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 Ormjciu a:*1vaovMnavi) auii illinistcv )31cni- 
 potcutiavn fvciin ilTcjfico, 
 
 ON THE 29tli OF MARCH, 1864. 
 
 For freedom's battle, once begun, 
 Bequeathed by bleeding sire to son, 
 Tliougli baffled ofl. ia over won. 
 
 
 ni nn. 
 

 OoiATce unknowyq 
 14- M'f- 4-( 
 
 The Publislier notices, that this pamphlet is not entirely free from 
 idioms, a consequence of the text being Englished from the Spanish 
 version. 
 
 /' 
 
 y''^ 
 
SeSor ROMERO TO Mr. BEEKMAX. 
 
 Mexican Legation, January 22, 1866. 
 Honorable James W. Beekman : 
 
 Mt Dear Sir — It has for some time been my intention to publish 
 a fine English edition, in pamphlet form, of the proceedings of the 
 dinner given to me as the representative of the Mexican Republic, on 
 the 29th day of March, 1864, by distinguished citizens of your me- 
 tropolis, to express their sympathy for the cause of Mexican indepen- 
 dence and liberty. 
 
 My engagements and pressing public duties (which are much more 
 onerous since our collision with France) have prevented hitherto the 
 accomplishment of mv object. Meanwhile, the lamented President 
 Lincoln did us the honor to submit, officially, to the Senate of the 
 United States, with his Message of June 16, 1864, covering corre- 
 spondence on Mexican aftairs, a translation of a Spanish account of 
 that dinner, which original I had pubUshed some months previously 
 for circulation in Mexico. 
 
 Although this ofiicial publication, in a great measure, answers my 
 purpose, it has some typographical errors, and I think it would be 
 well to republish those proceedings, adopting, however, as far as prac- 
 ticable, the text of the official documents. 
 
 It is only just that each of the gentlemen who then honored 
 Mexico in mv person be supplied with a copy of an authentic edition, 
 as it is in my opinion a proof of their enlightened support of a sister 
 Republic in her hour of utmost need, which elevates them as fi-iends of 
 mankind and citizens of a great Republic, called by its position to 
 exercise untold uifluence on the destinies of man. 
 
I venture, my dear friend, the trespass of confiding this edition to 
 your care. 
 
 With renewed assurances of esteem, 
 
 I remain most truly yours, 
 
 M. ROMERO. 
 
 Mk. SEWARD TO Sbnoe ROMERO. 
 
 Dbpaetment of State, ) 
 ■WAsmNQTON, May 25, 1864. ) 
 
 Mr. Seward presents his compliments to Senor Romero, and 
 acknowledges, with sincere thanks, the receipt of the slip from the 
 New York Tribune, of last Saturday, containing very much interesting 
 information concerning affairs in Mexico, and the sentiment of friendly 
 sympathy which is entertained by the national government toward the 
 United States. 
 
 Senor M. Romero, &c., &c., &c. 
 
 Sbnok ROMERO TO Mb. SEWARD. 
 [translation.] 
 [Private.] ■WASHEfeiON, May 24, 1864. 
 
 Esteemed Sir — The Herald, of New York, of the 18th April last 
 past, published an account of what occurred at a dinner which several 
 distinguished persons of that city, friends of Mexico, had the kindness 
 to give me on the 29th of March last. That portion of such account 
 which relates to the remarks which I made, when called upon to speak 
 by the persons who honored me with that demonstration, attributes 
 to me some opinions which I never even thought of uttering, and is, 
 in general, so little exact, that I think it proper to make known to 
 you, although this can have only an indirect bearing on the official 
 business of the department in your charge, that the inclosure herewith 
 
contains a faithful narrative, written in Spanish, of all that passed at 
 that dinner, and an exact translation of what, on that occasion, I had 
 the honor to say in English. 
 
 I am, sir, veiT respectfully. 
 
 Your faithful servant, 
 
 M. ROMERO. 
 Hon. William H. Seward, ttc, kc, kc. 
 
 Mr. SEWARD TO Se.nOR KOMKKO. 
 
 ■Washi.ngtos, May 25, l!-6i. 
 
 My Dear Sir — I beg to thank you for the authentic report, trans- 
 mitted with your note of the 24th instant, of the proceedings at the 
 banquet given to you by certain distinguished citizens of New York, 
 and which contains an exact translation of the remarks you made on 
 that occasion. 
 
 Although your note is unoflicial, I shall place it with the printed 
 
 report on the files of the legation of Mexico in the Department of 
 
 State, to protect vou from the misapprehensions which miiiht result . 
 
 from the incorrect published reports of your remarks to which you 
 
 allude. 
 
 I am, my dear sir, \ery truly yours, 
 
 WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 
 
 Senor Matias Romero, ifcc, &c., &c. 
 
 On tlie evening of the 29th of March, 1864, a banquet 
 was given in this citj*, at Delnionico's Hotel, in the Fiftli 
 Avenue, in honor of Sehor Don Matias Romero, Minister 
 from Mexico, by citizens of New York, with tlie view of 
 
manifesting their sympathy for that Republic in the 
 present struggle against her French invaders. 
 
 About a month previously, some of our citizens pro- 
 jected a demonstration in favor of the Mexican cause, 
 •which, irrespective of Government policy, might elicit 
 the dominant conviction in regard to that invasion. 
 
 The following invitation was therefore sent to Sehor 
 
 ROMEEO : 
 
 New York, February 16, 1864. 
 
 Dbar Sib — The undevsigned, in common with many loyal citizens, 
 feel much interest in the present condition of Mexico, that important 
 Continental State. 
 
 We cordially sympathize with the people of Mexico in their un- 
 equal struggle, and, appreciating their bravery and sacrifices, and your 
 services in maintaining the integrity of your country, we tender to 
 you, as the faithful representative of Mexico, a dinner in this city, on 
 Tuesday, March 29th. 
 
 Your obedient servants, 
 
 WILLIAM C. BETANT, GEORGE T. STRONG, 
 
 WILLIAM H. ASPINWALL, HENRY DELAFIELD, 
 
 HAMILTON FISH, HENRY E. PIERREPONT, 
 
 JOHN W. HAMERSLEY, GEORGE OPDYKE, 
 
 JONATHAN STURGE3, DAVID DUDLEY FIELD, 
 
 JAMES W. BEEKMAN, GEORGE BANCROFT, 
 
 J. J. ASTOR, Jr, C. a. BRISTED, 
 
 SMITH OLIFT, ALEXANDER TAN EENSSELAEK, 
 
 "W. E. DODGE, Je., GEORGE FOLSOM, 
 
 DAVID JIOADLEY, WASHINGTON HUNT, 
 
 FREDERICK DE PEYSTEK, CHARLES KING, 
 
 W. BUTLER DUNCAN, WILLAED PARKER, 
 
 WILLI.iM CURTIS NOTES, ADRIAN ISELIN, 
 
 HENRY CLEWS, ROBERT J. LITINGSTON, 
 
 FREDERICK C. GEBHARD, SAMUEL B. EUGGLES, 
 JAMES T. BRADT. 
 
 His Excellency M. Romero, 
 
 Mexican Minister, &c., &c., <fcc., Washington, D. C. 
 
Sesoe ROMERO'S ANSWER. 
 
 Mexican Legatiox ix the XJxited States or America, ) 
 "Wasiiixgtox, March 20, 18G4. f 
 
 Gentlemen — I Lave just bad tlic honor to receive your kind letter 
 of the 18th ultimo, informing me that you, in common with many 
 loyal citizens, feel much interest in the present condition of Mexico, 
 cordially sympathize with the people of that republic in their unetjual 
 struggle, and appreciating their bravery and sacrifices, as well as my 
 services (you kindly add) in maintaining the integrity of my country, 
 you are good enough to tender to me, as the repi'csentative of Mexico, 
 a dinner in your city on the 29th instant. 
 
 Nothing could be more gratifying to myself and to my countrymen 
 than secinsj that we have with us the enlightened and uninterested 
 sympathy of so many of the most distinguished and eminent citizens, 
 whose virtues, learning, and persevering enterprise have made of the 
 city of New York the great metropolis of the New World. 
 
 The demonstration with which you intend to honor the noble 
 cause for which my country is fighting against one of the strongest 
 and best organized military powers on earth, while it shows your high 
 opinion of the question, and your great sense of justice, will be duly 
 appreciated and thanked for by my Government and countrymen, as 
 well as by all unbiased and disinterested people throughout the worbl, 
 who have some regard for justice, and can not help noticing it entirely 
 trampled down by the Emperor of the French in the policy he is pur- 
 suing toward Mexico. 
 
 I am, gentlemen, very respectfully. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 M. ROMERO. 
 
 Messrs. "William Ccllen Bryant, <fcc., &c., and all the othei- 
 gentlemen who signed this invitation. 
 
8 
 
 The feast was held in four of tlie largest saloons at 
 Delinonico' s. Two were set apart for the reception and 
 convenience of the guests, the third for the banquet, and 
 the fourtli for the orchestra. 
 
 The great dining hall was illuminated as a promenade 
 for the families of the hosts and guests, and a large con- 
 course of ladies and gentlemen, who were invited to see 
 the tahle and be presented to the distinguished Envoy. 
 
 Tasteful and appropriate additions had been made to 
 the furniture and decorations of those princely apart- 
 ments. 
 
 Exquisite flowers, native and exotic, were grouped 
 with artistic skill and classic elegance ; here festooned 
 from arch to arch, there pendent from the fretted ceilings, 
 or, with tropical luxuriance, gracefully bent from massive 
 vases. 
 
 Doorways, 6tageres, all arrayed in fragrant wreaths 
 and garlands, were eloquent with expressions of sympa- 
 thy that need no interpreter but cultivated taste. Oppo- 
 site mirrors repeated the gorgeous scene. 
 
 At the head of the banquet-hall were the flags of the 
 two nations ; on the table five vast bouquets of various 
 shapes flanked a "piece montee" that Careme might 
 envy, blazoning the arms of Mexico ; the eagle erect on 
 the cactus, growing on a rock, which seems to rise from 
 mid-ocean. 
 
Hr hoitor of 
 
 i 
 
The palm and the cactus, types of the flora of Mexico, 
 stood at either end. On pyramids of sugar were in- 
 scribed the names of Juarez, and other statesmen of 
 Mexico. At each cover was a card, with appropriate 
 name, surmounted by the Mexican arms, engraved in 
 gold. The menu was blue satin in gold letters. 
 
 The saloon and table presented a coup d'ceil seldom 
 paralleled in any country or at any period. 
 
