complishing the laws of naturalization, he becomes entitled to the rights of a citizen; and according to that reserve, he would not be able to return to Turkey, and in case he did, Austria would have the right to arrest him. No law authorizes the legation to forbid a citizen of the United States his liberty of action, and his right of going where he may think proper. This seemed to me to establish a dangerous prin ciple. Baron De Bruck having sent the agreement heretofore mentioned to Vienna for the approbation of his government, it would seem but rational that it should also be submitted to the United States government for the same purpose, so as to afford our government the same advantage, and in order that both governments should stand on an equal footing in a question of so important a nature, particularly as, in all diplomatic transactions, the approbation of the respective governments is always reserved. I must also state that having acquainted Koszta with the terms agreed upon by Mr. Marsh and Baron de Bruck, he declared that he would not, by his full and free will, submit to such conditions, unless the agreement should be approved by the United States government, and which he confirmed in a letter to me under date of the 24th instant. It further appeared to me that, by acceding to the reserve of Austria, it would have been a disavowal, by our own free will, of our previous acts, and that it would have been inconsequent. Moreover, the dignity of the legation cannot suffer from the non-execution or postponement of the agreement, as it depends on Mr. Koszta's submitting to the terms therein mentioned. Had I acceded to the agreement for Koszta's release, it would have become an accomplished act. I would have been co-operating in the decision of a case of so grave a nature, so closely connected with, and involving the national character, and I would have been consenting to conditions that I considered to be offensive to its dignity. Such are the considerations which have induced me to refuse giving my consent to Koszta's release, until I receive your instructions thereto, and which I submitted to Mr. J. P. Brown, together with your dispatch of the 13th of August last; and as he insisted on the execution of the agreement, I addressed him officially, under date of the 2d instant, informing him of my resolution not to give my consent for the removal of Koszta under the terms specified in the agreement. I trust, sir, that my proceedings will meet your approbation, and that the feelings that guided me will be appreciated by you, as I am conscious of having acted in support of the dignity of our country, and of our highly praised and cherished principles. I have the honor to be, &c., Hon. W. L. MARCY, Secretary of State, Washington. E. S. OFFLEY. Documents enclosed. A. Hon. G. P. Marsh's letter of the 4th of August, 1853. B. Hon. G. P. Marsh's letter of the 19th of September, 1853. D. E. S. Offley's to J. P Brown, September 22, 1853, and his answer of the 23d of September, 1853, and E. S. Offley's reply of the 23d of September, 1853. E. E. S. Offley's letter to G. P. Marsh, September 26, 1853. D. UNITED STATES CONSULATE, Smyrna, September 22, 1853. SIR: After the interview that I had the pleasure of having with you yesterday, I again attentively perused the dispatch you handed me from the Hon. G. P. Marsh, relative to the agreement he has made with M. de Bruck for the release of Mr. Koszta from the French hospital, and his transfer to an American vessel sailing direct for the United States; and I now beg to inform you that for reasons which I shall have the honor of laying before the honorable G. P. Marsh, by to-morrow's boat, and which I explained to you yesterday, I deem it my duty not to give my consent for his removal from the French hospital. I have the honor to be, &c., J. P. BROWN, Esq., &c., Smyrna. E. S. OFFLEY. Mr. Brown's answer to the above. SMYRNA, September 23, 1853. SIR: I have received this morning your letter of yesterday, in which you make known to me, that you "deem it your duty not to give your consent to the removal of Mr. Koszta from the French hospital;" and in reply have to request that you will conform to the instructions which I handed you on my arrival, from the minister resident, on the subject of this person's being placed on board of an American vessel leaving direct for the United States. I do this, sir, as a point of duty towards the chief of the legation, under whose instructions I act, and because I do not believe that a delay will be productive of any useful change in the arrangement agreed upon by him and the Austrian minister. I shall communicate with the minister resident on the subject of the course adopted by you, and await here his further instructions. I remain, sir, &c., E. S. OFFLEY, Esq., &c. J. P. BROWN. Mr. Offley's reply to Mr. Brown. SMYRNA, September 23, 1853. SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your to-day's note, and in reply beg to refer you to the letter I had the honor of handing you this morning. I remain, sir, &c., SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatch under date of 31st August last, conveying me the gratifying intelligence that the President has been pleased to approve of my conduct regarding the release of Mr. Martin Koszta from the hands of the Austrian authorities of this place. Allow me, sir, to take the liberty of assuring you, and through you, our very respected President, that my earnest desire is, and always will be, to merit the confidence bestowed upon me in the discharge of my duties. As the contents of your above dispatch established the position and the rights of Mr. Martin Koszta to the protection of the United States, I have deemed it my duty to transmit him a copy of the same, and I now beg to enclose a copy of a letter which he addressed me on the 5th instant, wherein he begs me to express his gratitude to the United States government. I have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant, [Translation] MONSIEUR LE CONSUL: I have had the honor to receive the copy of the dispatch of the honorable Secretary of State, dated the 31st of August, on the subject of my