Mr. Roberts, Spanish minister, to Mr. Fish, Secretary of State.
[791] The undersigned, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of Spain, has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the note which the *honorable Secretary of State of the United States was pleased to address him yesterday in reply to his own of the 27th of November.
Although it is not the present object of the undersigned to discuss the points touched upon in the said document, he thinks it nevertheless proper, and absolutely necessary, to say a few words and to give a few explanations, defining the state of the relations now existing between Spain and the republics of Chila, Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador.
[792] The honorable Secretary of State refers in his note to the declaration made by my predecessor, Mr. Facundo Goñi, in 1868, by which it appears that he endeavored to prove that Spain, at that time, still considered herself as being in a state of war with the four republics aforesaid. While the undersigned respects whatever may have been the opinion of his predecessor in the year 1868, the time which has passed and the important events which have occurred in the polity and internal affairs of Spain since that time must now be borne in mind. The disappearance of a dynasty from the throne, and a revolution, have raised statesmen of enlightened and liberal opinions to the direction of the destinies of the nation, and these men consider the *situation of Spain, with regard to the republics of the Pacific, not as a passive state of war, but as a complete state of peace, which, in order to become definitive, only needs to be ratified by a diplomatic act.
The undersigned, in proof of his assertion, begs to refer to his note of the 18th of October last, addressed to the honorable Secretary of State, and he thinks it proper, in order that there may remain no kind of doubt upon so important a point, to transcribe the words uttered by General Prim, president of the council of ministers, on addressing the constituent Cortes, setting forth the political programme of the present government of Spain. He said:
[793] The government proposes to cultivate the relations now existing between it and all the other nations of Europe, and of the world; and if these relations should be suspended with any government, that government which, through me, has the honor to address the constituent Cortes, will make every effort, so far as may comport with the dignity of the nation, and laying aside all pride and vanity, for the restoration of those fraternal relations which ought to exist between peoples of the same race. The gentlemen deputies will understand that I allude to the Spanish-American republics. There were times, and they not *very remote, when the government of Spain claimed at least to exert their influence among them; and as they did so with arrogance, this alone was sufficient to excite the haughty feelings of those men of our race, [Page 750] causing them to detest their origin, and to curse the very blood circulating in their veins, declaring themselves enemies of everything Spanish. But the government imposes upon itself the gratifying and patriotic task of regaining the esteem, friendship, and affection of those men, who, as I say, are of our race, and speak our own language. The gentlemen deputies will understand how proper it is for Spain to enter at once and forever into frank and kindly relations with those peoples. The task which the government imposes upon itself to this effect is certainly not a difficult one; on the contrary, it will be easy; at least untertain the belief that when the words of sympathy and friendship which I address them at this moment, in the name of the regent of the kingdom, in the name of the government of the nation, and still more in the name of the constituent Cortes, (for I believe that I faithfully interpret their desires and aspirations,) when these words, I say, having crossed the space which separates us, shall reach them, *I feel confident that they will be received with applause, with friendship, and even with tenderness. The rest will be done by our representatives, who will be liberal, as many of them have not been hitherto, and these representatives may tell the inhabitants of those republics that their mother country recognizes absolutely their emancipation and their independence; that the mother country loves them as her children, and that we love them as our brothers. [794]
Matters being in this situation, Spain, as the undersigned had the honor to state in his note of Saturday, the 27th ultimo, which doubtless reached the Department of State on the 29th, as Sunday intervened between the two days, contracted, through a naval commission, with a ship-builder, an American citizen of New York, Mr. Cornelius Delamater by name, for the building of thirty vessels for the coast service.
[795] The undersigned would suppose that the republic of Peru had knowledge of the intentions of the Spanish government, and consequently its remonstrance to the Federal Government of the United States, asking for the detention of said vessels, could not be well founded, it never having been intended to send them to the coasts of the Pacific; but, as the undersigned does not now deem it necessary to enter upon these considerations, he ought to state, in the name of his government, that he is ready to make *to Peru a declaration similar to that which the representative of the latter republic made to Spain, in 1868, in relation to the monitors Oneota and Catawba, and he desires the Honorable Hamilton Fish to be pleased so to state to the representative, of Peru in Washington, assuring him that the said vessels, which, on account of their construction, can only be used for the coast service, are not destined to carry on hostilities against his nation, nor any other American republic; and the undersigned further adds, that they have not been built to replace other and larger vessels, that the latter may be able to go and attack Peru or any other American republic.
The undersigned, in making these declarations in the name of his government, feels confident that they will be satisfactory to the Government of the United States and to the representative of Peru.
The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to reiterate to the honorable Secretary of State of the United States the assurances of his highest consideration.
The Honorable Secretary of
State
Of the United
States.