 Helmsmuller, long a resident of Mexico, and fiimiliar 
 with her sweet and striking airs, by skillful adaptation 
 introduced La Jar aha and La Svnolita into a spirited 
 march ; and, in concerted order, the Chairman led the 
 guest of the night to the honored seat. Senor Rojiero 
 seemed much gratified that the cadences of the Terlulia 
 should greet him on the Atlantic slope. 
 
 Seiior Don Juan N. Navarro, Consul-General of the 
 Mexican Republic, resident at New York, Senor Don 
 Ignacio Mariscal, an eminent jurist of, Mexico, now 
 Secretary of the Mexican Legation in the United States, 
 and Don Fernando de la Cuesta, Assistant Secretary 
 of the Legation, were invited guests. 
 
10 
 
 ORDER AT TABLE. 
 
 Me. BEEKMAN, 
 
 SeSoe EOMEEO, 
 Me. BETANT, 
 Me. DELAFIELD, 
 Me. DUNCAN, 
 Me. ASTOE, 
 SeSoe CUESTA, 
 Mk. DE PETSTEB, 
 Me. PIEEEEPONT, 
 Mb. CLIPT, 
 
 De. nataeeo, 
 De. paekee, 
 Mk. OPDTKE, 
 
 Me. ISELIN, 
 Me. GEBHAED, 
 Me. HAMEESLET, 
 Me. clews, 
 Me. hunt. 
 Me. BANCROFT, 
 Me. STUEGES, 
 Me. FOLSOM, 
 Me. BEISTED, 
 Me. dodge. 
 Me. field, 
 SeSoe MAEISCAL, 
 
 Me. king. 
 
 At nine o'clock the Chairman called the company to 
 order. 
 
 Me. BEEKMAN. 
 
 Gentlemen — We are met to do honor to tlie great cause of re- 
 ligious and political freedom, now contended for, against fearful odds, 
 by our neighbor, the Republic of Mexico. 
 
 In welcoming her Minister and Representative, we mean to show 
 our good-will toward his country. 
 
 Our hearts are so full, we have so much to say, that I venture upon 
 a Mexican pronunciamiento, and interrupt your feast midway, by a 
 revolutionary innovation, while I give, as the first regular toast — 
 
 The President of the United States. (Enthusiastic cheers — the company rising.) 
 
 I call on Mr. David Dudley Field to reply. 
 
 Me. DAVID DUDLEY FIELD. 
 
 Mr. Chairman — Why I should be called upon to answer this toast, 
 I do not precisely know. I hold, as you, sir, are aware, no official 
 
11 
 
 position, and am in no manner entitled to speak, except as any citi- 
 zen ma}-, for the President or any member of his cabinet. So far 
 as the toast is a compliment or salutation for the country of which 
 he is the first magistrate, wc who are Americans all share, both in 
 giving and receiving it. So far as it calls for the expression of any 
 opinion or intention on the part of the Executive, I, of course, can 
 say nothing. 
 
 There is one respect, however, in which all of us, private citizens, 
 may venture to speak for the Chief Magistrate, and that is when we 
 interpret or express the judgment of the American people. Here, 
 more than anywhere else, the executive department of the government 
 is the agent and exponent of the popular will. The President may, it 
 is true, have information not immediately accessible to the public, and, 
 acting upon it, may decide in a manner which the public does not at 
 first approve ; but, in the end, when the information becomes general, 
 the conclusions at which the nation arrives give law to cabinets and 
 presidents. 
 
 When, therefore, we utter the opinion of the American people, we 
 answer, in a great measure, for the President; and in this manner any 
 private citizen, like myself, may venture to speak. So doing, I assert, 
 without hesitation, that, with unexampled unanimity, Americans feel 
 a profound sympathy for the Mexican people in this dav of their trial. 
 The sentiment of the countiy is all but one on this subject. We do 
 not stop to inquire whether the Mexicans have not made mistakes in 
 the management of their affairs. That is possible ; all nations have 
 done as much. We have done so in the management of our own 
 afiairs, of which we are now reaping the bitter fi-uits. But, whatever 
 may have been the mistakes of the Mexicans, thev give no sort of 
 excuse for the invasion of the French, or the attempt of foreigners to 
 impose a yoke upon their country. 
 
 This invasion we regard as one of the greatest crimes of our age. 
 To war with a neighboring nation, whose proximity naturally gives 
 rise to irritating questions, is a great evil ; but to carry fire and sword 
 among a distant and unoffending people, is a barbarous and cruel 
 
12 
 
 wrong, whicL shocks the conscience of the world, and which history 
 will execrate as it execrates the partition of Poland. 
 
 Though the minds and hearts of the American people are chiefly 
 occupied with their own long and bloody struggle against an unnatural 
 rebellion, they nevertheless feel deepl}' the wrongs of Mexico, and they 
 will express this feeling on every proper occasion. We express it here 
 at this festive gathering; they will express it at public meetings, in 
 State Legislatures, and in Congress ; and they expect the Executive, 
 the organ of the nation, in its intercourse with other nations, to express 
 it also to the fullest extent, within the limits of international obliga- 
 tions. 
 
 Not only do we give the Mexican people our sincerest sympathy, 
 but we offer them all the encouragement which a neutral nation can 
 offer. We bid them to be of good cheer ; to hold fast by their integri- 
 ty ; to stand firm through all vicissitudes, believing in the strength of 
 nationality, in the vitality of freedom, and in that overruling and all- 
 wise Providence which, sooner or later, chastises wrong and casts down 
 the oppressor. 
 
 This is not the place to enter upon a discussion of the motives 
 which prompted this French invasion, nor to trace the history of the 
 parties which have divided Mexico, and been made the pretext for the 
 intrusion of foreigners into its domestic affairs. Thus much, however, 
 may be said, that whatever may be the incidental questions that have 
 arisen, there is one great and controlling feature in the controversy : 
 and that is the claim, on the one hand, of the Church to interfere in 
 the affairs of the State ; and the claim of the State, on the other hand, 
 to be freed from the interference of the Church. We hear constantly 
 of the Church pai-ty in Mexico. Why should there be a Church 
 party ? What can it have legitimately to do with secular affairs ? 
 With us it has been a fundamental maxim, from the formation of our 
 Government, imbedded in the organic law, that there must be forever 
 a total separation of Church and State. The Mexican people — that is 
 to say, the true and loyal portion of them — are struggling for the same 
 end ; and in this we Americans, of all creeds and all parties, bid them 
 
 ^ 
 
13 
 
 Go^ speed. Yes, all of us, excepting- only the rebel, who raises his 
 arms against his country, and the deceitful renegade, who, not daring 
 to raise an arm against it, seeks yet to betray it : all of us, I say, with 
 these exceptions, pray for and believe in the deliverance of Mexico. 
 It may be sooner or later; it may come through greater misfortunes 
 than any which she has yet suffered, but come it will. The spirit of 
 freedom is stronger than the lances of France. 
 
 Maximilian may come with the Austrian eagle and the French 
 tricolor; he may come with a hundred ships; he may march on the 
 high road from Vera Cruz to the capital, under the escort of French 
 squadrons ; he may be proclaimed by French trumpets in all the 
 squares of the chief cities ; but he will return, at some earlier or later 
 day, a fugitive from the New World back to the Old, from which he 
 came ; his followers will be scattered and chased from the land ; the 
 titles and dignities which he is about to lavish on parasites and 
 apostates will be marks of derision ; the flag of the republic will wave 
 from all the peaks of the Cordilloi'as, and be answered from every 
 mountain-top, east and west, to either ocean ; and the renewed coun- 
 tr}-, purified bv blood and fire, will resume its institutions, and be 
 free. 
 
 Such, Mr. Chairman, arc, I am sure, the wishes and the expecta- 
 tions of the American people ; and this, I am bound to presume, 
 would be the answer, if he were free to speak, of the President of the 
 United States. 
 
 The dinner was resumed. When the dessert was 
 served, the Chairman gave tlie second regular toast — 
 
 Don Bexito Juarez — Constitutional President of the Mexican Republic. 
 (Great enthusiasm.) 
 
 This illustrious man is of pure indigenous race. Of humble birth 
 his eminent virtues raised him to the chief magistracy of his coun- 
 try, and, under the most adverse circumstances, he has always ably 
 and irreproachably discharged his difficult duties. 
 c 
 
14 
 
 May we ask the honored Pi-esident of Columbia College to speak 
 to us of Juarez ? 
 
 Mr. king. 
 
 GENTLEMEN^The toast you have just drunk to the President of 
 the Mexican republic is worthy of our cheers, for he is the chosen 
 representative of the Mexican people, from whom he himself sprang, 
 and our distinguished guest to-day is accredited to our Government 
 as the representative of the Government of which President Juarez 
 is the head. In honoring the name of President Juarez, we are, 
 then, acting in harmony with the views and policy of our own Gov- 
 ernment as much as in consonance with our own feelings and con- 
 victions. 
 
 For certainly to us, as Americans, there is much in the character 
 and antecedents of Juarez to commend him to our regard. He is, 
 what was the boast of the Athenians of old (that noblest race of men 
 that ever made a small state great), horn of the soil, and of the 
 people, where he lives — one of those autochthones who, having no 
 progenitors to look back to but mother earth, have all the more in- 
 ducement to look forward to ennobling, as far as they may, and dig- 
 nifying, that mother earth. 
 
 Thoroughly trained and educated in all good knowledge, Juarez 
 labors to see his country great, prosperous, and, above all, free — free 
 individually and socially — free politically, and, above all, spiritually 
 free. It is there that lies the danger and the difficulty of Mexico. 
 It is spiritual bondage even more than partisan and factious quarrels 
 that has damaged that fine country. It is the influence of a class of 
 religionists as a power in the state that has been most injurious there, 
 as it must be everywhere ; and I say this in the most general terms, 
 and not as applicable to any one form of belief. 
 
 Juarez is the avowed and bold opponent of the politico-religious 
 hierarchy which has so largely controlled the affliirs of Mexico, while 
 monopolizing a most undue share of its wealth. 
 
 lie is proscribed by the priesthood, because he stands, as in New 
 
15 
 
 England our forefathers did, for liberty of conscience, for the right 
 of eveiy man to decide for himself in matters of faith. For the same 
 reason he is proscribed by the imperial pro-consul of France ; for it 
 suits the present interest of the unfathomable mystery that sits upon 
 the throne of France to cultivate the Roman Catholic hierarchy, 
 which is a united body all over the world, wielding a sword — and 
 that not the sword of the Spirit — of which "the hilt is at Rome, and 
 the point everywhere." 
 
 We, who have tried and known how much safer and wiser it is 
 to separate the Church from the State — and where public opinion, 
 and sometimes positive law, forbids the mingling of priests in poli- 
 tics — we can well sympathize with President Juarez in Lis brave 
 struggle in Mexico against a domineering clergy and against the 
 foreign allies whom they have introduced into the country, to ruin 
 where they could no longer rule. 
 
