SERIOUS

FOREIGNERS

YOTVE1GN COJOLEUCIi,

mn^acg^sr sva^bss

vseful information to all travellers in that country, and es*
pecially to the merchants of the United States; and equally
important to the cabinets of Washington and London, awjt
to the congress of Tacubaya.

BY JOHN JORDAN.

Study men.

PHILADELPHIA-
PRINTED BY P. M. LAFOUJMJABE.
1826,

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
The political doctrines, by which the Mexican government has recently
sought to justify the extravagant banishment of the marquis O. de A. Santan-
gelo from that country, appear to me of such interest, that I should be wanting
iti my duty to society in general, and to my country in particular, should I
conceal from them the observations which they have suggested. The com
merce of the United States, particularly* with the Mexican nation is already
considerable, and promises to become far more valuable, when secured from
all foreign aggression, it shall have perfected its new institutions. We shall
not therefore neglect to submit to our paternal government every thing that
may facilitate the means of foreseeing, and preventing all incidents capable of
depriving our fellow citizens of all those advantages, to which their honest
enterprizes in a neighbouring Country, and their good faith give them an in
disputable right; or of causing quarrels destructive of the peace and friendship
between both states.
It is solely with this view, tha't I invoke the attention of the depositaries of
our national sovereignty, agreeing with Vattel, that a sovereign ought not to
interfere even in the affairs of his own subjects in a foreign country, except
in certain cases, among which this illustrious writer enumerates that " of the
odious distinctions made to the prejudice of his subjects, and of foreigners in
general," (Vattel-, the Law of Nations, Book 2. Chap. VII. p. 34.) And
surely, when a government adopts principles subversive of the rights of all
nations and of all men> all men and all nations have a right to call it to account.
I shall relate, then-, a very few circumstances in the case of Mr. Santangelo,
the knowledge of which I consider indispensable to the development of the
questions, which I propose to" treat Of here, under the sole view of the general
interest. Although the circumstances, which the countrymen of this gentleman
have related of him in Europe, and the perusal of his different works which I
have read, have inspired me with as much esteem for his talents and patriotism,
as sympathy for his misfortunes, I shall, notwithstanding, abstain from the ex
position of facts, which concern his personal cause with the Mexican govern
ment. It is, then, not so much for the purpose of panegyrizing Mr. Santan-
q-elo, who needs not my praises, as for avoiding myself every imputation of
partiality from those who are not acquainted either with him or me, that I have
published, at the end of this pamphlet, a literal translation, from the Spanish, of
the official letter written to the government of Guatemala by Mr. Mayorga,
minister plenipotentiary from that country to Mexico, and which I have men
tioned in my Necrology inserted in the National Gazette of Philadelphia, of the
11th November last. From thence it will be seen that every thing, which I
could say in favour Of this illustrious and unfortunate republican, would only
be the echo of what has been already said by one of the most distinguished di
plomatists of the new states of America formerly Spanish. I shall only add,
that he is about to prosecute his interesting work on the Congress of Panama^
and that the first two discussions of it, the publication of which has been the
cause, or pretext of his banishment from Mexico, are now in course of tranS-

IV
iation into English, at New-York, and will be shortly before the public. Mj'
fellow-citizens will then congratulate themselves on having established among
them a patriot so distinguished, and so Vvorthy of the fraternal reception of
every truly free and enlightened nation.
I have also spoken in the said Necrology (on the decease of the only son of
Mr. Santangelo, in consequence of the violence exercised against him on the
part of the Mexican government,) of a protestation of the council of that go
vernment against the banishment of Mr. Santangelo, and of its resolution to lay
this affair before the general congress at the time of its next meeting. I re
served also to myself, in that Necrology} the questions which I now give to the
public; and in these questions I have spoken of a certain regulation published
by the said government, tending to render extremely difficult the future access
of strangers who may resort to Mexico, either with or without a passport.
And, as the rights of all foreigners, and the interests of every nation are not less
endangered by tyrannical expulsions, than by capricious non-admissions, I
have thought it useful to insert in these pages the following pieces*
1st. My Necrology?
2d. The report of the Committee of Infractions of the council of the Mexi
can government;
3d. My questions to this government;
4th. Its regulation as to passports;
5th. A literal translation, from the Spanish, of the official letter of Mr. Ma
yorga to the government of Central America.
The said regulation, a production, the singularity of which is beyond all imagi
nation, will be inserted in Spanish, in order that there may be no suspicion of
any alteration of the text by the possible errors of translation, and I shall con
fine myself solely to making some annotations in English, from which the
readers not acquainted with the Spanish language will be enabled to have a
sufficient idea of the most remarkable dispositions contained in it.
If, then, my zeal for the good of my country, and mankind in general, should
contribute to excite the attention of our government to a subject of such vast
importance, or should it serve to ameliorate the condition of foreigners in the
Mexican States, or in those of South America, where that barbarous aversion
for all strangers, inherited from the Spaniards, may not yet be corrected by more
reasonable principles, I shall consider myself amply rewarded for any littla
trouble it may .have occasioned me-

NECROLOGY.
{(Inserted in the National Gazette of Philadelphia, of the Utk
November 1826).
A certificate, of which the following is a copy, was placed,
in the month of October last, in the power of the competent
authorities of this city. (Recorded in the office for Recording
Deeds, &c. for the city and county of Philadelphia, in Miscel
laneous Book, G. W. R. No. 1. page 605).
"The twenty-eighth day of August, one thousand eight hun»
dred and twenty-six, in the Gulf of Mexico, on board of the
merchant brig Emeline, owned by John Stevenson and Robert
Rae, both of Philadelphia, bound from Vera Cruz thence, which
port she left on the nineteenth of the same month. We Robert
Rae, captain and part owner of the said brig, William Paul,
of Philadelphia, mate and keeper of the log book, and pas
sengers William S. Parrott, merchant, native of Lee county,
Virginia, U. S., Adele Parrott, his wife, Lewis Duclaud, of
the United States, merchant, and Charles Parry, of London,
officer of the Mining Company of Guanujuato — do certify,
that this day, at six o'clock in the morning, Mr. Francis de
Attellis Santangelo, aged nineteen years, son«f the marquis O.
de A. Santangelo, both Neapolitans, and passengers on board
the said brig bound from Vera Cruz to Philadelphia, departed
this life, in consequence of a fever which developed itself the
evening of our leaving the port of Vera Cruz, and which im
mediately assumed all the characteristics of what is called by
the Spaniards vomito prieto, or calentura antarilla, Which ra
ges with fatality at Vera Cruz at this season of the year; in
consequence of which, and in presence of us all, and the brig's
«rew, the body of the said Francis de Santangelo, deceased,
well enveloped in sheets, and placed in a strong coffin, filled
with ballast, and securely nailed, has been committed to a wa
tery grave in the Gulf of Mexico, in twenty-three degrees and
forty-one minutes of north latitude, and ninety degrees west
longitude, from Greenwich. In faith whereof, we, the under
pinned, have, at the request of the marquis 0. de A. Santan-

gelo, the father, who likewise has affixed his hand and seal-,
granted two copies of the above, the one for the father, and the
other to be placed by captain Rae in the power of the civil au
thorities of Philadelphia. — On board of the brig Emeline,
Gulf of Mexico, day and year above written. ''Robert Rae,
William B. Paul, W. S. Parrott, A. Parrott, L. Duclaud,
Charles Parry, 0. de Jl- Santangelo."
It is important, we think, that all the free people of North
and South America should be informed by what strange events
Mr. Francis de Attellis Santangelo was brought to such an
untimely end, and found his tomb in the Gulf of Mexico.
His aged father, the marquis 0. de A. Santangelo, an Ita
lian gentleman, highly distinguished for his military and po
litical talents, having sought refuge at Mexico, from the per*
^editions of Eurdpean legitimacy, began to publish last April,
a work entitled — The first four discussions of the Congress of
Panama, siuch as tJtey ought to be. The preface to this work,
and the first discussion — IVliat is the Holy Mliance, and what
¦the actual political situation of Europe? were received by the
public with the greatest eulogium, and long extracts from i
were inserted in several uf the journals of the country. But
he had scarcely made public, towards the end of June, the
second discussion — Shall tbe have a war? a most interesting
research, received with gratitude and admiration by all the
friends of the American cause, when on the night of the 1st of
July following, he was ordered to leave the city, in the space
of twenty-four hours, and to proceed under an escort to Vera
Cruz, to embark for foreign parts, as a suspected person. The
-space of twenty-four hours was afterwards prolonged to eight
days, in consequence of his demand for a sufficient delay to
enable him to send for his young and only son, an officer in the
English Mining Company of Tlalpujahua, thirty-six leagues
distant from Mexico, and whom he would not leave alone in a
country, the government of which treated him as an enemy.
In the mean time, the order for his banishment produced a
very great sensation in the city. More than thirty pamphlets
made their appearance a few days after, proving the injustice
and the illegality of the measure which had been adopted. The
senator Zavala> under the name of. Attorney to the Nation, de
clared in a newspaper called the Sun, of the ,5th July, that Mr.
Santangelo, deserved to Ire enrolled as a citizen of Mexico, and

that the government was always asleep, and awoke only to da
mischief. On the 6th, the jury charged to take cognizance of
the abuses of the liberty of the press, declared unanimously,
that there was no ground for proceeding against the work of
Mr. Santangelo, and on the contrary, on the 10th, they admit*
ted his complaint against the base, injurious, and calumnious
attacks, contained in the Government Gazettes of the 1st and
4 th of the same month. The senator Alpuche became enraged,
and personally arraigned all the members of the executive
government, whom he looked upon as the authors or accompli
ces of this revolting measure. The chambers of the Federal
Congress being then in recess-, the council of government
charged by the constitution (art. 116) to watch over its obser
vance, and composed of half the members of the senate, under
the presidency of the vice-president of the republic, having
assembled, found that art. 112 of the constitution had been
openly violated, made their remonstrances to the President
Victoria in vain, and decided that the aifair should be laid be
fore the general congress at the next meeting of the Chambers,.
inasmuch as it regarded the responsibility of the Minister, who
had authorized by- his signature the unconstitutional order of
the president. It was the minister for foreign affairs, Sebas
tian Camacho, (notwithstanding he was then appointed Mexi
can Minister Plenipotentiary to London), with respect to whom
the senator Can edo, in his learned pamphlet entitled — An exa
mination into the power of government as respects the banish
ment of foreigners, thus expressed himself: "The council of
government, in performance of its duties, has already made
suitable observations respecting the infractions of the consti
tution remarked by them in the arbitrary conduct pursued in
the banishment of Santangelo. The process is clear apd well
arranged; but we regret that its results will be paralyzed by
the voyage which the responsible minister is about to undertak&
for Great Britaim The government should know, whether the
desertion of a judgment of resppnsibility, inchoate in the pub
lic, and prepared in the council, would be proper and compati
ble with its own dignity."
Notwithstanding this, and also the repeated demands for
mally presented to the government by Mr. Santangelo, and
published by the press, *o be arrested and rigidly judged by
the competent tribunals as a suspected person, the government

