Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-08-19

Sec. 2. And be 1t further resolved, tnat
| the President of the United States be re-
| quested to forward copy of this resolu-
| ton to the Emperor Of Russia"
To give some extraordinary significance
! to this solemn act of Congress 1t was re-
solved to send q special envoy in national
| vessel to carry the resolution to the EN-
| peror of Russia. For this delicate mission
Congress selected Gustavus Vasa Fox, the
assistant secretary of the navy. 1t was
resolved also to send him in a monitor. q
class of vessel which had never yet crossed
the ocean. The Miantonomoh a two-turret
monitor, was chosen for this service and
the Augusta, one of the United States
steamers, was selected to accompany her.
Received by the Emperor.
On the 9Th of August, at 10 o'clock in the
morning, the Augusta and the Miantono-
moh escorted by the squadron Of Russian
vessels, sent from Fransund. entered the
port of Cronstadt, and on the 9Th of August
the American mission had the honor Of
being received by the Emperor of all the
Russias in Peterhof. During the solemn
audience, Mr.. Fox having been presented
to the emperor directly by the United
States minister, General CaSSiuS Clay, With
out the customary INTERPRETATION of the
master of ceremonies read in the English
language a splendid address, in which, among
the rest, was said: THE many ties which
have long bound together the great empire
of the east and the great republic of the
west have been multiplied and strengthened
by the unwaverng fidelity of the imperial
government to our own throughout its re-
cent period of CONFUSION" AT the close of
this address Mr. Fox handed to the EN-
peror the joint resolution of Congress con-
graduating him on his escape from threat
ened assassination.
The emperor replied as follows: II re-
ioice at the friendly relations existing be-
tween Russia and the United States, and
am pleased to see that those relations are
so well appreciated in America. l am con-
WINGED that this national fraternity would
he perpetual, and /. for my part, should
contribute all my efforts to sustain 1t and
to strengthen the bonds. 1 am deeply
sensible of the proofs of the personal SYM
pathy and affection of the American peo-
pie conveyed in the resolution OF Congress
and grateful for them. / desire to thank
those who have come so great distance to
bear these proofs to me, and l assure them
of a warm welcome to the soil OF RUSSIA.
The cordial reception which has been given
to my squadron in the United States would
never be effaced from my memory"
On the 9th of August the Emperor Alex
ander II visited the American ships, and
from the deck of the Augusta witnessed an
imperial salute fired by 15-inch guns of the
monitor Miantoncmoh, the first and only
salute ever given by this class of American
guns, whose huge mouths are by orders
of the Navy Department closed except for
war purposes. United States Minister cas-
sius Clay Mr.. Fox, Commodores Murray
and Beaumont and Mr. Van Buren, 1unched
andria, and during the repast the sovereign
of all the Russias offered the following
toast: II drink for the prosperity of your
country, and that the fraternal feeling
which now exists between your country and
ours may continue forever
Russian Festivities.
From the 9Th of August to the 18th Of
September magnificent festivities were
given in ST. Petersburg, Moscow and some
al in Of American
mission and officers, during which many
important political speeches were delivered
and political demonstrations took place.
From the most remote parts of the empire
kilograms We're sent welcoming the Amer
lean mission, and expressing the most
grateful feelings toward the people of the
United States. The first toast at the enter
tainmentS was to the President of the
United States, and pictures of Washington
and Lincoln usually graced every assembly
The flag of the United States has been
shown and honored for thousand miles in
the interior of Russia. The unanimous well
come was given to the representatives of
the American nation by all classes, and Mr..
Fox elected an honorary citizen of st.
Petersburg, Moscow, Cronstadt Kortchewa
and kostroma which distinction conferred
upon a foreigner was absolutely unprece-
denied
Such interchanges of friendship between
the United States and Russia, which even
surpassed everything of the kind that
had taken place in New York three years
before, naturally excited the greatest at
tention of all the civilized world, and aston
ished the whole of Europe. Many attempts
on the lives of emperors have been made,
but never has it occurred to the American
Congress to EXPRESS in an emphatic resolu-
ton its thankft lness at the escape of one
of them from the attempted assassination,
much less to transmit the same in an iron
clad at the distance of five thousand miles.
European Interpretations.
1t seems to me almost unnecessary to
mention here that the cession of Alaska by
Russia to the United States in 1867 was in
comparably more an act of extreme friend
illness and good will on the part of the for
mer than an act of business.
Such are the facts. There have been
various interpretations of them in Eu-
rope during the last forty years, as
is very natural, because the social and
international phenomenon itself is the
result of great variety of causes.
Unfortunately enough the chief interpreters
have been superficial or malicious publicista
or statesmen of western Europe, for whom
Russia as well as the United States pre-
sents, even now on the of the twentieth
century, endless bewilderment of mir
ages, mists, phantasmagoria. Thus the
uninterrupted entente cordiale between
the United States and Russia which
in Lincolns and Johnsons days bore
even the prospects of formal defensive
and offensive alliance. did not receive
a proper and just Interpretation
A decided similarity and great affini-
ties between the United States and Rus
STA were noticed long ago by some of the
most prominent historians and publicists of
Europe. The celebrated French author, Alex
is de Tocquevil, in his famous book DE la
Democratic en- AmeriQue,' which first APP
Feared in Paris in January, 1885, says:
There are, at the present time two great
nations in the world which seem to tend to-
ward the same end, although they started