The New York Herald Newspaper, January 17, 1850, Page 6

rene ee Oe £2 ae wero : Mosquito, Nicaragua, and Costa-Rica, [From the English Colonial Magazine ] TO MAJOR-GENERAL MACDONALD, ©. B, LATE HER MAJESTY’S SUPEKINIENDENE AND COMMANDEIt-1N- | CHIEF AT HONDURAS pe. My Dear Ganekat:—ln proportion as the iade- | pendence and security of the Mosquito ‘Terris may be an object of sterest wad value to Lag! wil, 80 must the services you, for so many yea dered to that cause, be highly estimated by all to whom they are kuown — [t was, theretore, WIth BO ordinary pleasure that L received perinisstoa to ine seribe to you the repubdlicution of the tullowing pages, a8 enabling me to pa. je public tribute to the generous teeling, patriouc sp and enlighten- ed policy which dictated your proceedings, whea im command at Honduras, towards the Mosquito Indiaus, the native sovereign chieftam and his fa- ly. 77 -hould be knows, that the'late. King’ of Mos- | under the safeguard of Mosquit uito, brought up and educated at Jamaica by the Loy of Manchester, when Governor there, in- stead of being a mere savage—as ignorance and malevolence fave combined in represeating him— was found by yeu, not merely a civilized being, but a man Whose “bearing, manners, and dem nor, were altogether those ot a gentleman.” Fur- thermore, it is well it stiould be known that, a Christian himself, he sought, through a letter ad- dressed to you on the 12)h of February, 1840, ia the following, his own noble language, Her Majesty’s aid—* that salutary laws may be established ia my Kingdom like those which Her Majesty's subjects have the happiness to enjoy, and to introduce among us the blessings of the Christian religion, which elone can ensure us lasting peace.” The wish was resp dto bythe British Go- vernment, to the high credit of this nation. It was #0, too, ata Moment, When any advantage, which ht be derived trom strengthening the tes +h existed between the crown of Great Bri tain and the Mosquito Territory, seemed as re- mote, as when in umes of id yet more re- cently, by the side of our g t Nelson, Mosquito men fought and bled in British ranks, with that undeviating fidelity and devotion which has, fo upwards of two centuries, characterised their at tachment to the paramount sovereignty of Grea Britain. Itus no less satisfactory to know, that the pre- sent king, who bas likewise received an English education, eviners every anxiety to promote the views so well expressed by his late father; and although he has that yrt he would have had from his brother, Prince Clarence, a youth o capacity and promise, whose death last year in England, while beiny brought up under your judi cious care, is a calamity for his country, yet will he notfalterin his aim, under the shelter of British protection The future destiny of the Mosquito Indians, for weal or woe, 1s in our hands, and there are circumstances of recent growth which amply show, that we have now jwvolved in the observance of our obligations towards them, some of the largest interests of this laud, and its wide-spread posses- slons—interests upon whieh depend the conti- oe of our national prosperity, greatness, and Jory. orThene circumstances are fully davaloped ta the following pages, revealing a new ambition, which, but for Morquito, would have grown to maturity, jeopardising the security of the British Empire aad the peace of the world, no less than the public weal of our transatlantic brethren themselves, The facts of the case are clear, official language, official acts, as well at Washington as on ine shores of the Pacitic, al! teuding tothe same ends —exclusive privileges, commercial monopoly, and political sggrandisement—the closing of every in- dependent avenue to British and European traffic between the Atlantic aud Wacitic Oceans. In the face of this, the A. Ambassador has ven- tured, at a public diuner the other day, with dry sententiousness, to lay it down that the United States sought no exclusive advantages for their citizens. This announcement must be hailed with satis- faction, if it be the forerunner of a new line of policy und conduct, but if there should be no change in the course which has been pursued, then such professions may be taken at their trae value, as mere cloaks ana blinds with which it is essayed to pacify and mislead the British people. The present re-publication of the facts connected with the proceedings ot which the Isthmus of Central America bas been the object, will at least tend to assist in the appreciatiog this and similar profes- sions hereafter. I beg now to subseribe myself, with the greatest esteem and regard, ‘ours, niost faithfully, London, 12th Dee., 18) Tur Avtuor. STATE OF APFAIRS—POSITION OF GREAT BRITAIN. (From the Colonial Magazive for Nov. aud Deo , 18497 There are colonial interests of 80 momentous a characier connected with the project of a shi canal between the Adanuc and Pacific that it calis fer our earnest consideration. complishment phys al confer nterchapge and imterco t regions have be ‘ous efivets of nature, break its moULte, In fact, to achange in tha ion of the globe, by which th ot some of the mos egulated. Without th me great convulsions o through that barrier which inter s betw waters ot the Atantic and cific cea »y means of the isthmus which Stretches from North to South Amenea, all the advantages ot which a communication betweea those seas is capable, seem likely to be secured by the industry, skill, and enterprise of t re. Our present object, then, ia this arti briefly to note what is the nature of the questions which have been up to this moment forced upon public attention in connection with this Before Spain quitted her last holc nificent dominions which the genius, energy, aod e of ber earlier sons acquired, the kingdom lama, under the intendeacy of a captain- general, formed the most central’ portion of the isthmus of America, bounded on the North by the Audiencia of Mexico, and on the South by that of the Audiencia of Santa Fe. For the purposes of civil government, the ivided into five chief districts, co ala, St. Salvador, H Rica. The whole of the rless on the Pacific, but Honduras aad Guatemala alone pos- sessed any territory or jarisdiction on the Atlantic side. That coast, trom Cape Honduras on the Norh, to Kin juppan on the South, known as the Mosquito s\ independent race were never able Thus Spain was left with nothing but an empty claim, under her papal gran!, of a right, « he could give it, to that coast, and to the extirpation of its inhabi- ould they refuse to embrace the Roman nd ackuwow ledge her inperial sway. The Moequito Indians tor ready allies in the pleced themselves from time to the protector dwilance of this country, and in the different ‘s which were subsequently waged with Spain, ected as auxiliaries to the British forces emy foyed on the neghboring seas and coasts. in 1786, to the eternal disgrace of our then government, England was led to withdraw her ® from the ot Mosquito and