 In the midst of the agony of our own civil war, we can not be 
 insensible nor indiftcrcnt to the cause of Mexico, our neighbor, our 
 friend, our natural ally in every difficulty that shall involve the point 
 of American nationality and American interests, as opposed to Euro- 
 pean nationality and European interests. Mexico never can, with the 
 assent of the people of the United States, become the appendage of 
 a European nation, or furnish a peaceful throne to any scion of a 
 European imperial house. The opportunity, so auspiciouslj' presented 
 by the visit of our distinguished guest, is eagerly embraced by us — 
 private individuals, indeed, yet not unfair representatives of the popu- 
 lar sentiments of our fellow-citizens of all classes — to give emphatic 
 expression to the declaration that, " biding our time," wc will, at all 
 hazards, when that time couios, assert ;md uphold the doctrine that 
 on this continent wc will not permit the interference by arms of any 
 European nation to overthrow republican institutions and to establish 
 monarchy. Especially as respects Mexico (conterminous with us for 
 so many degrees of longitude, washed on its Atlantic and Pacific 
 shores by the same bays and seas, and anxious to model its institu- 
 tions after those which have raised these United States to such 
 
16 
 
 power and prosperit}'), witli respect to Mexico, I repeat, we can not, 
 and we will not, consent that any archduke of Austria, be he puppet 
 or be he principal, nor any other monarchical pretender, shall be im- 
 posed upon the Mexican people by foreign bayonets. 
 
 True, it is, alas ! that, through the great crimes of slavery, we are 
 at this moment unable to give to our firm purposes in this regard 
 fitting outward manifestation ; but, as in the inevitable course of jus- 
 tice, which is God, our civil war must ere long close by the extirpa- 
 tion of its accursed cause, and in the restoi-ation of our national unity 
 and territorial integrity, we shall then have disposable such a force 
 on sea and on land as will impart unlimited power of persuasion to 
 the diplomatic declaration we shall then make, that Mexico must and 
 shall be Mexican ; that Mexico must and shall be American, and not 
 European. (Cheers.) 
 
 The CHAIBMAK 
 We are now to listen to our guest, the representative of Mexico. 
 
 SeSor ROMERO. 
 
 Mr. Chairman — Gentlemen — I feel entirely unable to express to 
 you in a sufficient manner my sincere thanks for the great honor you 
 have bestowed upon me and my country in this refined and splendid 
 demonstration of your sympathy for struggling Mexico. It is, indeed, 
 particularly gratifying to me that this significant demonstration is 
 made by so many of the most distinguished and most eminent citi- 
 zens, who are an ornament to this great metropolis, and whose virtues, 
 learning, and enterprise have contributed so much to make your city 
 in so brief a period the first, not only of the broad United States, but 
 of the whole American continent, as well as to make your country one 
 of the most powerful, wealthy, and civilized on the globe. 
 
 It is, indeed, another motive which greatly adds to my gratifica- 
 tion, and for which, in the name of my country, I beg to express to 
 you my gratitude for the kind words with which our distinguished 
 
17 
 
 friend lias proposed the liealtli of Benito Juarez, the constitutional 
 President of the republic of Mexico, and for the prompt heartiness 
 and cordiality with which that toast has been received. I perceive, 
 with joy and gratitude, gentlemen, that you appreciate the high quali- 
 ties of that statesman and patriot, and hold a strong and pure sym- 
 pathy for the noble cause of which he is the leader. 
 
 1 am rejoiced that I have the opportunity to see with my own eyes 
 the proof that the eminent French statesman, M. Thiers, was some- 
 what mistaken when, in a speech he recently delivered before the 
 Corps Legislatif, of Paris, against the policy pursued by the Emperor 
 Napoleon in Mexican affairs, he stated that the United States would 
 not, under present circumstances, object in any way to that policy ; 
 and that, should the Archduke Maximilian come to this city en route 
 to Mexico, he would meet with a cordial reception at your hands. 
 It could scarcely be possible to have a more distinguished, complete, 
 and genuine representation of the patriotism, intelligence, and Mcalth 
 of the great city of New York — the leading city of the Union — than 
 that I see assembled here this evening; yet, if I can trust my senses, 
 gentlemen, I venture to assert that the sympathies of your great city 
 run in a direction very different from that imagined by M. Thiers. 
 
 I am very happy to say that the kind feeling you express for 
 Mexico is fully reciprocated. In Mexico there are now but the senti- 
 ]nents of regard and admiration for the United States, and the desire 
 to pursue such a course as will draw more closely all those powerful 
 ties by which both nations should be united. 
 
 It has sometimes appeared to me, that the gentlemen who con- 
 trolled the Government of the United States for thirty-five years 
 previous to 1861, cared for nothing so much as for the acquisition of 
 territory. Those gentlemen thus caused their countrj' to appear in 
 the character of a very covetous man, who, without knowing the 
 boundaries of his own estate, or endeavoring to improve it, constantly 
 exerts himself to enlarge its limits, ■without being very scrupulous as 
 to the means of its accomplishment. 
 
 Just before the war with Mexico commenced, the United States 
 
18 
 
 had a boundary question with England, which threatened a rupture 
 between the two countries, and I have been informed that the same 
 documents which were prepared as a declaration of war against Great 
 Britain were used when war was finally declared against Mexico. 
 Thus, while the idea of acquiring domain from Great Britain by a 
 dubious title, to say the least, was relinquished, the same scheme was 
 carried out against Mexico, not only without any plausible reason, but, 
 I must say, in violation of all principles of justice. 
 
 I. beg of you, gentlemen, to excuse me if I have referred to an 
 unpleasant point in the history of late events. But I wish to forcibly 
 present to your minds the idea that the unfair policy I have alluded 
 to led, in a great measure, to the troubles and complications in which 
 you are now involved, and one of the consequences of which is French 
 intervention in Mexico, as that intervention would never have been but 
 for the civil war in the United States. 
 
 Those who have pursued this policy appear to have been, in the 
 main, under the influence of the slave power, and to have had in view 
 their own political influence and personal aggrandizement, rather than 
 the great interests of their country. They very properly tliought that, 
 by extending the area of slavery, they would extend in proportion 
 their influence and strength. For that reason they did not insist on 
 increasing the territory of the United States in the far northwest, 
 where their peculiar institution could not be acclimated, but rather 
 set their e3'es towhTd the sunny regions of Mexico. By that means 
 the institution of human slavery had so large an increase, that a short 
 time afterward it was strong enough to commence a gigantic war 
 against the Government of the United States. In my opinion, the 
 leaders of the slavery party always had in view the separation of their 
 own States from the free States of the North, and to replace the loss 
 of Northern aimed at the acquisition of Southern territory. 
 
 I will not conceal from you, gentlemen, the fact that we have 
 looked with deep apprehension up(}n such an aggressive policy, which 
 threatened to deprive us of our independence and nationality — the 
 highest and most precious rights that man can enjoy on earth. We 
 
19 
 
 were, of course, fully determined not to give up this precious inherit- 
 ance, and we had resolved to fight to the last. In our present war 
 with France, we are giving a proof of our determination. It may 
 appear foolish and unavailing for Mexico, that has been so often ex- 
 hausted in her struggles to obtain true liberty during the last forty 
 years, to accept war with the greatest military power in Europe; but 
 there are circumstances in the life of nations which cause them to 
 overlook all secondary considerations, and determine to exert them- 
 selves to overcome all difficulties. Besides, our situation is not so 
 bad as many think. 
 
 Fortunately, the change of policj- toward ilexico operated in the 
 United States brought up a consequent change in the feelings of my 
 country in regard to yours. We do not wish now to have any interest 
 antagonistical to yours, because we mean to keep peace with you, and 
 that object could scarcely be accomplished if our respecti\c interests 
 were in opposition. For that reason, among other very material ones 
 that we had, we established a republican form of government and 
 democratic institutions, modeled on the same basis as yours. 
 
 The Emperor of the French pretends that the object of his inter- 
 ference in Mexican affairs is to prevent the annexation of Mexico to 
 the United States ; and yet that very result would, most likely, be 
 ultimately accomplished if a monarchy were established in Mexico. 
 Fortunately for us, that scheme is by no means a feasible one. 
 
 Mexico is most bountifully blessed by Nature. She can produce 
 of the best quality and in large quantities all of the principal agricul- 
 tural staples of the world — cotton, coffee, sugar, tobacco, vanilla, wheat, 
 and corn. Her mines have yielded the largest portion of all the silver 
 which now circulates throughout the world, and there still remain to 
 her mountains of that precious metal, as well as of gold, which only 
 require labor, skill, and capital to make them available and valuable. 
 The wealth of California is nothing when compared with what still 
 remains in Mexico. 
 
 My country, therefore, opens a most desirable field for the enter- 
 prise of a commercial nation. Far-sighted England discovered this 
 
20 
 
 many years ago, and by establishing a line of mail steamers from 
 Soutbampton to Vera Cruz and Tampico, and negotiating advanta- 
 geous treaties of commerce, has, beyond all other nations, enjoyed 
 the best of the Mexican trade. France, seeing this, and wishing to 
 vie with England, has undertaken an enterprise which, besides being 
 ruinous to her, will not produce the desired end, as the means adopted 
 must surely cause the opposite result. The United States are the best 
 situated to avail of the immense wealth of Mexico. Being a neighbor 
 nation, they have more advantages than any other for the frontier and 
 coasting trade ; and, furthermore, being a nation second to none in 
 wealth, activity, skill, and enterprise, they are called by nature to 
 speculate and enjoy the resources of Mexico. 
 
 We are willing to grant to the United States every commercial 
 facility that will not be derogatory of our independence and sov- 
 ereignty. This will give to the United States all possible advantages 
 that could be derived from annexation, without any of its inconve- 
 niences. That once done, our common interests, political as well as 
 commercial, will give us a common whole American continental policy 
 which no European nation would dare disregard. 
 
 The bright future which I plainly see for both nations had made 
 me forget for a moment the present troubles in which they are now 
 involved. I consider these troubles of so transitory a nature as not to 
 interfere materially with the common destiny I have foreshadowed ; 
 but, as they have the interest of actuality, I beg to be allowed to 
 make a few remarks in regard to them. 
 
 Every careful observer of events could not help noticing, when the 
 expedition against Mexico was organized in Europe, that it would, 
 sooner or later, draw the United States into the most serious compli- 
 cations, and involve them in the difficulty. The object of that expe. 
 dition being no less than a direct and armed interference in the 
 political affairs of an American nation, with a view to overthrow its 
 republican institutions and establish on their ruins a monarchy, with a 
 European prince on the throne, — the only question to be determined 
 by the United States and the other nations concerned, was as to the 
 
21 
 
 time when they would be willing or ready to meet the issue tlius 
 boldly and openly held out by the antagonistic nations of Enrope. 
 
