The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1858-06-22
BALTIMORE.
TUESDAY, JUNE %, 1858.

CHARLES LAMB, the quaintest, and subtlest OF
English humorists, once wrote an Essay ION the
Melancholy of Tailors'' but there yet remains I'M
written its physiological companion piece, .On
the constitutional legery of Frenchmen Among
their minor diplomats, this quality Is particularly
observable; for diplomacy is field where the
imaginative faculties have full scope, and where
graceful address gives to airy nothings an attract
veness that disarms the suspicion, and elicits the
confidence of those who are impervious to propo-
sons more bunty stated. To NJ. FELIX BELLY
belongs the supreme felicity, not only of having
'done his spiriting gently but of introducing
an additional spoke into the rickety wheel of Cen
trail American diplomacy. On the lst of May
exactly one month later than characteristic a
convention ought to have been concluded-M BEL
Ly as the agent of MILLAUD & Co. of Paris, OBJ
tanned from the governments of Costa Rca and
Nicaragua, a grant for the construction of q
lnter-o. ,anic ship-canal across the lshmus of
Nicaragua ,including one league of territory on
each side of the proposed canal and the proprie-
tary right in all the mines of coal, gold. silver.
and every other mineral that NAV be discovered
within the limits of the grant Of this Canal. it
is sufficient to say that it will never be completed
by the contracting parties 1t is one of those mag
innocent undertakings with which, from the
previous nature of their artistic training French
men are incapable of graphing. As a people,
they are the converse of JoHNsoN's idea of MILTON
They can carve heads upon cherry stones, but
they cannot hew colossus from the rock They
are learned in the 1Esthetics of taste but they
have never accomplished anything on grand
scale, in the interest of commerce, beyond the
limits OF their own country. In all that apper-
talns to the science of the beautiful; in bellies
Itres, and the fine arts, they occupy the foremost
rank among the nations of the world Therein
lies their specialHf but to construct Ship-Canal,
through rugged and remote region, some four
thousand miles distant from Paris and at
an expense of from fifty to eighty millions
of dollars is a project which, if not wholly
impracticable, will neither commend itself TO
the peculiar genius of the French people
nor to the purses of their capitalists The nature of
NJ BELLY grant is, therefore, of consequence
whatever, since its terms-a quadruple guarantee
OF the neutrality Of the conceded territory on the
part of England, France Sardinia, and the UNITED
STATEs-will never be complied with by the latter.
whose policy it is to avoid all entanglng alliances
and for the equally cogent reason that the stipu-
lations embodied in the instrument will never be
executed by the French contractors But the
Declaration" appended to the Articles of Con-
ventlon, is of different character and of graver
significance. 1t entirely ignores the existence of
such document as the CAss- YRRIsARRI treaty: it
accuses the UNITED STATES of fbusterng propen-
sites; acknowledges that Costa RIGA and Nicaragua
are incapable of resisting another inroad from
WALKER and his followers, and duplicates the COM
bined Powers of England France and Sardinia TO
assume protectorate over the two Republics, and
to guarantee their independence and nationality.
The first noticeable feature in the grant and its ac-
companying Declaration, is that while in the
grant to MnLAUD & Co., the UNITED STATES is
called upon to guarantee the neutrality of the
conceded territory; in the Declaration appended.
the European powers are entreated to protect by |
force of arms, the independence and nationality of
Costa Rica and Nicaragua from all violation on the |
part OF the UNITED STATES. In the grant, we are |
asked to undertake. in partnership, the duty of a
conservator; in the Declaration our representatives
are accused of having been the accomplices and |
auxiliaries of the fllibusers, and our government
IS charged with menacing Nicaragua with a fresh |
invasion, if the CAss- YRRsARRI treaty is not |
promptly ratified. We have been so accustomed |
to regard the recognition of the CAss- YRRsARRr |
treaty as a settled thing, that this new complic,-
uon takes us by surprise. The Declaration is,
therefore, not simply Declarations; but it is also |
Revelation But England and France have |
sufficient to do elsewhere without seeking |
to provoke hostilities with the UNITED S. |
While Sardinia is too small a Power to |
trouble herself concerning the nationality of
Republics of which she knows but little and
leSS he nf on
tectorate was in all probability, one of NJ BELLY's
coups de theatre, and was designed simply to fiat
ter Costa RIGA and Nicaragua into concedng the
grant for ship canal. There are, however some
few points connected with the mission of NJ BELLY
TO Central America, which it is neither proper to
treat lightly nor to pass over in silence. These
points have reference to the Interior aims of LOUIS
NAPOLEON. We have already expressed the opin-
ION that financial and political considerations
combine at the present time to prevent him from
seriously countenancing the project or from as
Stunning, independently, the protectorate that has |
been offered him. 1t must nevertheless, be re- |
membered, that the scheme of canal Napoleon de |
Nicaragua has long been a favorite one with him.
1t dates its origin as far back as 1896 Though at
Mt that time confined prisoner in the fortress
OF Ham, he entered actively into the views of
Nicaragua upon this subject, was invested with
full powers to organize the Canal Company in
Europe, and was subsequently visited in prison
by Senior de MARCoLETTA-at that time Charqe
dAtdtres of Nicaragua in Belgium-for the
purpose of perfecting the treaty In the sec
ond volume of the works of LOUIS NAPOLEON
may be found his opinion of the cost practica-
bility and Importance of the Nicaragua Canal, and
it is not little remarkable that the main features
of his plan are embodied in the Conventions signed
by NJ. FELIX BELLY in behalf of MLLAUD & Co.
When we add to these condolences the known
fact that NJ. MLLAUD the capitalist, to whom the
concession has been made, stands high in the con-
hdence of the Emperor, that the mission of NJ FELIX
BELLY was warmly supported by the representatives
of France in Central America, and that it was at
the instance of this French civilian that Senior de
MARcoLETTA, the former envoy to LOUIS NAPOLEON,
has been appointed by Nicaragua Minister to France
we have an array of facts that at least suggestive
of movements that may develope themselves more
CONTINUOUSLY at future day, unless we take time
by the forelock Such also appears to be til
opinion of President BUCHANAN, for it is generally
understood that the receipt of official intelli-
gence of NJ. BELLY's operations in Costa Rica,
dispatches were sent from Washington to General
LAMAR, instructing him to insist upon the immedi-
ate ratification Of the CAss- Y RRIsARRI treaty
BRITISH . lNTmE,hFERENce WITH TRADE ON THE CoAsT