his depen- de e the field open to Spain. The cabinet of Medrid, thus lett to itself, soon after atrempted, by a tew the resistance sucersses by pots, hey! were me. The last of in 1796, when been eignally defeated a equito force, commanded by a native, and subject of e grandtather ot the pre- » they dest from the employment of for eflecting the subjection of this im It was then determined to make oe nts, to consist at bringing euper unable to maiumiain hear bh the attempt by p tablishment ot 1 first of well-aflected autiv me ot the neigh- boring: islend Por this purpose, 503, the King of Spain signed a decree, known as that of en hapenre, by which he placed the whole coast under the special supervisi d military control of the Governor of the island of St. Andrew, in the Carribean sea, suby however, to the Cap- taine-General of Santa Fe, to whom the care of establiehing and defending such proposed settle- ments was confided. Nothing, however, was ever done or attempted under this decree. The wars which prevailed in end the subsequen: convulsions in Spain, d the adjournment of designs which ef to be executed. The Mosquite lodians Were not egain molested in their independence by — renewed their connection with Eng- It is here recuisite to direct attention to th® chief points of the Mosquite coast and territory, which stretehed from Cape Henduras to King’s Bortheramost Frist, they may Black River, faciasa Dios, Port St. Joha, del Toro, in none of which had a single Spanish settlement ever existed, pores} of two of these places, Port gs oon (through which, by the river of that *, the waters of the magnificent lake of Cranada, +O Nicaragua, find their way into the Atlantic), a | Mati; pain paid tribute to the King of Mosqui- to, for permission to use them for traffic with the inces of Nicaragua and Costa-Rica. The jiards found it unpossible to use with any security, those ports without the consent of the Mosquito Indians, and hence did this powerful monarchy, even in her palmiest days, become tri- butery toa native king of the remnant of those Indian tribes, the nature of whose country, and | * the boldness ‘of whose spirit, had precluded Mastery over them Thus Spain, which had erected a fort called San her Carlos, on the northern bank of the river St. Joan, ality jupction wb the great lake, and another lower down. jejo, on the left’ bank of the river, to protect the interior, Was compelled to satiefy berselt wiih a detoehaent of a corporal and fourmen at Port St. Joun, wh faith. From ell this it is eppereat that durmg the temporary suspension in 1786, of those ties of cloee alliance which bound Eugl and Mos- guito together, the latter was « to maintain her position, and independent existence. Sach, then, was the state of Uuogs, when, in 1321, the dominion of Spain was shaken in the Isth- mus of the Americas. Belore the end of 1523, the revolutions there were complete; a Mexican empire, including the former kingdom of Guate- mala, hed been established, and as rapidly disap- peared. This eventtul year, in these annals, closed pon a federative State of Central America, com- prised within the territorial limits which had con- stituted the kingdom of Guatemala, with the sole excepnion of the distriet of Chiapas to the north, which remained annexed to Mexico. It does not appear whether, et the time when the political convulsions took place, by which this consumma- ton was preceded, a Spanish corporal jour men were still in permissive quarters at Poft St. Jobn, or whether there was any occupation of Cas- ullo Viejo; but itis certain that, long before their termination, every vestige of a Spanish force had disappeared from these outposts, as likewise from Fort Sen Carlos. Thus ceased all connexion be- tween Spain and the Mosquito territory, Having once cast off the authority of Spain, the people of the different districts aud provinces, over which the Captain General of Gautemala had exer- cised jurisdiction, claimed the right, ag inherent te each of them, of constituting themselves into sepa- Tate State governments, and ot free self election as to the State to which they should adhere, Thus were constituted the separate States of Gaate- mala, St. Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, under a federative organization, and the common name of Central America, The de marcations of ea tate being much the same as those of the pr s whose names they adopted, were during Spanish rule, with the exception, al ready woieed of Chiapas, and that of the distriet of Guanacaste, which last elected in favor of ad herence to the State of Costa Rica. - ‘The federation of Central America may be said to have practically existed until 1838, but after t period the civil wars which raged among the sepa- rate States composing it, prevented any common deliberation, and it is now finally extinct by gene- ral consent, the attempt to restore the federal bond, which was made im 1846, haveng utterly failed During its existence, the Fort of San Carlos, at the entrance of the lake, was occupied, by direction of the federative President, by a small foree from Nicaragua for revenue purposes. Meanwhile, the Fort of St. John, where the $ iards had made no settlement, became occupied by a fluctuating population of Mosquito men and British settlers. Phis excited the jeelousy of the Nicaraguans; and thus, in , fifteen years after the struggle for independence arose, and thirteen subsequent to the constitution of the Central American Federation, atorce from Nicaragua came suddenly down and tock possession of the place, and claimed the whole territory of Mosquito, % ‘The King of Mosquito, before taking any step to vindicate his nghts, communicated with Colonel Macdonald, then Governor and Superintendent of Briush Honduras, for his advice and assistance, in accordance with the protectorate tie which had long previously been renewed with his two prede- ceseors and hinselt. Fortunately, in Colonel Mac- donald, an artillery officer who had served with distinction under the Dake of Wellington, through- out the Jast war, he found a man of as much intel- ligence as known resolution. He at once deter- mined to visit the spot in person, and make a tour of inspection along the coast of Mosquito. He ac- cordingly proceeded, in a man-of-war steamer, to Port St. John, and informed the Nicaraguan com- mandant, a Colonel Quijano, that he had nd busi- ness there, nor could he be allowed to collect reve- nues, or exercise jurisdiction at the Port St. John, which was a part of the territory of the King of Mosquito. (Quijano declared his government did not recognise any Mosquito territory or Li and declined to depart. The whole matter was then at once summarily concluded, by Colonel Macdonald removing him by force, and landing him on ano- ther part of the coast, while his Sone wece Copeterd. _ A complaint was made on the subject to the Bri- tish government, on the part of Nicaragua which shortly after re-occupied the place, an was left in