8
persisted in its resolution, permitting him only the choice of
the direction of his roflte, and his leaving the city without au
escort. But, in consequence of the declaration, which he then-
made, of his wish to go to Guatemala by land, in order to avoid
the danger of the epidemical fever raging at Vera Cruz, the
government, which before had offered to pay all the expenses
of his journey from Mexico to Vera Cruz, and of his passage
from Vera Cruz to foreign lands, reduced its supplies to the
sum of one hundred dollars for Mr. Santangelo, his son, a do
mestic, and five mules of burden, with their drivers, for a dis
tance of more than four hundred leagues, through the most
difficult and dangerous places. He was, afterwards, under the
necessity of submitting to the first orders of the government,
and to go and embark at Vera Cruz. In fact, Commodore
Porter, residing in that place, in the Mexican service, received
an immediate order to secure a passage for him and his son, at
the expense of government, in the first vessel which sailed ; this
was the brig Emeline, bound for Philadelphia.
The kind attentions which the good patriots bestowed so la
vishly on Mr. Santangelo, consoled him greatly for the affront*
which the Mexican executive power had inflicted on him. Dur
ing the time that he awaited at Mexico the arrival of his son
from the mines of Tlalpujahua, his lodgings were constantly
filled by a number of his Mends, and also by a great many
respectable persons, with whom he had not been previously
acquainted. Every one hastened to express sentiments of affec
tion and esteem, and to offer him services of every land. On
the 4th of July, he was invited to a splendid fete, given by
Mr. Poinsett, Minister of the United States, in commemora
tion of the Declaration of Independence of his country, and
which he attended. It was at this entertainment, and in pre->
sence of a foreign Consul, of the editor of a Journal, and of
other distinguished persons, he heard from the lips of Mr. Ra-
mos-Arispe, minister of Justice, that every government posses
ses absolute power to expel all foreigners, without being under
the necessity of consulting the laws, and without any obligation
of declaring its motives for such conduct.
Mr. Mayorga, minister plenipotentiary from the government.
of Centro- America to the Mexican government, gave Mr. San*
tangelo a letter of recommendation, in an official form, and
•written in the most flattering terms, to the government of his

country, a country which knows how to appreciate ft man cif
merit, without distinction as to the place of his birth. Many
other distinguished persons made haste to furnish him with the
warmest and most honourable recommendations, not only for
Guatemala, but also for all such other places as lay in his route,
On quitting the city of Mexico, Licutenant-General Don Vi
cente Guerrero, justly reputed there as the first man of the
Mexican Union, accompanied him to his farm near Chalco, de
tained him in his society there for the space of two days, and
he did not even quit him till he was five leagues from Chalco,
and caressed hiin exceedingly. His journey towards the coast
was a sort of triumph. At Puebla and at Jalapa, he received
the visits of many superior officers of the army, and principal
citizens, who all highly blamed the policy of the Spanish faction,
of which lie was the victim. At Jalapa, (where, seasonable in
formation induced him to change his route from Guatemala),
general Barragan, governor of the state of Vera Cruz, and
general Santanna, the hero who first proclaimed the Republic,
and whom the present government lias consigned to oblivion,
gave him the most unequivocal proofs of their hearty friend
ship. At Vera Cruz, commodore Porter, Mr. Taylor Unit
ed States' Consul, and many other illustrious patriots, treated
him with the greatest politeness.
But although these flattering instances of kindness and good
will had sensibly softened the grief, which he felt at being con
sidered as a suspected person by the government of a country,
for the happiness of which he exercised his pen with so much
ardour, and had sworn to sacrifice his life, nothing could dimi
nish the trouble, which other fatal presentiments inspired. He
had taken the precaution not to leave Jalapa, the climate of
which is very healthy at a distance of twenty-two leagues from
Vera Cruz, until commodore Porter, through the governor of
the state, informed him that the vessel, which was to carry him
to foreign parts, was ready to weigh anchor. But he was af
terwards obliged to pass the 16th, 17th, and 18th of August
at Vera Cruz, before the brig Emeline sailed. This was suf
ficient for his unfortunate young son was attacked by the yel
low fever, although enjoying the most blooming health. The
fever made its appearance on the evening of the 19th, when
they were in the midst of the ocean, entirely destitute of phy
sicians, medicines, and every kind of resource. He expired
B

19
on the ninth day after the attack of this cruel disease, in the
arms of his disconsolate parent. He died like a hero, entreat
ing his father to renounce all kind of vengeance against their
common persecutors.
The death of this young gentleman is not only an irrepara
ble loss to his father who adored him, but is also to be lament
ed by society in general, which might reasonably expect to
derive great services from him. He was one of those beings,
who from their births seem formed by nature to fulfil the high
est destinies, and to prove the ornament of their family and
species. At the age of fourteen years, when, on account of the
Austrian invasion, in March 1821, he emigrated with his father
from Naples (their native city) to Spain, he had already ob
tained several prizes as Mathematician, Historian, Geogra
pher, Latinist, and Logician, in the examinations, which are
annually held in that great Capital, under the presidency of the
Director General of the public instruction of the two Sicilies.
Besides these important studies, he was a perfect master of the
French language, and excelled in chivalric exercises, such as
fencing, dancing, horsemanship &c. In Spain he studied the
Castilian language so profoundly that he could teach it. In
1822, when fifteen years of age, and as brave a patriot as his
father, he took up arms in a corps of Italian emigrants, who,
under the command of the celebrated colonel Olini, continued
fighting in Catalonia against the partisans of absolute power,
and he deserved honourable mention in many of the journals of
that Kingdom.
The Catalonian Indicator of the 15th September 1822, num
ber 218, after having given the frightful account of the bloody
affair of Casa-de-la-Selva, a village between Gerone and San
Feliu de Quixols, and after having highly extolled the bravery
of the Italians, who fought in this action in the proportion of
one against seven, and had a great many killed and wounded,
added these words:
"If any person deserves to be more particularly mentioned
in this affair as having distinguished himself, it is Mr. de
Attellis, son of the marquis de Santangelo, from the circum
stances of his being only fifteen years of age, and this his first
campaign, and his having had the good fortune to kill a leader
of cavalry with the first discharge of his musket."
Having followed his beloved father to New York, after ths

11
tlownfal of the constitutional government in Spain, he applied
himself to commerce in the counting house of Messrs. Le Roy,
Bayard, & Co, to whom he had been warmly recommended by
the count de Survilliers (the ex-king Joseph Bonaparte), and
at the end of cigiit months, he spoke English so fluently, and
wrote it so correctly, that he might have been supposed a native
of that country. Employed since in the mines of Tlalpujahua,
he took care to apply to his practical exercises such theoreti
cal studies, and made such researches into that branch of in
dustry, with respect to its economy, so that, since his death, his
father has found amongst his papers very important remarks,
not only in mineralogy, but also respecting the rash specula
tions made by foreigners in the working of the Mexican mines.
Finally, he was at once & handsome, well made, healthful, gay,
gentle, obliging, compassionate, and grateful person, a stran
ger to all the vices of youth, endowed with a clear perception,
and most extraordinary memory, a very great lover of labour,
of honour, of the cause of the people, and of his father, whose
sole delight he was, and the only hope of his declining years ;
behold this slight portrait of the young Santangelo, who
crossed the ocean, flying with his father from European tyran
ny, to fall a victim to the iniquity of a Mexican minister.
It is not our business to examine whether, in case the Mexi
can congress should declare illegal and null the banishment
of Mr. Santangelo the father (of which there is no doubt),
those who have pronounced and executed it, ought to be com
pelled to indemnify him for the full amount of the injury he has
sustained; nor, Whether the death of a son nineteen years of
age, caused by violence and oppression, would be considered
of no account; of a son who formed the only happiness of his
father, already supplying by his honest labours their common
necessities caused by their honourable emigration, and on
whose education his father had certainly expended considerable
sums. But the citizens of the world are entitled, in our opinion,
to propose to the Mexican government, questions of a much more
serious nature, and which the limits of a necrological article
oblige us to delay to another opportunity.

REPORT
Of the Committee of Infractions of the Council of the, Supreme
Government (of Mexico).
The precedent official communication from the secretary of
the department of relations (Secretary of State) is a mani
festation of the grounds, which the government had for not as
senting to the opinion adopted by the council, with respect to
the decree carried into effect for banishing the foreigner O. de
A. Santangelo from the territories of the Republic; and, al
though they are the same expressed by that minister in the
discussion of the opinion, which, in consequence of the, com
plaint of Santangelo, was presented to the council by the com
mittee hereto subscribing, it will be very proper to reduce them
to one point of view, together with the answers then given, and
with those due to some new allegations, which have been pub
lished in the paper called " Caprices of Fortune" (Caprichos
de la Fortuna), wherein it was intended, it seems, to collect all
the motives, which encourage the government to believe itself
invested with the power of expelling whatever foreigner it may
regard as suspicious.
It is alleged, in the first place, that it has been in possession
of such authority, and that it exercised it upon the foreigners
Prisset, Smaltz, and Lamotte, without having been censured
by any one: but it has been already answered in the council,
and it is now repeated, that, when the government expelled
such persons, it was clothed with extraordinary powers, and
therefore no one could dispute its decrees.
It is alleged, that when it adopted similar measures against
the foreigner Saint-Clair, that person complained to the house
of deputies, and so far was that assembly from declaring that
there was cause for instituting a suit against the minister of
war, that many respectable members declared, as a tiling esta
blished without contradiction, the doctrine, that every govern
ment possesses the usual power to banish any foreigner, whom
it regards as suspected. To this observation it was answered,
1st. that the extraordinary powers also prevailed: 2d. that
Saint-Clair's complaints were not confined precisely to the die-

IS
yrec of banishment, but to that of having been put m prison,.
and having been tried afterwards on various points, with inter-
vuptions in the trials; and finally, for having been ordered to
embark before the trials were concluded: 3d. that there was no
discussion of the question of whether the government had, or
had not, as an ordinary power, that of expelling suspected
foreigners; for, having the extraordinary. one, Avhich screened
its proceedings against Saint- Clair, they never entered into the
examination of the doctrines divulged incidentally^nd casually
by some honourable deputies, which being liable to mistake,
have not the least validity in the affair: 4th and lastly, that
those particular opinions, although not contradicted in that act
:is being foreign to the question then in agitation, neither prove
the conviction of the house, nor could this alone suffice to al
low, as incontrovertible, the ordinary power, which is now at
tributed to the government.
It is alleged, in order to demonstrate that this doctrine is
not opposed to the federal constitution, that its authors were of
the same opinion, since, on the contrary, they had not dictated
the decree of the 23d of December 1824, which, in its first
article, supposes the aforesaid 'power: and to this it was an
swered, that the article neither speaks, nor could speak, of the
ordinary power, because it would have, been, at that time, not
only useless, but extremely ridiculous; so that, if it was ex
tended in such terms, it was because at that time the govern
ment was really invested with powers in every respect extra
ordinary by the decree of the 26th of January of the same year,
and the explanatory order of the following day, in virtue
whereof the government might banish from our territory, not
only foreigners, but moreover suspected Mexicans, and that
tremendous power was restrained solely to the former, whence
it is inferred that the said decree of the 23d of December being
abolished, that power, with respect even to foreigners, also
ceased. It is alleged that this same decree being annulled, the go-
government, although it did not doubt that it ought to hold the
power in question, through a point of delicacy, it consulted
thereupon the house of deputies, and that the committee, to
which its note was forwarded, has presented an avowal of its
conformity with that opinion: but this argument is entirely
contrary to the government, because the consultation having
once taken place, although it were intimately convinced 'of the

11
exactness of its judgment, it ought no longer to make use of a
power, which itself came to place in doubt, until the congress
should have decided supon it. Neither does it favour the go
vernment that the committee has pronounced in behalf of its
opinion, because it cannot be certain that the report will be
approved by congress; and even, although it should be, it is
not yet a law, the circumstance of there being no other to the
contrary being of no avail ; therefore this does not suffice to
entitle the government to do whatever it may think proper, but
that it is absolutely indispensable that a law exist, which may au
thorize it in all its acts, particularly for those, as in the present
case, which may affect any of the constitutional dispositions, or
some other law which may declare, like that of the 24th of Fe
bruary 1822, the equality of civil rights for all the free inhabi
tants of what was called empire, no matter what may be their
origin in the four parts of the world.
There is alleged, without quoting any other than Vattel, the
authority of public writers of the greatest celebrity. The com
mittee protests that it has not found even one which can favour
the opinion of the government, and it would wish that there
should be pointed out to it a single one, in order that it may
avow itself convinced of its error; because the passages from
the celebrated Vattel, which are brought in collation, and others
which we shall cite from the same, so far are they from prov
ing what it is pretended, that it turns out quite the contrary,
as will be seen by their particular examination. This writer,
in ^j. 96. B. 4. Chap. 7. says, that in very weighty cases,
such as are detailed in fflj. 94 and 95 of the same book and
chapter, a sovereign can cause to be expelled from his territory
the public ministers of other nations, because he is lord of his
own country, and that there cannot remain in it any foreigner
without his consent. But it is not inferred from this, that he can
do the same, by reason of his superiority, with respect to a private
foreigner introduced with his consent, because the circumstan
ces being very different, under which public ministers and pri
vate foreigners remain in a country, what is predicated of the
former cannot be predicated of the latter without violating all
the principles of sound and good logic. Public ministers, ac
cording to the same Vattel, % 92. book and chapter already
cited, are independent of the sovereign authority, and of both
civil and criminal jurisdiction of the country, in which they re-

