not be applied to the sinking fund more than the surplus of the assignment, if there be any surplus; this term expired, there shall be remitted annually to London 250,000 dollars for the sinking fund, which shall be done at the rate of the day, provided it does not exceed par.

III. The holders of bonds can, if they think it advantageous, appoint agents in the ports, accredited by nomination; but from the moment the said agents receive the funds, all responsibility shall cease on the part of the Mexican Government, who will provide for the usual charges of shipping and landing, insurance and freight.

IV. The actual bonds converted in the year 1846 shall be exchanged for others which the Treasury shall issue, and which shall be countersigned by the Agent of the Republic in London. N bond of the new stock shall be issued without having had exchanged for it one of the old stock of the same value, number, and letter. The bonds withdrawn shall be cancelled by making an incision in the middle of them, an inch in diameter, and they shall be deposited in the archives of the Legation, which will publish monthly a notification in detail of the bonds cancelled. The Republic declares that it is not responsible for bonds issued at variance with these precise conditions. The Republic will not pay either commission, brokerage, or agency charges, for the conversion to which the present law refers.

V. The agency in London shall be carried on by commissioners removeable at the will of the Government, and with no right to any allowance when not employed; they must be Mexican citizens by birth, and their chief shall be appointed by the Government, with the approbation of the Senate; the expense of these officials is not to exceed 15,000 dollars per annum. The functions of the agent with respect to the distribution of the funds shall be confined to depositing the money which shall be remitted to him in the bank, and to the payment of the dividends at the proper time.

JOSE JOAQUIN DE HERRERA.

DECREE of the President of the Republic of Mexico, for the Payment of Loans made by British Bondholders.-Mexico, January 23, 1857.

(Translation.)

I, IGNACIO COMONFORT, President Substitute of the Mexican Republic, decree as follows:

ART. I. From the publication of this decree in every port, the

managers of the maritime and frontier Custom-Houses shall draw against the importers and in favour of the agents of the bondholders of the debt contracted in London, for the portion of duties which section 3 of Article II of the law of the 14th of October, 1850,* assigns for the payment of the dividends of the said debt. These bills shall be made payable in hard eagle dollars of the legal stamp, weight, and assay, and after having been duly accepted shall be delivered to the agent named by the bondholders themselves, or through the medium of a commissioner in the Republic. The same agent will also receive in due course such parts of the duties payable in cash as are assigned to the payment of dividends.

II. Immediately on delivery of the money and the bills the responsibility of the Government ceases, unless the bills be returned protested in due time and form.

III. The agents shall remit to the Bank of England, to the joint consignment of the financial agency of the Republic and of the committee of bondholders, the amount collected by them, which shall be realized and credited in the same manner as hitherto.

IV. The maritime Custom-Houses shall only pay the cost of the boxes, packages, and shipping charges of the money until placed on board the vessel conveying the remittances direct. These direct remittances shall be made by vessels of war, packets, or, in their default, by English merchant ships; and on remittances made by way of the Isthmus, the Custom-Houses shall also defray the freight to Panama or the port of embarkation in the Pacific. The usual freight, insurance, and discharge in England shall be paid in London by the Mexican agency, which shall advise the amount to the Finance Department, in order that it may be replaced by the following packet.

V. In the ports where there are no agents, or where there is no facility for the remission of specie, the Government shall receive the amount which has to be set aside on account of the bondholders, and every 3 months shall pay the amount so received in another port agreed on, giving order to that effect to the manager, so that he may pay it over, and provide for the expenses just as he would if the whole were of his own collection.

VI. The commission of the port agents shall be on account of the bondholders exclusively; but as a measure of convenience the former shall be empowered to deduct the said commission at the time of embarking the amounts collected, and the Mexican agency in London shall charge it in account current to the bondholders, and deduct the amount on the payment of the dividend, as well as any other expense incurred by the committee for the management of their affairs.

• Page 1123.

VII. When it appears from the account kept that a sum equal to a 6-months dividend has been received in London from the Mexican Government, the financial agency shall give public notice that the money is about to be paid, and shall proceed to effect it, cutting off the respective coupons.

VIII. The Mexican Government defrays the expense of the dividend in London.

IX. The agents of the bondholders in the ports shall give to the respective collectors à receipt in triplicate for every amount paid there in money or bills. The managers shall retain one copy of these documents, and remit another to the Junta de Credito Publico, which has the management of the account of the debt contracted in London, and the third to the general Treasury.

X. The funds which on the publication of this decree are held by the collectors of the maritime Custom-Houses in cash belonging to the English debt shall be delivered to the agents, and those which are still to be collected shall be paid in bills payable on the expiration of the periods, as set forth in Article I.

XI. The salaries of the Mexican agency shall be paid by the Custom-House of Vera Cruz out of the Government part of the duties, remitting every month 1,250 dollars. In case of any remittance being deferred, the agency shall take the amount from the dividend fund, on the understanding that it shall be repaid the following month.