possession, pending the receival of an answer. In reply, they were informed, through Mr. Chatfield, Consul General to the Central American States, thatthe King claimed the port of St. John, as part of his territory, and they were requested to state on what grounds they founded a right to ite possession. In 1843, Colonel Macdonald returned to Eng- land, and Mr. Walker, who had seen his secre- tary, was appointed by Lord Aberdeen Consul General in Mosquito.” Meanwhile, no answer could be extracted from Nicaragua on the subject of her pretended claim. It became, at leng necersary to take some step; King of Mosquito gave notice, im 1847, tunless the — was restored to him by the Ist of January, 113, forcible means would be taken to obtain reposses- sion of it. oe sg The result is known, The King having been quietly remnstated, the Nicaraguans, on the depar- tare of the force which accomplished this, sent troops to pull down vie Mosquito flag, and to cepture the Mosquito authoriues. Upon thi joint British and Mosquito torce, under Capt Leck, UN., proceeded there, the Nicaraguans Tetreated up the river, but were dislodged, and the expedition proceeded into the Lake of Nica- ragua, having captured Fort San Carlos on the woy. There would have been no great difficulty in the three or four hundred British troops aud marines, and the force of Mosquito militia, pene- trating to the capital of Nicaragua. However, they were not driven to that necessity. The Presi- dent and Congress of Nicaragua signed a treaty, by which, reserving the nght to prove the justice ot their claim, they undertock not to molest Mos- quito in her occupation of the point in question. , Indeed, the course pursued by Lord Palmerston in directing these proceedings was most oppor- tune, and he has thereby rendered a great and essential service to the best interestsot England A government in this country Js more strengthened in public estimation by such umely acts of neces- sary firmness and prompt decision, than they can be weakened by the most rabid and concentrated attacks directed by the leaders of organised assem- blies, animated by a zeal tor passive endurance of wrong, in feeble dread of the possible results of a @ vigorous and unflinching maintenance of un- doubted and important rights. No true statesmen cen be regardless of the future dangers and dilli- culties which are certain to spring from every coa- cession wrung from a weak poliey. Thus, then, the matter stands. The Kiss of Mosquito maintains his ancient mghts; and has, besides, the fact in his favor, that whatever these were, he firet, on the retirement of Spain and the Te-arsurance of his indepeadence, against which that power plotted, occupied the port of St. Joho, now known as Grey Tewn.* Further, that at the ume when the Nicaraguans sent to take the place, and on their expulsion, there was not a single ha- bitation belonging to or held by Nicaraguan citic zens, while the smaller settlement which ¢: English settlers and Mosquite In- sans. we should never have heard a word on the subject, had not the United States recently acquired California and the Panama route, Loney which they te establishing ot pegaes) sae commer. ommnenes an ‘acifie question, as pul by themselves, even in their official reperts, is plainly this—We must have mo independent route between the At- tantic and Pacitic—we must secere to ourselves the command of eng ronte, and establish a prac tical control over, and monopoly of, the trade and communications with the Pacific, and alone have the nght to trensport troops and munitions of war across the Central American Isthmes. Thus this question becomes of the utmost importance. not to England alone, but to all European nations, which the United States declare ¢ expect to render tributaries to them in their intercourse with the magnificeat regions bor cering the Pacific. To England it is a more vital question, India may be reached by steam within a very few days as quickly by this the western route as by the Isthmus of Suez—Australia and New Zealand even sooner. There would be small security for these possessions if England yielded in this matter to the pretensions set up by N and said to be backed by the United States. and ambitious no monopoly, or pre-emi- but the United States have taught her to estimate the great value of her anci with Mosquito, and thie which she h when no interest pressed her, she must jntain at all costs, a ture security. AMBITION AND M: 1LIZING SPIRIT OF THR UNITED STATES, AS N@ ON GREAT BRITAIN, AND EVROPE AT Lal The question of a railroad or a canal communi- will essential safe- cation between the Atlantic and Pacifi has been officially unded to the as one, for her, of the lotuest ambition-—we an- nounee it to the trade, commerce, shipping, colonies of Great Britain, as the most vital portant which could now to their con- sideration. We do so without oF reserve, for that it isso can be conelusi fr the records of followed up by the acts of the executive, and con by of the acknowledged diplomatic agents United States. The success which attended nscrupulous injust wer, in which Prondest Polk managed So named anew. after Sir Charles Grey, Governor of jamaica dere ear? Crvetion of the King in Counell, Decom- remained there) ao mvolve the U their scquishion of California at the peace, cered the jong mooted cation between the Atheu of inquiry en giess. A were employ amiurg the whole rubjecet cluded their labors by reporting in reed, end wgamet @ ship canal. The committee, by this report, recommended to Cengrets that an annual grant of 250,000 should be accorded in favor of a_ railroad —look forward with soxiety to the of snother railroad across the North continent, from the Mississippi river to San Francisco, and emphatically declare against the neceeity for an intermediate line of commani- cation. A great northern line through the States to San Franeisco—a seuthern line across the and ne ship canal, is their The ground of this pre- ference for a railioad is plainly avowed. They anticipate the certainty, of the not distant estab- Nishment, of the ropeemnncy acd power of the United States in the Pacific, should no channel of communication for shippy xist. In the lan- guage of the report itself, ** The construction of this, (the Panama Ruiroad,) will throw into our warehouses and shipping, the entire commerce of ihe Pueifie ocean. Our ports are on the very. way side from Europe to the Isthmus of Panema, and our lines of steamers and packet sbips across the Atlantic, will come laden with the freights destined for that channel of trade. ‘The commerce, therefore, from Europe to the East Indies, China, and the west coast of this continent, will be forced to pursue the old route, or fall into our bunds.” But relieved from the delays, diffi- cult consequent expense, and from the pre- ility of transit for heavy goods across the Isthmus, which divides the two seas, European and British traffic must necessarily give up the old route, in allcases