As to the third fact, without stopping to dwell on its ex-parte character, I have reason to think that the move was made in Jamaica at the instance, among others, of this Mr. Edwards, who drew up, to further it, the memorial above alluded to. To show how little the government at home entered into it, in 1776 a vessel called the Morning Star, with certain Indians on board, who had been to England to aid in putting down the practice of selling the Indians into slavery, was seized by the Spanish Guarda Costas on its return to Mosquito. The owners brought the subject before Parliament, presenting with their petition Mr. Edwards' memorial. After a long debate, in which it was asserted that the seizure was justifiable, as the treaty had been violated, Parliament refused to entertain the subject.

I have now examined the only evidence adduced in support of the English claim to a protectorate, and, unless I deceive myself, it dwindles into insignificance. I now resume the historical thread.

The English settlers were lax in conforming to the provisions of the treaty of 1783, the territory allotted to them being found to be too small, and the eighteen months passed away without their removal. Spain began to complain of this infraction, and the result was the treaty of 1786, which, besides, enlarging the territory to be occupied by the English, and making various regulations about it, contains the following provisions:

*

I. His Britannic Majesty's subjects, and the other colonists who have hitherto enjoyed the protection of England, shall evacuate the country of the Mosquitos, &c. XI. * In this view His Britannic Majesty engages to give the most positive orders for the evacuation of the country above mentioned by all his subjects, of whatever denomination; but if, contrary to such declaration, there should still remain any persons so daring as to presume, by retiring into the interior of the country, to endeavor to obstruct the entire evacuation already agreed upon, His Britannic Majesty, so far from affording them the least succor, or even protection, will disavow them in the most solemn manner, as he will equally do those who may hereafter attempt to settle upon the territory belonging to the Spanish dominion.

XIV. His Catholic Majesty, prompted solely by motives of humanity, promises to the King of England that he will not exercise any act of severity against the Mosquitos inhabiting in part the countries which are to be evacuated by virtue of the present convention on account of the connections which may have subsisted between the said Indians and the English.

*

This was looked upon as an abandonment by England. It was so avowed in Parliament in a debate on a motion to impeach the ministry. Bryan Edwards admits it in the foot-note cited above. The Mosquito settlers themselves considered it so, and put in a claim to Parliament for damages, which was allowed. Extracts from their statement of the grounds of their claim have found their way into the appendix to the Mosquito correspondence of 1848, under the title of "Extracts from McGregor's Commercial Tariffs, Part XVII."

Still later, in the Quarterly Review for October, 1822, article VIII, in a review of a work on Mosquito Shore by one Captain Strangeway, is the following strong language. After saying that

The whole of the Mosquito Shore and Honduras and the town of Poyais have for many centuries belonged to Spain, and have been considered as constituent portions of the kingdom of Mexico, not one foot of which was ever held by the English, except occasionally during a war, by the buccaneers, or more recently by the logwood cutters; and reviewing the treaties of 1783 and 1786, the writer says:

Nothing can more clearly establish the sole right of Spain to these territories than the treaty and convention above mentioned. We never had any business there. The simple fact is that the Mosquito Indians have always borne an inveterate dislike to the Spaniards. The Duke of Albemarle, when governor of Jamaica, fostered that dislike, and invested one of the Indians with a commission as chief of the Mosquitos, under the protection of England; a foolish ceremony, which was exercised long after

S. Ex. 194- -6

by his successor, just as we now make King Toms and King Jacks among the negroes of Western Africa; but, if treaties are to be considered as at all binding, it is quite clear that we have not the right, nor even the permission of residence on the Mosquito Shore, and that we cut logwood and mahogany on the shores of Honduras Bay only by sufferance.

It is worthy of remark that in a reply to the Review, published in 1823, is the admission that "this territory belongs to Spain."

*

I have, &c.,

ABBOTT LAWRENCE.

24.-Clayton-Bulwer treaty of April 19, 1850.

The United States of America and Her Britannic Majesty, being desirous of consolidating the relations of amity which so happily subsist between them, by setting forth and fixing in a convention their views and intentions with reference to any means of communication by shipcanal which may be constructed between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by the way of the river San Juan de Nicaragua and either or both of the Lakes of Nicaragua or Managua, to any port or place on the Pacific Ocean, the President of the United States has conferred full powers on John M. Clayton, Secretary of State of the United States, and Her Britannic Majesty on the Right Honorable Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, a member of Her Majesty's most honorable privy council, knight commander of the most honorable Order of the Bath, and envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of Her Britannic Majesty to the United States, for the aforesaid purpose; and the said plenipotentiaries having exchanged their full powers, which were found to be in proper form, have agreed to the following articles:

ARTICLE I.

