No. 78.
Mr. E. B. Washburne to Mr. Fish.
No. 283.]
Legation of the United
States, Paris, September 9, 1870. (Received September
22.)
Sir: * * * * * * *
I telegraphed you of the results and condition of things here on Monday,
and asked for instructions, though not doubting what would be
[Page 116]
the prompt action of our
Government. I received replies from Mr. Davis Wednesday morning. It was
only Tuesday night that I received the official notice from M. Jules
Favre of the change of the government, and advising me that the
department of foreign affairs had been confided to him. The next morning
(Wednesday) I sent a verbal message to the Foreign Office to ascertain
when it would be agreeable for the minister to receive me, as I had an
important communication to make from my Government. I received a reply
that the minister would see me at any time between 2 and 6 o’clock in
the afternoon. In the mean time I prepared the letter to M. Jules Favre
which I send herewith, marked No. 1, and at 2.30 p. m., accompanied by
the first secretary of legation, Colonel Wickham Hoffman, I took it in
person to him. He received us with the utmost cordiality. After reading
my letter he shook me very warmly by the hand, and thanked me for the
communication, saying he would be very glad if I would telegraph to my
Government to express his gratitude and profound emotions. He then
briefly explained the situation in which the government of the national
defense found itself. He said that he was aware that the United States
had hitherto refrained from taking any part whatever in the
complications of European governments; however, he did not know, but,
under present circumstances, it might feel like tendering its good
offices, and he wished to know if I should feel myself at liberty to
take any action in that direction. I replied that I should not feel
authorized to act in so grave a crisis without instructions from my
Government, particularly as I could advise with it on the subject by
telegraph. On my return to the legation I telegraphed to you as follows,
part of the dispatch being in cipher:
Paris,
September 7, 1870.
Have recognized republic. Favre expressed gratitude and profound emotion.
Requests United States to join other powers in intervention for peace.
Hopes I may be instructed immediately.
About 2 o’clock p. m. yesterday M. Jules Favre called upon me in person
to thank my Government in the name of that of the national defense, as
well as in his own behalf, for its prompt recognition of the republic
and the tender of its felicitations. He again desired that I should
transmit to the President and Cabinet at Washington the profound
acknowledgments of the government of the national defense. I then
communicated the dispatch of Mr. Davis in relation to his conversation
with M. Berthemy, which I had just received. M. Favre smiled at the
allusion to the attempt of the Emperor to found a monarchy on the
southern borders, and replied that nothing could be more satisfactory
than Mr. Davis’s telegram; it was all they could desire. He then said he
had answered my letter of the day before, and that it could be sent to
me in the course of the afternoon. It was duly received, and I have the
honor to send herewith a copy of if in the original French, together
with a translation thereof.
Mr. E. B. Washburne to M. Jules Favre.
Legation of the United
States, Paris,
September 7,
1870.
Sir: I have the honor to state that your
communication of the 5th instant was received at this legation at 11
o’clock last night, in which you inform me that the government of
the national defense has, by a resolution of its members, confided
to you the department of foreign affairs.
[Page 117]
It affords me great pleasure to advise you that I have this morning
received a telegraphic dispatch from my Government instructing me to
recognize the government of the national defense as the government of France.
I am, therefore, ready to put myself in communication with that
government, and, under your permission, to transact all such
business as may properly appertain to the functions with which I am
charged.
In making this communication to your excellency I beg to tender to
yourself and to the members of the government of the national
defense the felicitations of the Government and the people of the
United States. They will have learned with enthusiasm of the
proclamation of a republic in France,
accomplished without the shedding of one drop of blood, and they
will associate themselves in heart and sympathy with that great
movement, confident in the hope of the most beneficial results to
the French people and to mankind.
Enjoying the untold and immeasurable blessings of a republican form
of government for nearly a century, the people of the United States
can but regard with profoundest interest the efforts of the French
people, to whom they are bound by the ties of a traditional
friendship, to obtain such free institutions as will become to them
and to their posterity the inalienable rights of “life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness.”
In conclusion, I desire to say to your excellency that I congratulate
myself that I am to hold relations with the government of the
national defense through a gentleman so distinguished as your
excellency, and one so well known in my own country for his high
character and his long and devoted services in the cause of human
liberty and free government.
I take this occasion to assure your excellency that I have the honor
to be, with great respect, your obedient servant,
His Excellency Jules Favre,
Minister of Foreign Affairs.
[Translation.]
M. Jules Favre to Mr. E. B. Washburne.
Paris,
September 8, 1870.
Sir: I look upon it as a happy augury for
the French republic that it has received as its first diplomatic
support the recognition of the Government of the United States. No
one can better remind us in words, both just and noble, of the
inappreciable benefits of a republican government than the
representative of a people which has given to the world the salutary
example of absolute liberty.
You have founded your wise and powerful institutions upon
independence and upon civic virtue, and notwithstanding the terrible
trials sustained by you, you have preserved with an unshaken
firmness your faith in that grand principle of liberty, from which
naturally spring dignity, morality, and prosperity.
Nations, masters of their own destinies, should strive to follow in
your footsteps. They cannot be truly free unless they are devoted,
fearless, moderate; taking for their watchword the love of labor and
respect for the right of all. This is the programme of the new-born
government of France, springing from the painful crisis provoked by
the follies of despotism, but at the hour of its birth it can have
no other thought than to save the country from the enemy. Here, too,
it meets the example of your courage and your perseverance.
You have sustained a gigantic contest, and you have conquered. Strong
in the justice of our cause, rejecting all lust of conquest,
desiring only our independence and our liberty, we have firm hope of
success. In the accomplishment of this task we count on the aid of
all men of heart, and of all governments interested in the triumph
of peace. The adhesion of the Cabinet of Washington would alone give
us this confidence. The members of the government beg me to
communicate to you all their gratitude for it, and to request you to
transmit its expression to your Government.
For my part I am happy and proud that fortune has permitted me to be
the link of union between two peoples bound together by so many
glorious memories, and henceforward by so many noble hopes, and I
thank you for having, with so great kindness toward myself,
expressed all which I feel toward you, as well as my desire to
strengthen more and more the relations of affectionate esteem which
should unite us forever.
Accept the assurances of the high consideration with which I have the
honor to be, sir, your humble and obedient servant,
Mr. Washburne,
Minister of the United States.
