French consulate at New Orleans, New Orleans, August 12, 1862.Sir:--The new order of the day, which has been published this morning, and by which you require that all and whatever arms which may be in the possession of the people of this city, must be delivered up, has caused the most serious alarm among the French subjects of New Orleans. Foreigners, sir, and particularly Frenchmen, have, notwithstanding the accusations brought against some of them by certain persons, sacrificed everything to maintain, during the actual conflict, the neutrality imposed upon them. When arms were delivered them by the municipal authorities, they only used them to maintain order and defend personal property; and those arms have since been almost all returned. And it now appears, according to the tenor of your order of to-day, that French subjects, as well as citizens, are required to surrender their personal arms, which could only be used in self-defence. For some time past, unmistakable signs have manifested themselves among the servile population of the city and surrounding country, of their intention to break the bonds which bind them to their masters, and many persons apprehend an actual revolt. It is these signs, this prospect of finding ourselves completely unarmed, in the presence of a population from which the greatest excesses are feared, that we are above all things justly alarmed; for the result of such a state of things would fall on all alike who were left without the means of self-defence. It is not denied that the protection of the United States government would be extended to them in such an event, but that protection could not be effective at all times and in all places, nor provide against those internal enemies, whose unrestrained language and manners are constantly increasing, and who are but partially kept in subjection by the conviction that their masters are armed. I submit to you, sir, these observations, with the request that you take them into consideration. Please accept, sir, the assurance of my high esteem. The Consul of France,
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