The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-03-02
THE FAMOUS BLOwITZ.
"EmbassndOr' of the London Times
to the Dignitaries of the World.


to the Dignitaries of the World.
EX-Attache in the New York Tribune.
My old friend Laurence Oliphant was
wont frequently to remark, with a
twinkle in his eye, that if there was
one sin more than another that lay
heavily upon his conscience, it was that
of having invented M de Blowitz. Yet
the London Times owes Mr.. Oliphant
a deep debt of gratitude for having Sc
cured the services of NJ de Blowitz for
that paper. The Times has had many
brilliant men in it's employ, especially
on the staff of it's representatives
abroad. But it is doubtful whether
there has ever been any one of it's cor
respondents with so much prestige
abroad as the strange looking little
man who for the last quarter of a
century has gone in Paris by the name
of the ambassador of the Times"
His retirement from the service of
the Thunderer will leave a vacancy
which his American successor will find
it difficult to fill; and while William
Fullerton may possibly live up to the
traditions of LEstTange, Oliphant and
the other clever men who have, repre-
scented the principal organ of the Lon
don press on the banks of the Seine,
it is improbable that he will ever be
able to attain the influential position
which M de Blowitz has occupied for
so long in the Partisan world and in
French and international political life
There are doubtless some who will
be tempted to question the Importance
which L have ascribed to the political
role of NJ de Blowitz and to accuse
me of eXaggerating it's weight. But his
achievements in that line are familiar
to every government of the civilized
world. and there are few statesmen
and diplomats of the last 80 years who
are ignorant of the extent to which
the late King Alfonso was indebted to
him for his restoration to the throne
of Spain, of the manner in which on
three separate occasions open breaches
between France and Germany were
averted largely by his agency, of his
share in bringing about the Congo con-
ference which led to the creation of
the Free State under the suzerainty of
King Leopold, and of the powerful sup
port which he gave to the Spanish
commissioners at the time of the ne
gotiation at Paris of the treaty of
peace between this country and Spain,
after the close of the war of 1898.
That these services were in no sense
underes timated by the governments to
which they were rendered may be gath
I'd from the fact that not only is he
decorated with almost every order in
Europe and that his library and draw
ing-rooms are literally flowing over
with tokens of warm regard and appre-
citation from monarchs and statesmen,
but that the latter have frequently
chosen him as the means of conveying
fn tho yx-nrI6 ar16 y n on
which they were anxious should become
known in an authoritative manner
When Theirs was president of the
French republic he was so thoroughly
accustomed to use De Blowitz's dis
patches as the safest method of COM
municating his views to the public, not
only of foreign countries but likewise
of France herself, that the leading or
gans of the Partisan press would either
await the arrival of the Times in order
to ascertain the attitude of their chief
magistrate on the questions of the day,
or else would have the contents of the
dispatches telegraphed to them from
London. Later on the Duke Decazes,
the Duke de Broblie, NJ Washington,
Jules Ferry and other French states
men were wont when in office to make
use of NJ de Blowitz in the same man.
ner as their principal channel of pub
licity, and can recall only one of them
who not only declined to hold any in
tercourse with M de Blowitz, but who
was his openly declared foe. That was
and had it not been for the
fact that NJ de Blowitz was a full
hedged French citizen by naturalization
he would undoubtedly have been eX-
PEELED from France at the time when
Gambetta became premier and minis
ter of foreign affairs.
The circumstances of the naturaliza-
ton of NJ de Blowitz rebound to his
credit He had been established for
some eight or ten years at Marseilles
when the war of 1870 broke out. Dur
ing the earlier portion of his sojourn
there he occupied the chair of profess
sor of foreign literature, from which he
retired on marrying the wealthy widow
who. after he became the Times cores
pondent in Paris, no longer presided
over his establishment in the Avenue
Marceau. When, following the crush
ing reverses sustained by the French
at Sedan and elsewhere, a general call
to arms was issued by the government
Of national defense, NJ de Blowitz was
among the first to respond, enlisted in
the national guard at Marseilles. and at
the same time took steps to secure his
as a French citizen. The
fact that he should have chosen that
particular moment TO give up his Aus
trian nationality for that of a coun-
try so stricken as France was sufficient
ly unique TO excite admiration on the
part Of a people. so emotional as the
French. and his demand for naturali-
cation elected from the authorities TO
whom II was addressed the remark that
ga nation which in the midst of such