F. LEGATION OF THE U. S. IN CENTRAL AMERICA, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 27th ult., in reply to mine of the 23d preceding, in which you decline to evacuate the island of the Tigre, belonging to the United States, and forcibly occupied by British troops under your orders on the 16th ult. As I have already repeatedly advised you, the island of Tigre was formally ceded to the United States on the 28th of September of this year. The subsequent occupation of the same, as above stated, is there. fore an invasion of the rights of the United States. It now becomes my duty to apprize you that, unless the island of Tigre is evacuated within six days from the receipt of this communication, the persistence in occupation will be considered as an act of aggression and a manifestation of an unfriendly disposition towards the United States. I cannot believe, sir, that you will take upon yourself the responsibility of disturbing the good correspondence which at present exists between the United States and Great Britain. In respect to your intimation of your determination to seize upon the other islands of the Gulf of Fonseca, on behalf of your Queen, I have to call your special attention to the contents of my circular of the 28th of September last, the reception of which you have already acknowledged; and further to inform you that the United States cannot regard with indifference any attempt to dismember the republics of Central America of any portion of their coasts and territories. I need not recapitulate to you, apart from all special reasons, the general grounds upon which the United States has the right, or the contingencies under which she may consider herself called upon to exercise it, of interfering against any such attempt on the part of any foreign power. These were early proclaimed by the United States, have never been denied, and cannot, I think, be unknown to you. You assert, and with apparent seriousness, that you established "@ proprietary right over the island of Tigre," on behalf of Great Britain, by virtue of a communication addressed to the government of Honduras ou the 26th of January last, "expressive" (as you say in your communica tion to me of the 23d ult.) " of the determination to place a lien on the island," and that consequently Honduras was incapable of making any subsequent disposition of the same! The notice which has been published, requiring the citizens of the island of Tigre, who have left it in consequence of recent proceedings, to return within the given space of eight days, leaves little doubt as to the true significance of the vague terms which I have quoted. The mode in which territory may be acquired by one nation from another, came early to be regarded as one of the most interesting and important points to be regulated among nations; and it was early established as a vital principle of international law, that treaty cession was the only mode by which territory could lawfully pass from one sovereignty or proprietary to another. As I have said in a previous communication, even the rights of conquest cannot be perfected except in this manner. "Territory," says Vattel, "passes into the power of the enemy which takes possession of it; but he does not consummate his acquisition, nor is his right of property established and perfected, except by treaty or the entire submission or extinction of the State to which the territory pertains." A principle so well established and so carefully guarded as that which I have indicated above cannot arbitrarily be set aside, and its violation, under any pretext, will call for the reprehension of mankind. The rights of Honduras, therefore, over the island of Tigre, were in no way modified or impaired by the intimations of your note of January. It cannot be considered that your government thereby acquired any territo rial rights; and the subsequent forcible proceedings there and elsewhere cannot be viewed in any other light than as acts of war, performed in time of peace, and without an observance of those well-established international rules which prescribe that all such acts shall be preceded by a formal declaration to the world. I am, sir, with high consideration, your obedient servant, Hon. F. CHATFIELD, E. GEO. SQUIER. Her Britannic Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires. G. STEAM FRIGATE "GORGON," SIR: Not having received any reply to my notes relative to certain delayed British claims, I have the honor to inform you that I have arrived in this bay in the steam frigate "Gorgon," Com. Paynter, and have this day taken possession of the island of Tigre, in the name of the Queen, in accordance with my intimation of the date of January 20th. Immediate notice of this act will be given to the commander of the naval forces of her Majesty in the Pacific, in order that he may protect this point until the will of her Majesty is known. I have, &c., &c., FRED. CHATFIELD. To the PRINCIPAL SECRETARY OF STATE of Honduras. H. MINISTRY OF FOREIGN RELATIONS, House of the Government, Tegusigalpa, October 27, 1849. SIR: I had the honor to receive, and make known to the President of Honduras, your official letter of the 16th instant, in which you say that, not having received any reply to your letters relative to the long standing British claims, you have taken possession, in the name of the Queen, of the island of Tigre, in accordance with your intimations to this effect of the 20th January last. I am instructed to inform you, in reply, that all the communications to which you refer, concerning the reclamations of your countrymen, have been answered, as is stated in the accompanying letter, informing you, not for the first time, of the injustice of such claims; but that, considering the peremptory manner in which they have been made, the menaces which accompanied them, the extraordinary power of Great Britain, and the weakness of Honduras, this government proposed the appointment of commissioners to effect their speedy arrangement, submitting to them the documents necessary to show their justice or injustice. To this proposition you did not reply-perhaps because you desired to proceed with some show of reason to seize upon the ports of Amapala (Tigre) and Truxillo; and it is to be observed that you do not attach any value to the last answer to your letters of the 16th of April, in which you are advised of the actual appointment of the commission; which reply was forwarded by the same courier which you had sent. On the 9th was remitted to you at Guatemala a copy of the decree issued by this government, to the effect that the island of Tigre had been ceded to the United States, in virtue of a treaty celebrated with its diplo matic agent in Central America on the 28th of September last, of which decree I transmit you a duplicate copy. The government of Honduras is disposed, as it has manifested to you on other occasions, to endure the injuries which your government may choose to inflict upon it, under the sole right of force; but in no way will it surrender to Great Britain any rights in its territories, for it is clear that the unjust demands of your countrymen are simply pretexts for occupying the ports of Amapala and Truxillo. The government, then, of Honduras confines itself to renewing the protest of January 8, 1848, with the firm belief, as 1 have manifested to you, that the despotism of England will perish, or that some strong and liberal nation, foreseeing the fatal results of these violations of the principles of