Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-09-18
HISTORY OF EUROPEAN INTERyES-
TION IN MEXICO.
From the National Inielligencer.I

From the National Intelligencerl
1t may not be uninteresting at this mo
meni, when destiny is working out its su
preme ends, to briefly refer 10 some Of tbs
prominent incidents Of the famous scheme
Of European intervention in Mexico, which
at one tirae assumed such alarming proper
tions, and threatened so pOrtentiously to es-
tablish the sceptre Of imperial empire in
such close proximity 10 the fasces Of the
Great Republic.
On the 3lst Of October, 1861, when our
shattered armies we're being recognized
! after the dreadful disasters Of the first Ma
/ nassas, when the clock Of time seemed TO be
sounding the death-knell Of the Republic,
Great Britain, France, and Spain, suddenly
| impressed with the necessity Of obtaining
redress from Mexico for alleged injuries to
their respective citizens, formed a conven-
ton for the purpose of redressing their in
juries.
The first article Of the convention defined
the purpose 10 be ito demand more efica-
cious protection for the persons and proper
ty Of their subjects, as well as the fulfillment
Of the obligations contracted towards their
Maiesties."
The second article declares that the con-
tracing parties do not seek anJ acquisition
Of territory, or design TO intervene in the in
ternal affairs of Mexico to the prejudice of
the Mexican nation to choose Its own form
of government
Mr.. SEWARD proposed that the United
States should aid Mexico TO pay the pecu-
mary claims Of the three contracting powers.
This was at the interesting period when our
own national debt was a mere germ. This
amiable offer Of Mr.. SEWARD was instantly
rejected. The United States about that
time was thought to be IN ertremis. Hence
the allies had no time to listen to Mr.. SEW
ARDS polite dispatches.
His Majesty LOUIS NAPOLEON, feeling
that he had a sure thing, in his famous
letter to General FoREY, July 3, 1862, di
recting him to march on the capital, pro-
claimed that his purpose in intervening was
TO redress grievances, TO establish bounds TO
The extension Of the United States further South,
and prevent her becoming the sole dispen-
ser of the products of the New World-the
restoration of the prestige Of the Latin race
in America, and the extension of the in
huence Of France.
The allies soon disagreed as to the plan Of
operations, and on the 9th Of April, 1862,
the English and Spanish commissioners
withdrew from further cooperation.
The French Emperor being master of the
situation, without any vote Of the Mexican
people, through an assembly of notables
gotten up for the occasion, under the inhu-
eace Of the French power, extemporized an
imperial form of government, and with the
most unexampled liberality presented a
crown TO the Archduke MAMMALIAN.
This piece Of political legerdemain was
accomplished so handsomely, that. it
even struck LOUIS NAPOLEON as a conclu-
sive expression of the viii of the Mexican
people, and he lost no time in solemnly ac-
knowledging the Emperor MAMMALIAN,
and straightway entered into treaty with
him to furnish military aid to secure his
authority.
On the 4th of April, 1864, the House of
Representatives of the United States, by an
act of singular boldness never surpassed in
history, not even If we 60 back to the de-
cree of the Roman Senate not to treat with
HANNIBAL, after the battle of Gamma passed
a resolution by unanimous vote denouncing
the French Intervention in Mexico. While
We do not profess TO be in any degree the
admirers, much less the adulators, of that
House, the truth of history compeIs us to
say, that this defiance hurled at the French
Emperor, in the very crisis Of our fate at
tanned the moral sublime. We are free to
admit we thought at the moment it was
mistake. But il succeeded, and we venture
10 predict that it will become classical and
will be remembered with more pride than
any circumstance in our history What is
fortunate about il, no party can claim it.
The honor belongs to both parties.
1t is curious to observe how gently Mr..
SEWARD, as was proper enough, handled our
diplomacy during the rebellion, and how
soon he began TO change his tone when the
United States came out triumphant. On the
9th of September he makes haste TO inform
the French Emperor that an apparent, if
not a real-a future, if not an immediate
antagonism between the policies of the two
nations France and the United States)
seems TO reveal itself in the situation of
Mexico" And in his dispatch of Novem-
Der 6, 1866, he says the United States "still
regard the effort to establish permanently
foreign and imperial government as disal-
lowable and impractieable."
The effort Of the French Emperor in Oc-
tober, 1865, was to obtain the recognition of
MAMMALIAN by the United States, which
would permit the French forces to be with
drawn without wounding the Frenchprestige
But the United States declined this arrange
ment.
This European intervention in Mexico is
one Of the most instructive chapters in our
history. IL is an admonition to the people
Of the United States, which should be kept
constantly in mind, that the secret Of their
power abroad is their unity at home. If
they would give 10 the national will power
as potential as the decree of fate or this
hemisphere, let them cultivate harmony and
fraternity among themselves. If by their
wisdom and moderation they can preserve a
country at harmony with itself, their inau-
ence on international affairs and the pro-
gress Of humanity will be greater for good
than it has ever been the privilege of any
people TO exercise.