 The United States could not be indifferent iu this question ; just 
 as a man who sees his neighbor's house set on fire by an incendiary, 
 could not remain an nnconeerned spectator, while his own house con- 
 tains his family and all his fortune, and combustible matter lies in the 
 basement. The only alternative left to him should be, whether it 
 would be more convenient to his interests to help his neighbor in 
 putting out the fire from the beginning, and with the same earnest- 
 ness as if his own house were alrea Ij' caught by that destructive ele- 
 ment, or to wait inactive until tlie incendiary has succeeded in making 
 a perfect blaze of his neighbor's property, by which all will inevitably 
 be involved in one common ruin. 
 
 This, in my opinion, is the situation in which the United States 
 are placed with regard to Mexico. Taking into consideration the 
 well-known sagacity of Ameiican statesmen, the often-proved devotion 
 of the American people to republican institutions, and the patriotism 
 and zeal of the Administration that presides over the destinies of the 
 country, I can not entertain the slightest doubt that the United States 
 will act in this emergency as will conduce to the best interests they 
 and mankind at large have at stake in the Mexican question. 
 
 In the mean time, however, I consider it of the highest importance 
 that the delusion prevailing throughout Europe that the United States 
 do not oppose, and rather favor, the establishment of a monarchy in 
 Mexico by French bayonets, should be dispelled. The French Gov- 
 ernment has been working steadily in causing that delusion to prevail 
 on the other side of the water, and, so far, has succeeded more than 
 could be expected, considering the absurdity of such an idea. The 
 war against Mexico would be ten times more unpopular in France 
 than it is now — in tact, it could not be maintained any longer — if the 
 French people were made to understand that the people of the United 
 States will never tolerate, much less favor or encourage, the estah- 
 lishjnent, by force of arms, of a European monarchy upon the ruins 
 of a sister neighboring republic. The French people are friendly to 
 
 D 
 
22 
 
 the United States ; old traditions, the common love of liberty, and the 
 absence of opposing interests, make them friendly. They would, 
 therefore, be wholly opposed to any thing that, without bringing them 
 any real benefit, might, sooner or later, lead to a war with this coun- 
 try. They very well know that such a war could not hut be disas- 
 trous to France, since France would have every thing to lose and 
 nothing to gain by such a war, whatever may be her influence and 
 power in the European continental politics. 
 
 The United States may find that they are brought squarely to the 
 issue on the Mexican question sooner than they expected, should the 
 report, lately reached here, of any understanding between Maximilian, 
 as so-called emperor of Mexico, and the insurgents in this country, 
 prove correct. The archduke, it is stated, will inaugurate his adminis- 
 tration by acknowledging the independence of the South, and, per- 
 haps, he will go further ; and this, of course, by the advice, consent, 
 and support of the French Government, whose satellite, and nothing 
 else, will the archduke be in Mexico. 
 
 The French ofiicial and semi-ofiicial papers assure us that Maxi- 
 milian will soon depart for Mexico. All present appearances indicate 
 that he is willing to change his high position in Europe for a hazardous 
 one in Mexico. He can not stay there unless supported by a French 
 array, and he will not, therefore, be any thing more than the shadow 
 of the French emperor. Should he ever have a difterent view or 
 de.sire from the French Government, or even the French general-in- 
 chief, he will be obliged to submit to the humiliating condition of 
 forbearing to do that which he thinks best in a country where he 
 will call himself emperor. As far as the personality of the Austrian 
 duke is concerned, he is nothing. If he goes to Mexico to meddle in 
 our affairs, we shall consider him as our enemy, and deal with him 
 accordingly. We hold that iu the political question which is being- 
 agitated in Mexico the person of the Austrian duke is not of much 
 account ; and whether he does or does not go there, that question 
 can ultimately have only one possible solution — namely, the triumph 
 and maintenance of republican institutions. 
 
23 
 
 As far as I am concerned, I prefer thnt Maximilian should go to 
 Mexico, so as to give the European dreamers on monarchies a fair 
 chance to realize their dreams of Ameiica. As for Mexico, I can say 
 that nothing that has transpired in my country should surprise any 
 one who is familiar with our affairs. It is true that i\'e have been un- 
 fortunate during the past year ; we have lost nearly all the battles we 
 have fought with the French ; tliey have occupied some of our prin- 
 cipal cities ; they have blockaded our ports ; but all these gains on 
 the part of the French are nothing when compared with the elements 
 of opposition and endurance which remain with the national Govern- 
 ment of Mexico, ruling a people numbering eight millions, deter- 
 minedly opposed to intervention, ready to fight, and fighting already 
 for their independence ; a country that will require half a million of 
 soldiers to subdue and possess ; naturally strong in defences, possess- 
 ing inaccessible mountains, impracticable roads, where the patriots 
 will be able to make a perpetual warfare upon the invader, until he is 
 persuaded of the impossibility of accomplishing the conquest, or be 
 compelled to leave for other causes. Such is the prospect before us, 
 and that in case we could do nothing more than make a passive 
 resistance. But we can do better than this. 
 
 Among the many events calculated to terminate immediately 
 French intervention in Mexico, the European complications which 
 threaten to cause a general war on that continent should be particu- 
 larly mentioned. It is certainly wonderful that while Europe is in so 
 insecure and agitated a condition, menaced by revolutions everywhere, 
 and wrestling to recover its own existence and independence, the 
 French emperor should be thinking about arranging other people's 
 aft'airs, as if his own did not require his immediate and most par- 
 ticular attention. 
 
 The only serious support the French intervention had among the 
 Mexicans was that afforded by the Church party, which was, in fact, 
 the promoter and supporter of the intervention. The generals of the 
 Cliurch party have, with the aid of the French army, been conscript- 
 ing Mexican citizens to make them fio-ht with the foreio-n invadw 
 
24 
 
 against their brotliers and tlie independence of their country. The 
 Clmrcl) party expected, of course, as a small compensation for the 
 services rendered to the intervention, that as soon as the French 
 should take the city of Mexico they would restore the Church prop- 
 erty confiscated by the National Government, and the fueros of the 
 clergy, of which they had been deprived. But the French have thus 
 far failed to do this. They discovered that the Church party was the 
 weakest, and that with that party they had no chance of subduing the 
 country. The French now wish to conciliate the liberal party by sus- 
 taining and enforcing all the important measures and laws decreed by 
 the National Government. But the libei'als of Mexico are true patriots, 
 not partisans, and will not be conciliated so long as the foot of the 
 invader is on Mexican soil. The policy of the French so incensed the 
 Church party that they broke altogether with the French. The Arch- 
 bishop of Mexico, who was a member of the so-called regency, with- 
 drew at once, and was afterward dismissed by General Bazaine. The 
 so-called supreme tribunal protested against those measures, and shared 
 the fate of the archbishop. All the archbishops and bishops in the 
 republic then joined in signing a protest, in which they declared the 
 condition of the Church to be far woi'se than it ever was under the 
 rule of the liberal government; that now they are not allowed even to 
 issue their pastorals, a right never denied to them wdiile the liberals 
 were in power in the city of Mexico. The protest concluded by ex- 
 communicating the French Government, the French army in Mexico, 
 all Mexicans wlio take sides with the French, and everybody who sup- 
 ports the French cause in any waj'. These proceedings have left the 
 French without the support of the only part of the native population 
 they ever had in their favor, and have combined against them all the 
 elements of the country. 
 
 I fear that I have already imposed too. much ujjon your kindness, 
 and, in concluding my remarks, I beg to express my earnest and 
 sincere desire that this demonstration may be the beginning of a new 
 era of perpetual peace and cordiality in the relations between the 
 United States and Mexico. (I'rolonged cheers.) 
 
25 
 
 The chair. 
 
 There lias been a belief, in some quarters, that no statesmen, 
 worth}' of the name, have arisen in Mexico — Guatimotzin, Hidalgo, 
 Morelos, Ocampo, Lerdo, and Dcgollado, are names venerated in that 
 country. I propose, then, that we honor the Statesmen of Mexico, 
 and I call on Mr. Bancroft, who so well appreciates their fame, to 
 reply. 
 
 Mr. BANCROFT. 
 
 Gentlemen — Although I am not prepared to deliver an address 
 worthy of this auditory, I can not refrain from replying and express- 
 ing my sentiments, as I have been called to repjly to the toast which 
 our president has just proposed to the statesmen of our neighboring 
 sister republic. The struggle which for many long years the Mexican 
 people have sustained against their interior tyrants has been an heroic 
 struggle, worthy of a civilized and cultivated people, and in which the 
 sympathies of the whole civilized world- — of all the friends of political 
 and religious liberty — ought to liave been manifested in a frank and 
 decided manner in behalf of the Mexican people, directed by the 
 liberal party. I believe, gentlemen, that the cause of civil wars, not 
 only in Mexico, but throughout all Spanish America, has been the 
 clergy alone, who, when they come to acquire power in the State, 
 al\va3-s strive to overturn the government and to subordinate the 
 temporal interests of society to their own. This attribute seems to 
 belong principally to the Catholic clergy. 
 
 The struggle, then, in which up to this time the patriotic Mexicans 
 have been engaged, was a holy struggle, and the sympathy of the 
 whole people of the United States was with them — a people who, 
 whatever may be their religious creeds, adopts as a fundamental princi- 
 ple the most complete religious liberty, and the absolute independence 
 of the Church from the State. 
 
 But now the sympathy of the United States is increased for the 
 Mexican people, when, in addition to the facts already mentioned, we 
 
26 
 
 find this people struggling for their independence and nationality 
 against a European nation, which, taking advantage of the civil strife 
 in which we were engaged, has sought to establish before our eyes a 
 form of government in open antagonism to our own. We can not do 
 less than receive this project in the same way as Europe would receive 
 it were we to foment revolutions and establish republics on that con- 
 tinent. 
 
 Thus it is that those statesmen in the United States who aid us 
 to emerge from our present difficulties, and to restore our power and 
 legitimate influence, and those who in Mexico not only consummate 
 the great work of establishing religious liberty on a solid basis, but 
 who succeed in driving from their country the foreign invader, or at 
 least keep the sacred fire of patriotism and of resistance to the invader 
 burning, while we disembarrass ourselves of our complications, deserve, 
 in the highest degree, our sincere and ardent homage. 
 
 Gentlemen, the Egyptians used to place a burning lamp at the feet 
 of their royal corpses. On descending to the deep vaults in which the 
 corpses were deposited, the lamp was naturally extinguished. 
 
 Let Europe place at Maximilian's feet the weak lamp of monarchi- 
 cal power. It will not burn in the free atmosphere of our continent. 
 