The Governments of the United States and Great Britain hereby declare that neither the one nor the other will ever obtain or maintain for itself any exclusive control over the said ship-canal; agreeing that neither will ever erect or maintain any fortifications commanding the same or in the vicinity thereof, or occupy, or fortify, or colonize, or assume, or exercise any dominion over Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito coast, or any part of Central America; nor will either make use of any protection which either affords or may afford, or any alliance which either has or may have to or with any state or people, for the purpose of erecting or maintaining any such fortifications, or of occupying, fortifying, or colonizing Nicaragua, Costa Rica, the Mosquito coast, or any part of Central America, or of assuming or exercising dominion over the same; nor will the United States or Great Britain take advantage of any intimacy, or use any alliance, connection, or influ ence that either may possess with any state or government through whose territory the said canal may pass, for the purpose of acquiring or holding, directly or indirectly, for the citizens or subjects of the one, any rights or advantages in regard to commerce or navigation through the said canal which shall not be offered on the same terms to the citizens or subjects of the other.

ARTICLE II.

Vessels of the United States or Great Britain traversing the said canal shall, in case of war between the contracting parties, be exempted from

blockade, detention, or capture by either of the belligerents; and this provision shall extend to such a distance from the two ends of the said canal as may hereafter be found expedient to establish.

ARTICLE III.

In order to secure the construction of the said canal, the contracting parties engage that if any such canal shall be undertaken upon fair and equitable terms by any parties having the authority of the local government or governments through whose territory the same may pass, then the persons employed in making the said canal, and their property used, or to be used, for that object, shall be protected, from the commencement of the said canal to its completion, by the Governments of the United States and Great Britain, from unjust detention, confiscation, seizure, or any violence whatsoever.

ARTICLE IV.

The contracting parties will use whatever influence they respectively exercise with any state, states, or governments, possessing or claiming to possess any jurisdiction or right over the territory which the said canal shall traverse, or which shall be near the waters applicable thereto, in order to induce such states or governments to facilitate the construction of the said canal by every means in their power. And furthermore, the United States and Great Britain agree to use their good offices, wherever or however it may be most expedient, in order to procure the establishment of two free ports, one at each end of the said canal.

ARTICLE V.

The contracting parties further engage, that when the said canal shall have been completed, they will protect it from interruption, seizure, or unjust confiscation, and that they will guarantee the neutrality thereof, so that the said canal may forever be open and free, and the capital invested therein secure. Nevertheless, the Governments of the United States and Great Britain, in according their protection to the construction of the said canal, and guaranteeing its neutrality and security when completed, always understand that this protection and guarantee are granted conditionally, and may be withdrawn by both governments, or either government, if both governments, or either government, should deem that the persons or company undertaking or managing the same adopt or establish such regulations concerning the traffic thereupon as are contrary to the spirit and intention of this convention, either by making unfair discriminations in favor of the commerce of one of the contracting parties over the commerce of the other, or by imposing op. pressive exactions or unreasonable tolls upon passengers, vessels, goods, wares, merchandise, or other articles. Neither party, however, shall withdraw the aforesaid protection and guarantee without first giving six months' notice to the other.

ARTICLE VI.

The contracting parties in this convention engage to invite every state with which both or either have friendly intercourse to enter into stipulations with them similar to those which they have entered into with each other, to the end that all other states may share in the honor and advantage of having contributed to a work of such general interest and importance as the canal herein contemplated. And the contracting parties likewise

agree that each shall enter into treaty stipulations with such of the Central American States as they may deem advisable, for the purpose of more effectually carrying out the great design of this convention, namely, that of constructing and maintaining the said canal as a ship communication between the two oceans for the benefit of mankind, on equal terms to all, and of protecting the same; and they also agree, that the good offices of either shall be employed, when requested by the other, in aiding and assisting the negotiation of such treaty stipulations; and should any differences arise as to right or property over the territory through which the said canal shall pass between the states or governments of Central America, and such differences should in any way impede or obstruct the execution of the said canal, the Governments of the United States and Great Britain will use their good offices to settle such differences in the manner best suited to promote the interests of the said canal, and to strengthen the bonds of friendship and alliance which exist between the contracting parties.

