The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-06-17
MR.. wASHBU BURNE AND THE COMMUNE
From the N. Y. Tribune.

I
From the N. Y. Tribune.
= A spiteful paragraph, printed in journal
! of London which serves as an organ for the
expression of the Napoleonic IDEAS engen-
dered in the shades of Chiselhurst, states that
Mr.. Washburne, our Minister at Paris, is
seriously compromised by his communica-
tions with the insurrectionary government of
the Commune This is pitiful calumny,
the offspring of mean-spirited envy. The
conduct of Mr.. Washburne during the war,
and especially during the siege of Paris, was
marked by such discretion, such courage and
energy, that it gained the respect and esteem
of the French and German people, and ex-
torted the generous and voluntary praise of
the British Government in the House of Com
mons. We do not recall an instance
in our diplomacy of a more brilliant
and successful performance of duty in
circumstances of such gravity and delicacy.
1t proves what we have constantly asserted,
that man of experience in affairs, of suffi-
cient culture and knowledge of the world,
| taken from the active pursuits of American
| life, is apt to make better Minister, when
there is anything to be done, than if he had
wasted his life in dawdling about an embassy
The diplomatic body in Paris was composed
of the elite of the aristocracy of Europe. The
Paris mission is always the highest prize in
! the service of every nation. Yet positively
Il
figure in all these most important events
! is the American Envoy. He has received
| from the Government of Prussia the warmest
| acknowledgements of his services; and vet he
! has held the balance of impsrtiallty so evenly
| adjusted that he has gained the confidence
and affection of the Republican leaders OF
France. 1t is natural that such success and
such prominence have excited among the par
tisans of the late Empire the sptes and
| I'D h., osk -, ,.ol,
we have referred.
1t is useless to repeat that any such charge
is absurd. 1t is founded upon distortion OF
the facts, which are infinitely to the credit oi
Mr.. Washburne. When the rabble of diplo
mats fed to Versailles after the insurrectior
of the 18th of March, our Envoy stayed at his
| post to do what was possible to protect the
endangered lives and interests Of the Ameri
can residents of Paris, and to furnish to hit
Government accurate information of the tru'
character and significance of events, HI
never gave any official or oficious recognition
to the de factO Municipal Government, bu
by the exercise of his great personal in
fiuence he succeeded in giving full pro
lection to his countrymen, and, in mau.
instances in mitigating the suiferings OF thI
innocent victims of revolutionary rage. Hi
kindness to the Archbishop of Paris and t.
the imprisoned ecclesiastics with him, soma
of whom he saved from prison and death, will
never be, forgotten. If in the exercise o
these manly and humane offices 1t was neces
sary for him to hold communication with tn
officers of the Commune, he did nothinI
more than his duty. While the empire laste
he was forced, by the same considerations, T.
recognize greater scamp than the Commun
could boast of, and neither his moral nor hi
official character has suffered in the one cas-
more than in the other