Mr. Hovey to Mr.
Seward.
No. 121.]
Legation of the United States,
Lima, Peru,
March 22, 1868.
Sir: Upon the receipt, on the 18th instant, of
your dispatch No. 77, dated February 21, 1868, I addressed the minister
of foreign affairs, asking permission to send a copy of the same,
informally, to the government of Peru. (Inclosure No. 1.)
Having received the minister’s reply, (inclosure No. 2,) giving assent to
this proposition, I, on the 20th instant, inclosed the copy of your
dispatch in the note marked No. 3, and have received an answer thereto.
(No. 4.)
I have the honor to be your obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.
Mr. Hovey to Señor Polar.
Legation of the United
States,
Lima,
March 18, 1868.
Sir: The undersigned, envoy extraordinary
and minister plenipotentiary of the United States near the
government of the republic of Peru, has the honor to make known to
his excellency the minister of foreign affairs of the government of
Peru, that he has, by the last steamer from the north, received an
important dispatch from his government, in which he is directed to
ask leave to send a copy of the same, informally to the de facto government of Peru.
Upon receiving his excellency’s reply informing the undersigned that
said copy will he so accepted, the same will he immediately
transmitted.
The undersigned assures, &c., &c.,
His Excellency Sr. Dr. Don Juan M.
Polar, Minister of Foreign Affairs of
the Government of Peru.
[Page 861]
[Translation.]
Señor Polar to Mr. Hovey.
The undersigned, minister of foreign affairs of Peru, has the honor
to say to his excellency the envoy extraordinary and minister
plenipotentiary of the United States, in answer to his note of the
18th of the present month, that, without accepting in any manner the
name of government de facto, given to that
which he has the honor to serve, by that of the Union, he will take
pleasure in receiving, in the indicated manner, a copy of the
important dispatch of Mr. Seward, whose contents he has already had
the satisfaction of learning from the representative of Peru in
Washington.
It is the agreeable duty of the undersigned to reiterate to General
Hovey the assurances of his distinguished consideration.
His Excellency the Envoy Extraordinary and
Minister Plenipotentiary
of the United States.
Mr. Hovey to Señor Polar.
Legation of the United
States,
Lima,
March 20, 1868.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt of your excellency’s note No. 2, dated March 20, 1868,
informing me that your excellency, without accepting, in any manner,
the name of government de facto given by the
government of the United States to the government of Peru, will be
pleased to receive the copy of the dispatch of the honorable William
H. Seward, Secretary of State of the United States, (the contents of
which your excellency has already had the satisfaction of learning
from the representative of Peru in Washington,) in the manner
indicated in my note of the 18th instant.
Your excellency will find inclosed a copy of the dispatch referred to
in our communications, together with a copy of the consular protest
signed at Lambayeque.
I beg to assure your excellency that I have not the least desire to
raise any question as to the form of the existing government of
Peru. Whether it be a government de facto or
de jure, or both, the constitution and
laws of Peru, together with the laws of nations, must decide, but
your excellency will see by the inclosed dispatch that I have simply
complied with my duty by communicating with what my government is
pleased to call a government de facto.
If the government at Washington had regarded the present government
of Peru as a government de jure, there would
have been no necessity for any informal correspondence.
The high estimation in which my government holds his excellency Sr.
D. J. A. Garcia y Garcia, now the representative of Peru in
Washington, together with the ardent desire to cultivate lasting
relations of friendship between our respective governments, has been
the cause of placing within his knowledge the facts contained in the
said dispatch.
Hoping that such confidence may always exist between our respective
governments and representatives, I have the honor to reiterate to
your excellency the assurances of my distinguished
consideration.
His Excellency Sr. Dr. J. M. Polar,
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Government
of Peru.
[Translation.]
Señor Polar to Mr. Hovey.
Inclosed in your excellency’s appreciated communication of to-day, I
have had the honor to receive the copy of a dispatch from the
Honorable William H. Seward, to which your excellency referred in
your dispatch of the 18th instant, and the copy of a protest signed
by the consular corps of Lambayeque, relative to the occurrences
which took place in that province in January last.
As regards the dispatch of the honorable Secretary of State of the
American Union, [Page 862] I should
manifest to your excellency that my government has seen in it a new
proof of the spirit of justice which, animates the American
government, of the wise and conciliatory policy of that eminent
statesman, a policy which must lead to beneficent results between
the two countries and their governments.
In reference to the consular protest, I deem it necessary to make
known to your excellency that in accordance with the request of the
British subject, Mr. James Feely, presented through the British
legation, asking for the removal of the sub-prefect of Lambayeque,
and also for indemnification for the injuries suffered by the said
Feely, an affirmatory decree has been issued, a copy of which I have
the honor to transmit.
I beg to renew to your excellency the assurances of my most
distinguished consideration.
His Excellency the Envoy Extraordinary and
Minister Plenipotentiary
of the United States.
