The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1871-08-24
Paris July - CorrespEndenee OF the Lon
don Times.
Secret Intervention Of Russia During
the lafe War

ihe Late War.
+ NJ. Clement Duyernois, the noted
/ lmperialist, was examined by n Com
mission of the French National As
sembly on the 18th nit. Already the
I report has been several times spread
/ that when the first defeat struck the
French army the Emperor of Russia
offered the Government of the TuIler-
I les his good offices to bring about peace
without q diminutiOn Of territory, but
Z that the revolution OF the 4th of Sep
I tember having occurred, these favOri-
I bic Oyertures could not be carried out.
NJ. Clement DuvernOis, invite,l 10 in
! form the Commission of what he
Z knew positively on this subject, drew
out of his pocket the copy OF = dis
patch from His Majesty the Car,
! dated the day after Sedan, in which il
was expressly stated that the Empe-
/ rOr Of Russia would exert himself en-
ergetically To bring about peace on the
/ basis of territorial integrity for France.
! This dispatch having only arrived in
I Paris after the revolution had already
succeeded, had fallen into the hands
! of the new Minister for Foreign Az
I fairs, NJ. Jules Favre, who naturally
could not carry it out in the manner
contemplated, although it would have
/ spared France 50 many misfOrtunes.
Ii has been very wrongly said that NJ
Jules FavTe had concealed this dis
7 patch Jules FaVrs- was in a situ-
alton which did not allow him to in
herit from the Empire the goodwill of
the Car. Often in the course of his
career Of opposition had the celebrated
lawyer attacked the AutOcrat Of all
the Russias; he could not enter, as a
matter of course, into negotiations
with the Sovereign; preparations
were necessary, and they were almost
| Immediately cOnfided To NJ Thiers,
who started for London before going
To ST. Petersburg. How much time
rs well rs goodwill was lost
The mistake lay after being made
aware uf. the Cars dispatch, in tax
ing it too literally, and in seeing in it
an assurance of an energetic cO-Opera-
ton, when the state Of affairs was so
completely altered in his eyes. Be
sides, an Indication of the disposition
of Prussia even more than those of
Russia was tO-be found in it. Russia,
it has been said, had signed q secret
treaty with Prussia; this is quite
possible, and, in any case, events
have since caused very par
ticular credit to be attached to this
suppOsitiOn. But this treaty did not
interdict Russia from eXerting herself
"energeticallyp in putting an end to-
the war; it was not meant by this that
Russia was going to unite its arms to
those of France il would have been
unreasonable to think so. lt was
necessary to penetrate further into the
thoughts of the Government of st.
Petersburg, and to understand that, if
they made such an offer to the
Empress, it WAS because they were be-
fOrehand certain of success. 1t has
been said that if peace had been made
then, thanks to the good offices of the
Car, that sovereign would thus have
sacrificed the hopes he had founded
on the war, of obtaining revision of
the Treaty of Paris. This is another
error, and defect Of political vision.
Is it not evident, on the contrary, that
if Russia had obtained for France, in
spite of the defeats she had sustained,
the most generous and honorable
treatment, the Government of the
Tuileries would have been forced, out
of gratitude, TO support the Russian in
terests in the Black Sea, and, far from
finding in France an adversary,
Russia would have had still power
full ally, who would have been worth
more than a spectatress disarmed and
dOcile only from necessity? Ipersist,
then, i'm thinking, i'm spite of the dis
patch, that NJ. Jules Favre was never
in a position to prSfit by the favorable
offers contained in the dispatch.
Enough faults have been committed
without studying to create an imagi-
nary one. This dispatch, asitappeaTs,
is not the only one which was pro-
duced before the Commission by the
former eonfidant Of Napoleon ILL.,; he
alan nlarah before their eyes the rnnly
made TO il later by the Empress. In
this letter the Empress Regent apollo
giZes for so tardily acknowledging the
benevolent offers of the Gar; but she
was not made aware of the dispatch
till several days after the 4th of
September, and then only i'm q clrcu-
ritOus manner. She begs His Majesty,
the Emperor of Russia, to preserve his
benevolent intentions toward France,
to use his efforts to save it without
considering the interests Of the dynas-
ty, whatever Government might be
at the head of the nation. This letter
NJ. DuyernOis was authorized to make
known, and even TO publish. MisfOr-
tune is a great school, if only its les
sons were always durable.