international right, which are now so openly practised by Great Britain, will take under its protection the feeble government of Honduras. I have, &c., &c., To the CONSUL GENERAL of H. B. M. J. M. MONCADA. I. HOUSE OF GOVERNMENT, SIR: I have brought to the knowledge of the President your esteemed note of the 20th ultimo, relative to the inattention which you suppose has been paid to your letters of January 26, February 24, and March 9, of the present year, and of which you enclose duplicates. I am directed to reply that the imputation of neglecting to notice your letters is unjust, and that such neglect would be unworthy of a government desirous of preserving harmony and the best relations with all the others of the globe. In proof of this I enclose you copies of answers which had been given to your later communications; and I regret that I cannot send you copies of the earlier replies, because the copy-books of the government are not in this place. It is therefore only necessary to reproduce what has been put forward in the accompanying copies; and to observe, in respect to the threatened seizure of the port of Amapala, that it has long been evident to all observing men that the great English nation would not lack pretext for occupying that point, as soon as it should comprehend the advantages which it offers to the new commerce which may spring up in the Pacific. I am, sir, &c., &c., E. ORELLANA. To Her Britannic Majesty's VICE CONSUL, &c. I have just received, but at too late an hour to attempt their translation, the enclosed printed documents from the governments of San Salvador and Honduras. No. 1 relates to the various claims which have been made upon the government of San Salvador by her Britannic Majesty's consul general, and contains, among other things, a letter from the office just named, dated the 12th of October last, making certain demands upon that gov ernment, and submitting a series of articles, requiring them to be acceded to within 94 hours, under the penalty of severe measures at the ports of La Union and Acajutta. It contains also the reply of the secretary of foreign affairs of San Salvador, disputing the justice of these de. mands, and declining to accept the articles proposed as an ultimatum by Mr. Chatfield. Appended to this correspondence are the judgments of the courts, or commissioners, to which had been submitted the various claims which had been made by the British consul general. Among these claims, it will be observed, there is one for $244 37 by Mr. Manning, the British vice consul here, for duties exacted at the Salvadorean port of La Union, upon goods introduced by him for sale in that State. The basis of this claim is, that these goods had once paid duties in Nicaragua, and were therefore entitled to be admitted free into San Salvador, as a port of the "republic of Central America." It is denied that the States are distinct sovereignties; raising the question which I met in my letter to the British chargé, of October 18. It is certainly strange, if these States are not distinct sovereignties, and did not become so upon the dissolution of the republic of Central America, that Mr. Chatfield should prosecute claims against them in a separate capacity. They might, with propriety, refer him to the government of Central America for their adjustment. These documents will give the department some insight into the nature of the claims, and their extent, upon which the recent seizure of territories and ports are founded. It will be observed that the principal item in the account against San Salvador is a debt not due until December; and it has already been shown that the government of Honduras, so far from refusing any arrangement of the claims made against it, had proposed to appoint, and as long ago as the last spring actually named, a commissioner to co-operate with one appointed by the British consul general, for their final adjustment; of which proposition no notice was taken on the part of that officer. These facts, and the trifling amounts of the claims upon which the recent violent measures are attempted to be justified, lead irresistibly to the inference that they are only the pretexts for long-meditated aggressions; a conclusion sustained by the value and importance of the points occupied, and by the notorious policy of Great Britain throughout the world. No. 3. Appeal to the people of Honduras, recounting the recent aggressions at Tigre and Truxillo, from the general minister of Honduras. No. 4. A proclamation of the President of Honduras, interdicting all communication with the English, and authorizing General Guardiola to take such measures as may be proper to defend the rights of the republic. I have the honor to be, with high consideration, your obedient servant, E. GEO. SQUIER. Documents published to manifest to the people of the State with what jus tice the supreme government refused to recognise the claims advanced by her Britannic Majesty's consul in the name of divers English subjects. GEN'L OFFICE OF SUPREME GOV'T OF THE STATE OF SALVADOR, Governor's House, San Salvador, June 18, 1847. MR. GOVERNOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF SAN MIGUEL: The British consul has addressed a remonstrance to the supreme government for the indemnification of an act of robbery, asserted to have been committed in this city, on a certain Mr. Andrew Wright, by some soldiers under the command of an officer of the troops of Bellozo, in the year 1845. As the supreme government is ignorant of the existence of such a person as the said Wright, and desirous to be informed of the particulars of the case, I have been instructed to direct you to obtain information as soon as possi ble in this matter: if there is such a person as this Wright; the nature and state of his business; if the robbery actually took place, and to what amount; and finally, on all the details that can be collected; endeavoring, for this purpose, to obtain information from the most respectable and noted persons of the place. The matter is intrusted to your intelligence and efficiency. DUEÑAS. Government of the Department of San Miguel, July 6, 1847.-Let the above instructions be complied with, and the most respectable and noted persons who are acquainted with the affair appear before this government, and under oath declare what they know. Witnesses: Jose Avila, Bernabé Chavez, Anselmo Cruz. On the same day there appeared at this office Señor Pedro Gotay, and, being legally sworn, he offered to declare the truth as to what he knew concerning the robbery of the year 1845, committed on Mr. Andrew Wright, and on the particulars contained in the above instructions of the general government. In consequence, being asked about the nature and state of the commercial business of the aforesaid Wright, he said: that the character of the said Wright was not of the best standing, and he believed the unfavorable impression entertained against him originated in his not paying a debt of a considerable sum due to Señor Juan Carlos Reyes for some packages of indigo; and he is certain that the said Señor Reyes stipulated a payment of more than a thousand dollars, by bond, drawn on said Wright in favor of Señor Amado Argüello, at Belize. With respect to his commercial affairs, he knows they consist of two or three voyages which he made to Belize, from which place he brought some merchandise, the value of which could not exceed $6,000 for each voy age; that he knows, on the first of these voyages, the merchandise he |