If the note required an answer at this time, it certainly should have
received something more to the point than this paragraph. I apprehend,
however, that this government will say nothing in regard to the
recognition of the independence of the seceding States until the great
powers of Europe have taken their ground, and that it will follow them
if they be in accord.
I have also the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch No. 39,
with the gold medal for Captain Van Albuy, of the Dutch bark Hendrica. I
have, in accordance with your direction, transmitted the medal to the
minister of foreign affairs, with a request that it be presented to
Captain Van Albuy in the name of the President.
Hon. William H. Seward, &c., &c., &c.
M. Zuylen de
Nijevelt to Mr. Murphy.
[Translation.]
The
Hague,
April 26, 1861.
The undersigned, minister for foreign affairs, has had the honor to
receive the note which Mr. Murphy, minister resident of the United
States of America, has pleased to address to him on the subject of
the existing complications of political affairs in the United
States; the said note being accompanied, for the better
understanding of the views of his government, by the address
delivered by his excellency the President on assuming the
administration of the federal Union.
In calling, by his note, the attention of the undersigned to the
exposition contained in the address of the wrongs alleged by some
States of the Union, of their proceedings to attempt a separation,
and the formation of a separated provisional government, as well as
on the line of conduct which the federal government proposes to
follow for the purpose of preserving peace and upholding the Union,
Mr. Murphy further remarks, in explaining this part of the
President’s address, upon the character of the secessional movement,
that the government of the United States is not merely a
confederation but a Union, invested by the people of the different
States with powers, exclusive and controllng throughout the
republic—powers which, embracing the foreign relations and numerous
details of domestic interest, operate over all the States and over
their citizens collectively, so that, adds the note, any attempt of
any State, of a number of States, or of any part of a State, to
interrupt the exercise of the powers confided to the general
government is revolutionary; and any exercise, pretended or real on
their part, of like powers, is usurpation.
After having enunciated these principles as the basis of the general
government, and pointed out the mode established for the election of
President, the minister resident enters into some details about the
recent election of the actual President; the result is, that on
former elections the will of the
[Page 348]
majority has been loyally submitted to, but
that this example has not been followed by the minority in respect
to Mr. Lincoln, whose election, furthermore, is in nowise contested
in regard of its constitutional validity. This fact the said note
attributes to apprehensions entertained in the slave States that a
blow might be aimed at this portion of their property—apprehensions
which nothing in the intentions of the general government justify,
but which have prepared the way upon which those States have
rushed.
Nevertheless and despite the fears excited among a noticeable portion
of the American people, notwithstanding the attempt made to form an
independent government, the government of the United States is
persuaded, according to the note, that the great majority of the
people in the separatist States will constantly preserve its regard
for the Union of their fathers, their memory, their influence, and
their greatness. But, independently of this fact, the mischiefs and
disadvantages which a permanent dismemberment of the Union would
draw, as well upon the separating States as upon the country
generally, justifies the expectation that upon a calm review of the
circumstances they will come back upon a better track.
The President, flattering himself that he will see the harmony and
unity of the government soon established, and relying on the
friendship and good understanding existing between the two
countries, expresses through the channel of Mr. Murphy his
confidence that his Majesty the King of the Netherlands will not
lend himself to applications for interference in the domestic
affairs of the United States, unless in an amicable and conciliatory
sense, nor to any encouragement whatever of the disaffected, which
would only counteract the efforts of the President to bring about a
reconciliation.
Finally, Mr. Murphy wishes to give assurance that the President will
strongly endeavor to lessen as much as possible the inconveniences
which must result to commerce from the actual condition of things,
and that he proposes to indemnify the injury which the subjects of
his Majesty may suffer as far as may depend upon him.
The undersigned having placed the above-mentioned note before the
King, his Majesty was particularly grieved by its contents. He has
charged me to signify this to the minister resident, adding that if
he deeply deplores the situation in which the United States are for
the moment placed, nevertheless he has been happy to witness the
confidence which the government expresses of being able to surmount
existing difficulties; that he entertains the most sincere wishes
for the success of the efforts which will be made for the purpose of
saving and preserving not only the interests of the States of the
Union, but also the interests of the political and commercial world
in general.
The undersigned, in acquitting himself of these orders by these
presents, has the honor at the same time to bring to Mr. Murphy’s
knowledge that, so long ago as the month of December, the King’s
envoy at Washington directed the consuls of the Netherlands in the
United States to abstain from any interference whatever in political
affairs in the districts of the consular offices, and that this
prescription was approved afterwards by the government of the
Netherlands.
The undersigned seizes this occasion to reiterate to Mr. Murphy the
assurances of his high consideration.
