, 1870-08-18
HiAnnrk ON thc Sccrct Treaty
PtneA1nn Diplomatic lMtl5ctneut
OF NNppESQn.

German Confederation, la. addressed the fol-
loving circular despatch to the representa-. :.
tiyea OF the NORTH German Confederation at
Bkisl1S. July %, 1s;o.
The expectation expressed by Lord Gran
who and Mr. Gladstone, in tho British Plria-
ment. that more exact Information il refer
ei,ee to tho drait treaty OF Count Beneuetti
would be furnished BY tho tao powers cou-
ce1ncd, Vas in preliminary ulsuner fulfilled
on our side bs the telegrsms which sd
dressed to Count Ecrnstorn, on the 27tn inst.
Telegraph form only enabled me to make 4
short statement. which l now complete IN
writing. Ihs document pablishsd py the
London Times coutains by no meaus the
only proposition Of similar nature which has
teen maue 10 us on the part OF the French. Even
before the Danish war, attempts addressed to
mo were made both By ofac,1l and unofficial
French aEtuts 10 effect an alIiance between
France nad Prussia, with the object Of mutual
agerandizement. It is scarcely nee cssary for
NO te point out ths iupossibility OF such
transaction for a German Minister, whose ,,o-
tition Is dependent on lis being in accorl with
the national feeling; its explanation is to he
found III the want Of acquaintance OF French
statesmen with the fundamental conditions Of
existence among other peoples. Had the
agents Of the Isris Cabinet been competant to
observe tho state Of German affairs sncIl an
Illusion would never have been entertained in
l'a1i- A. that Prussia could permit herself 10
accept tho aid OF FlRuce in regulating Ger
man aGal1a- Your Exceite.lcy il, OF course,
az we'll acquainted rs / an myself With the
isuotancc uf tbs French az regards Germany.
lbs ehdeavors Of the French government to
tsrry o,st, with tile aseistauee Ut Prussia, its
ttrefoNs racecs in reference TO Belgium aud
tie El'lnv frontier, were brought 10 my notica
even before 1oG2, therefore before my..a,ces-
sion to the Ministry Of Foreign AfIairs. can
Eot rega1dit as ms task 10 trauAfer such COM
~ 81
natu1e, to tie sphere Of International negotia-
tiun, aud be11eve It will be best to withhold
the most interesting contribution which could
make toRatd the eiucidation Ut tine matter
from !'rivsto letters and Conversations The
above mentioned Tendencies OF the French
government were hr,t recognizable ty the ex-
1etnal Influence on European politics AMI the
a:;itrde favorable to US which FRANCS assum-
ed in the Germ,n-Danisl conflict. The SUBJ
sequent bad feeling which France displayed
toward us IN reference to the treaty Of Cas-
tien was attributable to tho apprehension
1eet durable Strengthening Of The I'russo-
Austrian ALLIANCE should deprive the Paris
Cabinet Of tie fruits OF this Its attitude.
France tefoEe 1865 reekoued upoa the out
breAk Of var between ns and .AustsiA ana
again willingly made approaches to us rs soon
A. our relations with Eieana began to be un-
Bc:o1e tho outbreak Of tue Aue,ri,n war
proposals wero made TO me, pA1sIy through
relatives OF His Majesty the Emperor OF the
French aud partly br confidential agents,
which each time had for their ot.jec,s spaller
or lsrger transactions for tho purpose Of
stlccting mutual aggrandizement: At one
time the negotiations werc about Luxembourg.
or about the frontier of 1871, with Landau
and 6aa1-Louis, 1t another about larger OBJ
jects, from wlich the French Swies csntona.
aud the question wi,e-e tho linguistic bounia-
RES Of Piedmont were to be drawn, were not
excluded. In May, 1866. these pretensiuas
took the form Of h proposition tor au oIIunsive
aud defensive alliance, aud the following ex-
tract Of its Chief features Is in my possession
ecssion Dc Is Seuctisa IIsslss e % iaanssston les
1'1ches a IA Prusse, 2 81 l.. Congrrs n'ar,uttlt
Las ailianes Offensive rt Defensive. O., Lc Rot de
jcnrE de IA separation de ConRres. + 81 le Ion
Gres nc 81 reunit Pas, Ia Pfusse Attaqn-ra ans 80
". aFres "a Signature ~ present tralte. y
lAu&I1cle. des que les husrtlites sesout co1nmen-
c. enue rAutElchc Ct "a f7usse en- 80 jouzs, 3oo-
too. t On ne feIa ras ne paiS Sepafes asss !A4-
v7ltcs: Is Vehicle lItae. IA frssae lea terri
to11ea AileMaxnes ct-ess"ut@s millions daprcs
ea"5 pn + a s Il Ma
seNe Ct Khla. rams Eotence ri Ahyeicc colnpEe-
na.1t s1o,ctU .mes de prasse, "a kavsfe r!vr kaa
.he tu Hnin, Huken1rid, Honbpu12, Dar1nsts1t,
III, coo ames- 5. Convention Mltzita u maritime
ertIe Is II xnre Z: ~ PruJse ats IA signature, s.