 The chair. 
 
 Mexico has illustrious poets, too, whose names, celebrated at home, 
 we are glad to remember here — names such as Atarcon, Heredia, 
 Gorosteza, Carpio, Calderon. Will Mr. Bryant, whom we delight to 
 honor, do us the favor to speak for the poets ? (Cheers.) 
 
 Mk. BRYANT. 
 
 We of the United States have constituted ourselves a sort of 
 police of this New World. Again and again have we warned off' the 
 highwaymen and burglars of the Old World who stand at tlie head of 
 its governments, styling themselves conquerors. We have said to 
 them, that if they attempted to pursue their infamous profession here 
 
27 
 
 they did it at tlieir peril. But now, wlien tliis police is engaged in a 
 dcadl_y conflict with a band of ruffians, comes this Frenchman, knocks 
 down an unoflFending bystander, takes his watch and purse, strips him 
 of his clothing, and makes off with the booty. This act of the French 
 monarch is as base, cowardly, and unmanly as it is criminal and cruel. 
 There is no person, acquainted, even in the slightest degree, with the 
 political history of the times, who does not know tliat it would never 
 have been perpetrated had not the United States been engaged in an 
 expensive and bloody war within their own borders. 
 
 There is a proverbial phrase used by lawyers, who sav of a pur- 
 chaser of land wlio does not obtain a clear and undisputed title, that 
 he has bought a lawsuit — paid out his money for a controversy in the 
 courts. We may say of this Maximilian of Austria, that, in accepting 
 the crown of Mexico from the hands of Napoleon, he has accepted, 
 not an empire, but a quarrel — a present quarrel with the people of 
 Mexico, and a prospective quarrel with the people of the United 
 States. The rule of a branch of the Austrian famih' will be no less 
 hateful 'to the Mexicans than that of the Austrian monarch is to the 
 inhabitants of Venice. Its yoke will be hated because it is a foreign 
 yoke, laid upon their necks by strangers; it will be liated because it is 
 imposed b}' violence ; it will be hated because that violence was accom- 
 panied by fraud ; for never was there a more shallow and transparent 
 deception than that of the convocation of notables, from whom 
 Napoleon pretended to receive the supreme dominion over Mexico. 
 
 Then, as to the relations of tliis new emperor with the United 
 States, does any one suppose that they can possibly be amicable ? 
 Does any one suppose that after our civil war is ended, as it soon will 
 be, the numerous class whom it has trained to adventure, and made 
 fond of a military life, will all remain quietly at home when the cause 
 of liberty and independence in Mexico demands their aid? Does any 
 man doubt that, whatever may be the course taken by our Govern- 
 ment, they will cross the Mexican frontier by thousands, to take part 
 in favor of the people of that country ? The party of liberty in Mexico 
 will then have its auxiliaries close at hand, in a contiguous region. 
 
28 
 
 while the succors which the despot will need to protect, his usurped 
 dominion will be far away beyond the Atlantic. 
 
 Yet I wonder not that Maximilian should covet the possession of 
 so noble a principality as Mexico, provided he were allowed to govern 
 it in peace. I remember that, a few years since, in making a voyage 
 to Europe in one of our steamers, there was a passenger on board to 
 whom we gave the name of the Knight of the " Woeful Countenance." 
 He was a thin, dark man, dressed in black, with a very broad-brimiued 
 hat, long features, and a most sorrowful aspect. I learned that he was 
 a Mexican, and entered into conversation with him. He described 
 the natural advantages and resources of his country with much of that 
 eloquence which I believe is the natural inheritance of the Latin race. 
 He spoke of its mountains, pregnant with ores of the precious and 
 useful metals ; its vast plains and valleys of exhaustless fertility ; its 
 variety of climates — in some regions possessing the temperature of 
 perpetual spring, in which were reared all the productions of the 
 temperate zone, and in the other places basking under a torrid sun, 
 which ripens all the fruits of the tropics to their most perfect maturity. 
 Yet these rich mines were unwrought, these fertile fields untilled, these 
 regions, with the climate of Paradise, thinly peopled by a race without 
 enterprise, nearly without arts, and living almost from hand to mouth. 
 This unhappy state of the country he attributed to the want of a per- 
 manent, enlightened, and liberal government, which, while maintaining 
 peace and order, and securing to every man his individual rights as a 
 freeman, left open every path of lawful enterprise. 
 
 We thought that we saw the dawn of this era of enlightened gov- 
 ernment in the administration of Juarez. That dawn has been overcast 
 by the clouds of a tempest wafted hither from Europe. May the dark- 
 ness which has gathered over it be of short continuance ; may these 
 clouds be soon dispelled by the sunshine of liberty and peace, and 
 Mexico, assured in her independence, take the high place which 
 belongs to her in the family of nations. (Continued applause.) 
 
29 
 
 The chair. 
 
 We have among our guests a distinguished lawyer of Mexico, 
 Senor Don Ignacio Mariscal, Secretary of the Legation. I propose, 
 
 Our guest and the Bar of Mexico, which he adorns. 
 
 Se.vor mariscal. 
 
 Gentlemen — I never was more sorrv than now for not having the 
 control of your expressive language, that I might give a full utterance 
 to my sentiments. Yet I can not lielp saying a few words to thank 
 you ver}' warmly for the kind and splendid manner in which you are 
 complimenting the representative of my coimtry, as well as for the 
 enthusiastic allusions 3-ou have made and applauded in honor of its 
 leading patriots and distingni.shed men. ' Finally, gentlemen, the toast 
 you have just dedicated to me, and the too benevolent terms in whii-h 
 it was proposed, are things which I am not alilc to be thankful fur in 
 a sufficient way. I am perfectly aware that the ijeneral feeling of the 
 people of the United States is most favm'able to Mexico in lier present 
 struggle to resist conquest. But when I see that feeling shared by 
 such prominent and enlightened citizens as you are, gentlemen, I 
 consider it is not a bUnd sentiment, but rather a conviction, a deep 
 sense of right and justice, as well as the knowledge of a danger com- 
 mon to both republics. I cherish the idea that while this unanimous 
 sympathy for Mexico exists, ray country will not ho subjugated for 
 a long time by the brutal force of a European ai-my. The day will 
 soon come, I trust, in which the sympathies of this great people will 
 be no longer disregarded by any power in the world. Yon know, 
 better than I do, which are the clouds now darkening your political 
 horizon and preventing the break of that promisins; day. !May they 
 be soon dispelled ! The sun of America will then shine triumphant 
 upon the end of your national disturbances and the direful sufferings 
 of Mexico. (Cheers.) 
 
 E 
 
30 
 
 The chair. 
 
 The President, the statesmen, the poets, and the bar of Mexico 
 have been duly toasted — sliall we forget her diplomacy ? Owr guest 
 to-night is himself one of his country's ablest representatives. Yet 
 I ask 3'ou to join me in complimenting another — a name well-known 
 in Europe, General Don Josfi Lopez Ueaga, who not long ago was 
 Mexican minister at Berlin. I beg Mr. Folsom, who was formerly 
 the envoy from the United States to the Netherlands, to speak for 
 the diplomatists. 
 
 Me. folsom. 
 
 Sir — Being at this moment invited to speak, it will be diflBcult for 
 me to say any thing worthy of my hearers. Nevertheless, although 
 without notice, I can not do less than accede to the request of our 
 president. I have always been attached to the beautiful Castilian 
 language — to that language so robust and manly, yet so soft and 
 insinuating, which is capable of the highest flights of eloquence, as 
 well as of the sweetest sentiments of love. Its study has occupied a 
 part of my life, and I declare that it would have been diiEcult for me 
 to have found a more delightful task. This love of the Spanish lan- 
 guage could not but extend to the generous people who speak it, 
 and more especially to the people of Spanish America, among whom 
 Mexico occupies the first place, for its extent, resources, the beauty of 
 its climate, the fertility of the soil, and, above all, from the very 
 essential circumstance of being our neighbor, and having, since her 
 emancipation, adopted republican institutions similar to those which 
 have made our happiness. Guided by these sentiments, I undertook 
 years ago a translation of the letters which Hernan Cortez addressed 
 to the Emperor Charles the Fifth, giving an account of the conquest 
 of New Spain — ^letters which contain very important historical data, 
 and which were then entire!}' unknown to us until Mr. I'rescott, our 
 immortal historian, published his history of the conquest of Mexico. 
 1 say all this that it may be seen that niy sympathy for the affairs of 
 
Q 
 
 1 
 
 Mexico is of long standing. And is it possible tliat it could cease to 
 exist now that her sons are gloriously fighting to preserve an inde- 
 pendence which it cost them so many sacrifices to achieve ! No ; 
 certainly no. It exists in me now more actively than ever, as it does 
 in the heart of every true American ; for on this point, as some of the 
 gentlemen have already well said, the opinion of our people is unani- 
 mous. Every one knows that on the Mexican soil a struggle is going 
 on for a principle left us as an inheritance by one of our great states- 
 men, without adherence to which our institutions run great danger. 
 I wish, then, that Mexico may sustain the struggle to which she has 
 been so unjustly provoked, and I do not fear that I deceive myself 
 in saying, in the name of the American people, that, as soon as our 
 civil war is ended, our aid to Mexico will not bo limited to barren 
 sympathy. 
 
 The chair. 
 
 I have the pleasure to present to you Dr. Navarro, formerly chief 
 of the medical staff of the Mexican army, during the defense of the 
 city of Puebla. At the end of the siege, he delivered to the French 
 surgeons the wounded prisoners, who had suffered amputation, in a 
 convalescent state. 
 
 Will Dr. Parker welcome Surgeon-General Navarro? 
 
 Dr. PARKKR. 
 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen— Dr. Navarro, whose health has 
 been proposed, is the friend of man, whom we Americans delight to 
 honor. We welcome him among us this evening as our guest. 
 
 It is true, sir, he has made himself eminent by his science and 
 skill as a surgeon, and on that account he is entitled to our respect. 
 But, Mr. President, it is not on account of his professional attainments 
 that we seek to honor him this evening. It is because he has a loyal 
 heart which beats in sympathy with our own, and, in tliesc days, when 
 treason is rampant, we feel ourselves attracted to every man whose 
 bosom is warmed by the fire of true patriotism. 
 
32 
 
 You have referred to Dr. Navarro's skill and humanity, always 
 the unmistakable evidence of head and heart. Permit me here, sir, 
 to state, that when the French authorities were made acquainted with 
 the doctor's position and the happy results of liis labors, every effort 
 was made to induce him to turn traitor to his own Government. 
 Honors and emoluments were proffered him, to be limited only by 
 his own wishes. But he indignantly spurned them all. 
 