15
aide, and on that account there remains no other remedy known
or adopted by the law of nations, for avoiding the evils caused
by their residence, than the mode indicated by that writer, only
in the very rare and important cases, which he points out. Pri
vate foreigners, on the contrary, from the time they are intror
duced into a nation, are amenable to all its laws, and to all
the authorities, both civil and criminal, of the country, in which
they reside, ^fl[. 101, 102, and 103. B. 2. chapter 8: and
the nation is bound, from the time it admits them, to grant them
the same protection, as to its own subjects, and to afford, as far
as possible, a complete security, ^j. 104; and this even of
foreigners, who may not have to remain in the country, which
are those, to whom Vattel refers in the passages immediately
quoted; for when resident foreigners are treated of, it is evi
dent their rights and their obligations are greater, as it ought
naturally to be conceived, and as that author affirms in ^J.
213. B. 1. Ch. 19. Wherefore it evidently appears, that if
the extremity of sending away a foreign minister take place, it
is because he cannot be punished nor judged according to the
laws of the country, in which he resides ; and as all these things
can be done to private foreigners, yet it is not to be inferred
from tlience that the latter can b^expelled in the same manner.
The doctrines, which are cited from the said Vattel, in ^j.
57 and 58. B. 2. Ch. 4. have no connexion with the question in
debate; because in them it is solely contended that no foreign
government has a right to interfere with the government or
the religion of another nation, as any one may be convinced of
who peruses the said pages from beginning to end: but he nei
ther speaks, nor could he speak, of a private foreigner, who,
being legally admitted into a nation, might intermeddle in its
political, civil, or religious affairs; because, being subject to
the laws of that very nation, he would be there punished for
the offences committed by him against it in the matters afore
said. It is therefore evident that the doctrines of Vattel are
very far from proving that governments have the ordinary paw*
er to expel any foreigner, whom it might regard as suspicious.
It is alleged, also, that such authority is confirmed by nu
merous laws existing in the republic, inserted in the Fartidus,
pecopilationes de Indias, and other codes of the same class and
origin, which have not been derogated from. But it were to be
wished that, out of those indeterminate numerous laws, they-

it>
would produce one alone of those not repealed, in order to solve
this question ; because the committee, in truth, has not been able
to find one existing in a similar case.
It is alleged, finally, that reason, which is the most certain
rule, is dictating the preservation of the national tranquillity,
independence and security; and even erroneously supposing
that this could not be sometimes effected, unless the govern
ment should be always armed with the contended power, they
satisfactorily conclude that it is so, without remarking the in
correctness of such ratiocination, which at most could prove
the necessity that such power should be given to the govern
ment, and this, considering that way of arguing, not only with
respect to foreigners, but moreover with respect to Mexicans;
for it is indubitable that some one of them, for his misfortune
and for ours, can also, as well as the former, attack those pre
cious rights without it being easy to convict him of giult in
the legal form.
It results from the foregoing examination, that the govern
ment is not authorised to expel from the territory of the republic-
any foreigner legally introduced, and consequently, by doing so
with respect to any such person, there is a violation of art. 112,
restriction 2d. of the federal constitution, which prohibits the
president from depriving any person of his liberty, and from
imposing penalties on him: for, although one may wish to in
terpret that such disposition solely comprehends the Mexicans
and not foreigners who compose society with them, the inter
pretation is arbitrary, and so much the more arbitrary, as it
has been demonstrated that foreigners are subject to the laws
of the country; it is indubitable that they are to bear its bur
dens as well as to enjoy its benefits, because this is the contract
they have formed with the nation at the time of being freely
introduced into it. These other doctrines, that /orag?icrs "arc
not, like the, citizens, obliged to contribute with their persons
and their property to the defence of the state, are also a vai»
supposition, if foreign inhabitants be meant. The contrary is
established by the celebrated Vattel, in the said «[}. 213. B. 1.
Ch. 19. and those can only be exempt from such burdens by
sustaining others, such transient foreigners, travellers, and
those who come for a time on commercial speculations, which
persons shall be subject to the treaties formed with their re
spective governments. Foreigners have, therefore, obligatiomf

17
and consequently rights; and, although it is certain that they
do not bear all the hardens the same as the citizens, it is false
that they enjoy, according to the system of the committee, all
their advantages. They have none in the political order: but
they are equal to the Mexicans in the civil rights, by the said
law of the 24th February 1822, except in those of these same
rights, from which they have been excluded by positive laws.
The motive the committee has had for repeating, although
very concisely, the answers given to the secretary of the de
partment of relations in the question we have discussed, is to
obtain a proper record of them in the process, which is to be
formed by the council, supposing the opinion, which it enter
tains of the decree whereby the foreigner Santangelo has been
banished, being contrary to the federal constitution. And, as in
this capital (Mexico) every body knows that the council made
observations to the government previous to the departure of San
tangelo, and the reasons entertained by the minister for carry
ing the expulsion into effect, and those of some writers, who
have amalgamated and confounded them with some sanguinary
invectives, had only been published, it seems mortifying that
no attention has been given to the reasons, which have been ad
dressed by this assembly upon the present affair, and it Avould
be very proper, for the same reason, they should be published.
Thus there will be cause for an impartial examination of a
question so delicate and so interesting; and it will be seen that,
could the council have been deceived in its opinion, it has, at
least, complied with its constitutional obligations, by acting in
a manner, which has appeared to it just and conformable to the
laws. In consideration of what has been herein stated, the council
can, if it thinks proper, grant its approbation to the following
proposals: 1st. That the official exposition, which is to be formed in vir
tue of the same opinion entertained by the council, that the go
vernment has exceeded its powers in the expulsion of 0. de A.
Santangelo, ought to consist of the complaint of this individual,
of the observations made by council of the note, which has given
rise to this opinion, of the opinion itself, and of a legalized copy
of the decrees dictated by the minister of relations against the
said foreigner. G

18
2d. That, for this purpose, let the copy mentioned in the
foregoing article be demanded from the government.
3d. That, for the information of this very government, lets
testimonial of the present be forwarded to it.
Hall of the committee of the council of government, at Mexi
co, the 20th of July 1826 — Martinez — Caiiedo (Mexican
senatots)' — From the office of citizen Alejandro Valdes.

QUESTIONS
to the Mexican government.
The questions, which I have reserved to myself to propose to
the Mexican government, in my Necrology inserted in the Na
tional Gazette of Philadelphia of the 1 1th November last, and
in which I strewed some flowers over the watery grave of the
young and unfortunate Francis de Attellis Santangelo, concern
international law in general, external commerce, and the real
and personal rights of all foreigners in the Mexican states. I
think the importance of these questions ought to be especially
weighed by the cabinets of London and Washington in the
treaties of commerce, which they have begun or concluded, but
not yet ratified, with that of Mexico. I think also that these
questions cannot be indifferent to the congress of Tacubaya
destined principally to fix the common law of all the new
American states.
Since the proclamation of the Mexican independence in 1821,
the right of expelling foreigners from that country has never
been considered as a simple attribute of the police, nor an ordi
nary function of the executive power. On the 24th February
1822, the first national congress passed a law in these terms:
"The sovereign congress declares equality in civil rights to all
the free inhabitants of the empire, of whatever origin in the four
quarters of the world."
In 1823, after the downfal of Iturbide, and the proclamation
of the republic, two foreigners, La-Motte and Smaltz, were ex
pelled from it as suspected persons, by a triumvirate, which,
under the title of the provisional government, and composed of
Messrs. Jose-Mariano Michelena, Miguel Dominguez, and Vi
cente Guerrero, exercised at that period all the powers of the
dictatorship. But, immediately on the convocation of the con
stituent congress, charged to digest a republican constitution,
this congress, exercising also provisionally the legislative pow
er, and perceiving, in consequence of a sedition which menaced
the public peace, the necessity of legalizing the acts of the tri
umvirate, granted them, by two decrees of 26th and 27th Ja*
nuary 1824, extraordinary powers almost without limits*

20
On the Slst of the same month the constituent congress pub
lished the constituent act (Acta Constitutiva de la Federacion
Mexicana), which fixed the basis of the constitution to be adopt
ed. Article 18 of that act ordained that "every man who in
habits the territory of the federation has a right to have prompt,
Complete, and impartial justice done him:" and article 19 en
acted that "no person shall be judged in the states or territories
of the federation, except by the laws established before the com
mencement of the fact for which he is to be tried, all judgment
by special commission, and all retroactive law being for ever
prohibited." The 4th October following, the provisional government,
which then consisted of Messrs. Guadalupe Victoria, Nicolas
Bravo, and Miguel Dominguez, published the federal constitu
tion of the united Mexican states, passed by the constituent con
gress, by virtue of which the executive power was confided to
a single individual (this was Guadalupe Victoria) under the ti
tle of president; and the general constitutional congress was
convoked for the 1st January of the following year 1825. Ar
ticle 112 of the federal constitution expressly forbids the presi
dent "to deprive any person of his liberty, or to impose any pu
nishment, or to touch the property of any individual, or to dis
turb him in the possession of it."
It is therefore evident that the constituent act, and the federal
constitution, not having made the least distinction between for
eigners and citizens, on the subject of individual liberty and
property, the decrees of the 26th and 27th January, remained
null ipso jure in respect to the arbitary banishment of fo
reigners. Nevertheless the constituent congress, having terminated its
labours, would not dissolve itself without derogating both from
the constitution and the act, by passing on 23d December of
the same year 1824, a decree by which, under the voluntary
supposition of finding then in force the aforesaid decrees of the
26th and 27th January, which gave the provisional government
the power of arbitrarily banishing foreigners, it simply author
ized the new constitutional government to deliver their pass
ports to such foreigners as it might expel, and at the same time,
to transport all such Mexican citizens from one part of the re
public to the other, whenever it should deem such measures
seasonable. This decree, although subversive of the funda-

21
mental law of the federation, although passed by a congres.4,
which had not then a sufficient authority to modify the same
constitution, the work of its own hands, and although highly
censured by public opinion, was not immediately revoked by
the general congress assembled on the 1st January 1805; so
that the president Victoria made use of it successively, not only
against two other foreigners, Prisset and Saint-Clair, as sus
pected persons in his eyes, but also against some Mexicans,
without the least judiciary form.
At length the general congress yielded to the national wish,
and put an end to a state of things, by which the Mexicans
found themselves in fact changed into slaves, and foreigners
also into beasts of burdem But, before abolishing the decree
of 23d December, it wisely determined to prevent every pre
text for remonstrance on the part of the executive, by taking
special measures, with respect to Spaniards, that is, to the in
dividuals of the only nation, which was considered to be at
war with Mexico, and from whom alone they had any thing to
fear. Consequently it passed a decree, on the 25th April last,
by which the access of Spaniards to the Mexican coasts was
expressly forbidden; a decree, which would certainly have
been superfluous, if the ordinary power of expelling foreigners
was inherent plenojure in the executive, as is now pretended;
and yet the power of merely refusing foreigners admittance to
a country is of much less importance than that of expelling
them after admission, as we shall speedily see.
Finally, on the 9th May following, the general congress, not
withstanding the most stubborn oppositions of ministers, de
creed 4hat "the extraordinary powers conferred on the govern
ment by the decree of 23d December 1824, had ceased." By
virtue of this legislative disposition, the law of 4th February
1822 in favour of the civil rights of the inhabitants of the four
-parts of the world, the articles 18 and 19 of the constituent act
of 3 1st January 1824, and the article 112 of the federal con
stitution published the 4th October the same year in favour of
the individual liberty and property of all tiie inhabitants of the
federation, without distinction as to foreigners or natives, re
sumed their sway, and the attributes of the executive power
returned again to their constitutional limits.
This state of things did not please the president Victoria,
ibr at all times those men who have suffered with indifference