where, by following the new one, there will be aterial saving of ume, or in the cost of navigation. Thi: clear, as, otherwise, American ships could arrive ai Briush ports from Panama, with cheaper cargoes from those markets to which a railroad across.the Isthmus would afford an easier acces ‘This is foreseen and iadicated by the committee, in their report to Congress, They conceive it beyond doubt that the old route cannot be adhered to; but they do not stop here— the conclusions of this remarkable state paper are carried yet further. ‘ This,” it says, “18 adinit- ting that European ships will come freighted to the te1minus of the railroad on this side of the Isthmus with cargoes intended for the markets of the Pa- cific and China. That, however, will not be the case.” We pause here for one moment, to fix the attention of the British merchant and ship owner to ourecho of this warning voice from afar; to arouse them from a heedless apathy and unconcern toa due appreciation of the deep stake they un- questionably have in the nature of the projected communications between the two great oceans, and im the terms upon which, and the parties by whom, eny of these may eventually be carned out. This report then continues thus: “The large number of vessels bound to the ports of the United States, for cotton, rice, tobacco, lumber, flour, Xe., will bring the freights for ballast or cargoes, whence they by the railroad in our own fast sailing coasting vessels and steamers, which will also bring to us the commerce of the Pacific. This is very ebvious, because if European ships were to sail with full cargoes direct to the railroad, they would run the risk of being eompelled to return without freight, er come to the United States for it. We are much nearer to the Isthmus than the ports of Europe, and our means of communication and information will be so frequent and certain, our lines of steamers and coasting vessels so con- stantly on the alert, and will move with such celerity, that heavy [European treighting ships will find it quite impossible to compete with them ”” To whatever extent such results would be likely to flow, from the construction of a railroad across any portion of the American Isthmus, through a necessity for the disembarcation of cargoes destined for transit, none ot such a detrimental character, for the interests of British and European shipping, would spring from the formation of a water-way adequate to the admission of cin of large bur- then. The tendency of the open! ng of such a channel of communication, for our ships bound to the Pacific, China, the Indies, Eastern Archi- pelago, Australia and New Zealand, would be to increase the direct traffic with Great Britain and Europe generally, and occasion a greater demand for our shipping. Hence it is the obvious interest and necessity fer the government of this country, and thore classes more immediately connected with mercantile pursuits, to promote the speedy formation of a ship canal. In so faras our best and most essential interests are identified with our colonial possessions, (independent intercourse with which would be st practically intercepted, athe end, , favor of @ rail were that dream of presented to the United States to become realised,) the promo- tion of a free and independent shipping route, be- comes an object of paramount importunce to the veggie this hap a e committee of Congress be ore referred to, take preeisely the seme view of the subject. They define, in the plainest terms, the respective value to them, and to us, of the respective projects of rail or water-way. “If,” they report, “any change 18 to be given to the course of European commerce with the west coast of America and the Kast In- dies, by a communication across the Isthmus of Panama, it is quite clear that a ship canal would be the only channel that could save it from felling rapidly into our hands, while it is equally certain —. interests poiat to a “yo as best suited in all respects to our position and progress. Should this be in fact the key to wl policy of the United States, no sane maa tate in according it, a8 an urgent ne ty, that every means at the d lof the British gevern- ment should be used by them to secure the means of counteracting its mischievous etiicts, and to sustain those material interests at home and which the suecess of that policy would so uy endanger. Let us theretore tura to the the d States government; these will not leave us halting in our judgment; we shall tind them in entire aceord with the conclusions of Congress. Thus, a bill was presented to Co #9 in ace cordance with this report. A charge d’aflairs was subsequently despatched to the State of Nicaragua, it being the first time th accredited to that q State such an agent had been f Nicaragua to _ ber pretensions and new fangled claims, by otleru heir citizens the concesetoe, of the right of wane between the oceans thr its own territory, ond that which it would make its own, by the sole force of a sic volo sic jubeo declaration, made in defiance ot the clear and independent rights of the King of Mosquito. Besides this, it 18 to be noted that a treaty, con- cluded on the 7th of March, 184%, by Captain Lock, R.N., on the part of Great Britain, as the protector of the Mosquito Territory, aad A CoMMission- ers, by the Sr jcaragua, rendered this sti}! more unwarrantable, the third articie de- —That the government of the State of Jemnly promise not to disturb the of nm Juan (Grey Town sl act will be consider jain as en open declaration of hos- tilities.” It willbe seen that Nicaragua availed itself a mere twelvemonth afterwards, without grounds assigned, notice given, oF justification at- tempted, of the opportunity which seemed to of a safe evasion of the spirit and meaning ot this article. Thue, in April of this year, it entered into a contract with a Dr. Brown and Mr. Clapp, giving them and such other citizens of the United States as might associate with them, the right of making a communication by steamers, and a railroad or canal, from the port of San Juan, or St. John, Serr eveting eon vabdags whe cborcantes their certain at the above-na Morquito port, and obtaining the interference of the United States government, to secure it to the State of Micarages as a future possession. In June, t Nicaraguans, impatient of delay, threatened a more serious step. The Britieh government hav in reply to the representations made by ‘Mr. Castellon, an envoy from Nicaragua, to accede to the desires of that State, to be permitted to hold the river and the port of St. John, apart from the Mos- quito territory, the President issued a decree for a levy of war against Great Britain, we should have presumed more in bombast than reality, but for the calculated assistance trom the Unied States This Cp + recording, to aol kind of arbitrary spouc tyranny exercised in Ni- caregua, under the name of a free republic, and the motto of * Union, Liberty. By this decree, dated Leon, the 1%h of