y himself and
the Secretary of State. He said:

"There might be misunderstanding were I not to say that the position of
the government in relation to the action of France in Mexico, as assumed
through the State Department and approved and indorsed by the convention
among the measures and acts of the Executive will be faithfully
maintained so long as the state of facts shall leave that position
pertinent and applicable."

This resolution, which was, in truth, a more vigorous assertion of the
Monroe Doctrine than the author of that famous tenet ever dreamed of
making, had been introduced in the convention by the radicals as a
covert censure of Mr. Lincoln's attitude toward the French invasion of
our sister republic; but through skilful wording of the platform had
been turned by his friends into an indorsement of the administration.

And, indeed, this was most just, since from the beginning President
Lincoln and Mr. Seward had done all in their power to discourage the
presence of foreign troops on Mexican territory. When a joint expedition
by England, France, and Spain had been agreed upon to seize certain
Mexican ports in default of a money indemnity demanded by those
countries for outrages against their subjects, England had invited the
United States to be a party to the convention. Instead, Mr. Lincoln and
Mr. Seward attempted to aid Mexico with a sufficient sum to meet these
demands, and notified Great Britain of their intention to do so, and the
motives which prompted them. The friendly assistance came to naught; but
as the three powers vigorously disclaimed any designs against Mexico's
territory or her form of government, the United States saw no necessity
for further action, beyond a clear definition of its own attitude for
the benefit of all the parties.

This it continued to repeat after England withdrew from the expedition,
and Spain, soon recalling her troops, left Napoleon III to set the
Archduke Maximilian on his shadowy throne, and to develop in the heart
of America his scheme of an empire friendly to the South. At the moment
the government was unable to do more, though recognizing the veiled
hostility of Europe which thus manifested itself in a movement on what
may be called the right flank of the republic. While giving utterance to
no expressions of indignation at the aggressions, or of gratification at
disaster which met the aggressor, the President and Mr. Seward continued
to assert, at every proper o