position, which you had the kindness to communicate to me. I see from it, with immense satisfaction and gratitude, that the government of the United States considered me as placed under the efficacious protection of the American flag as any other citizen. Hereafter, certain of your support, (the only support I can or ought to invoke,) and in the unforseen circumstance that the consul general of France should think fit no longer to extend to me the hospitality I have found in the French hospital, I beg that you will protect me. I avail myself of this occasion to thank you with all my heart for all you have done in this noble cause, and under such difficult circumstances; and I beg that you will be the interpreter with the government of the United States of my profoundest gratitude. Please to accept my respects, and I am your humble servant, MARTIN KOSZTA. Mr. E. S. OFFLEY, United States Consul at Smyrna. A correct copy. E. S. OFFLEY. SMYRNA, October 5, 1853. No. 48. Mr. Offley to Mr. Marcy. UNITED STATES CONSULATE, SIR: I respectfully beg to refer to my dispatch, under date of 27th September last, with the enclosed documents, which I forwarded per steamer, direct for Liverpool, and duplicate of the same on the following day, via Marseilles, wherein I had the honor of informing you of the reasons that induced me to abstain from giving my consent to the agreement between the Hon. G. P. Marsh and the Austrian internuncio, for Koszta's removal from the French hospital of this place. On the 30th ultimo, I received the enclosed dispatch (sub. A) from the minister resident, ander date 26th of the same month, in answer to my dispatch of the 23d. This dispatch was transmitted to me in a letter (sub. B) from Mr. J. P. Brown, dated the 30th, requesting me to inform him "whether or not" I would give my signature for Koszta's release from the charge of the French consul. I replied to Mr. Brown, on the same day, (sub. C,) that I would inform him of my decision on receipt of an answer from Mr. Marsh to my letter of the 26th ultimo, wherein I had enclosed a copy of a letter from Mr. Koszta, stating his reasons for refusing to submit to the agreement between M. de Bruck and the minister resident, and his wish to have it submitted to the United States government for its approval. On the same day I received a letter (sub. D) from Koszta, dated the 30th September, requesting me to call upon him, as Mr. Brown had been to see him, and had used every possible means of intimidation, to make him submit to the terms of the agreement and leave immediately for the United States. These steps, on the part of Mr. Brown, induced me to believe that an understanding had taken place between the minister resident, the Austrian internuncio, and the French ambassador, and that the two latter had given orders to their consuls here to recognize Mr. Brown in my stead should I refuse to give my consent for Koszta's embarcation, although this consent is one of the essential conditions of the convention signed by me and the Austrian consul, on the 2d of July last. Being, however, deprived of dispatches from the State Department, (the dispatch of the 31st of August not having been then received,) and, in consequence of the positive and strong language held by Mr. Brown, as well as that of the minister resident, in his dispatch of September 26, the only advice I could give Koszta, in this instance, was to postpone giving Mr. Brown a decisive answer as long as possible, as the mail from Europe, which was due on that day, might bring dispatches from the State Department, throwing more light on the course he should pursue, at the same time I assured him of the protection of the consulate. On the following morning, the 1st of October, I received your dispatch of August 31, which I hastened to bring to the knowledge of Mr. Brown, in the hope that he might have found sufficient importance in its contents as to induce him to re-consider the case, and direct thereby his further action. But after having perused it, he not only continued firm in his former opinion, but also went to Mr. Koszta, and told him that if he did not leave immediately for the United States, according to the agreement, the legation would withdraw from him its protection, and that the French consul would send him out of the hospital, and that he would fall again into hands of the Austrians. Notwithstanding all that Mr. Brown had told Kostza, he persisted in his refusal, under the conviction that the United States protection would not fail him. Mr. Brown then declared that the legation had nothing more to do with him, and on the same evening left for Constantinople. On the 1st instant I addressed the Hon. G. P. Marsh, (sub E.,) enclosing a copy of your above dispatch of the 31st of August last. The position of Kostza has not changed, but should he be driven out of the French hospital, as Mr. Brown intimated, I will give him the efficacious protection of the American flag, according to the tenor of your aforementioned dispatch of the 31st of August. His expulsion from the hospital, however, is not at all probable, the French consul having read me, some time since, a dispatch from his government, stating that it had approved the charge he had taken, and that the only thing that might be regretted, would be a disapprobation of the United States government of the steps taken by its functionaries, in which case the French government would be under the necessity of giving him its protection. I beg to bring to your notice, that the proposal of the Hon. G. P. Marsh to Baron de Bruck, for Kostza's release, was sent to Vienna, about the 30th of July last, and was kept there in abeyance until about the middle of September, when they had no doubt heard of the views of the United States government on the matter, and they then forwarded it to Constantinople for its execution, and authorized the internuncio, as it appears in Mr. Marsh's letter to this consulate, of the 26th of September, to settle the arrangement relative to the same, according to Mr. Marsh's proposal;" therefore the clause of reserve must have been added in the agreement by Baron de Bruck, and according to the above |