The Sun.
London, England, 1859-11-16 00:00:00

MEXICO.

Mr. Otway has issued the following circular to
the British residents :

" Mexico, Sept. 1.
"As the speech of Mr. Schneider in the House
of Commons on the Bth of July last, a copy of which
I have the honour to enclose herewith, in reference
to the affairs of Mexico, is considered by her
Majesty's Minister to be highly personal and calum-
nious, he has instructed me to lay it before his coun-
trymen resident in the capital, and request them in
his name to pass a verdict upon the justice or in-
justice of the charges therein brought against. him.
In accordance, therefore, with Mr. Otway's ixstruc-
tions, I beg you will do me the favour of communi-
cating to me, at your earliest convenience, either in
the form of a signed declaration or in the manner
you may deem most advisable, your opinions upon
the subject-matter. of Mr. Sehneidei's speech. I
have only to add that Mr. Otway believes you are
all aware under what circumstances asylum was
given to the lady President in her Majesty's Lega-
tion, and that her Majesty's late Government ap-
proved of such as 3 lam having been accorded to
Madame Miramcn.

"JOHN WALSITAM,
" Her Majesty's Acting Consul.
"To the British Residents in Mexico."

." REPLY TO MR. OTWAY.
" Mexico, Sept. 21, 1859.
" In reply to your circular of the Ist inst., ex-
pressing the desire of her Majesty's Minister, Mr.
L. C. Otway, that the British residents in this
capital should give their verdict upon a speech de-
livered by Mr. Schneider, on the Bth of July last,
in the House of Commons, relative to outrages com-
mitted upon British subjects in Mexico, I have the
honour, in compliance with the wishes of his Excel-
lency, to state my views upon the subject for his
information ; and if i❑ so doing I should be more
prolix than might be considered desirable, I trust
the necessity of my being somewhat explicit in
giving my opinion—for the purpose of making my-
self distinctly understood—may be esteemed a suf-
ficient apology for soliciting your indulgence.
" And first, with reference to the statement that

Mr. Otway stood at his balcony, accompanied b 3
Madame Miramon, anti manifested satisfaction tv

the occurrence of a British subject being marched
by a prisoner, I feel bound to say that I have no
knowledge of the circumstance. But with regard
to what his Excellency has been pleased to deno-
minate asylum afforded to that lady, I must beg to
be permitted to observe, that as there was no per-
secution, nor threat of any injury being offered to
her by any party that I am aware of, the term
' asylum' would seem to be a misnomer in the pre-
sent instance ; and the lady mentioned, being the
wife of one of the military chieftains of a faction
who have made themselves notorious by their dis-
regard of the rights of British subjects, ought
scarcely to be considered a proper person to receive
very marked hospitality at her Majesty's Lega-
tion ; and the least. I can say upon this point is,
that Mr. Otway's proceedings in receiving and en-
tertaining her for so many days consecutively,
under those circumstances, I apprehend, was of ex-
ceedingly questionable expediency, and must, I
fear, bs esteemed a sufficient motive to justify
any lion. gentleman of the House of Commons in
calling the attention of her Majesty's Govern-
ment to the subject, with a view to the correc-
tion of any abuse whic!i may be found to sub-
sist in her Majesty's, Legation in this country.
But I am required to render my verdict upon the
speech, and not upon detached parts thereof, and
will therefore come to the main question—namely,
have outrages been perpetrated as stated by the
hon. member ? And if so, has her Majesty's Mi-
nister here made a becoming remonstrance in the