June, the “ Sapreme Director of the State ” ome it to be“ ‘m) urgency to save the libert of the Ni veg oe, ackeg e State ina voaition to defend its independence, which is in most imminent danger, on account of the English go- vernment having refused to do justice to our claim egainet the usurpation of the most precious pert_ of our territory”—on which it is ordered by the Minister of War— ‘i Art. Ist. “ All Nicaraguans, from sixteen to fifty years of age, shall take wp arms for the mainte- nance of public order and the terrtorial integrity of the State, excepting the clergy,” &e. Art. 2d. “ Ordering all those ‘who porwess horses, and arms, te present themselves for ind all other persons, to the mayeralty of the city, or to the commanders of departments.” Art 3. «Persons and horses, arms and equip. mente, not voluntanly given up, are subject to toreible seiure, end all fogitives, or persons con- cealing themerlves, are declared outlaws ” Art. 4th. “ Any forces collected and enlisted the tr object This stringent measure, thus avowedly taken aguinst the English, as the evemy to be met, was neat succerded by General Munoz, (appointed to the chief command.) ovenly threateniag an uome- ciate attack oo the Mosquito terntury, at Grey ‘Town, in utter dieregerd of the solema engage- ment withthe Engtsh goverament, not to disturb it, Atthe samet the public priats, under the direction of the Niceroguan government, were em- ployed in exciting the barbarous population of the county at large, wtoa state of mad hostility and ill will against British subjects resident there, 1a the peaceiul pursuit ol commercial objects, for this pur- ose atiributing to their instigation those domestic pros and civil ware, for which Nicaragua has fer so long been distur guished, by a Kind of infamous cele- brity, smong even the worst of the South Ameri- can States. In censequence et the above decree and threat- ening acts ot Nicaragua, and notin any way oa account of the “concession of the cagal charter to Dr. Brewn,” as the 7%mes was misled into sup- posing,* Mr. Chatfield, the Briush Consul Gene- ral, meneced Nicaragua with chastisement, if it pereisied in this course of action, will be seen from the terms of bis letter to the Nicaraguan go- verpment, which we shall presently subjot As itis upon the supposition we have just men- tioned, that some unjust and untenable animad- versions were made on Mr. Chatfield, we may re- mark that his language was, in point of fact, not only called tor from the representations made to him from Leon, by Bnitish subjects, that their lives were in danger, but seemed to present the only means of staying the proposed expedition of an undisciplined horde against Grey Town, which must heve compeiled the British government to upmediate hostilities, necessitated by a defiance #gainst it, in the very terms of the treaty of March, IMS, already quoted The Times also affixes the date of the letter in qneatic as having been written at Leon, two jays aiter Mr. Squier’s public reception by the authorities there, whereas it was written’ from the city of Guatemala, upwards of 700 miles dis- tant, and more than a fortnight before Mr. Chat- field could have learnt of such an agent as Mr. Squier having been even expected. | t inder these two erroneous impressions, it 18 ob- eerved in the article in question, “If any thing were required to render tae impolicy or impro- priety ot such lenguage more apparent, 1t 13 the fact that only two days before this despatch was writ- ten, om the 16th of July, Mr. Squier, the American egent, had been received by the republic ot Nicara- ua with every mark of amity and respect. Mr. Rctice hed expressed, in the strongest manner, the desire of his governmrnt to contract very close relations of friendship with Nicaragua.” Even had Mr. Chatfield been at Leon, and known of Mr. Squier’s tempting proflers and Nica- Tegua’s greedy acceptance of them, looking to the urgency of the case, and the insolent proclamation of war, by which *tan actual offence had been committed,” we see not how he could better have conveyed to the newly-arrived American agent, the danger of encoureging or backing in any way the Nicaraguan government, in the course it had entered on, than by plainly stating the conse- quences a istance in it would involve. Mr. ‘oo ’s letter to the Nicaraguan minister runs thus: It was my intention to attempt friendly repretentation, to convi of the impolicy and injustice of g in your p papers towards the attacks fomepted against the Bri- Ush government, exciting odium and ill-will agaiost the tubjects of ber Majesty the Queen, who reside fully and inoffensively in the State of Ni ua, siness Of @ legitimate character; but the Gaber: watorial decree of the 19th of June last, which | re- ceived yesterday, is sufficiently conclusive and positive in its expressions, for me longer to doubt of the hostile entions of Nicaragua agaiust Great Britai is left for me to do but to inform the gov: ber britannic Majesty of this insulting and uamerited . I sball, nevertheless, noc allow this op- without declaring, as I mow do, ex- and formally, to your goverment, that the of Great Britain has decided to sustain the f the Morquito King, and in cousequenoe, act may be done against will imfailibly m Nicaragua the most se’ chastisement, Haney eens the occurrences which had taken coe an Central America, poor to the arrival of r. Squier in July, aud having inserted Mr. Chatheld’s commuuication to Nicaragua, which reached its destination about a month later, we have next to advert to the reception of Dr. Brown's contract in the United States. . The cfficial report made in favor of the prac- tical dominion of the United States at Pana: ma, the belief that through the hostility of Ni- caragua, the door was shut to British enter- prise there, and the knowledge that it must be equally closed to the ed States acquisi- lveness without the assent of Mosquito and Costa Rica, had left the subject of a shippi route cross this pait of the istomus nearly a ot letter an North American speculation. But Dr. Brown's contract threw a new light on the subject—to deny the existence ot a Mosquito ‘creugh of an inde- pendent sovereign chieftain, thi whom even the foretathers of the people of Jnited States had enjoyed indirect trade with the Spanish Amencan colonics, and with whom the present generation itself bad traded, flashed befure Bro- ther Jonathan es a truly brilliant conception; one fraught with tempting expectations of profitable adventure, could it be matured into some reality, under the fostering care of the cubinet of W: ington. The bope was l, seeing the cleer foun- davion of right in Mosquito, the vamistakable at- titude end well defined position taken by the Briush ter he governme! the highly respectable charac of the President, General Taylor. However, hed been ay to, and had, early in July, watched an envoy to Nicaragua; there was no Dow ing, then, what the upshot might be, were ne well urged