22
the loss or the least diminution of their power, have been ex
tremely few. He therefore set himself immediately to usurp
gradually, by artifice and by force, those powers, which he
could no longer retain by virtue of the law. He attempted first
to prevent, as much as possible, the entrance into Mexico of
every stranger who might resort thither in future, according
to his particular views^ to accomplish which he judged it ex
pedient to publish, on the 6th June, with respect to those who
presented themselves either with or without a passport, a regu
lation, signed by Camacho, minister of foreign affairs, so com
plicated and impracticable, that the admission into the Mexican
states will hereafter become impossible, or, at the most, the
effect of an obliging complaisance of some of the subaltern au
thorities less misanthropic than the chief of the nation. Hav
ing by this means eluded every law protecting the rights of the
human race, of freedom, of commerce, and of hospitality rela
tively to the time to come, the president Victoria cast his jea
lous and fearful looks on all foreigners, whom he found already
settled in Mexico, and whose knowledge and reputation, with
out offering any hope of their having any transactions with any
species of despotism, filled him with the greatest apprehensions.
He who incurred his chief displeasure was the marquis 0. de
A. Santangelo, Italian, author of a work on the congress of Pa
nama, in which he had been so unfortunate as to demonstrate
that the principles of Monroe, and of the present cabinet of
Washington, were far more just and favourable to the grand
cause of the western hemisphere against every effort of European
legitimacy, than the pretensions of the Mexican government,..!
The president Victoria, then, notified to Mr. Santangelo, in
the middle of the night of the 1st July last (that is, almost two
months after the cessation of his extraordinary powers decreed
by the general congress) his order, signed also by the minister
Camacho, to leave the city of Mexico in the space of twenty-
four hours, and to proceed, under an escort, and embark at Vera
Cruz for foreign parts, as a suspected person. A few days af
ter, the work of Mr. Santangelo was acquitted unanimously by
the jury charged by the law to decide on the abuses of the li
berty' of the press; and his banishment not having been revolt*
ed, he repeatedly demanded a formal trial before some other
competent tribunal, if the suspicion, alleged against him by the
president, emanated from any other source than his own writ-

iilgs. They refused to hear him, and he was compelled to leave
the Mexican territories.
The president expelled, then, by his own authority, a fo
reigner, who was not a Spaniard; who for sixteen months past
had legally introduced himself into the republic; who sought
refuge there on account of his liberal opinions, and of his love
for the American cause; whose intention was to establish him
self there for life; who had also demanded his naturalization,
a demand upholden by a particular recommendation of the go
vernor of the federal district, Molinos del Campo, and by all
vouchers required by the law; who had a son settled in that coun
try in a luprative situation; who was particularly known to lieu
tenant-general Garcia-Conde his relative, and to the general of
brigade Filisola his countryman, both in the Mexican service;
who had presented himself to the president of the republic, and to
all the ministers, except Camacho; who had become acquainted
with a great number of generals, members of congress, and
patriots of the highest distinction; Nin short, a foreigner whose
age was respectable, the principles noble, the talents useful,
and the conduct irreproachable.
The order for his banishment was coactive, and consequently
destructive of his individual liberty. It imposed on him a forced
and disagreeable movement, and therefore inflicted punishment;
for "a man, says Vattel, may be deprived of any right what
soever by way of punishment, therefore exile, which deprives
him of the right of dwelling in a certain place, may be consid
ered as & punishment; banishment is always one, for a mark of
infamy cannot be set on any one but with the view of punishing
him for a fault either real or pretended (The law of Nations, B.
1. Ch. XIX. ^j. 228)." The order caused a derangement of
his business, expenses, losses, sacrifices, and in consequence
injured his property. It obliged him to go and embark at a
port, where a pestilence reigned with the utmost fury (and which
in effect killed afterwards his innocent and only son); thus, it
menaced his life. The order, in fine, gave him the character
of a suspected person in a republican country; consequently at
tacked his morality and republican honour, since "banishment,
Vattel adds, is like expulsion with a mark of infamy (B. 1. Ch,
XIX. fi. 228)."
The president Victoria was well aware that such an abuse
of power #a his part, would cause rumours by no means flatter-

24
ing to his character. But he fancied that in the matter of the
banishment of a foreigner, all injustice, all illegality would be
soon forgotten in a country, where foreigners do not generally
meet with a good reception, and that it might easily be assert
ed in the absence of the banished foreigner, that such a measure
was indispensable to the safety of the nation. But this imagina
ry case of urgency could be proved only by falsehood and ca
lumny. He took then the precaution to have inserted in his
Gazette (Gaceta del Supremo Gobierno) of the same 1st July,
an invective equally slanderous as indecent against the expelled
stranger, which only served at that time to redouble the gene
ral indignation against a proceeding not authorized by any
law, expressly forbidden by the constitution, and openly con
tradictory to the absokitory sentence of the jury. He was then
obliged to give further explanations. Anonymous pamphlets im
mediately issued from his press (Imprenta del Supremo Gobierno
en Palacio}, now under my eyes, intended to support the same
x doctrine advanced by the minister of justice Ramos Arispe (a
catholic clergyman) mentioned in my Necrology, and establish
ing the general principle that "every government possesses the
ordinary power of arbitrarily expelling all foreigners, who may
become suspected by it." They designated also the exercise of
this power as the most sacred and incontestable of all rights: and
foreseeing that the fundamental law of the republic might be
cited in direct opposition to this doctrine, they added that
"every government can do every thing which the laws do not
expressly forbid; that no law expressly forbids the Mexican
government to expel foreigners, and that the words any person,
any individual, &c. contained in article 112 of the federal con
stitution, do not relate to foreigners, because this constitution
was made for the Mexicans, and not for the Chinese.
These allegations were by no means satisfactory to those
people, who are not now deprived of the privilege of exclaiming
when sorrowful or disagreeable sensations affect their minds.
Then, the anonymous courtiers, receding from the only question
Which was to be treated of: whether, at the epoch of the 1st July
1826, the president of the united Mexican states possessed the
power of expelling a foreigner from the territory of the federa
tion by his own authority, or not: applied themselves to pervert
the public opinion by the arms of popular prejudices, and of a
nationality misunderstood. From thence that fine tenet, "the

15.J

fctte of a foreigner can aever be put in cdmpetidft with the dig
nity of the Mexican government, which the nation must respect
and cherish as the work of its own hands, whatever may be its
conduct..." From thence this robespierriaii observation, "the
suspected foreigner might perhaps he .acquitted by the tribunals,
in default of tl#proofs of his culpability, and remain at free
dom in the country to the prejudice of the public safety...."
From thence this very odd argument a majori, that "if, ac,
cording to VaUel, every government can expel the ambassador'
oi' a foreign power, for a much stronger reason it can expel sim
ple private foreigners...." From thence the preposterous illa
tion that "if hail the foreigners La-Motte, Smaltz, Prisset
and Saint-Clair, been banished in past times, there was now no
roam to reprove the expulsion of Santangelo;" as if no distinc
tion was to be made between the past and the present laws, nor-
between .fact and rigid, according to the legal aphorism: a fac
to ad jus non datur consequenlia. From thence those false ana
lysis of the W6rk of Mr. Santangelo in the Mexican Sun of the
27th July and 4th August last. From thence also many other
pedantic impertinences, equally to be pitied for their meanness
as punishable for their principles subversive of .all social or
der, and to which the editors of all other journals of that re
public (except the Sun, the chief instrument of the Bourbonie
faction there) have had the patriotic modesty to refuse a place
fn their pages. But all this concerns Mr. Santangelo and the
Mexican nation; the former of which will discover some day
the true causes of the strangf treatment, of which he is the vic
tim; and the latter, having already given on this occasion the
most striking proofs of its aptness to the liberal system adopt
ed, should take great care to avoid every domestic yoke, after
having so bravely shaken off the Spanish. I return, then, to
my principal subject; on the doctrines consecrated by the Mexi
can government, touching the arbitrary banishment of foreign
ers. I shall make known their consequences^ and shall, finally,
refute them. Vattel, the favourite oracle of the arispian poli
ticians, shall be my only guide.
We must understand at Mexico, by the word gooernment the
authority of a single individual charged with the executive
pover, called the president, and whose orders become lawful
when they are accompanied with the signature of a minister.
a 11 +^„ .inntvinea in miestion. then, reduce themselves simply ta
D

26
this: two men, one called president, the other minister, possess
at ..Mexico the absolute power of accusing, arresting, judging,
condemning, despoiling, banishing, killing, and dishonouring,
by themselves, and for motives known to themselves aldne, every
person not a Mexican citizen, that is to say, all mankind, ex
cept, six millions of souls...!.'! ; ^
All foreigners therefore, either alone, or with their families,
resident at present in Mexico, or who may resort thither in
future (under the safeguard of the laws of the country, which
they are bound to obey), either to seek an asylum from tyran
nical persecutions, or to serve a cause, which they consider as
that of humanity, or to employ their scientific or pecuniary
means for the increase of all the sources of the public prosperi
ty of the country, will be obliged to abandon in one moment,
without the least objection, the lands they have bought or which
they cultivate, the houses they, have either bought, built, or fur
nished, the stores which they have richly stocked, the work
shops, manufactories, and places of instruction in all branches
of knowledge, for the establishment of which they have expend
ed immense sums of money, and all their credits, upon which
their whole fortune and honour may probably depend; and,
without having the time, or ready means, of taking their fa
milies with them, of settling their accounts, nor of leaving ef
ficient letters of attorney, to depart under a guard of soldiers
to run the risk of dying by pestilence, or by shipwreck, before
they arrive in an unknown land, which they have not chosen
for their retreat, and which will probably become fatal to them-
All foreign companies, who, likewise under the protection of
tiie laws, and of the public faith, have employed millions to re
store the Mexican mines, totally useless in consequence of s«
many years of civil war. and the impossibility under which the
natives found themselves to put them in a fit state to be worked
and rendered productive, at the very moment they have hopes
to realize the fruits of their money and labours, the govern
ment will have the arbitrary power to declare them suspected,
and to expel them immediately like so many dogs. All the
property of foreigners will not be more respected than their
persons, their lives, and their honour, for the Mexican constitu
tion, it is said, is not applicable to them; and besides, there are
no laws, which expressly forbid the government to injure them,
or to deprive them of all their goods moveable and immoveable,

27
w to confiscate their capitals, credits, stocks, &c. and also all
merchant vessels or ships of war entering in the Mexican wa
ters, and of which the men or crew may be declared suspected
by the president of the united Mexican states. In short, every
foreigner in those states will be looked upon as condemned,
from the only fact of his being a foreigner, to bankruptcy,
misery, death and ignominy. His ruin may perhaps involve
that of innumerable other houses in the other parts of the globe. '
No matter; the omnipotence of a lettrede cachet of the Mexican
president does not admit of any observations!
Foreign governments should not omit to consider, that all
simple treaties of commerce, with Mexico, in which they have
not taken into express consideration such a strange state of
things in a country inhabited by men, will never be sufficient
to prevent great inconveniences, nor all fear 'for, bad results.
They are well aware that in treaties of this kind it is always
usual to stipulate, as is just, that the individuals of the contract
ing nations shall be, reciprocally obliged to conform to the laws
and customs established among them, and consequently that,
as in Mexico there arc no other laws or customs to observe
relative to foreigners, except the good pleasure of the president,
these treaties, far from affording the least guarantee of their
civil rights and personal interests, may be converted into legal
arms against them, and into an undeniable sanction of the des
potism and atrocity of one or two men against them and their
' respective nations. And also, as to the protection which the
diplomatic or commercial agents ought to afford to individuals
of their, own nation, what effectual remonstrances could they
make, if the Mexican president might reply: I exercise the powr
ers inherent in all governments', which are not forbidden by the
laws of my country, and which the silence of the legislature has
recognized as lawful!
I grant that the power of expelling foreigners may become
a right/whenever such a measure is really indispensable to the
public safety. The internal and external security of a country
in a state of foreign or civil war, a reasonable fear of conta
gious diseases, the insufficiency of lands to supply the wants of
the inhabitants, the right of making reprisals against gratuitous
vexations on the part of other powers, the necessity of remov
ing vagabonds dangerous to the public morality, or any other
motive unanimously acknowledged as lawful by all civijizgd:

28
iiations, may justify the expulsion, or the non-admittance, of
one, of many, or even of all foreigners not legally domiciled
In the country, saving those temperate measures of execution,
which justice and humanity command in favour of individuals
not judicially convicted of gujlt, "Every nation, Vattel
states, lias a right of refusing to admit a stranger into the
country, when he cannot enter it without putting it in evident
danger, or without doing it a remarkable prejudice  No na
tion can refuse, without good reasons, even the perpetual resi
dence of a man driven from his coiiiitry (this is the case of Mr.
Santangelo).... it (the nation) has a right, and is even obliged,
in this respect, to follow tiie rules which prudence dictates ; but
this prudence ought not to l>e contracted and gloomy: it phould
not be carried so far as to refuse a retreat to tiie unfortunate
for slight reasons, and on groundless and frivolous fears,....
(B. 1. Ch. XIX. fflj. 230 and 231)." „¦
It should never be forgotten that hospitality, far from being
a generosity, is the sacred duty of every human association,
the first, the most important of all social duties. The reception
due generally to every traveller, who has legally introduced
himself into any country; that which is owed to those unfor
tunate persons who are obliged to land on a strange coast on
account of irresistible maritime events, such as the want of sub
sistence, piracy, tiie dangers of shipwreck &c; that which a
free people are especially obliged to afford, and also to offer, to
men persecuted elsewhere on account of their love of liberty,
from the undeniable principle that the cause of liberty is the
cause of the whole human race, and who, consequently, would
be looked upon as rebels, and alsp perhaps Iwstiliaed, by the
agents of their nation residing in their adopted country; that
which is to be secured by special laws to those foreigners, who
Have fixed their domicil. or have demanded their naturaliza
tion, a demand, of which, if authorised by the law (as in
Mexieo), no other authority can prevent or frustrate the legal
effects; none of these different hospitalities can be refused with
out passing for anthropophagi, declaring war against all man*
kind, and placing themselves, implicitly, out of the universal
Jaw of nations,
We must also consider that the refusal to foreigners of ac
cess to a country, as is the custom among the Chinese, for the
tfake of their excessive population and their, riches, and also