defence of his countrymen ? v Unhappily, upon the
first count in the indictment there can be but one
verdict when it is public and notorious that, by in-
structions of the Government, the liberty of British
subjects has been restrained without a shadow of
cause, that they have been tyrannically imprisoned
without a shadow of accusation being preferred
against them, and subsequently released to show
the magnanimity of the Government in pardoning
offences never committed. Aye, by the instructions
of the Government,the lifeblood of our countrymen
has been shed without the semblance of a trial—
inhuman outrages committed to satiate despotic
vengeance upon English victims. And you will al-
low me to say that, however burning the indigna-
tion may be which I confess rises in mybosom when
I reflect upon these alarming atrocities, worthy the
not very remote times of cannibalism in this dis-
tracted country, I fear a still more melancholy
truth yet remains to be told, which brings me to
the second point involved in the question ; and if I
should express myself in strong language, I never-
theless desire that it may be understood I approach
the subject with grief and pain, and rather in sor-
row than in anger. I will mention a fact here wor-
thy of note—namely, that the British residents have
always hailed the arrival of a Minister in this coun-
try with profound; respect and sympathy, as one
to whom they might look up for counsel and pro-
tection, and surely the case of Mr. Otway formed
no exception to the general rule in this respect;
but, unfortunately he soon alienated the kindly
sentiments which we all entertained for him at that
period, by the indifference he manifested for our well
being, and the unnatural affection he thought fit to
form for a Mexican faction, who are particularly
inimical to British subjects. That Mr. Otway
should have made these persons his bosom com-
panions, and even in matters of business addressed
confidential notes to the Government instead of
official demands for justice in behalf of his country-
men, seems to be incomprehensible conduct in her
Majesty's Minister; and, unhappily the authori-
ties in this city immediately took advantage of his
lamentable weakness, and fancied they might
trample our rights under foot with impunity, and
hence arose much of the injury and, perhaps, moo
of the outrages subsequently committed. Therefore
a fearful responsibility rests upon Mr. Otway, in
connexion with our sufferings, and the deduction is
undoubtedly legitimate that his Excellency has co-
operated with the Mexican Government for the
oppression of those whom his official position
rendered it his duty to protect and console in the
great affliction through which we have been made
to pass. I trust, therefore, he will pardon my pre-
sumption in suggesting that it might be well for
him to refresh his memory by looking over chanter
vi. b. iv. of " Blackstone 's Commentaries," where
some useful observations may be found upon the
subject of treason—a point which her Majesty'a
Government may wish to discuss with him on his
arrival in England; and it is desirable that a con-
stitutional judgment should be given upon his
somewhat anomalous proceedings.
"I have not conceived it necessary to enter into
the details of several cases of outrage, nor the par-
ticulars of the course pursued by Mr. Otway in
relation thereto, which might be adduced in sup-
port of the conclusion to which Jam irresistibly im-
pelled—that he has given irrefragable proof of utter
incapacity for the responsible office he holds, and
perhaps, equal evidence of a want of fidelity to her
Majesty's Government, as his Excellency is already
in possession of that information, and I felt desirous
of being as brief as possible consistently with per-
spicuity, but still I fear that the length to which
my remarks have extended demands an apology.
When the peculiar relative position subsisting
at this moment between Mr. Otway and myself be-
fore her Majesty's Government is considered, it will
be perceived how indispensably necessary it was
for me to state the grounds for my opinion upon
the speech referred to, for, had I simply given my
assent or expressed my dissent without assigning
any reason, I might have exposed myself to the
accusation of being actuated by private motives of
like or dislike in rendering the verdict which I
have now the honour, in obedience to the commands
of his Excellency, to transmit, and with great
regret ; but, in the interest of truth and justice, I
must say that, after making allOwance for some in-
accuracy of detail in his speech, I do not discover
any substantial error in the statements made by
Mr. Schneider. *

" John Walsham, Eq., &c.,
" Her Britannic Majesty's Consul, Mexico."

MELANCHOLY CASE.—Some mornings since a per-
son named Jane Welch, having on the night previous lost
a victorine, was looking for it in the neighbourhood of the
Moat, at Sheerness, when she observed the body of a female.
The body was soon recovered by Mr. Yeland and Mr. Floyd.
The depth of water was only about three feet, but the de-
ceased was lying on her face. An inquest was held on Tues-
day, when Henry Pain, who was much affected, stated that
the deceased was his daughter, who was 19 years of age, and
at six o'clock on Sunday evening she left home for chapel.
She was not in the habit of staying out late, but on one occa-
sion, when she was not home till half-past nine, he repri-
manded her. Mary Ann Smith, an acquaintance of deceased,
said she accompanied her the night previous; that theydid not
attend a place of worship that evening, lmt meeting a young
man named Murphy, witness left deceased and him together.
Arthur Murphy said he had been ou friendly terms with
deceased, and accompanied her fur a walk on Sunday even-
ing. She then said it was so late she should not go home
at all, and that she should leave for Chatham in the morn-
ing. He accompanied her to the beach, and vainly endea-
voured to persuade her to go home, and ho left her sitting
about four yards from the water, crying. He did not call
and tell her father, as deceased had told him that her father
had broken a portrait of his. Did not know what she was
crying for, unless the objection her father had to his keep-
ing company with her. Mr. K. Robinson, surgeon, said
there was a wound over the left eye of the deceased, which
might have been caused by a fall and stunned her. She
' appeared to have been in the water about eight hours. The
coroner remarked that there had been cases of persons being
blown into the water, and the jury returned a verdict "That
the deceased was found drowned, without sufficient evi-
dence to show how," expressing a desire that tho witness
Murphy should be severely censured for leaving deceased
under such distressing circumstances, and which was done.