France to be unqualified; and such, too, was the understanding of that gentleman; for by reason of its execution he had to return to England.

On the 6th instant I addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs a communication of which I send you herewith a copy. I have received no reply, and presume that it will conclude a correspondence which I felt it to be my duty to open without waiting for special instructions from the President. The result, I am happy to say, is that no impediment exists to the passage of the American minister accredited to the Spanish government through France to his place of official duty. This is recognized, beyond doubt, as a principle of the law of nations, interesting to every country, because its denial would seriously embarrass the maintenance of diplomatic missions, whose influence in promoting peace and preserving good relations in the family of nations is universally acknowledged.

I communicated to Mr. Soulé, at London, my correspondence with the Emperor's government; and on the morning of the 9th instant he arrived in Paris, and left on the 11th for Bordeaux, where he expects to find the United States. steam-frigate San Jacinto, in which he will take passage for Spain.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. Y. MASON. Hon. Wм. L. MARCY, Secretary of State.

M. Drouyn de l'Huys to Mr. Mason.

[Translation.]

PARIS, November 1, 1854. SIR: I have received the letter you did me the honor to write me, under date of the 27th of the last month, in which you ask me for some explanations as to the motives of the determination taken with regard to Mr. Soulé. I must, in the first place, state the manner in which things have occurred.

The Minister of the Interior had to give directions that Mr. Soulé should not be allowed to penetrate into France without the knowledge of the government of the Emperor. The instructions of Mr. Billant were strictly followed, and carried out with the utmost propriety by the commissary of police at Calais. Accordingly, that functionary did not invite Mr. Soulé to embark again for England; he left him perfectly free to remain at Calais until he should receive orders from Paris, which he was about to request. It was simply a

question of waiting patiently for one day at the utmost; but Mr. Soulé, after saying that he did not expect any regard on the part of the French government, and that, besides, he did not care for it, preferred to go back to England immediately. The Minister of the Interior did, nevertheless, forward his definitive instructions to Calais by telegraph, and I can do nothing better than transcribe them here:

"If Mr. Soulé presents himself for the purpose of entering France, you will give him to understand that the Emperor's government does not authorize him to sojourn there, but that it makes no opposition to his passing through in order to go to Spain; and you will offer him to vise his passport for that destination."

You perceive, sir, that the government of the Emperor has not sought, as you seem to believe, to prevent an envoy of the United States from traversing French territory in order to repair to his post and acquit himself of the commission of which he was charged by his Government; but between that simple passage and the stay of a foreigner whose antecedents (I regret to say it) have awakened the attention of the authorities whose duty it is to preserve public order among us, there is a difference which the Minister of the Interior was bound to appreciate. If Mr. Soulé had been going directly to Madrid, the route by France was open to him. If it was his intention to come to Paris with a view of remaining here, that privilege was not accorded him. It was, therefore, necessary to consult him as to his intentions, and it was himself who would not allow time to do so.

Our laws are strict with respect to foreigners. The Minister of the Interior causes their rigorous provisions to be executed when it is shown him that there is any necessity for such action; and even then he makes use of discretionary power, which the government of the Emperor has never allowed to be discussed. The quality of foreigner on the part of Mr. Soulé placed him within the scope of the measure of which he was the object. All that remained was to reconcile. this measure with the public character with which he was invested. You will acknowledge, sir, that this is what we have done, and that the government of the United States, with which government his Majesty the Emperor has at heart to cultivate the relations of friendship and esteem, has in nowise been assailed in the person of one of its representatives. The Minister of the United States in Spain is free, I repeat it, to pass through France. Mr. Soulé, who has no mission. to fulfil near the Emperor, and who, conformably with the doctrine sanctioned by the law of nations, would need, on ac

count of his origin, a special agreement to enable him to represent in his native land the country of his adoptionMr. Soulé, as a simple private individual, comes within the pale of the common law which has been applied to him, and he cannot lay claim to any privileges.

Accept, sir, the assurance of high consideration with which I have the honor to remain your very humble and obedient servant, DROUYN DE L'HUYS. Mr. MASON, United States Minister.

Mr. Mason to M. Drouyn de l'Huys.

LEGATION UNITED STATES,

PARIS, November 6, 1854.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your excellency's letter of the 1st of November, in reply to mine of the 27th of October ultimo. I have carefully examined your narrative of circumstances which led to the event and gave occasion for this correspondence. It is quite manifest that the order under which the commissary of police at Calais acted, when he interdicted Mr. Soulé's entrance into France, did not present to the American minister any alternative but to return to England or remain in Calais, virtually under duress, until the further orders of the Emperor's government could be received. I think your excellency will concur in the opinion that he could not, consistently with the dignity of his government, remain on the frontier of Francethere situated, awaiting orders which he had no reason to believe would be more favorable than the one which denied him entrance upon French territory. I cannot, therefore, but deeply regret that the precise telegraphic order which your excellency has incorporated in your letter to me did not precede Mr. Soulé's arrival at Calais. That order, I am pleased to find, removes all impediment to the free passage of the American minister accredited to the Court of Spain through the territory of France.

I have not failed to observe the declaration that Mr. Soulé's residence in France will not be authorized by the Emperor's government. As his public duties require him to reside in Spain, he has no intention, as far as I am informed, of remaining or residing in France. I therefore forbear entering into any examination of the reasons suggested for the determination to deny him the privilege, or of the manner in which he has been notified of the purpose of the imperial government.

I have observed also the distinction which your excellency

31

Without under

makes between individuals and ministers. taking to inquire how far such distinction can be maintained-for it is not necessary to the occasion to guard myself against being misunderstood if I pass it in silence-I must say that, in my opinion, one who is a public minister, passing through the territory of a friendly nation to the court to which he is accredited, has privileges under the solemn sanction of the law of nations, about which, if it shall become necessary to discuss them, I feel assured that I will not have the misfortune to find conflicting views held by one so enlightened as your excellency.

I have much satisfaction in receiving the assurance, given in the emphatic declaration of your excellency, that the minister of the United States to Spain is at liberty to traverse France towards his post, and obeying the commission with which he is charged by his government. The recognition of this right is all that I have to ask of the Emperor's government in the premises; and on this, as on all other occasions, I receive with pleasure the assurance that the government of his Imperial Majesty has at heart relations of friendship and esteem with the government of the United States; feeling which, it is my constant desire and effort to cherish and strengthen them.

I will hasten to communicate this correspondence to my government, and will also inform the American minister to Spain, who is still in London, of the result which has been arrived at.

I avail myself of the opportunity to renew to your excellency assurance of the very high consideration with which I am your obedient, humble servant,

II. THE TREASURY.

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY, ON THE STATE OF THE FINANCES.

TREASURY DEPARTMENT,
December 4, 1854.

SIR: In obedience to the "act supplementary to the act entitled 'An act to establish the Treasury Department,"" approved May 10, 1800, the following report is submitted: The balance in the treasury on the 1st of

Making the actual receipts for the first quarter, and the estimated receipts for the other three quarters.......

Add balance in the treasury..

3,000,000 00 300,000 00

61,656,378 92 21,942,892 56

Total for service of the year..............83,599,271 48 The actual expenditures of the first quarter of the fiscal year 1853 were $15,081,383 70, and the estimated expenditures for the remaining three quarters were $57,251,283 16, making for the actual expenditures of the first quarter, and the estimated expenditures for the other three quarters, $72,332,666 86; which would have left an estimated balance in the treasury on the 1st of July, 1854, of $11,266,604 62.