 So Hippocrates, the father of his profession, when Artaxerxes 
 sought to attach him to his own court, striving by biibes and force to 
 induce him to forsake Athens, exclaimed : " My talents, my art, my 
 existence, all belong to Greece, and never can they be employed 
 against my country." 
 
 Such, Mr. President, is Dr. Navarro, and we honor him and his 
 compatriots — they have our sympathy. And, being in the right, it is 
 my conviction and my faith, that the patriots of our sister republic 
 must and will succeed. 
 
 " Magna est justitia et prasvalebit." 
 
 The chair. 
 Dr. Navarro will, I am sure, do us the honor of speaking in reply. 
 
 De. NAVARRO. 
 
 Gentlemen" — I regret very much that my slight knowledge of your 
 beautiful language does not permit me to duly express my feelings. 
 I feel the greatest satisfaction in being a witness to the ardent sym- 
 pathy manifested toward my dear country by persons of such a high 
 social position and so resj)ected for their scientific and literarv knowl- 
 edge. I have no words to express my gratitude for the toast and for 
 the kind allusions which you have been pleased to make concerning 
 me. Mexico, in defending her independence, has been struggling for 
 a long time past with one of the most powerful monarchs of Europe, 
 and she will struggle year after year, proving in this way the patriotic 
 
33 
 
 sentiments of her sons, and tliat she is worthy of that sympathy which 
 all over the world every friend of justice and right shares with you 
 in extending toward her. Please to receive, gentlemen, my most sin- 
 cere prayers for the ending of your civil war — of the bloody struggle 
 which has shaken this great Republic and given to European tyrants 
 the opportunity of audaciously treading on the American continent — 
 this sacred ground on whioli liberty onlv reigns, and in which thrones 
 are but the sorrowful remembrances of times which will never return 
 again. The time will come, and perhaps it is not very far off, when 
 we shall see our republic free of all foreign intervention and your 
 glorious Union happily restored — being once more, as it always has 
 been, the astonishment of the civilized world and the fear of the 
 despots of the Old World. (Cheers.) 
 
 The chair. 
 
 I beg leave to present to you Scuor Feknakdo de la Cuesta, a 
 member of the Mexican Legation. Himself a merchant, the commerce 
 of New York should bid him welcome. In the hands of our late 
 mayor, Mr. Opdyke, also a merchant, the duties of hospitality will 
 be best performed. 
 
 Mr. opdyke. 
 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen — On behalf of the merchants of 
 this city, and, I will venture to add, of the city itself, although it is no 
 longer my privilege to speak officially in its name, I have great satis- 
 faction in expressing profound sympathy for the cause which the peo- 
 ple of oui- sister republic are sustaining against European invasion. I 
 indorse fuUv and heartily all the sentiments uttered on this occasion 
 by the enlightened and watchful friend of civil liberty on my left (W. 
 C. Bryant, Esq.), his indignant protest against the attempt of Louis 
 Napoleon to overthrow the Mexican republic, and to rear in its stead 
 a despotism under the imperial sway of a Hapsburg, will, I am sure, 
 meet an approving response from every true American. 
 
34 
 
 The remarts of M. Thiers in the Corps Legislatif of France, on the 
 manner in which he believed the Archduke Maximilian would be re- 
 ceived in this city, which our distinguished guest has referred to this 
 evening, had not escaped my attention. Had the archduke ventured 
 to test the sentiments of our people, I feel warranted in saying, that 
 the distinguished French statesman would have found his expectations 
 sadly disappointed. 
 
 The citizens of New York are not incapable of distinguishing 
 between the friends and enemies of their country, and it is only to the 
 former that they are in the habit of manifesting their respect and 
 sympathy. 
 
 When the Russian fleet arrived in this port-, I felt it to be my duty, 
 as chief magistrate of the city, to invite the Common Council to extend 
 to the Eussian officers a prompt and generous hospitality. In making 
 that recommendation, I correctly interpreted, as the result proved, the 
 undivided sentiment of our people ; for you all remember how the 
 municipal authorities and the citizens vied with each other in extend- 
 ing a heartfelt welcome to the naval representatives of a great empire, 
 which gave us, in our country's darkest hour of trial, unmistakable 
 and touching evidence of its sympathy and friendship. 
 
 T\Tien, a little later, French and British vessels of war arrived at 
 our port, it was suggested by a few that similar hospitalities should be 
 extended to their officers. But I declined making the recommenda- 
 tion, on the ground that the Governments they represented had mani- 
 fested toward our country, in its greatest need, sentiments directly 
 opposite to those manifested by the Government and people of Russia ; 
 and in thus refusing I but conformed to the well-known sentiments 
 and wishes of the great mass of our citizens. 
 
 So as reo-ards the Archduke Maximilian, if he had touched at 
 New York on his way to Mexico, a similar suggestion in his behalf 
 would have been still more emphatically declined, because he was the 
 instrument chosen by Louis Napoleon to consummate a high national 
 crime against a neigliboriug republic as well as an act of marked 
 unfriendliness to ourselves. 
 
35 
 
 In a word, there is no difFereiice of sentiment among oui; people 
 on tliis subject. The universal feeling is earnestly hostile to any 
 armed intervention of Europe on this continent, and especially to that 
 which seeks to overthrow a rejjublic in order to erect a monarchy. 
 
 sesoe db la CUESTA. 
 
 Gentlemen — It would be superfluous, perhaps presumptuous in 
 me, to add one more word to what has been already said ; yet I can not 
 help tendering you my most sincere and heartfelt thanks for the beau- 
 tiful manner in which you have been pleased to express your good 
 wishes and warm sympathy for the land where I first saw the light 
 and breathed the sweet air of life. As the last draught of water to 
 the camel in the desert cheers and comforts him through the dreary 
 path that lies before him, so will the remembrance of this night cheer 
 and comfort me, whatever may be my path in life, to sustain the 
 liberty, independence, and integrity of our national' soil. I can not 
 answer better the allusion, made by the gentleman who so worthily 
 occupies the chair, as to my representing the commerce of Mexico, 
 having once followed its pursuits, than by proposing the following 
 toast : 
 
 The City of New York — first in sciences, arts, commerce, wealth ; in fact, in 
 all. First, also, let me add, in extending to us her noble sympathies for our 
 holy cause. May she always prosper as she has hitherto prospered ; and may 
 she not only be the metropoUs of the United States, but the metropoUs of the 
 whole world. (Cheers.) 
 
 The chair. 
 
 Mexico is not ignorant of the fine arts. The San Carlos Academy 
 has produced painters and sculptors of distinguished merit. Among 
 painters they have Cabrera, Cordero, Mata. Tolsa, an eminent archi- 
 tect, is known in Mexico by his beautiful ALInino; Colleo-e. Will Mr. 
 Sturges speak for the fine arts ? 
 
36 
 
 Mr. STTJRGES. 
 
 Mr. Chairman — I am taken quite by surprise in being called upon 
 by you to respond to your allusion to the fine arts and architecture of 
 Mexico. On some other occasion I should be most happy to speak 
 upon such a theme; at present I prefer to speak a few words of en- 
 couragement to our distinguished guest, in the hope that his noble 
 country may soon be free from her foreign and domestic enemies. 
 When that is accomplished, we shall see every thing that is beautiful, 
 noble, and useful springing to life with new vigor, and that glorious 
 country will become all that God intended she should be. We know 
 what it is, sir, to have foreign and domestic enemies, although we 
 have no foreign enemy on our soil. It is not from any love which 
 the enemy of Mexico bears us that his armies are not in Texas and 
 Louisiana. It is the fear of his own people that restrains him. I 
 have the word of a French gentleman, " who knows whereof he 
 speaks," to support this statement. He said to me, "Best assured, 
 sir, the emperor will withdraw from Mexico the moment he can do 
 so with any kind of credit to himself. The Fi'ench people are against 
 him in his Mexican movement, as the}' are against any interference in 
 your affairs." I do not think, sir, that our honored guest can have 
 failed to discover that the determination is as firmly fixed in the hearts 
 of our people that no foreign government shall be established in 
 Mexico, as it is that no separation shall take place between the States 
 of this Union. Our own affairs settled, and it would not be sixty 
 days before our armies would be in Mexico if her people desired it. 
 My prayer to God is that she may hold out until we are ready for this. 
 I respond most fully to the closing sentiment of my honorable friend, 
 Mr. Bancroft : " Let the Austrian lamp burn in the grave of Austria ; 
 it will not burn in the free atmosphere of America." (Cheers.) 
 
 The chair. 
 
 Mexico has bad illustrious Governors. President Juarez was once 
 Governor of the State of Oaxaca, and during the eight years of his 
 
37 
 
 -adiiiiiiistratioii he placed liis State at the liead of the Mexican Confed- 
 eration. General Doblado Las done the like for the State of Guaua- 
 jnato. I give, then, honor to the (Tovernors of the Mexican States. 
 
 May we hope to hear from one of our coni[)any who has him- 
 self been Govci'nor of New York, in reply ? 
 
 Ml!. AVASHIKrGTON.HCNT. 
 
 There being no correct rejDort of Governor Hunt's 
 speech, the following letter was received Ironi him in 
 reply to a request for a sketch of his remarks : 
 
 Albemahle Hotel, Nkw Yohk. March 31, 1864. 
 
 Dear Sir — It would aft'ord me pleasure to comply with tlic 
 request contained in your note of yesterday, but as my remai'lcs were 
 desultory and unprepared, instead of attempting an accurate sketch, I 
 will confine myself to two leading points, wliich I deem of the must 
 essential import at the present janctnre. 
 
 1. I intended to utter an earnest and ciiipliatic protest against the 
 French invasion of Mexico, and the audacicuis ctforts to overthrow tlie 
 republic and to erect upon its ruins a monarchy, to be upheld by a 
 foreign force, acting in conjunction with a small faction of domestic 
 traitors. I denounced it as a wanton oti'ensc against republican liberty 
 and the independence of nations. 
 
 2. I intended to express the opinion that the United States will 
 not permit, for any long period, the armed occupation of Mexico by a 
 foreign power. 
 
 Our domestic contiict will terminate in the re-establishment of the 
 national authority over all the States of the Union. The attainment 
 of this result is not, I trust, very far distant. 
 
 Then the people of this country will manifest their sympathy for 
 the people of Mexico in active aiul efficient co-operation ; and, if need 
 be, they will rally to your aid in a resolute and manly struggle for tlie 
 recovery of your national liberty and independence. 
 
 F 
 
38 
 
 The time approaclies when our Government will reassert and main- 
 tain its well-defined policy, which is, that no European power shall be 
 allowed to subjugate the people or destroy republican institutions on 
 any part of the American continent. ' 
 
 I remain, with great respect. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 WASHINGTON HUNT. 
 Hon. Matias Romero, &c., &c., &c. 
 