ARTICLE VII.

It being desirable that no time should be unnecessarily lost in commencing and constructing the said canal, the Governments of the United States and Great Britain determine to give their support and encouragement to such persons or company as may first offer to commence the same, with the necessary capital, the consent of the local authorities, and on such principles as accord with the spirit and intention of this convention; and if any persons or company should already have, with any state through which the proposed ship canal may pass, a contract for the construction of such a canal as that specified in this convention, to the stipulations of which contract neither of the contracting parties in this convention have any just cause to object, and the said persons or company shall moreover have made preparations, and expended time, money, and trouble, on the faith of such contract, it is hereby agreed that such persons. or company shall have a priority of claim over every other person, persons, or company to the protection of the Governments of the United States and Great Britain, and be allowed a year from the date of the exchange of the ratifications of this convention for concluding their arrangements, and presenting evidence of sufficient capital subscribed to accomplish the contemplated undertaking; it being understood that if, at the expiration of the aforesaid period, such persons or company be not able to commence and carry out the proposed enterprise, then the Governments of the United States and Great Britain shall be free to afford their protection to any other persons or company that shall be prepared to commence and proceed with the construction of the canal in question.

ARTICLE VIII.

The Governments of the United States and Great Britain having not only desired, in entering into this convention, to accomplish a particular object, but also to establish a general principle, they hereby agree to extend their protection, by treaty stipulations, to any other practicable communications, whether by canal or railway, across the isthmus which connects North and South America, and especially to the inter-oceanic communications, should the same prove to be practicable, whether by canal or railway, which are now proposed to be established by the way of Tehuantepec or Panama. In granting, however, their joint protection to any such canals or railways as are by this article specified, it is always understood by the United States and Great Britain that the

parties constructing or owning the same shall impose no other charges or conditions of traffic thereupon than the aforesaid governments shall approve of as just and equitable; and that the same canals or railways, being open to the citizens and subjects of the United States and Great Britain on equal terms, shall also be open on like terms to the citizens and subjects of every other state which is willing to grant thereto such protection as the Uunited States and Great Britain engage to afford.

ARTICLE IX.

The ratifications of this convention shall be exchanged at Washington within six months from this day, or sooner if possible.

In faith whereof, we, the respective plenipotentiaries, have signed this convention, and have hereunto affixed our seals.

Done at Washington, the nineteenth day of April, anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and fifty.

JOHN M. CLAYTON.

HENRY LYTTON BULWER.

[L. S. [L.S.

25.-Sir H. L. Bulwer to Lord Palmerston.

[Extract.]

WASHINGTON, April 28, 1850. (Received May 14.)

In my previous dispatch of this day I have informed your lordship of my having concluded a treaty with Mr. Clayton respecting the construction of a ship communication between the two oceans of the Atlantic and Pacific, and I have there stated to your lordship that there are some slight differences between the original project transmitted home on the 3d of February and the treaty now concluded.

I have thought it better to explain the nature of these changes, and my reasons for adopting them, in a separate dispatch; and I shall do so, rather according to the manner and time in which they were made, than according to the place in the convention in which they occur.

The first, therefore, I shall refer to is in Article VI, to which are added the words:

And should any differences arise as to right or property over the territory through which the said canal shall pass between the states or governments of Central America, and such differences should in any way impede or obstruct the execution of the said canal, the Governments of Great Britain and the United States will use their good offices to settle such differences in the manner best suited to promote the interests of the said canal, and to strengthen the bonds of friendship and alliance which exist between the contracting parties.

This addition, in reconsidering the matter, was deemed, both by myself and Mr. Clayton, an advantage to the treaty, and a sort of guarantee against future unfriendly disputes between the two governments as to the subject referred to.

The second addition agreed to is in Article VII, to which has been added:

And if any persons or company should already have, with any state through which the proposed ship-canal may pass, a contract for the construction of such a canal as that specified in the convention, to the stipulations of which contract neither of the contracting parties in this convention have any just cause to object; and the said persons or company shall, in reover, have made preparations and expended time, money, and trouble on the faith of such contract, it is hereby agreed, that such per