29
among savage natives, on account of their weakness, ignorance,
and superstition, is quite another thing from expelling them
after admission. When it is notorious that the entrance into
nuch and such countries is forbidden, all foreigners and all
foreign nations take their measures accordingly. But. if the
ports of a country are open to all tiie world, every man has a
right to enter in, and to find security and protection there, un
der such restrictions as he may find established either by the
common law of the country, or by momentary legal disposi
tions duly published, so that he could not violate them unpu
nished under the pretext of ignorance.
Nevertheless I grant for a moment to every nation all ima
ginable rights, without any exception, without limits. I ask:
how am I to know the will of a nation? certainly by the laws,
for the laws alone must be considered, in right or in fact, as
the expression of the general will, no matter under what form
of government, either monarchical or popular, aristocratical
or mixt, absolute or moderate, despotic or representative
Thus, foreigners have never been expelled from Greece* nor
Rome, nor America formerly Spanish, nor from any other cor
ner of the world, but by virtue of the laws ad hoc. Their expul
sion could neither happen in England, except according to the
laws, for the habeas corpus act, and the alien Mil, are laws, the
efficiency of which can neither be suspended nor put again in
activity but by virtue of other laws passed by tiie legislative
parliament. Lastly, foreigners cannot be expelled from Mexi
co itself, not either in the urgency of saving the country, but by
virtue of a law; because the article 13. fflj. 1 and 2 of the con
stituent act, and tiie articles 49. fflf. 1 and 2, and 50. ^f. 31 of
the federal constihdion of that republic, expressly state, that
"it is the duty of the general congress to provide for the pre
servation and security of the nation in its external relations, and
to preserve peace and public order in the interior of the federa
tion." Arc Victoria, RamosrArispe, Camacho &c. ignorant
of the fundamental laws of their country? No^ assuredly not;
ergo  this ergo suffices to resolve every problem with respect
to their political conduct and principles.
It is consequently a ridiculous play upon words to say: every
government has the right to expel &c. We must rather say:
every nation, every sovereign, every lawgiver, in one word, the
In.rr nf ' ever-a rnuntru. can in certain cases expel &e; In this

id
sense all writers on the law of nations, especially Vattel, have,
reasoned. The word government has never been employed by
him for this purpose; he speaks of nations, of sovereigns, and
calls the sovereign the person or the senate invested with the
sovereign authority (B. 1. Ch. IV. fl. 38). The sovereign of
Mexico is the general congress. For, although actual political
neology calls government the executive power of a representa
tive republic, it does not therefore follow, that the individual
charged with this power has tiie ordinary right of exercising
that, which exclusively belongs to the legislature. The words
government, governor, to govern &c. imply in the representa
tive system functions purely administrative, or to express my
self differently, executive of the orders of tiie master of the
state. The nation is the sole m after at home. It alone dele
gates all the powers, draws the lines which separate them, and
fixes their respective limits. A government, which should either
repel or expel a foreigner, whom the legislature neither expels
nor repels, would afford the example of a hangman, who exe
cutes a fellow uncondemned or acquitted. It would be, indeed,
an absurdity of a new kind that, whilst congress is obliged to
conform itself to the constitution of the state, a single citizen
charged pro tempore to execute the dispositions of the constitu
tion and of the congress, might have the power to subvert, by
his sic volo, both the congress and the constitution. Such, in -
effect, would be the consequences of the Mexican president's
having the power of expelling foreigners arbitrarily, or of ren
dering their access to the country extremely difficult by other
tyrannical acts, though concealed under the specious and also
constitidiondl name of regulations, and which would in fact con
fer on him the free exercise of an usurped sovereignty. Shall,
then, the president, who has not even the power of declaring a
war till authorized by the congress, be permitted to provoke a
thousand by regidations or lettres de cachet, although the latter
are not mentioned in the Mexican codes, and the former, by
article 110. ^T. 11. of the. federal constitution, are only permit
ted, "for the best accomplishment of the constitution, of the
constituent act, and of the general laws?"
Besides, let me ask: may not the arbitrary banishment of
foreigners (as a learned Mexican writer has observed) be em
ployed as a means of carrying on with impunity the most enor
mous crimes against the state? Suppose, for instance, the case

of a president conspirator; foreigners would perhaps be his
principal accomplices; and these, if discovered and in danger
for their lives, the president could then declare suspected per
sons, and expel them immediately, and in this way conceal
tliem from the sword of the law, and encourage others at once
in the perpetration of the meditated attempt, for it is very easy
to find accomplices, who have every thing to hope, and nothing
to fear. This consideration alone ought to be sufficient to prove
thajjpot only the power of expelling foreigners cannot be an
ordinary function of the executive, but that, if circumstances of
the greatest urgency require this power to be extraordinarily
confided to an individual, no circumspection could be too ex
tensive in the adoption of a measure, the results of which might
be far more fatal than the evils intended to be obviated.
I think proper to add a practical argument as to the futility
of arispian doctrines. Every attribution of an authority what
soever, necessarily supposes the existence of lawful means for-
carrying the same into execution; for nothing could be more
contrary to common sense, tiian to suppose the case of having a
legal power, without being at the same time in the possibility
of exercising it legally. Now the Mexican government, which
arrogates to itself the ordinary power of expelling foreigners
from Mexico, what means has it at its disposal for the execu
tion of its orders on this subject? None. It cannq,t compel the
military force to perform acts subversive of that constitution,
the integrity and inviolability of which every soldier has sworn
to defend with his blood. It cannot, however indispensable trt
the occasion, dispose of the public treasure for this purpose.
because all appropriation of tiie public moneys belongs exclu
sively to. the general congress (ait. 13. % 8 and 9 of the con
stituent act, and art. 50. fl. S of ike federal constitution). I).
cannot constrain the .governors of the different states of the
federation to favour, within the bounds of their territorial juris
diction, the execution of unconstitutional orders, for the govern
nors may themselves be judged for thQ infractions of the getier-
ral constitution, and cannot be called to account for the nou-
axecution of orders contrary to tiie constitution, and to tiie
general laws of the Union (art. 38. % 4. of tiie federal consti
tution.) It cannot inflict punishment in case of the non-obser
vance of the banishment, for every penal disposition belongs
dSchisively to tiie legislature, and every application of pain, to

32
-the competent magistrate. Suppose, then, Mr. Santangelo
should return immediately by his own authority to Mexico, he
would perhaps have at the most to fear a second arbitrary ba
nishment, but never the least chastisement for the violation of
the first, and this for want of laws applicable to his case, and
of judges authorized to proceed against him. "It is however
proper to observe, Vattel teaches us, that it is commonly cus
tomary also to apply the terms of exile and banishment, to the
expulsion of a stranger out of the country, where he had nM his
domieil, with an express prohibition of his ever returning (B.
1. Ch. XIX. % 228)." How shameful and unwarrantable
then, Ave may justly exclaim, has been the conduct of the Mexi
can government towards this respectable patriot.
No absurdity is more dangerous to a free people than that of
the government arrogating to itself the power of doing every
thing which the laws do not expressly forbid. Since no law lias
expressly forbidden the Mexican government to despoil foreign
ers of all their good.j and to massacre thcia, what is to prevent
it from ordaining a second St. Bartholomew's day against
them, and confiscating even to their very night-caps? Behold
the consequences of a principle as true with respect to the man
in his private capacity, as false with respect to the public cha
racter. An individual, by sacrificing a part of his natural
liberty in or,dci' to enjoy the rest in peace, is obliged only to
fulfil such conditions as he has stipulated with the body of which
he is a member: but the public functionary, enjoying also the
same rights as the private man, can only exercise over other
men those powers, which the general will has taxatively attribut
ed to him. Without this, what a vast field for the abuse of
power? What code could contain a catalogue of all possible hu
man actions expressly declared good or evil, permitted or for
bidden? How many volumes would it require to detail every
thing which a government might or might not do? What man
in the world could foresee all possible cases, and determine
their importance respectively, amidst the concurrence of innu
merable events and circumstances, by the nature and conse
quences of which they might be infinitely diversified ? The poli
tical constitutions of states confine themselves, then, to declare
in a general manner the rights of social man, and to forbid, also
in a general manner, the depositaries of the public authority
from injuring them. Thus when it is said to a government;

3i3
it is forbidden you to attack individual liberty, property, life, ant
the honour of any person in the country, the administration of
which is entrusted to you, it has said every thing, for all pro
hibitions are comprised in these words. The Mexican constitu
tion has done more It has forbidden the legislator to meddle
with its principal bases (art. 171); it has commanded the judge
to act only in conformity with the laws (art. 136 to 156); and,
considering that the executive, as the depositary of the public
force, could easily overturn in fact all that is established by
law, it has categorically explained its attrihdes (art. 110) and
its restrictions (art. 112). It is precisely by the 2d and 3d re
strictions of this article, that a prohibition is expressly made to
the president of the united Mexican states to deprive any. person
of his liberty, to impose any punishment, and to touqh the pro
perty of any individual; and surely banishment is at once a loss
of liberty, a punishment, and a measure, which may reduce the
richest man to poverty in the twinkling of an eye, as we have
already proved. The Mexican constitution has done still more : it
has declared that the orders of the president shall not be obeyed
without the signature of the competent minister, and that this
minister shall be responsible for the acts of the president author
ized by his signature (art. 118 and 119).
But the anonymous defenders of the Mexican government
have had the wonderful acuteness to state that the Mexican
constitution does not relate to foreigners. This is the last re*
source of a government always endeavouring to justify errou
by error, absurdity by absurdity. Thus Ave must say: foreign
ers cannot be protected nor punished at Mexico by. other lawg
than those made expressly for them, and in default of these, by
the caprice of the president! It is a very new principle that
the constitutions of nations are not made for all the inhabitants
of their territories, but only for the natives. The inventors of
this singular jurisprudence are not aware that they themselves
attack and destroy this very national sovereignty, of which they
appear so jealous, and that they do not understand the tenden
cy of their own ideas. . A constitution, which does not protect*
eannot command ; for there cannot be in nature such a thing a§
obligations without rights; these must be always reciprocal.
A constitution, which does not guarantee civil and personal
rights to a particular class of inhabitants, implicitly exempts
€iem from all subjection to its sAvay. Ouo" Vattel states

'-. 4
J'l
"¦The inhabitants, as 'distinguished from citizens, are strangers,
who ars permitted to settle and stay in the country. Bound
by their residence to the society, they are subject to the laAvs of
the state while they reside there, and thus are obliged to defend
it, because it grants them protection, though they do not partici
pate in all the rights of citizens. They enjoy only the advan
tages, which the laws or custom gives them (B. 1. Ch. XIX.
% 213)."
But, instead of losing further time in refutations, which would
give too much importance to insipidities, to which all enlighten
ed Mexicans will themselves afford such consideration as they
merit, let us come directly to the point.
All distinction between foreigners aiid natives is not, nor can
it be otherwise than purely political. The foreigner not natu
ralized, or not domiciled, not being obliged to prefer the pros
perity of a country, which he is only visiting, to the convenien
ces of his own country, has not therefore the right to enjoy such
a confidence as to be entrusted with public charges, nor to par
ticipate in any of the political privileges, which the laAvs of the
state exclusively confer on natural born or adopted citizens.
But in moral, and with respect to civil rights, the word foreign
er has no signification, no weight, and cannot be productive of
any consequence. Morally speaking, all the inhabitants of the
globe are perfectly equal. Civilly, every individual, from the
simple circumstance of his having put his feet on the territory
of a nation, of which he is not a member, has contracted an
obligation to respect its laws, customs, manners, religion &c,
and, in exchange, has acquired an unquestionable right to -all
those liberties, to all those personal guarantees, which the same
laws allow to natives. The Mexican constitution has conse
crated this principle by dispositions equally Avisc as clear. As
often as it has intended to make the least distinction between
citizens by birth, citizens by naturalization, citizens by domicil,
and foreigners properly so called, it has done it in such a man
ner as not to leave any room for interpretations. Articles 20,
21, 22, 28, 76, 12}, 124, 141, 144 &c. assign to the natives of
the country certain political rights, which naturalized citizens
have not, and to the latter other rights, to which foreigners
have no pretensions. But, when the constitution exercises its
sway over all the inhabitants of the republic equally, and with
out exception either in favour of, or against any person ; when if