 The chair. 
 
 There are historians, too, in Mexico — Mora, Tavala, and Bustamente 
 are not unknown names in litevatui'e. Will the President of the New 
 York Historical Society respond ? 
 
 Mb. DE PEYSTER. 
 
 I yield, sir, to your request, merely in the private character in 
 which I appear here this evening. I came to express, by my presence, 
 the sympathy which I feel toward a sister republic, toi'n by intestine 
 strife, brought uj^on her by a party that should have soothed, not 
 inflicted, a national wound. I am reminded of the sad position of 
 Mexico by the like sad realities which press upon my country. I 
 know full well what would be the intensity of my feelings were niv 
 native- land invaded by foreign bayonets, to compel her to change her 
 free Government for one obnoxious to her people. I came here with a 
 further view — to testify toward our distinguished guest my respect and 
 admiration of his patriotic devotion to the country which he so ably 
 represents, and my deep interest in the cause which he so nobly sus- 
 tains — not by words — for I came, not to speak, but to be an attentive 
 listenei', and therefore took no thought with reference to such a 
 request. 
 
 But, Mr. Chairman, being up, 1 have ideas furnished by the sug- 
 gestive remarks just made by Seiior Romero. I well remember the 
 IMtnts presented by him in December last, in a speech made on an 
 
39 
 
 occasion similar to the present. He considered the Church party in 
 Mexico as the direct cause of the civil war there, as slavery is of the 
 rebellion here. He alleged that this Church party sought foreign 
 intervention to re-establish its power there, as the slave power here 
 sought the like intervention, in order to build up a confederacy based 
 on the perpetual sacrifice of certain human rights, and designed to be 
 antagonistic to our national sovereignty. 
 
 Thus far this parallel between the United States and Mexico truly 
 extends, in regard to the present condition of each. But, sir, there is 
 a difterence in the analogy of these ca.ses not to be overlooked. Were 
 foreign intervention to take here the course it has pursued in Mexico, 
 the result in this country would be as a tornado is to the storm now 
 sweeping over our land. England and France know this! It is not 
 their good-will that stays their further interference, but the danger of 
 the risk from the blows which a free pcciple, aroused to do their 
 utmost at any sacrifice, could and would inflict in return. 
 
 Educated in the school of democracy, I have, sir, adhered to the 
 principles learned there. AVhon our civil war broke out, I had doubts, 
 on constitutional grounds, regarding the rights of slave-owners. But 
 when I observed how slaves were made instruments to defeat fi-cemen 
 striving to preserve the Union, in a militar}' point of view^ I considei'ed 
 that it was indispensable to strike from the hands of rebels their main 
 prop ; and all my constitutional scruples vanished before this military 
 necessity. I believe, sir, all loyal men — loyal without mental reserva- 
 tions — deem it right to remove anj' obstacle for the preservation of the 
 Union! Therefore, I have no affinity with traitors, either South or in 
 disguise among us, who keep "the promise to the ear;" or with "peace 
 Democrats," in my judgment more alive to party interest than to our 
 national struggle. 
 
 What, sir, is the result thus far in our civil war? Why, as slavery 
 proved itself to have been the source of all our evils, loyal men gave it 
 its death-blow. Like all monsters of great strength, determined pur- 
 pose, and defiant resistance, it will die hard ; but, despite its struggles, 
 die it must and will ! 
 
40 
 
 Now, from our conflict let me for a few moments turn to our sister 
 republic and to her accumulated ills, and contrast her purposes with 
 our own. Mexico, with a fertile soil, genial climate, and unbounded 
 mijieral wealth, is divided into various conflicting parties. Her Church 
 party is the predominant class, intent upon maintaining its present 
 influence and recovering its lost power ; there are also the patriots, 
 struggling for the Government of their choice ; and, if I am rightly 
 informed, there is another class, influenced by the ecclesiastics, either 
 hostile to or indifterent toward the present republican form of govern- 
 ment. 
 
 It is said that the Church party now wavers in its apprecia- 
 tion of French intervention. If this be so, and Mexicans would 
 unitedly and heroically rally as the people of onr loyal States have 
 rallied, the ills which Mexico is now experiencing would be in the 
 condition of the monster evil that we liave mortally wounded. The 
 form of domestic treason in Mexico wc know. The motives of the 
 French Emperor are too patent to be disguised. Senor Romero has 
 thrown ample light on both these subjects. 
 
 Wliether a recently-published mention of a leave-taking between 
 the Emperor and his Austrian j)roteye be true, or a jeu cPesprit, it is 
 suggestive of probable ground of belief. "You go," said the former, 
 "to embrace a rock of silver" — a figure of speech which symbolized 
 the mineral wealth, of which Mexican bars of silver and Mexican dollars 
 had proved to be in Europe the best of advertisements. 
 
 The Church party in Mexico had long sufl:ered under a disease of 
 very great prevalence at all times and everywhere in Europe, where its 
 influence is all powerful. The Emperor caught it through this party 
 contact, and he ga\'e it to his Austrian favorite. This disease in 
 ancient Rome was called " uuri sacra fames " There, where the 
 central word (sacra) was connected with ofl'erings to the infernal 
 deities, or with impious or unholy pui'poses, it meant the reverse of 
 its proper definition, namely, accursed. The tripartite association just 
 alluded to, under the hallucination created by this disease, have this 
 " accursed desire of wealth ;" and think to overthrow the Mexican 
 
41 
 
 republic, to build up in its stead a monavcby, by tbe instrumentality 
 of French bayonets, and thus possess this " rock of silver." 
 
 Sir, the snake is the emblem of evil ! We took the reptile up when 
 feeble, and warmed it in the national bosom. When it gained strength, 
 it turned and stung us. It has its reward ! If Mexicans will rally 
 round their national standard, and imitate the gallant bird on their 
 Tiational arnis, who has in his beak a malignant snake, and, w-ith his 
 determined courage and undaunted decision, extinguish, like him, the 
 reptile's ability to do further mischief, all Avill yet go well in their beau- 
 tiful hiiiil. Ill due season, our rebels will be compelled to "succumb" 
 to the loyal will. Then the republics of North America will shake 
 hands in brotherly sentiment and alliance, and unitedly maintain in- 
 violate the Monroe doctrine. 
 
 This doctrine, sir, is destined to become dominant on this Conti- 
 nent. It has a definite object in view, to be eai-ried out peaceably if it 
 can, but forcibly if it must be so ! That object, it appears to me, may 
 be summed up in a few words, as in the case before us. France, 
 guided by a JVapolconic idea, taking advantage of a civil war of un- 
 paralleled magnitude in the American republic, thinks the occasion an 
 opportune one to establish a dynastic form of goveniment on our bor- 
 ders, which is congenial with European systems but antagonistic to 
 democratic institutions. Her imperial ruler uses, for his purposes, a 
 scion of the house of Hapsburg, to build up, on the ruins of the Mexi- 
 can republic, an empire which is to strengthen and extend the power 
 and influence of t!ie Latin races ; and by this course of propagandism 
 to establish on this vast continent dynasties, also, congenial with the 
 views and prejudices of the ruling classes' in Europe. This is in direct 
 conilict with the principles and rights recognized b_v, and dear to, the 
 American people. 
 
 Such an experiment would never have been made, but for the 
 civil war now raging in the United States. Under no circumstances 
 will the American llepublic permit foreign interference of this kind 
 with her republican institutions, or for the overtlu'ow, by foreign 
 bayonets, of similar systems in North Amei'ica, in order to iiitro- 
 
42 
 
 duce in their stead a form of government hateful to those to whom the 
 prmciple of freedom is dear, and independence a reality 1 
 
 In the hearts of Frenchmen smolders the fire of Liberty, Frater- 
 nity, and Equality. A war against freedom in America — which be- 
 longs to the people — could not fail, in France, to rekindle that fire. 
 Intelligent Frenchmen know that the great Julius aimed to control 
 the destinies of a world; and in his fate anticipate that of his pro- 
 claimed imitator. 
 
 Is France, in Mexico, fighting "for an idea"? Who doubts it? It 
 is the idea of remuneration. The United States are also now actually 
 fighting at home for an idea, but it is the idea of freedom. France, 
 under her present dynasty, can have no sympathy with the American 
 IDEA ; for that tends to democracy. 
 
 History is constantly repeating itself. Should the torch in " revo- 
 lutionary" France be relighted. Frenchmen could read by its blaze a 
 "writing" far older than France itself: "Thou art weighed in the 
 balance, and art found wanting." 
 
 The JNIonroe doctrine has, with this exposition, also this teaching — 
 that a mighty nation is luarcliing on to guard its destined course. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 The chair. 
 
 Brooklyn, our neighbor, desires to do honor also to our guests. 
 Will Mr. Henry E. Pierrepont, one of her honored sons, tell us what 
 Brooklyn thinks of Maximilian ? 
 
 Me. PIERREPOXT. 
 
 Mr. Henry E. Pierrepont then spoke, and in short and eloquent 
 phrases said that he was sure that the feelings of the citizens of Brook- 
 lyn, with respect to the French policy in Mexico, were identical with 
 those of the citizens of New York and of the entire country; that on 
 that account, and fearing to tire the audience, he would not speak at 
 length on the subject. 
 
43 
 
 The chair. 
 
 The Bar of New York will not consent to withhold its own words 
 of cheer. Will Mr. Clift say what the lawyers say about Mexico ? 
 
 Mr. clift. 
 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen — Considering the lateness of the 
 hour, and my own indisposition, my remarks must necessarily be few, 
 but to remain on an occasion like this entii'cly silent I can not- 
 Descended from ancestors who fonjjht for the liliorties and inde- 
 pendence of my own conntr}', I should belie every instinct of my 
 nature and every tradition of my race, were I to withhold an expression 
 of sympathy and encouragement to any nation struggling to be free ; 
 and much more, to withhold it from our friends and neighbors, the 
 people of Mexico, in this their hour of need. 
 
 I belong, sir, to the legal profession, whose members, in all ages 
 and in all countries, have ever been foremost, nut only as the advocates 
 of liberty and justice, but the leaders in all political reforms and revo- 
 lutions; and I think I hazard nothing in saving that if the sentiments 
 of the members of the Bar of this city, to which I have tlie honor to 
 belong, could be known this night, they would be found universally 
 in favcu' of republican government everywhere on this continent, and 
 in perfect harmony with what has been said here this evening on 
 that subject. 
 
 The great public opinion of this country is also in harmony with 
 this same sentiment ; and if there is any deeply-settled conviction 
 in the loyal American mind and heart upon any subject whatsoever, 
 more than upon any other, it is, first, that the fearful rebellion now 
 raging in our midst shall be put down; and, second, that republican 
 institutions alone shall prevail from the Atlantic to the Pacific and 
 from the St. Lawrence to the Isthmus of Darien. 
 
