Mr. Seward to Mr. Koerner
Sir: * * * * * * *
It is true that Mr. Preston has gone to Mexico, as a pretended legate of the insurgents to the so-called regency of the empire. They are very enterprising in diplomacy, but their success there is not greatly to be feared, unless they should retrieve misfortunes sustained on the battle-field. Spain has heretofore [Page 782] had opportunity to understand the slaveholders of the United States. It is not less her own interest than it is ours that she shall not suffer herself to be misled by them. What resistance could Mexico, now or at any future time, offer, with even European aid, against the slaveholding power of the United States, if it could escape destruction and attain independence in the present civil war?
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Gustavus Koerner, Esq., &c., Madrid.