35
ordains, for instance, in general terms, that the exercise of the
liberty of the pres *shall never be suspended in the Mexican
states (art. 50. %. 3.); that it is the duty of the president to
watch that justice be promptly and completely administered....
(art. 110. fl. 19.); that the president himself cannot deprive
any person of his liberty, nor inflict any punishment, nor seize
or disturb the property of any individual.... (art. 112. fl."2 and
3); that every trial by commission and all retroactive laws are
forever prohibited (art. 148); that no individual shall be de
tained without a proof semi-full (semi-plena), or probable evi
dence of his culpability (art. 150); that nobody shall be detain
ed in custody on simple indications during a longer period than
sixty hours (art. 151); that no authority shall order domiciliary
visits, nor the examination of the papers and effects of the in
habitants of the republic, except in the cases expressly foreseen
by laAv, and in the forms thereby enjoined (art. 1 52) ; that no
inhabitant of the republic shall be compelled to take an oath in
his own case in criminal matters (art. 153); that no person shall
be deprived of the right of terminating his differences by ar
bitration (art. 156); when, I say, the constitution has spoken,
in a manner so general, of the rights and obligations of all the
inhabitants of the federation; and when "inhabitants as dis
tinguished from citizens, are strangers " who shall dare to
change its letter and restrain its sense by odious and unjust
distinctions, and by these means expose the country to the most
frightful vicissitudes? But, it has been in vain observed to the
Mexican gbvernment that the general congress alone has the
right to interpret, modify and revoke the laws (art. 64 of the fede
ral constitution), and to resolve all doubts as to the understand
ing of the constitution and of the constituent act (art. 156 of the
same). The arispian dogmatists did not read in their Vattel,
that "if there arise any disputes in a state on the fundamental
laws, on the public administration, or on the prerogatives of
different powers, of Avhich it is composed, it is the business of
the nation alone to judge and determine them in conformity to
its political constitution [B. 1. Ch. IV. % 36]." They quoted
that celebrated author only in order to declare that if every go
vernment can expel the ambassador of a foreign power, for a
much stronger reason it can expel simple private foreigners.
Good God ! to what hands hast thou confided the destinies of
tli is poor people! What comparison between a man who repre-

stents a nation, and Avhose person is as injiolable as his cha
racter, and simple private foreigners subject to all the laws of
the country which they inhabit! What amalgam of interna
tional law, which may be resolved, only by diplomatic treaties
or by the sword, with the common law of a country, which every
nation determines or adopts according to its best conArcnicnces,
independently of any foreign influence, and which every private
foreigner is bound to obey and respect! What a mingle-mangle
of an executive poAver called government with the legislatiA-e
power, which exclusively belongs to a sovereign nation, or a
sovereign prince! What an undigested farrago of ideas and
principles! Let us, then, hear Vattel himself. "Should, says
he, a foreign minister offend the prince himself, be wanting in
respect to him, and by his intrigues raise disturbances in the
state and court, the, injured prince, from a particular regard to
the minister's master, sometimes requires that he should be re
called; or if the fault be more heinous, the prince forbids him
,the court, till he receiA^es an answer from his master; but in
important cases he proceeds so far as to order him to qidt his do
minions [B. IV. Ch. VII. % 95]." Is the president Victoria a
nation or a prince? Are the united Mexican states his domi
nions? Are private foreigners public ministers?
I have read and I have admired the address of' the Mexican
constituent congress to the inhabitants of the federation, laid be
fore the federal constitution under the date of the 4th October
1824, and signed by Lorenzo de Zavala, president. But I have
not discovered in this Ayise discourse on the aforesaid constitu
tion, any arguments of the Mexican government's having a
right to say to foreigners : Gentlemen, you are not Mexicans ;
consequently all liberty of speaking, of writing, of thinking,
of keeping the doors of your lodgings shut at midnight, or of
demanding justice if you are calumniated or oppressed in our
republic, is denied to you. You must however blindly respect
our laws, manners, customs, religion &c. and, above all, my
orders, caprices, true or false suspicions, and even my crimes,
and abandon immediately in silence, whenever I command it,
your asylum, your wives, your children, your property, your
industry, your commerce, your adopted country, mount on
horseback in the midst of my guards, run the risk of dying on
our pestilent coasts, or of suffering shipwreck on the ocean and
betake yourselves to a country, where perhaps you may have

37
been already burnt in effigy for the same libcrai.ideas professed
here. Yes, avc are all liberals, philanthropists, heroes here;
but in respect to those men, who arc not born in our happy
country, we are all Ncros> Torquemadas, Ferdinands VII.
notwithstanding they may have demanded or deserved naturali
zation in our states, or even haAre rendered or endeavoured to
render the greatest services to our political cause against fo
reign tyrants. As it respects the Mexicans, I am their father:
as for one thousand and one hundred millions of other men, I
am their executioner. I shall expel you, Avhcnever it suits me,
with such forms as I judge, and which will cause or accelerate
your complete destruction* for our laAvs do not extend to you,
and I alone haA'e the. right to interpret them as I please, and
no other person has any business to censure my acts in this re
spect  !
On the contrary, I have found in the address, Avhicii I haA'e
quoted, these remarkable Avords: "Without justice no liberty;
and the basis of justice consists in the equilibrium betwixt the
rights of other men and ours."
After all that I have observed on this sub jecfr I cannot enter
tain the smallest doubt, that the Mexican general congress will
not delay, or hesitate an instantto decide on the aKair in ques
tion in a manner suitable to its oavh august character, and to
the dearest interests of the nation, whose destinies it commands.
But the senator Canedo has thought that the absence of the re
sponsible minister will paralize the judgment on his responsibili
ty. I think on the contrary, that the minister Camacho did
not leave Vera Cruz for London till the 27th august last, that
is to say, almost two months after having signed the order of the
president Victoria for the expulsion of Mr. Santangelo; that,
during that interval, the council of government, created by the
federal constitution, to watch, whilst the congress is in recess,
mver its observance, and on that of the constituent acVf and general
laws of tiie state (art. 1 13 and 116 of the federal constitution),
had formally protested against this unconstitutional expulsion,
and decidedthat the affair should be laid before congress at the
time of the opening of its sessions, [see the precedent Report of
the committee of infractions of the council of the supreme go
vernment] ; and that, consequently, the absence of the aforesaid
minister can only be considered as an evasion, which ought not
to prevent, at least, a proceeding for contumacy. In reality,

was Camacho appointed minister plenipotentiary to London,
before or after the 1st July, the date of the order signed by
him? In the first case, the order was null as well as the signa
ture, for this simple reason, that the signatures of ministers
not responsible, such was Camacho by virtue of his hcav diplo
matic commission, are not productive of any lawful effect. In
the second case, the responsibility incurred on the 1st July
could not be destroyed by the posterior appointment of plenipo
tentiary to London. In both cases, a governative commission,
thougli approved by the congress itself, can never affect one of
the principal bases of the constitution of the state, such as the
responsibility of ministers. It will therefore be agreeable to
justice, and much more so, to the dignity of the Mexican nation
to recall a representatiA'e, whose character is not honourably
recommended in a foreign court by the shameful stain incurred
in his own country, and whose absence ought not to shield him
with impunity from an attack on the sovereignty of his nation.
"To attack the constitution of the state, says Vattel, and to
violate its laAv, is a capital crime against society ; and if those
guilty of it are invested with authority, they add to this crime
a perfidious abuse of the power, with which they are intrusted.
The nation ought constantly to suppress these abuses, with its
utmost vigour and vigilance  This would awaken the atten
tion of the people, and from thenceforward, filled Avith this ex
cellent maxim, no less essential in politics than in morals, Prin-
eipiis obsta, they would no longer shut their eyes against inno
vations, Avhich, though inconsiderable in themselves, may serve
as steps to mount to higher and more pernicious enterprises
(B. 1. Ch. III. % 30)."
Besides, how could the general congress, even in adjourning,
if it judge it expedient, the proceedings of responsibility
against the absent minister, omit to decide, in the meantime, on
the legality*or illegality of the banishment of Mr. Santangelo^
and on the true powers of the executive as it respects foreigners,
in order promptly to prevent any further abuses on a subject
of such vast importance? These two last objects do not regard
the minister. It is altogether the cause of justice, of good
policy, of the sovereignty of the Mexican people, and of their
national honour. Vattel says " We ought not then to say in
general, that we have received an injury from a nation, because
Ave have received it from one of its members. But, if a nation.

39
or its leader (such as a legislative body), approves and ratifies
the fact committed by a citizen, it makes the act its own; the
offence ought then to be attributed to the nation as the aidhor of
the true injury, of which the citizen is perhaps only the instru
ment [B. 11. Ch. VI. fflf. 73 and 74]." The silence of con
gress in this affair would be quite equal to its consent, which
would not inspfre the best presages as to the future destinies of
Mexico. I must quote Vattel once more. "What an idea do
we conceive of a people, when we see the sovereign sIioav in
public acts a meanness of sentiment, with which a private per
son would think himself dishonoured [B. 1. Ch. XV. % 188]?"
To conclude: Should the expulsion of foreigners from a coun
try signify nothing more than the damage of its own welfare,
I should have nothing totobserve, and Avould confine myself to
exclaim with tears in my eyes: so much the Avorse for the un
happy Mexicans! But, if to expel foreigners signifies also to
ruin their persons, their interests, and those of other nations,
this gives every inhabitant of the world the right to reproach
the conduct of the Mexican government towards the marquis
Santangelo, and much more the principles, by which it has at
tempted to justify itself. Its apologists have cited Vattel to seek
protection under the name and not in the writings of this illustri
ous friend of humanity, for the passage they have quoted is as
analagous to this question as the koran to the gospel.
It seems that Victoria, Ramos- Arispe, Camacho &c, to whom
fortune has afforded the opportunity of meriting celebrity by edu
cating their fellow citizens in wisdom, justice and grandeur,
think there is no better way of obtaining this end, but by setting
before them the example of cannibalism.

REGULATION
Enacted by the Mexican government with respect to all foreign*
ers arriving at Mexico, or departing therefrom.
Primera Secretaria de estado — Seccion de Gobierno — El
Ecsmo. Sr. Presidente de los Estados Unidos JMexicanos se ha
servido dirigirmc el decreto que sigue — El Presidente de los
Estados Unidos Mcxicanos — Habiendo pesado detenidamente-
ia necesidad de simplificar en lo posible el metodo observado
hasta aqui en el ramo de pasaportes, y con el objeto de facilitar
el mejor cumplimiento de las leyes que hasta ahora hay en la
materia, de combinar la seguridad publica con el fomento de la
poblacion y de la industria, y do ocurrir por medio de reglas
elaras y sencillas a las dudas que han ocasionado las diversas
ordcncs espedidas sobre el particular, segun lo han ocsigido las,
circumstancias de la nacion, he Arenido en decretar el Regla-
mento siguiente.
Art. 1°. — Todo extrangero, antes de desembarcar en cual-
quier pucrto de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, producira de
claration formal, en que manifiestc su nombrej edad, estado y
naturaleza, el punto de su procedencia, y el de su destino, objeto
de su viage, personas a quienes viene recomendado, su profesion
y medios de subsistencia.
2°. — Dicha declaracion debera recibirse por escrito y Armar
ia el interesado; a cuyo efecto el capitan del puerto, 6 quieit
haga sus veces, pasara a bordo a recibiiia luego que haya fon-
deado el buque.
3°. — Evacuada csta formalidad, el capitan del puerto, 6 la,
persona que le substituya, ecsigira la presentacion del pasaporte,
y cierto de la identidad de la persona, y de que el pasaporte ex-
hibido es el que debe traher, 6 que se halla en aptitud de obtenerlo,
segun lo que se prescribira en los articulos siguientes, pondra
en el mismo documento la liccncia de desembarco, bajo la precisa
eondicion de prescntarse inmediatamente a la autoridad politica
de el puerto respectivo, y dara constancia dc ella al intcresado,

41
para que ho se le oponga embarazo dentro del bnque, hi al sal*
tar en tierra, 6 en la entrada del puerto (a),
4°. — Sin la prescntacioli de esta licencia, ni los comandantes
de los buques permitiran desembarcar a pasagero alguno estran-
gero, ni el resgliardo 6 guarnicion del muelle los dejara entrar,
bajo su respectiva responsabiliddd (b).
5". — Para los efectos del art. 3° seraii suficientes, respecto
de cualquier estrangero, los pasaportes que haya espedido el go
bierno general; y respecto de los estrangeros que pertenezcan a
naciones que hayan reconocido la independentia de los estados uni
dos Mexicanxrs, 6 scan neutrales, serari tambien suficientes los
que hayan espedido 6 visado los agentcs de la Republica en las
naciones estrangcras (c).
(a) As soon as a foreigner arrives in a Mexican port, he Buds himself subject
to the arbitrary judgement of one of those' men who are called in that country
ruptains of the port, and who are generally not less venal, and much more igno
rant than the constables of the inquisition. A captain of the port can, .then,
cither prevent or permit the disembarkation of a foreigner, and his decree will
be final arid without appeal, for who is to take account if he has judged right
or wrong respecting the passport, which a foreigner has presented to him, ot
decided in a just and satisfactory manner, if the foreigner not furnished with
any passport, is in the condition Of obtaining one from the Mexican govern
ment, according to the formalities required by the article, or not >
(A) Thus the commanders or eaptainB of foreign, or national vessels in the
ports of Mexico, must b'eeomej all of them, gaolers, by order of the president
Victoria ! They are commanded to prevent, on their own responsibility, the
landing of all foreigners, who have not received the permission of the captain
nf the port. They must pay a Mexican guard, or force their own sailors to-
transform themselves into gendarmes, to detain innocent; persons in an illegal
prison. Has, perhaps, a foreigner engaged to pay the captain his passage *
money on his coming to land ? No matter ;- not being permitted to landr he will
-not pay. Does he, probably, want the necessary means for his further main-
tenance on board?< No matter; the captain must provide for him out of his own
pocket. Does. the captain wish to weigh anchor in order to prosecute, with,-
but any delay, his voyage, and go beyond the cape of Good Hope? No matter;
the passenger, who had proposed to remain on the Mexican shores, will bej
Obliged to make, in spite of himself, a voj'age round the world at the captain's
expenses...!!! (C) How are foreigners, going to Mexico from any other place of the world,
to procure a passport from the Mexican go vel-nment previously ? And who are.
the foreigners belonging to those nations, which have already recognized the
Mexican independence ? We know that the United States of North America,
and the new republics of South America, are alone in this situation; for, be
sides them, no other power of the world has recognized any of those new
states, with the.exception of Colombia and Buenos Ayres, both of which have
A neutral nation is one which does net
- F

