The Sun.
London, England, 1865-10-16 00:00:00

France and the United States.

(From the Times' Correspondent)
NEW YORK, Oct. 4.

Mr. Seward's last despatch to the French Govern-
ment relative to Mexico will probably satisfy the
Emperor that the time has come when he must de-
cide whether he will withdraw from that country, or
continue to protect the new Empire, in disregard of
the risks and contingencies which such a policy will
force upon him. There is no doubt that had Mr.
Seward, immediately the late war closed, demanded
the withdrawal of French troops from Mexico the
people of this country would have cheerfully sup-
ported him. The act would have made him univer-
sally popular at once. There is, perhaps, no ques-
tion of the hour on which so much unanimity exists
as on this determination to adhere to the Monroe
doctrine. The most moderate men reply to all
questions about Mexico, " The French will have to
go." But the large majority say plainly, "We
mean to drive the French out." Hit is suggested
that this might prove a work requiring time, men,
and money, the answer again is, " We have done
everything we have attempted hitherto, and we shall
be able to do that. We owe a good deal of money,
but it does not matter. We are rich enough to
stand a war with France, if she can bear it." Even
the very men who are in dread of such a commercial
collapse happening as the world has not yet seen
are eager to have the Government " order" the
French troops from Mexico. Whether they have
fully considered the consequences of a war with
France, or not, is perhaps, a little doubtful, the
truth being that the immense scale on which the late
war was fought has convinced the people that
there is nothing they can undertake which would
prove too hard for them, and that the destinies
of the Old World are in their hands. The press
of New England is as decided on this point as the
press of New York. All classes of people share
the feeling alike. The President and his advisers
must have a juster sense of the condition of this
country, and the fearful hazards it would run in a
European war, than the unreflecting and forgetful
masses. But they, too, are resolved to insist on
the Monroe doctrine being respected, arid Mr. John-
son firmly refuses to recognise the new empire in
any way. He and Mr. Seward have probably been
in hopes that when Napoleon saw the civil war was
over and the army free he would take the hint and
retire from Mexico of his own free will. Instead of
doing that, he was organising an Egyptian force,
or, as the United States' Consul at Alexandria in-
forms his Government, "an army of negroes," to
send to Maximilian's aid. The Government has felt
that it could not temporise with the difficulty any
further. It has, therefore, signified to the Emperor
that it will not permit the troops in question to land,
and that any further intervention on the part of the
Emperor Napoleon may lead to a rupture between
the two Governments. This, lam informed, is the
tendency of the despatch. Its importance depends
very much on the way in which the Emperor replies
to it. It is very manifest that Mr. Johnson has
provoked a grave crisis, and that the probability is,
he has done so on the assumption that the Emperor
Napoleon will be the first to evade it.
The Emperor of the French cannot have been un-
prepared for Mr. Seward's ultimatum. He must be
well familiar with the views and intentions of the
United States' Government, and he must know that
all America is utterly opposed to his presence in
Mexico. Within the past three months two separate
communications have been made to the French
Government, the nature and purpose of which
could not be mistaken. Mr. Seward is usually suffi-
ciently plain-spoken, although, so impatient is the
country generally of European intervention in the
affairs of this countinent—he is always being attacked
for his " subserviency " to France. One of the New
York papers this, very morning charges the Minister
with scheming to " insure the permanence of the
French protectorate in Mexico." The Emperor of
the French, however, understands him better than
that. From the beginning of the new Empire down
to the present moment Mr. Seward has instructed
the American Minister in France to keep before the
Emperor the fact that his Government could not
assent to the interposition of France without sacri-
ficing the Monroe doctrine, and this it could never
relinquish. In February, 1864, Mr. Seward wrote
to Mr. Dayton (now replaced by Mr. Bigelow), ad-
vising him to act in the event of Maximilian passing
through France. " If," he wrote—
" The Archduke Maximilian appear in Paris only in his
character as an Imperial Prince of the House of llapsburg,
you will be expected to be neither demonstrative nor re-
served in your deportment towards him. If he appears
there with any assumption of authority or title in Mexico,
you will entirely refrain from intercourse with him."
_ _

And on the 30th of April of the same year he sent
another letter, in which he said :
" If such precautions fail to assure us against aggression,
we shall then I trust ba able to rise, without great effort,
to the new duties which in that case will have devolved
upon us. I remain now firm, as heretofore, in the opinion
that the destinies of the American continent are not to be
permanently controlled by any political arrangements that
can be made in the capitals of Europe."

On the 4th of that month the House of Repre-
sentatives passed a resolution on which the Senate
declined to take action, but which may yet produce
results. It was as follows :
" Resolved,—That the Congress of the United States are
unwilling by silence to leave the nations of the world under
the impression that they are indifferent spectators of the
deplorable events now transpiring in the Republic of Mexico,
therefore they think it fit to declare that it does not accord
with the sentiment of the people of the United States to
ackowledge a monarchical government erected on the ruins
of any republican government in Americas under the aus-
pices of any European Power."

But when this resolution was adopted the hope-
lessness of the cause of Juarez was not so evident as
now, and the Emperor Napoleon may have supposed
that the American Government would not object to
the new empire if it was firmly established, and had
the confidence of the people. That these two condi-
tions have been fulfilled he may now with some rea-
son believe. Except from the American Government
no serious shock seems likely to be given to Maxi-
milian's power. For some time past the news from
Mexico has all gone to prove that the Mexicans are
satisfied with the new Government. Juarez's party is
not extinct, of course, but it is very harmless. These
circumstances have not in the least degree affected
the opinions of the American Government or people.
They believe that the Monroe doctrine is wise and
necessary, that Napoleon has violated it, and that
if he does not retire voluntarily he must " be made"
to go. Whether, when it came to the point, the
people would be willing to enter into a war with
France, and where they would get the money to
make war with, are questions I cannot attempt to
answer. I only know that General Grant makes no
secret of his desire that he will shortly be placed in
command of troops and ordered to drive the French
out of Mexico, that General Sherman constantly
expresses the same hope, that Sheridan was with
difficulty held back on the Rio Grande, and that the
people are resolute to-clay, whatever they may be
to-morrow. Public opinion is subject to sudden
changes in America, but it does not appear likely
that it will ever change substantially with regard to
the favourite principle that no European Power can
be Permitted to introduce itself into this continent
for the future. If the Emperor Napoleon persists
in sending there troops, General Grant may realise
his hopes sooner than is good for his country.
The state of the finances has too strong a bearing
on this Mexican difficulty not to be mentioned here.
The Treasury returns for September show that the
total amount of the debt is $2,833,924,954, and on
comparison it is found that this is an increase of
$524,744,502 since March last. The increase of
paper money during the last six months amounts
to $113,185,880. I cannot find that anyone looks
upon this return with satisfaction.
Connecticut has decided by a majority of about
3,000, so far as is ascertained, against negro suffrage.
The result has given great disappointment to many
who are not Radicals, and satisfaction to very few.
Among other small items of news I may mention that
the President will very soon take a short excursion
into Virginia. The Wirtz trial is dragging slowly
°ll—the vagaries of his counsels—who are always
playing at a sort of hide-and-seek with the client,
now declaring that they must give up his case, and
again returning to it—being among the least dig-
nified part of the proceedings. A very bitter attack
upon Mr. Davis has been published in Harper's