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 486 however, they had been secured by treaty, and the government in power was bound to respect them. Making this act of the Juarez government a pretext, Spain, France, and England entered into the tripartite alliance, in London, October 31, 1861. A few months later, December 22, 1861, Spanish troops were landed at Vera Cruz, under General Prim, and the ships of England and France were on their way to the same port.

The government of the United States had been kept advised of the progress of events by its ministers in England and Mexico, and was not unprepared for all that followed. Mr. Corwin, two weeks after the passage of the law, had written Mr. Seward as follows: "Her (Mexico's) late suspension, leading to the cessation of diplomatic relations with England and France, may, perhaps, have been imprudent. She could not pay her debts, however, and maintain her government; and perhaps it was as well to say she would not pay for two years as to promise to pay and submit herself to the mortification of constantly asking further time. She is impoverished to the last degree by forty years of civil war I cannot find in this republic any men of any party better qualified, in my judgment, for the task than those in power. If they do not save her, then I am quite sure she is to be the prey of some foreign power."

The United States was invited by the powers (though tardily) to join them in demanding redress; but she assured them that, far from having a desire to destroy the autonomy of Mexico, she had instructed her minister there to offer to negotiate a loan for her relief. This answer to the allied powers (in part) is given here, that coming generations may be reminded of the friendliness of our government to our sister republic, and of the wisdom and forbearance that guided the ship of state during the dark period when civil war disturbed our own land.