42
6*. — A los estrangeros subditos 6 ciudadanos de las aacione*
que tienen agcntes debidamente acreditados cerca del supremo
gobierno de Mexico, que no presentcn alguno de los pasaportes
de que habla el articulo anterior, se les concedera licencia
para el desembarco mediante abono de su consid en aquel puerto
de ser ciudadano de su narion, y traer capital 6 industria de que
snbsistir, 6 previa fianza de un ciudadano Mcxicano sobre esto
mismo, con la espresada condicion de presentarse inmediate-
niente a la autoridad politica del puerto respectivo (d).
7° — La espresada autoridad politica, en los casos de presen
tarse por los estrangeros pasaportes suficientes, los visara, y
tomando la razon correspondiente, estendera en ellos el per-
miso 6 bien para permanecer en el puerto, 6 bien para inter-
narse segun pidiere el interesado (e).
8°. — Respecto de los estrangeros de que habla el articulo 6°.
la autoridad politica del puerto, a quien se deben presenter con
la licencia del desembarco, podrd libraries pasaporte provisional
para pasar al punto que les acomode del transit© hasta la capi
tal, donde deben pedir al gobierno general, por conducto de los
take any part in the differences existing amongst other nations. But that,
which does riot recognize as lawful the political existence of another nation, is,
from this fact alone, at war with it, no matter if no hostile act has already takeir
place. But, the Mexican government regards as neutrals, France, the holy
alliance, in one word, every nation, which is in fact in the interests of legitimacy
in general, and of Spain in particular. This is enough to prove that the inde
pendence of Mexico is in its last agonies 
(d) What nations are there which keeps agents duly accredited residing at
¦Mexico? Those of the United States and Great Britain are charged to stipulate
treaties, and their mission being special, they cannot, I believe, intermeddle
with affairs of a different nature. The confidential agent of France is not duly
accredited, his diploma being signed only by an officer of French marine. —
And with respect to those sent there by other small European princes, they
have not yet presented any official act recognizing the independence of Mexico.
Moreover, how long since has a diplomatic or commercial agent been obliged
to certify as to the place of birth, the profession, the condition, the means of
subsistence, of a man he has never either seen or known, and who, though
speaking his very language perfectly, may nevertheless be one of his anti
podes? (c) We have seen in note (a), that if the judgment of the captain of the
port should be negative, the foreigner must remain a prisoner on board, and
has no means of appeal. Now, according to article 7', if the judgment of the
captain of the port should be favourable, the foreigner, on"his disembarking,
must subject himself to a second, that of the political authority of the place... !

43 '
ministros publicos de sus respectivas naciones, el que necesitaren
para permanecer 6 internarse (f).
9° — A este efecto, en llegando a esta capital, se presentaran
a su respectiva legacion, de la que tomaran un certificado que
acredite ser el estrangero ciudadano 6 subdito de la nation a que
la legacion pertenece, y tener capital 6 industria de que subsis-
tir, a fin de que se les conceda por el supremo gobierno pasaporte
por un ano para transitar libre y seguramente por toda la fe
deracion (g).
10°.— Este certificado sera concebido en los terminos sigu
ientes — El infrascripto &c. Certifico que N. es subdito ciud
adano de &c. y snplico al gobierno de los Estados Unidos Mexi-
canos se sirva concederle licencia por el termino de un aHO
contado desde su fecha para transitar libre y seguramente por
todas partes de la federacion — Firmado — Mexico a de de
&c. — (h).
1 1°. — Los estrangeros, de que hablan los articulos anteriores,
que no hayan llegado a esta capital, solicitaran de su-Legacion
igual certificado para obtener dentro de un mes el pasaporte del
supremo gobierno (i).
(/) This article enables Hie political authority of the port to deliver to the
stranger disembarked a provisional passport to go to the capital, no matter if
his business calls him elsewhere. But, fortunately, amongst all the other con
tradictions, which form the merit of this grotesque decree, it seems that there
is one in article 11th, which speaks hypothetically of foreigners, who might
not arrive at the capital. However, we shall see in our note on that article the
other inconveniences, which emanate from this hypothesis.
(g) On his arrival at the capital (the city of Mexico), the foreigner must
procure a certificate from the legation of his nation, stating every thing we
have observed in note 6th, in order to obtain from the general government there,
a passport io travel, during mie year, in alt parts of the Mexican federation. —
And what is he to do, if the legation should refuse it to him? or if no legation
of his nation should reside at Mexico ? or if the foreigner, having sought refuge
-there as persecuted or proscribed by the government of his own country, cannot,
consequently, present himself to the agents of his persecutor?
(k) The Mexican government wishes to domineer over the foreign lega
tions so far as to prescribe to them the model of the acts, which they may be
authorised or obliged to perform. It seems that this government has made a
wonderful progress in the study of the law of nations.
(j) The foreigner, who disembarks at a Mexican port, and has no intention
of going to Mexico, and cannot, consequently, present himself to his legation;
or who, desirous of prosecuting his journey to some other part of that vast
republic, cannot wait in any determinate place for an answer from his legation,
ko w could he furnish ftijnsejf with a passport of the general government, during

44
12".— Todo estrangero sea que haya obtenido el, pasiiporle,
provisional, de que habla el articulo 8°, sea que lo tenga absolj.tr
to competente, estara en obligacion de presentarse a la autoridad
politica tie su destino, y de todp aquel lugar en que haga una
detencion de mas de tres dias, para que cadauna de estas autori-
dades vise el pasaporte, y por este acto se le entienda permitido
pcrmanecer 6 continuar su viage, segun las calidades del pasa
porte (I).
13°.— Para evitar en lo sucesivo los fraudes que lian solids
cometerse, y podran intcntarse, suponicndose algmtos estran
geros ciudadanos de los Estados del Norte de America, a cuyo
fin han hecho valcr como carta de citidadania la patentc de ju-
ramento otgrgado, en dichos estados, esta conforme la legacion de
ellos en no espedir certijicados ptira pasaportes, sin la evidencia
mas satisfactoiia de que tengan la ciudadania de los mismoe.
estados los que los soliciten; y tal debe scr el abono que prcs»,
ten Iqs consules respectivps dc ellos para la; licencia de que ha
bla el articulo &". (m).
the term of one month as prescribed by this, article : Ahd, supposing he shoulfi
disembark qn the coasts of Yucatan or California, will the term of oils month
be sufficient to receive a passport from the city of Mexico, even if he should
wait stock still in the place of his first landing, during that time ?
(/) A foreigner cannot, then, sojourn or travel in the Mexican states, ac
cording to the urgency of his own business, which may oblige him, at every
moment, to change his route, but only according to the qualifications of his
passport! Oh policy! Oh ministerial genius ! Oh Mexican liberty....!
(m) Neither the legation, nor the consuls of the United States can, there
fore, deliver the certificate required from them to those foreigners, who have
legally established their domicil, and demanded their naturalization in the
United States! An<lwhy? Are not all foreigners, demanding their naturaliza
tion in the United States, obliged to swear to renounce for ever all allegiance to
any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty whatsoever, and particularly
to that of their native country?. The decree of naturalization, will give them
political rights; but ought not, in the mean time, their established domicil in
our republic, and their solemn renunciation of the citizenship of their ancient
country, and of all qther countries, in the world, suffice to secure them the
enjoyment of the same civil rights, which the natives^ of the same republic
already enjoy? Could a Russian agent interest himself at Mexico for a Musco
vite, who had sworn at Ayashington to renounce all .fidelity to the emperor of
Russia, and not to acknowledge any other power than that of Washington?
Is it reasonable that a citizen should remain, during many years, without a
country, without any personal guarantee, or deprived of the right of going
to carry on his own business in a neighbouring co.untry, for the crime of having
desired to become a citizen of the United States, and forwarded his demands in
£be fowns prescribed by our laws? This is, undoubtedly, an inconvenience* fey.

43
14° — Con los suhditos del gobierno espaHol que lleguen st
nucstros puertos, se observara lo dispuesto en los articulos 1%
2°. y 3°. ; pero no se les permitird desembarcar sin otro pasaporte,
que el que haya espsdido el gobierno general, con arreglo a la
ley de 25 de Abril procsimo pasado.
15°. — El estrangero 6 estrangeros que esten en el caso de los
que habla, el articulo 6°. y no presentaren pasaporte competente,
no podrdn desembarcar hasta haberlo obtenido del gobierno
general por la secretaria de relaciones (n).
16°.— La secretaria no cspedi7-ti pasaporte alguno de los que
rcquicre el articulo anterior, si no se le pide por conducto del
gobernador del estado en cuyo puerto se halle el interesado, ni
los gobernadores dardn curso a semejantes solicitudes sin estar
antes satisfechos.de la conducta del interesado por conocimiento
que al intento se les ccsigii-a de un ciudadano Mexicano (o).„
the removal of wliich our govermcnt ought to bestow that attention, wliich
would be expected in vain from that of Mexico. AVc must, however, express
our astonishment at the accusation of fraud, contained in this article against those
strangers, whose good faith has caused them to present, at Mexico, the certi
ficate of the oaths taken by them in the United States, as a title of glory for
them, and which they have supposed- quite sufficient to obtain a passport in
the character of domiciled, and aspirants for naturalization ¦ in their adopted
country. The tenor of such certificates,^ clear: the bearer of them is not
designated there as a citizen of the United States, but only as a man who
expects, to become so in future, and who already belongs to no other nation from
the very moment he made his sworn declaration of renouncing all fidelity to
wards any other foreign power. Where, then, is the fraud? Have they perhaps
performed some falsehood, or some counterfeit? If the Mexican ministry, or
their inferior agents in the branch of passports, do not understand English, or
have not interpreters of foreign languages attached to their bureaus, would
that be a reason for accusing of fraud a foreigner, who presents a document
equally authentic for its form, as clear and ingenuous for its contents, though
written in English ? But, to the eyes of the president Victoria every tiling,
which is either done, said or thought by a stranger, is all fraud, all crime, all
suspicious...!!! {n) A. foreigner, not finding at Mexico any agent of his nation, not fur
nished with any passport, not warranted in the port, at which he has arrived,
by the consul of his country, or by any Mexican citizen, cannot debark with
out having obtained a passport from the general government through the organ
ef the minister for foreign affairs, He must, remain, in the mean time, in pri
son on board, as we have already observed. Let us go further.
(o). The minister for foreign affairs can only deliver the passports, in such
eases, on the demand of the governor of the state; in which the foreigner lands,
and the governor of the state cannot give effect to the request of the foreigner
till he has satisfied'himself as to Ida emchct, according to information, received