I therefore order that this shall be printed, published, and take effect accordingly. Given in the palace of the National Government in Mexico, 23rd January, 1857.

IGNACIO COMONFORT.

CORRESPONDENCE between The United States and Peru, relative to the Recognition by The United States of the existence of a state of Civil War during the struggle between Vivanco and Castillo; and to the Seizure on the High Seas and elsewhere of American Vessels employed in the Guano Trade.-March-May, 1858.

The Peruvian Minister at Washington to The United States' Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.

(Translation.) Washington, March 27, 1858. THE Undersigned, Minister resident of Peru, in pursuance of instructions received from his Government, has the honour of begging the Secretary of State of The United States to be pleased to

direct his attention to the claims addressed to the Peruvian Government by the Minister of The United States at Lima, as they appear in the notes of the 4th and 9th of February ultimo, which he deemed it proper to transmit to his Excellency the Minister of Foreign Relations of Peru, and which are now within the reach of the Secretary of State.

The Minister of Foreign Relations of Peru has minutely and satisfactorily answered all that was alleged in the notes referred to accompanying such answer with the proofs and documents upon which the Government of Peru relies to deny in toto, the justice, and even the plausibility of the claims to which reference is made.

The Undersigned would deeply regret that the documents and declarations alluded to should not have been communicated to the Cabinet of Washington; for through them only can an equitable settlement be made of the serious questions which have been started in that correspondence.

In instructing the Undersigned to enter into direct communication with the Government of The United States, the Government of Peru was moved by the desire that no effort should be wanting on its part to satisfy the former of the sincerity and good faith with which the latter has in this case striven, as it will ever strive, to cultivate and deserve its friendship. It also had for its object to show in this form the deep reliance which it has ever placed in the moderation and the equity of the Government of The United States, preferring to recur to them rather than continue, with its Minister at Lima, a discussion, in the course of which the Government of Peru regrets to have discovered in his proceeding a want of that impartiality and friendly disposition so necessary to maintain, in all cases, relations of good understanding between Governments.

In his communication dated on the 4th of February last, the Minister of The United States in Peru calls the attention of that Government to the case of the American barque Dorcas C. Yeaton, and of her captain, Samuel Potte, alleging the following in said

case :

That, on the 23rd of January, 1858, in latitude 22° 13′, longitude 71° 31', on the high seas, at 7 o'clock A.M., said barque was detained by the Peruvian armed steamer Tumbes, with hostile demonstrations; that the barque having heaved-to, Lieutenant Dueñas, the commander of the steamer, ordered her to be boarded, despatching for that purpose one of his boats under the order of an officer; that said officer boarded her, in fulfilment of his orders, and asked, in the language of authority, to be informed of the route which she was pursuing, as well as for the delivery of her papers; that Captain Potte obeyed under protest, and that the Peruvian officer went back to the steamer with the papers; that he soon

returned, ordering the Captain to accompany him on board of the Tumbes; that Captain Potte refused, and insisted that the flag and character of the vessel should be respected, but that, the officer repelling all excuse, the captain was compelled to obey, although protesting that he would make Commander Dueñas and his Government responsible for the outrages which were committed against him; that on his reaching the steamer he again protested before her captain against the unlawfulness of such acts, but that his representations were disregarded; that the Captain of the Tumbes eventually resolved that the barque should not continue her course, but, on the contrary, to send her under duress to Callao; that he abstained from taking forcible possession of her out of respect for the wife and family of the Captain who were on board, but exacted his word of honour that he would immediately and directly proceed to Callao; that, accordingly, the Dorcas C. Yeaton proceeded for that port, with a prize officer on board detached from the Tumbes for that purpose.

The Minister of The United States alleges that the barque, upon her arrival at Callao, was boarded by an officer of the captaincy of the port, who took possession of her papers, and ordered Captain Potte to accompany him ashore, treating him in an arbitrary, rude, and threatening manner; that the Captain had no choice but that of obedience, and that he was then taken to the office of the Port Captain, and thence to the residence of the Governor, where he was examined and asked whether he wanted a cargo of guano for The United States, in which case he was told that one would be given to him when he was set at liberty. The Minister adds, that the conduct of Commander Dueñas had been approved by the council of Ministers of Peru, and sustained by the Minister of Foreign Rela tions in an interview which he had with his Excellency. Reassum ing these facts, after alluding to them in detail, the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of The United States concluded by denouncing them as a serious insult to the flag, the rights and the dignity of The United States, and, in consequence thereof, peremptorily demands:

First, That the Government of Peru shall give such satisfaction as the Government of The United States may prescribe.

Secondly, That Lieutenant Don Ygnacio Dueñas be suspended from his command, and continue out of the service of the Republic for such time as the Government of The United States may define; and,

Thirdly, That ample indemnification be made to the owners of the Dorcas C. Yeaton for all damages that may result from the facts mentioned.

Before reaching conclusions so serious as these, which might