Thus, *ne press of the United S ates ‘ovened out in i epresental ries of the most extrava- . it diatribes against the Morquito chief as a savage, and the Briueh Protectorate as an imposture, an invention of yesterday. A mushroom company was also started at New York, which brougnt the British Consul on the scene, and led to a letter from him, couched in the following terms:— H. B. M. Consvrare, New Yonx, July 20, —Her Britannic Majesty's Government being informed that ap agreement for the establishment of « communteation between the Atiantic and the Pasttic, bas beem concluded between the (iovernment of the State of Nicaragua, and Mr. Clapp an rene of the United States, « ae New Orleans ae N ot wl company you a; me SF Fa, FS York and New Orirans Company to « Government is com it to dispose your most obedient, hum- servant, ANTHONY BARCLAY. To8. H. Ackanmas, Eeq This was an official announcement of the views of Her Majesty's government, and the cabinet of Washington has been very naturally led to address some interpeliations to it. We caa sre no just cause whatever for any misunderstanding between the two it# On that account, there being Bp possi sntevent ov desire on our part to pre- clude any nation from free intercourse through juito, to Nicaragua or the Paeific, although tish government cannot disregard the great and manifest objections which exist to conceding = —— transit through, or navigation of, the can now take up our review of the policy of the United States Tite conduct of their new di- matic agent, from the date of his arrival at on, is perfectly consistent with all that has before. The subject, however, will present iteelf in a new phase; and as jotroductory to it, we re- call atrent to the official repert of Congress, red it to be an object for them ot = the for- and importance, to prevent feat ther for thie purpose the possession of clear that for this put the possession of, or control over, such parts of the isthmas through which it could be made would become essential. This could neither be sought for nor obtained b ch a purpose, so that it is only left in Whether the means for its realisa- or are likely to be, obtained. Oa ander spirit on the part of the sat large might arise; or the r gy of some prominent men, at- treet the project, might come to sway the public press and dispositions of ihe country. fa either case, the imevitable result would be ag sbardenment of the petty and narrow views pre- ed by the above report, in regard to the most fieent undertaking now open tothe execution However, suc I-restimate of a noble tan object of seltish mm by any public asso- n independent of the United States. Without of her poley, it suffices to observe, ee she may have would be accom- jaining the concession for her citi Y See leading article, Thursday, Nov. 1, will be organized in a convenient manner to fulfi! Je route for European traffic Wo. on to ener any further into and doiwgs on his arrival at ectly tend to prove, that the disposal of events in this to decide as to the nature i be made, and the terms enjoyed, are the objects at d “wets are pertinaciously, ected Mr. Squier betrays hoots the mark, and thix mis failure for all usetul aad zens of every between the two itis net our io Mr. Squier’s say Leon, then as tna nightto the exel quarter, and the of the roule whit vpon which it shall which his language but pot shkiltully, the purpove and ov sion promises to essing the President of the his public presentation oa the two republics to **pos- ” and that “to secure the th, it is essential that they policy exclusively Ame- age of an American ust be laid 1n princi- rals new and distasteful domwmions of the elder ner then proceeded to rinciple in this policy gua, the Gth of July, dee! sess Cemmion intel permonent welfare of should pursue a systet rican”—that, ia the statesman, “its found: ciples of polities and to the thrones world,” id Mr. designate cardi to be a total exclusion the domeste and inte! republics” —that “ A) and is eacred to luded this modest uonal doctrine, at Europe, having trad: sessions on the coa: rica, will somewhat have been led to in aflairs of ca belongs to Americans, ican freedom:” he con- jarauion of a new interna- ch the maritime powers of interests or territorial pos- d islands of either Ame- e, by declaring himself to the belief that the ume is not far disiant w! the commerce of two he- mispheres shail find, withn your territories, an eusy passage from se@to sea. It is one of the objects of my mission fe assist in an enterprise 80 important to the wi world—an enterprise, the successful prosecut of wmich must enable this country to obtain a degree of prosperity second to that of no other on thy globe.” Thus the promoting ot ‘a passage from sea to sea” is one of the objects of his ms-i0n, and if we Were to take this sj as significant of what the others are, we should deem the cabinet of Wash- ington to have takem to knight-errantry, as Mr. Squier does no less than throw down the gauntlet ot defiance to Europe at large. Mr. Squier next went to business :—The Steam Company hed ay was alleged,) to raufy the contract made with Dr. Brown, and, therefore, on the 27th of August following, within a little more than a month gfterthe above expression of Mr. Squiers’ vie new contract was duly executed, under the influence and direct intervention of Mr. Squier himself, ip favor of a Mr. White, said to have been deputed some par! proposing to form a company im the United S to run @ Cae nal between the seas, of dimens' sufficient for ef the la burthen. ne of the chi uses in the contract with Mr. ‘White, 1s that the enterprise shall be peeneseasl by American citizens, and the majority of its stock be held by the: . Cc _ Another, that they shall possess the exclusive rignt to in! steam navigation. : owers are likewise accorded for constructing a ship canal from any one of their ports on the At- lantic, to e deemed feasible on the Pacific; the Temasga part ot this clause being, that the State of lage never possessed any port at all on the Al hss But this is nothing, when compared with the cool hai od and eflrontery with which the na- tions of the world are informed that the canal will be open t© their ships, products and people, on equal terms with those ‘of the United States, “‘pro- vided sueh nations shall first enter into such trea- ties, stipnlations, and guarantees respecting sasd canal ag may hereafter be entered into between the State of Nicaragua and the United States!” . Thigis neither more nor less than a proclama- tion of jomt-sovereignty towards the world of that rtuon of the Isthmus, arrogated to itself since 886,and since then only by the State of Nicara- gua. tis impossible the United States govern- ment could for one moment support so monstrous ae on Nor could Great Britain, or those fr maritime powers interested with herself in the securing some independent shipping channel acroes the Isthmus, for one moment tolerate such # stipulation, which 18 even too