46'
17°, — Los estrangeros de que hablan los articulos 6b. 8°. y
siguientes hasta el 12°., luego que obtengan el pasaporte del go
bierno general, acudiran a presentarlo a ta autoridad politica
de su residencia, y si no lo hubieran hecho dentro de un mes de
la espedicion del pasaporte provisional, que se les haya espedido
por la autoridad politica del puerto a que llegaron, seran obli^
gados por la de su rcsidenecia a retroceder para reembarcarse-
jjrecisamente, haciendose unas a otras autoridades las comuni-
caciones correspondientes, y avisando de ellas al gobierno ge
neral (p).
from a Mexican citizen. From these dispositions two great inconvenienca*
result: 1st. The object of this regulation, being that of combining the public
safety with the increase of the population and of industry, could not be more
prejudiced, for, instead of endeavouring to verify the motive of the voyage,
or the intentions, or means of subsistence of the foreigners^ their conduct
alone is now the only question; being impossible to ascertain this ^conduct in
the course of a few hours, which may intervene between their arrival, and the
reception made by the governor of the state of their demand for obtaining a
passport, thence may follow, as a matter of course, either a refusal, whieh
prevents the landing of the stranger, though probably a worthy person, or the
, facility of admitting into Mexico the most dangerous individuals: 2d. The
minister for foreign affairs, as well as the governor of the state, will possess
the means of acting in an affair of such hig-h importance in the most despotic
manner, for the latter can refuse to give course to the petition of the foreigner,
although a person of great respectability, or perhaps forward it accompanied
with hostile information; and the former (the minister) can with impunity
citheir feign to have received no report from the governor, or refuse to do
right, according to his particular views; and all this without the foreigner
having it at all in his power to ascertain the true state of things, nor to obtain
justice from any one.
(p) Here is one of the most remarkable absurdities. The foreigner, who
^has at last obtained a passport from the general government, is obliged, under
the penalty of having to embark again immediately, to show it to the political
authority of the place in which he resides, in the space of one month, reckoning
from the day in which Tie had already obtained his provisional passport from
the political authority of the port where he disembarked. How, then is H
possible for a stranger disembarked, for instance, at Vera Cruz (which is the
port of nearest approach to the capital), and already provided with uproiii-
sional passpoi-t, which authorizes him to travel inthe interior of the republic,
how can he, I ask, in the course of one month solicit a certificate from the
legation of his nation at Mexico, obtain it, demand next a passport from the
general government, obtain.it, receive it afterwards either at Vera Cruz or at
some other point of that vast federation, where the provisional passport has
authorized him to go, and to present it successively to the public authority of
the place of his residence, of a residence, which perhaps he has not yet
decided upon, or which he most probably may never fyc upon? In article 1,0,

47
18° — A este efecto, todas las autoridadcs, al visar el pasa
porte. tomaran las razoiics convenientes de ellos, y cuidaran
de estar a la mira de las disposiciones indicadas.
19° — La renovation de pasaportes se hara en cuanto acab®
^ el termino de un ano, por que se hayan concedido en virtud d'c
un certificado concebido en los terminos espresados, sin mas
Variacion que la palabra renovarle en lugar de concederle (q).
20° — Para evitar todo fraude, el capitan del puerto, luego
que haya cumplido la prevencion del articulo 2°., enbiara a la
autoridad politica una noticia con aviso de la llegada de todo
buque, y de los pasageros a quienes ha permitido desembarcar:
llevara, con el mismo fin; un registro exacto de las licencias
que despachare y circunstancias del despacho de cada una; y
remitira a la secretaria de relaciones, por conducto del minis-
terio de guerra, las declaraciones originates de que habla el
articulo 1°., y copia mensiial del mencionado registro.
21° — El que, conteaviniendo a este decreto, desembarcare,
6 se internare en el territorio, sera reputado como sospechoso*
y obligado en consecuencia a reembarcarse (r).
, 22° — Para salir del territorio, podra ocurrirse indistintamente
por el pasaporte necesario para el efecto al gobierno geheral o
the same term of one month has been, prescribed for obtaining solely a pass
port from the general government at Mexico by virtue of the certificate of
legation, which is also almost an impossibility, as we have remarked before*
or depending entirely oh the activity and good will of the minister. Now,
according to article 17, it is ordained that the same term of a month must also
•suffice for receiving a passport even to the north of Sonoi-a, and for presenting
it to the political authority of the place of his residence, where there are
perhaps but a half a dozen savage shepherds!
(?) How can a foreigner, who has obtained at Mexico his first passport to
travel during one year throughout the whole of the federation, procure for
himself in the same city of Mexico, on the same terms, and in the same form,
a renewal of the same passport, if he should happen to be at that time four or
five hundred leagues distant from that capital?
(r) Behold the absolute nesessity of giving to this tragi-comic decree all
the publicity possible. The inhabitants of the United States, especially, un
accustomed to hear speak of such things as passports in their happy country
always open to all the world (for their good internal police protects them from
all danger in this respect), will find themselves, much more than other foreign
ers, in danger of encountering at Mexico the disagreeable treatment menaced
by this article. , It only remains to know what will become of the infractor, if
no captain of any vessel wishes to receive him on board. Has the Mexican
government the right to force the commanded of foreign vessels to take pas
sengers against their inclination?

48
al particular del estado en que se halle el interesado; mas eii
ningun caso se espidira sino despues de haber caucionado los
intereses de la hacienda ptMica con certificado del administrador
respeciivo, y siempre se noticiara la salida al gobierno gene
ral (s).
23°  Los habitantes de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, que
hubiereri salido del territorio con pasaporte precisamcnte del
gobierno general, podran desembarcar c intcrnarse con dicbo
documento, siempre que acrediten ante el capitan del puerto no
haber tocado en el curso de su viage en punto memigo: y en cuan-
to a estrangeros qne regresaren, se observardn los mismos requi-
sijkos prevenidos para su admision.en Ids artimdos anteriores (t).
(*) The Mexican president is not contented to exercise all the hostile acts
possible against foreigners who demand their admission into Mexico. He has
not even thought the tyrannical power of expelling them at his will, sufficient.
He even extends his systematic cruelty against those, who, being already
legally introduced into that country, may wish to quit it voluntarily. No pass
port to leave Mexico will be delivered to those, who have not previously war-
ranted the public treasury f hacienda publicaj by a certificate of the respec
tive administrator! What relation can there be between travellers, artisans,
men of letters, or foreign merchants, and the mex'can public treasury? Have
riot the latter (the merchants,) already accounted for, or paid, the duties on
the importation of their effects? Are they not to pay also those established on
exportations? Let us say, then, that this is another singular effort of fancy on
the part of a government weak, ignorant and usurious, which always dreams
that every body owes it something.
(J,) As under the word inhabitants are comprised the citizens and the
foreigners who inhabit the country, I must observe, that the circumstance of
having anchored, against ttieir will, in an enemies port before arriving at a
Mexican one, ought not to occasion any prohibition as to their return Iwme.
Embarked, for instance, at Leghorn, ; or at Philadelphia, in neutral vessels
bound for Vera Cruz, what right would they have to prevent those vessels
from casting anchor at Cadiz or at Havana, before enteringthe gulf of Mexico?
Neither do I understand these words, " In respect to those foreigners who may
be returning, the same prescribed formalities must be observed, as in the preceding
articles are ordered for their admission." I find, on the contrary, that the for
malities ordered for their admission, are not at all applicable to their depar-
lure, for the fears, real or pretended, which the coming of foreigners inspires,,.
cannot take place at their departing.
This regulation, signed Victoria and Camacho, will suffice to solve every
problem with respect to the patriotism and the talents of these Mexican ora
cles, as also to the fate of every foreigner in a country, which seems only to
have broken off the Spanish chains to plunge itself into the horrors of a sla
very much more, shameful, inasmuch as it is not now the effect of force, but
entirely that of a moral degradation, which doea n®t offer the most flattering
hopes of abetter futurity.

49
24° — Qiledan ilerogadas todas las ordenes relativas a este
i;amo, espedidas antes del presente decreto, excepto laic 19 do
noviembre de 825, que prescribe a los Gobernadores de los Es
tados remitir partes mensales al gobierno general de los es
trangeros que arriben al territorio de su mando.
25°. — Los Gobernadores de los Estados y del distrito, y los
Gefes politicos de los territorios, zelaran de que las autoridades
subalternas les pasen las noticias oportunas para el cumpli
miento del articulo anterior.
Y para que lo contenido en el presente decreto tenga su mas
puntiial cumplimiento, mando se imprima y publique, remitien-
do suficiente numero de exemplares a los Gobernadores de los
Estados, a los eriA-iados de las Potencias estrangeras, a los de
la Republica, y a los capitanes de puerto— Palacio del Gobierno
Federal — Mexico 5 de junio de 1826 — Guadalupe Victoria — A
don Sebastian Camacho — Y lo comunico a V. para su inteli-
gencia y puntual cumplimiento — Dios guarde a V. muchos
anos — Mexico 6 de junio de 1826 — Camacho.

A LITERAL TRANSLATION"
Of the official letter of Mr. Mayorga minister plenipotentiary
from the government of Central America to that of Mexico.
To citizen Juan Francisco Sosa minister of state and of de
partment of relations of the government of the federal republic
of Centra- America — Legation of Mexico 10th July 1826 — The
fate of Mr. Santangelo, bearer of the present, interests in a
lively manner all those elevated and feeling souls, avIio desire
with ardour the liberty of the people, and must affect all those
beings, whose hearts are disposed to receive the sacred impress
sions of the love of humanity. This celebrated patriot has de
voted the grandest and most flourishing epoch of his life to the
cause of liberty in Europe, where he has offered on the altars
of this divinity the most bloody sacrifices. A conduct so heroic
has drawn upon him, as might be expected, the most horrid
persecutions in the land of tyrants, who have deplared their
cruel indignation against him, and have subjected him to the
most frightful proscriptions. There remained therefore no
other resource to this victim of royal ferocity than emigration;
and in the choice of his retreat he did not hesitate. America
is at the present day the object of the wishes of all those, who
love the liberty of the human race, for it is the only part of the
Avorld, where all nations, Avith the exception of Brazil, find
themselves happily settled under a free administration, which
is the desired and cherished object of Mr. Santangelo.
But the titles, Avhich he has to distinguished recommendations
are not confined to his constant and firm decision for liberty:
he is, besides that, well known for his superior talents, and for
his exquisite knoAvledge, above all, in that which concerns the
diplomacy of the European cabinets. He has intended to render
an important service to the new republics of America by pub
lishing a little work on the discussions of the congress of Panama,
in which he has developed the politics, the plans, the captious
designs of the league, and has attempted to offer the most salu-
1ary advice to put ns on our guard against their deep laid arti-

51
fices.' The majority of the public opinion of this capital has
pronounced in favour of this work; but the minister of relations
(foreign affairs) has judged differently, and has ordered Mr.
Santangelo to quit the whole territory of this republic.
An event so unexpected has determined Mr. Santangelo to
direct his course towards our, country, which, amongst other
glorious titles, for which it has acquired the esteem of the civi
lized world, may reckon the good reception and frank hospi
tality, which it affords without distinction to all such men as
adopt it for their country. I have confirmed Mr. Santangelo
hi the honourable opinion, which our republic j*ustly enjoys,
and I have assured him that he will be vrcll received there, for
if our government receives with open arms every individual
who comes to Central America, though Avithout those powerful
motives, which speak in favour of Mr. Santangelo, I flatter
myself that the latter Avill find there that estimation, to which
his views, and the noble cause, of which he is the victim, en
title him. The extraordinary services, AArhich he has rendered
to this cause in Europe, and his multiplied sacrifices, merit the
consideration and gratitude of Americans, although not in the
same degree as the services rendered on this soil. For, who is
ignorant that the attacks against European tyranny, and the
progress of liberty in the old world, powerfully contribute to
consolidate that of the new? Who does not knoAV, that. as Ions
as there are despotic thrones in Europe, the free institutions of
America will be menaced, and that the establishment and con
solidation of these, continually undermine the ancient and gothic
edifice, on which absolute power has elevated its throne? It is
evident that the impulse, which liberty receives in every part of
the globe whatsoever, dilates and augments its force and poAver,
Put, in order that the success may not be doubtful, and that the
victory may he complete, it is essential that men of all coun
tries, of all climates, should join themselves together, and
make common cause to abolish tyranny. The present revolu
tion of the world is only a war between the people and the
kings; the former exclaim against the scandalous usurpations
of their rights exacted by absolute poAver; the latter wish to
sustain them effectually by force, that is to say, by the same
means, which they have employed to perform them, and to pre
serve their fruits. The danger, of which the tyrants have been
aware, has suggested to them, the measure of being united

among themselves ; and shall not the people acknowledge the
urgency of doing so likewise? If they do not, this liberty,
which the Avorld begins so happily to enjoy, will find itself in
danger of being stifled, or at least of suffering great reArerses,
for the kings will not cease to be indefatigably engaged in their
design of plunging mankind again in that dreadful darkness,
in which it has groaned during so many ages, and from which
it has gradually emerged through the noble efforts of geniouses
like that of Mr. Santangelo.
What I have already informed you of, is then more than suf
ficient to obtain for him, amongst us, the most obliging recep
tion, and I only add my particular entreaties, and interpose all
the favours, which our government imparts to me.
Deign, sir, to bring all this to the knowledge of the citizen;
president of our republic, and to accept the assurances of the
distinguished consideration, Avith A\iiich I am — Your very af
fectionate and obedient servant, — Juan de IHos Mayorga,

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