tAdh.non du Isoi ,i'ssailea.-
Emperor, in accorlauce Will, article tiye,
would assist ps vas in written explanations,
Ftaeed st 500. 900 men--the number OF eouls |
comprised in the ssGEandizement Which France |
stnght fer 1,st1,00 souls, according
10 French ca:c:.'ations, Whi:h, however, did
not agree viii, tie ae,nai STATISTICS. Rvery
o;.e who il familiar with the eecrrs diplomatic
and nllit2v HISTORY Of sae year lSs6 will see
(: mmcr1ng through t1tasc clauses the policy
shirh France pursucd simultaneously toward
1taiy with whom elc a: the aa,ne time 80
Eec1et'y neey.i1tee). and subsequently toward
In June, 1865. after we h.d re5ecte.5 iae
atovs schemes Of alliance, Notwithstanding
.eset1l slnoet threatening warnings 10 &c.
reIt IT, t1,s French GoveFnna~-t oeEau TO CAL |
u.s. and upon onr making = bid for French Az
siesai;ce. afser.the esen'ua]tsy Of our defeat,
nA6eany, French diplomacy vas 'soc.
cuPied 10 the uttsrmoet- Th4t the
Congress anticipated in the foregoing draft
have had the eject OF causlcg our th.re |
mouths alliance with Italy to expire without !
cur Eavit s prpfted t. it is we'll known to your |
E1cel'ency. As ie also tn. fact thu, France, ia
The further agreements lelatlve to CustozA, |
MAS buried 10 rrejoiiciEg cur ss;uation, and;
il possible. bringing about our defe9t. The |
Patriotic af1ic,iou OF Minister tsouher fur
ni>hss comment upon the further course Of !
events. Since that tine France has not |
ceased leading US into temptation bg one1s ut |
the cost Of Germany aud Belgium. I had /
neEtr any doubt ss to ths iupoesiai'isy Of st- |
eedlrg to any such offers, but I eonkider it |
useful. in the interests Of pesce, 70 permit the
Fse nch atatesnen to hold these illusions, De- |
euliar to tbcr, so long rs it should be possible \
60 70 do without giving ertn verbal Assent
TO their propositions imagined the Aanhila-
t'ou OF the French hopes would endsngef the
tim nf 1741 1fn} nf wf1ffh
saa IN tie interest both Of Germany and En-
rope. wla not Of the opinion Of those politi-
CANS who considered it unadEisable to shun By
III means IN ones power war with trauce
On the ground that such WAY was IN any c1se
unavoidable. No ore cAa 60 clearly foEesea
the dt tsiEns Of Divine Providence. and look
upon eyen victorious xat ae An evil in itself,
= hich tho craftsmanship of country mast
tt.iyc to tparo ite people could not IN my /
Calculations leave cut the possibility that in |
the constitution and policy Of France changes
might arise which would relieve the two great
t teichlosinS people from the necessity Of war
"a hope which WIS favored by each postpone
ment Of s.,e rupture. For these reasons I
was elleut about the propositions made, and
dcla:ea tho negotiations aaout them without
ever IN my side Gi!,ng prom:ss; After the
NeikeIl11-js fell, a. is well known, to the I
ground, extended Proposals rera again sd
dressed to me by France, including in their |
pu:port Belgium and South Germany At
Ills conjurcture comes the communication
Frotch Ambassador, without the assent OF
LIE sovereign. aad, on hta own responsibility.
:e1 M these propositions, handed them IL |
ne. a..d negotiated them, modifying them in |
Grain places IS aasiscd, is rs unlikely A.
Elle btatGmeat Oh another occasion that ais |
F-H.Fer6' ssE deou lai mt agre:l to Inc de-
N. I'd fo- cur .rF1ecde!;ng Lsreo.. v.,;n,,
;,.N f$-f.1tT II a3a Ii. mn j., A+-vr,t Ioee |