al to _be re- insolent. What an improvised Charge from the United States, and the igno- rant but presumptuous government to which he as been accredited, may deem a very simple, straight, go-a-head decision, to be accepted as pro- nounced, the President and statesmen of the Uni- ted States cannot fail to recognise, at once, a8 in- volving the ridiculous requirement, that all nations should blindly contract to submit to the perpetual dictation of ** the State of Nicaragua and the Uni- ted States.” But, if we were to allow it even possible for the government of the United States to adopt such a clause, then we should have to attri- bute to her a policy and designs even more exclu- sive and dangerous than we can a’ sent, fora single moment, contemplate. ference to this — it wine vs remarked, by — read fork correspondent of a morning paper,* that “this tansit will be, or may be, a one peculiarly and exclusively tending to give privileges to American interests. The vague clause above is capable of appheation to any sort of subsequent arrangement by which foreign commerce may in the end fiad itvelf muleted.” 3 Unquestionably this may be so, and this inmany ways which it is impoesible to foresee belorehand; but we think we can come toa conclusion of what will be done in that way for America, to the de- triment of European and British interests, on the nanan eereer authority. We advert to a bill reported by a commitiee of Congress, and a javor of an ingly introduced into both houses, ii annua’ rant for the Panama railroad. It havu pulated in such bill, on behalf of the United ts troops and munitions of acrose the Isthmus, and h end, free of cost, for 118 own store: that the tolls to be raised on goods belonging to American ciuzens, and coming in enrolled vessels of the United States, and the fures of American citizens passengers in United Siates vessels, should be con- cost fixed by the government; and fur- ssengers arriving in United States’ transported, if required, in the or- der of their arrival. : This bill cid not pass last session, simply because @ project for a Tehuantepec shipping route claimed to be examined first ; but it contains indications of the utmost importance to British trade and ship- ping, of the kind of “treaties and stipulations” which “ may hereafter be entered into between the State of Nicaragua and the United States,” under this pawe post-juturum clause, and a warniog of how much it concerns the most esseatial interests = oman, Oat this shippit ome should not also monopolise: a United States company. But, inasmuch as Oe Squier and the State of gua require that all nations shall, as a con- diuen of the admission of their products and ship- ping through the canal, contract to accede to all treaties which * - hereafter be entered into be- tween the te Nicaragua and the United troops of the United States, with nght to close such passege to the shy of any power with whom they mnght be at wart We are much mistaken, or this is one of the very things to which an accredited agent of the United States has al- ready obtained the assent of the State of Nica- Tegua “The assumption upon which this contract has been made, and upon which alone it can for a moment be sustained, is, that in Nicaragua alone are vested sovereign rights of territorial juris diction and possession over the whole ot the line over which her grants exiend. The contract with Dr. Brown was he line of the River St. John only, and the por present contract, however, Nicaragua is made, auspices, to extend such right to on the Atlantic!” The object of as it amounts to the assertion over the Mosquito territory, J Atlantic ports as communicate with the Lake of Nicaragua. nder these circumstances, it may be worth while to state those grounds upon which it may be safely aseerted that the State of Nicaragua has not the shadow of a claim to sovereignty over any one port on the Au and conseyerntly that the con tract in question it so much waste paper. Even if the State of Niearegua could prove that Spein held or exercised the — of sovereignty over the eustern coast of the [sthmus of Cenural Ameiica, it would not suffice to give to the Nica- Taguens the present right of dominion over any partofit. To establish tmis, Nicaragaa must show that the Mosquito coast was under the positive ja- risdiction, end within the actual limita, of the old province of that pame, when it appertained to Spain. Andif could make this out, she would then have w go y she pow mukes within international right. would oe | fer her to show, that social fabric was dissolved by the re people of the Mosquite coast joined with the other populavon of Nicaragua in forming the new State of that neme. Asrumng, for the moment, that Spam had for- merly the —_ of sovereignty over the Mosquite consis, yond all question that such coasts were pe ithia the limits assigned by Spain to the provice of Nicaragua, or even under its juris diction. That, on the contrary, the northern part of the cost was considered by Spain to consist of two d rovinees, altogether separate from Me the firet, extending from the river A to Cape Gracios db Dios, was known as the ' ce of Teguryalpa, and the second, extending The Herol4 step further, to place the c! — t all foreign influence trom | the American | 1 frem Cape Gracios a Dios to the river San Juan, was called the province of Tolagalpa. Further, the coust hne southward of this river was defined by Spain, as being within the hmits ot Costa Riea. So much for the Atlantic porws of Nicaragua under Spanish dominion. A dictinction, however, arose as regards one of these ports—that of San Juan. {t arose from Recessity; for while Spain arrogated to herself & nominel sovereignty over the Mosquito coast, and divided it <nto provinces, as above tailed, w aboriginal Indians, centinuing to present a bold front, and successfully to defy every attempt to bring them into subjection, or to establish Spanish setifemente ammoog them, the mission to trade through two of the potts ‘Mos- quito, had to be purchased from them by an annu- al tribute. Thus the port of San Juan, in the no- minal province of T: and the port of Mati- na, within the limite to Costa Rica, be- came available to Spanish trade. By a royal order of the King of Spain, dated Arapguez, Feb. 26, 1796—(and we Fev sprog ad- vert to it, because it 18 upon that w the Nica Taguan government seems chiefly to rely in_ sup- port of its assumed rights to the port of ra Juan) —certain privileges of trade were accorded to “the province of Ni and others of the kibed giv om of Guatemala. der is contined to ing the liberty to “trade direct with the eatiorelies and to declaring San Juan “a port of entry,” for “the city of Granada, on the lake of Nicar: > leaving, therefore, the territorial demarcati al- ready defined precisely where they were. More- over, this royal order in nogway affected the nghts of the King ‘of Mosquito, for we Jearn from Mr. Quin, a highly respectable and wealthy inha- bit Jorn