 With no desire to longer trespass upon your patience, and with 
 the most hearty good-will for our guest of this evening, and the 
 
44 
 
 people aud cause lie represents, permit me to give you the Mexican 
 war-cry — " God and Liberty T 
 
 .The chair. 
 
 The literary men have not all spoken. Let us hear from Mr. 
 Bristed. 
 
 Mb. CHARLES ASTOR BRISTED. 
 
 Once upon a time the Saracens — ^then a mighty people — took 
 it into their heads that it would be a nice thing to conquer Old 
 Spain, and they did conquer Spain so effectually that it took eight 
 hundred years to drive them out. But they were driven out, and 
 none of them are there at this day. I believe that, in like manner, 
 the French will be driven out of Mexico, if it takes eight hundred 
 years to do so. 
 
 (A gentleman exclaimed, " We do things faster now-a-days. Say 
 eight years.") 
 
 ■ The chair. 
 
 Shall we not hear also from our young and disthiguished friend, — 
 who may worthily assume to speak for Young America^Mr. Dodge. 
 
 Me. WILLIAM E. DODGE, JE. 
 
 As perhaps the youngest, Mr. Chairman, who has been honored 
 by an invitation on this most interesting and delightful occasion, 
 it is my right and privilege to s^jeak for the young men of our 
 country, and I can assure our honored guest that their full and 
 entire sympathy is with him and with his oppressed country. 
 
 The tread of a French invasion is to them a direct insult, and, 
 were our own sad war over, I believe there is not a town, or village, 
 or hamlet, where a full company would not spring to arms, to aid 
 our sister republic in her glorious struggle. 
 
 I give, sir, as a sentiment, in which I know all will heartily 
 join— 
 
45 
 
 The Monroe Doctrine — Americans can never allow tlie heel of European des- 
 potism to place its imprint upon the soil of our Western Continent. 
 
 The chair. 
 
 Gentlemen — Let us now recognize the services of our commis- 
 sariat, who liave so nobly discharged their stewardship. I pr(jpose — 
 
 The health of the Stewards. 
 
 I beg Mr. Hamersle}' to speak in their behalf. (Tln'ce cliccrs were 
 given for the Committee.)' 
 
 Me. JOHN W. HA.MERSLET. 
 
 It is hardly fair, sir, to call on us \\lule your liearts are beating 
 witli fervid thoughts, and vour ears ringing witli burning words. Had 
 this toast been on the programme, one of my coadjutors would have 
 prepared an address worthy of the compliment and the occasion. This 
 Committee was not chosen for their gifts of utterance, but for those 
 humbler tastes, which only lend a grace to eloquence. Our duties are 
 {esthetic, industrial, and artistic. We have compassed the ends of the 
 earth, the depths of the sea ; we have levied contributions on the four 
 winds of heaven, to cluster here all that can tempt tlie appetite, or 
 fascinate the ear and eye, and we fancied our mission accomplished. 
 
 However, there is the post-prandial law ; the despotism of the wine 
 cup, to which we all owe allegiance — the only despotism, which the 
 descendants of the Huguenots, or Pilgrim Fathers, will evei- tolerate on 
 this Continent. We are here, sir, in menace to none, but firmly and 
 respectfully in the majesty of manhood, and in consciousness of power, 
 to reassert a principle, imbibed with our mothers' milk, a household 
 word, a dogma of American faith ; but while we cordially grasp our 
 neighbor's hand, in the darkest hour of her trial, that grasp has due 
 emphasis and significance. 
 
 With her, we have kindred traditions : each of us has hewn an 
 empire from the wilderness ; each of us has expelled the oppiessor ; 
 
 G 
 
46 
 
 and both of us, with tattered banners di-enehed in the gore of hero 
 martyrs, are now appealing from treachery to the God of Battles. 
 
 We have a common future ; for who can doubt that our successes 
 (and the death-knell of treason has already rung) — who can doubt 
 that the triumph of our arms, will be the signal for the eagles of Aus- 
 terlitz, " to change their base," from the pyramids of Puebla, for their 
 perch on the towers of Notre Dame ? And permit me here, sir, to 
 express a liope, suggested by the season, (God gi'ant it may be a 
 prophecy,) that the Easter chimes of Mexico, of the coming year, 
 with the glad tidings of a Saviour risen, shall peal from sierra to sierra, 
 from ocean to ocean, with the glad tidings of a nation risen, a nation 
 born- again. (Cheers.) 
 
 Mr. Chairman, I would offer a toast seldom forgotten in this Eden 
 of women. It is wise, to fling the garland of chivalry over the stern 
 realities of life, nay, over the carnage of the battle-field. It is grace- 
 ful in our honored guests, to seek in the bright eyes, and warm hearts 
 of those they love, in their sunset home, a solace for hope deferred. It 
 is meet in us all, revelling amid these symbols of hope, and joy, of pas- 
 sion and power, our twin standards, nestling in each other's folds in 
 sweet communion of the storied past, and soaring hope, (these roses and 
 violets, breathing incense to the throne of grace, their Easter hymn of 
 thanks, and praise,) to remember, who it is that scatters these jewels 
 of Paradise over our thorny path, who it is that smooths the pillow 
 of affliction. 
 
 And when our statesman soldier [to Romero] shall send these 
 our greetings to his fatherland, let him say, that these are sons of sires, 
 who wielded the destinies of our country, whose names, are carved on 
 her escutcheon, like the name of Phidias on the shield of Minerva. 
 Here, are her merchant princes, whose argosies girdle the globe ; here, 
 are her gifted men, whose thoughts touch the hearts or nerve the souls 
 of the nomad in his desert, and the prince upon his throne. Say, sir, 
 that here is our western lark, who lends to devotion the muses' wings. 
 Say, that the author of " Thanatopsis," and tliese sons, worthy of their 
 sires, send a brother's blessing to sisters bowed in grief. Fire their 
 
47 
 
 souls with the thrilling words of the Spartan matron, giving a shield to 
 her son : — 
 
 " Return with this or upon this." 
 
 Tell tlicm, of the mother of the Gracchi, whose only jewels were her 
 sons ; tell them, of the death-dirge of our red man, with " back to the 
 field and feet to the foe ;" toll them, that the spirit of your own Gua- 
 timozin hovers over your war-path, and exhort, nay, adjure them to 
 swear their brothers, over the fresh gra\'es of their comrades, never to 
 bury the tomahawk, while the iron heel of Europe treads your soil. 
 
 Sir [to the Chair], it is fitting, while the accents of sweet music 
 recall tender, and happy memories (man, imaged by that armed cactus ; 
 woman, by that graceful palm), it is holy, to consecrate the hour to 
 her, who was " last at the cross and first at the sepulchre." I propose, 
 sir, a toast, to which 3'our heart's pulse will echo : 
 
 The daughters of Mesico — Pair as her sons are brave. 
 (Enthusiastic and prolonged applause. Music — Viva Republica.) 
 
 The chair. 
 
 We must not permit the modesty of our banker and steward, Mr. 
 Clews, to outweigh our desire to hear from the Bourse. 
 
 Mr. HEXRT clews. 
 
 Mr. President and Gentlemen — Enough has already been said, 
 in the speeches made this evening, to indicate most conclusively the 
 depth of sympathy which pervades this community in behalf of the 
 cause of Mexico, and I rise to express my cordial concurrence w^ith 
 the sentiments which have been avowed. 
 
 Tlie unanimous and determined voices of this company clearly 
 show, that public opinion in this country will not submit to the en- 
 croachments of foreign powers upon any portion of the territory of 
 this Continent. 
 
 The principles of free republican government are so stronglv ini- 
 
48 
 
 planted in the hearts of the people, both of Mexico and the United 
 - States, that they will never consent to surrender them. 
 
 Human freedom, and the rights of man make common cause be- 
 tween Mexico and all other American States. 
 
 I do not utter these words in prejudice against any government. 
 In my judgment, European nations will best promote the welfare of 
 their own people by carefully abstaining from all interference with the 
 declared will of those who dwell on this Continent. 
 
 The doctrine has been solemnly asserted, and will be maintained 
 inviolate against all alliances which seek to impede the progress of 
 liberal institutions, or to impair the strength of governments founded 
 on the rights and intelligence of the people. 
 
 This is the doctrine of the United States, and, under the shield of 
 its power and influence, the safety, prosperity, and independence of 
 Mexico will be maintained and made perpetual. (Cheers.) 
 
 It was after midniglit, and the fervor of that earnest 
 group had not ahated ; and who will wonder, that, sur- 
 rounded by the traditions of home ; her sweet miisic, her 
 defiant armorial bearings ; her forest foliage ; her flag so 
 often dyed with his blood ; while cheers loud, and long, 
 for his gallant country, rang through those brilliant halls, 
 mingling with the "Buenas noches" of the band, as each 
 grasped his hands, and bid him, "God speed," that emo- 
 tion was betrayed, in the quivering lip, and moistened 
 eye of Romero. 
 
 It may be a grave consideration for foreign usurpers, 
 that, a few days subsequently, the House of Represen- 
 tatives "unanimously" resolved, that the United States 
 Avould never consent to the establishment of a monarchy 
 
49 
 
 wliicli would arise under the auspices of Europe, upon 
 the ruins of a republic on the American Continent. 
 
 A prince of Hapsburg, whose family boast the blood 
 of the Koman Caesar— their record, the history of op- 
 pression — is called by the one, free, and cordial voice 
 of Mexico, to occupy her "sUver throne." 
 Look on that picture, now look on this : — 
 With forty thousand foreign bayonets, missionaries 
 from the "Empire of Peace" to his loyal subjects; his 
 treasury bankrupt ; French guenillas, prowling about 
 the gates of his capital ; his waking spectre, the assas- 
 sin' s dagger ; his dream, the vengeance of desolated 
 homes — like a true disciple of Machiavel, he rivets on 
 the free American, the shackles we have just struck 
 from the African : and, in the same decree, lauds the 
 devotion of the noble Juakez, and in the name of hu- 
 manity, dooms him to a felon's death. Verily ! the tool 
 of Napoleon, on his "sUver throne," wears a crown of 
 thorns. 
 
Me. SEWARD to Me. ROMERO. 
 
 Department of State, ) 
 ■Washington, June 2, 1864. ) 
 
 Sib — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note 
 
 of the 28th ultimo, covering a translation into the English language 
 
 of the documents previously inclosed to me in your unofficial note 
 
 of the 26th ultimo. 
 
 I avail, &c., 
 
 WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 
 Senor M. Romero, &c., &c., &c. 
 
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