D. Rafael Mora, however, had made up his mind to act at once against Nicaragua. Schlessinger and Sutter were, therefore, ordered out of the Republic; and Arguëllo remained in Costa Rica only to join its army. On the 1st of March, 1856, President Mora formally declared war against the “filibusters,” as he styled the Americans of Nicaragua. And in order to trace some of the causes which led to this step, it is necessary to examine events outside of Central America. This brings us to the course the United States and Great Britain pursued in reference to Nicaragua. Not long after the recognition of the Rivas government by the American Minister at Granada, French was sent as minister from Nicaragua to the United States. He was appointed to that office with a view of getting him out of the Hacienda Department and out of the country. He was utterly unfitted for the administration of the hacienda, having little knowledge of either the principles or details of public business, and not having either the modesty to be sensible of his defects or the patience to overcome them. Moreover, his rapacity made him dreaded by the people of the country, and, as a measure of policy, it was necessary for the Americans to get rid of him. He was, however, of not less character than Marcoleta, a Spaniard, who at the time represented Nicaragua at Washington; for French had not been ordered out of the State Department for pilfering papers from its archives. On his arrival in the United States it was generally reported that the federal government would not receive the new minister because of his previous history. After waiting for some time French presented his credentials and was refused recognition because it was impossible for the American Secretary of State, Mr. Marcy, to determine whether or not the government he represented was the government of the people of Nicaragua. When it is remembered that Mr. Marcy, in a conversation with Mr. J. W. Fabens, placed Nicaragua among the South American Republics, his inability to decide whether the government of Rivas was in existence or not, need create little surprise. His entire ignorance or wilful misrepresentation of Nicaraguan affairs appears to much advantage in his correspondence with Mr. Wheeler.