Island, adjoming the Mos- that ufbute coutinued subse= be paid for this port by Spain. He deposes to the fact “that, in 1902, he met a craft belonging to the Mosquito king a: Boca del Toro, manned with Mosquito men and & chief, who intormed him they were bound to San Juan de Nicaragua, to receive from the Spanish 400 dollars as tribute trom King Stephen, which they said was paid annually for that port.” As re- gards the port of Mauna, Colonel Quijano, of * the of the State of Nicaragua” certifies that, “ in State of Costa Rica, an annual tribute has always been paid to the King of the Mosquitos, and this has always been the case since my in- fancy, by order of the Spanish government.” The relation maintained by the Mosquito Kings towards the Spaniards at Nicaragua, is further ex- emplified by an incident of a more receat date, which will show that they were not considered ag subjects by the Spaniarde, and also that the Mos- quito reno ad was no fiction. Robverts, who wrote in 1816, relates that when he was taken pri- soner by the Spaniards at San Juan, with some Mosquito Indians 0 accompanied him in his trading voyege, and carried to Leon, he was, after being liberated and on his way down the river, met “by a courier in a dispatch buat trom the ‘ish commandant of the battery at the harbor. He was the bearer of letters of the Mosquito King, writtea in the Spanish language to the Governor of San Carlos and Leon, in which were demanded the instent release of Brown and his other subjects, and in case of refusal, he roundly threatened to commence an Indian warfare on all the Spanish settlements bordering on his territory !” Bat our proof that, at all events, Nic: has no claim of right through Spain to any of the ports of Mosquito, can be carried yet further, leavin quito coast, quently to it as a fact beyond all question. By the royal order, dated San Lorenzo, the 30th of Nov. 1803, the King of Spain “resolves that the island of St. Aadrew, and the part of the Mosquito shore from Gra- cies & Dios inclusively, towards the river Chagt shall be separated fromthe Captain Generalcy temalo and annexed to the Vice Royalty of e.”” Hence it is clear that any right which Spain may have had, if it vests in any of the new Spanish American republics, can only do so in that of New Granada, and the alleged right of the ae of Nicaragua is therefore “arbitrary and auil.” But assuming Mosquito to have been a depen- dency of Spain, if the right be conceded to the pease of the kingdom of Guatemala, to dissolve the tie of allegiance to Spain, and to recast and re- model their social and political existence into, first, a federal republic, and since, into dis- tinct sovereign unities, and to form such alli- ances as to them severally seems gor 5 must the right be equally conceded to ‘ople ot the provinces of T: by ee ito ‘aguzalpa and T ralpa. as these people, known best pty dians, have, through their king and chieftains, oan sought to renew the ancient ties which exist ed between them (and the British crown, it was as competent for the Queen of pony to accept their voluntary fealty and extend to them a coveted pro- tection now, as it ever was at any unterior time. Thos, in 1815, and in 1824, and in Tats, have three Mosquito Kings been solemnly crowned at Jamaica and Honduras, as their ancestors were of yore. No nghts of Spain could pass to the Nicara- peootind the detriment of the natural right ot the josquito Indians to establish their lence from Spain, or preclude Great Britain, on such in- dependence becoming unquestionable, from re- newing the old ties by which they were tormerly bound. It 18 indisputable, as the facts stand, that Spain alone could have had a right to remonstrate thi did not do so— she saw no cause to mstances had extinguished, together, » her power, and her mghts in the mat- er. These have long since become a mere page im her past annals. We advert to this, inasmuch as in 1786 a treaty was made with Spain, by which Great Britain abandoned her protectorate of Mosquito to ia. At the paies treaty of peace of September, 1783, when the evacuation of Briush subjects trom terri~ tory claimed by Spain, in the neighborhood of ize, was stipulated, it was deciared to be only ‘from any other parts (than those expressly given to them by the suid article), whether on the Spanish continent, or in the islan whatsoever dependent on the Contiaeat.” The term American continent, pressed for by Spa was not allowed by Great Britain, on the greand this would involve the Mosquito shore, which @ independent of ‘the crown of Spain as of those other pai the American continent held by other independent States and powers. But in 1796, to the astonishment of every one, another Spain, the first article of “ The subjects of His Britannic Maj ty, and the other settlers who have ull now enjoyed the pro- tection of England, shall evacuate the couatry of the Mosquitos, and the centinent in general, and the adjacent isles, without exception, situated be- ond the frontier line of the terrivory ted by is Catholic oy! to the Ei » for the uses specified im the third artcle of this convention.” Th vention excited general indignation in was utterly uncalled tor, purely a ct; and was justly matised as a pro Ee ate surrender of important rights and interests. re Motgune oeeet weala tivel wath he staple ¢ Morquito coast would rival with ¢ duce and trade of the West Indies. asi A motion of censure was made in the House of Lords by Lord Rawdon, in 1787; he was supported ¥ the Duke of Manchester, who had negotiated the prior treaty of 1753, when the Briush protecto- rate Was maiptained, as more important than the conclusion of peace. We got nothing whatever ia xchange for what we surrendered by this con- vention, as the “ uses specified” consisted of the tight “to cut logwood and all other wood”—a ight we already enjoyed, without the permission of n 8 to be observed, however, as regards this distinc! of the exist- indepen- country of the Mosquitos,” re alko i ie eee as ns * situaied upon jromuer Spanish possessions.” The Northern avd Weatera * froa- where this “ country of the Mosquitos” was the then ich w treaty was concluded with which runs as follows:— Josquito territory 10 Spain; all we did was. hdraw ourselves from its protectorate, and to ¢ Spein to exercise it, and to establish settle~ ments #mong them. ‘din arms againet hera pty nee. public of Costa Rica stand: ntrast and relief with Nicarag While the has from the first hour that independence - pa en gd mee yn eon intestine commotions, anarchy, bloodshed, to the impoverishment ata of bet people, all travellers and metttases tration with those countri the two States of Costa and the an h A me —— i Ce pursue: * gi Tal remark, '. When in Is21 the ancient kingdom of (uatemal iteeif independent of Spain, a of the Mexican empire, a the limits of Costa Rica oe t was proclaimed a provine a ico, with tbe town of Nieeregoe’ Tor is capital, However, in July, 1828, the provinces of Guatemas