Mr. Seward to Mr. Sanford.
Sir: An absence of several days has delayed this acknowledgment of your despatch of the 30th of September, No. 457. It reopens in the records of the department a question which, although once a subject of profound concern, has now ceased to have a practical interest. Until the occurrence of the late ill-conceived European intervention in Mexico, the administration of the late King Leopold the First was not more highly distinguished for its wisdom in all other respects than it was for a just and enlightened consideration of the character and rights of the United States. It was with much pain, therefore, that this government saw the Belgian King lend recognition and a legion to establish in a neighboring country, on this continent, a system antagonistic to and incompatible with the permanent security and welfare of the United States. To Mexico, the United States, and the other republics of this continent, this proceeding of the King of the Belgians was not merely his own personal act; it was the effective act of the Belgian State. The only apology which has, or which can be offered for it, is one which least of all republics can be expected to accept. I mean the apology of parental affection on the part of the King, for the unsuccessful aspirant Maximilian. The part assumed by Belgium was a subordinate one. Enlightened statesmanship suggested to us that for this reason Belgium might be overlooked in the representations which were required to be made by the United States to France, the leading power of the intervention, nor is it my purpose now to dwell upon the great error of the first King Leopold’s reign. Let it go before the tribune of impartial history.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
Henry S. Sanford, Esq., &c., Brussels.