on the coasts of Central America. The intentions of Her Britannic Majesty's Government in favour of the interests of the Central American States, and especially of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, inspire, and must inspire, in their authorities the sentiments which are naturally awakened by the just, generous, and beneficent dispositions of Great Britain, and from which must result the tranquillity and welfare of those countries. The Undersigned, therefore, offers to your Excellency his sincere congratulations on your having been appointed the agent to carry out such interesting measures, as the worthy Representative of Her Britannic Majesty's wishes; and he trusts that on your visiting, as it is to be supposed you will visit, this little country, you will not fail to meet with such a favourable disposition on the part of its Government and of its people as will afford at any rate a slight compensation for the very sensible privations which a European sojourning with us must naturally suffer. Trusting that before long Costa Rica will have the honour of receiving the worthy Representative of England, the Undersigned, &c. Sir W. G. Ouseley. NASARIO TOLEDO. (Inclosure 2.)-Sir W. G. Ouseley to Señor Toledo. Leon, January 14, 1859. THE Undersigned, &c., had the honour of receiving from your Excellency the very gratifying letter of the 16th of December last, in which, by order of his Excellency the President of the Republic of Costa Rica, your Excellency welcomes the Undersigned on his arrival in Central America. He requests your Excellency to convey his respectful thanks to his Excellency the President for the obliging expressions by which he is personally greeted, and by which he feels much honoured. But he has especially the highest satisfaction in perceiving that the just and generous views of Her Britannic Majesty, and the enlightened policy that inspires her Government, are duly appreciated by the Government of which your Excellency is a distinguished member. Such sentiments as your Excellency expresses are the more pleasing to the Undersigned as they are an earnest of the readiness [1859-60. L.] L |