The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-01-16
A
Diplomatic Secret
BY EDWIN D. TUCKER

ScNeTdi SeuCleLueu were ulSfuSSilS
the affairs Of Mexico, which were abb
sorbing Il great deal of attention. when
one of them said:
II have heard II curious story about
Napoleon Ills Mexican scheme re-
peated Il number Of times in different
forms. I wonder which is correct"
do you refer" asked a white headed
~octogenarian. ITO the case Of how the
, car headed off the French EMPEROR,
81 do"
well then. | can give you the true
version of that story. for | was directly
connected with what occurred.
81 was very young ut the time. but
not too young to be connected with
the American legation at the court OF
st. James. One evening at a recap-
ton a member Of the British cabinet
accosted me. though | had had no
Introduction to him. and after ii pre-
liminary conversation on ordinary top
les drew me into IL small room where
we were alone and Si,id to me:
"'You have been mentioned to me Is
a person fitted to be the repository Of
an important diplomatic secret indeed.
to carry out an important diplomatic
move
"He then pledged me to secrecy. i'm
pressing me with the Importance Of
locking within myself what he IA
about to say to me. after which he pro-
ceeded:
"'Our good queen. with her usual
sense and foresight. is in favor Of
permitting you Americans to settle
your Quarrels among yourselves. The
emperor of the French. who must be
constantly diverting the mind of the
various factions he rules from himself.
has some scheme with reference to
making Il Judgment somewhere in
North America. He is importuning us
to join him in intervention with Il view
to separate the United States into two
sections. We do not wish to antago-
nize him by Il refusal. and we do not
wish to enter into any arrangement
with a view to interfering between the
states.
There is a power which would
gladly block the emperOr'S game did
that power know that the gaLne was
patching. | refer to Russia. The car
since the Crimean war does not love
France. and he does not love England.
to prevent intervention. Should the
car know that France is e~ndeavoring
to induce us to join her in her pro-
posed scheme he would at once take
measures to prevent it. This is ex-
actly what we should like. 1t would
render a refusal of Napoleon's request
needless and leave us to remain neu-
trail in American affairs.
"'Diplomatic secrets sometimes leak
out without any one being aware Of
where the leak is located. You and |
know exactly where this leak is. and it
must remain between you and me
alone
course?'
"'Of curse | do not. There is hut
one person besides yourself who may
know it,
"'Mr. Seward?'
"'N0: the cZar of Russia
""The czar! How can | reach himy
"'That | must leave to you. Con
sidering that you are a member of the
American embassy here. | do not think
you should have much trouble
"'But my chief. the American am
bassador?'
"'He. too. must remain ignorant.
You must leave London without his
knowledge
"'But the proof for the czar Of the
truth Of my story?
81 will furnish you with that
81 left London the next morning be
fore dawn armed with the proof that
had been promised. My mother was
at the time in Berlin. and | forged Il
telegram from her begging me to come
to her if | expected to see her alive.
This telegram | showed to my chief
and was given a leave of absence. !
did not 60 to Berlin. but | did go t. st.
Petersburg. On reaching the capital |
went to the minister of foreign affairs.
showed him papers su%bStantiating my
position with the American embassy ut
London and Informed him that | had
information concerning Il cabal to
interfere in the affairs of the American
republic. but that ! was not permitted
to submit it except to his majesty.
"The war between the American
states was ut that time engaging the
attention Of the world. and the ear
was only too glad of information ron
corning ii. He promptly accorded me
a private interview and listened to me
attentive'y till ! had reached the end
Of my story. when he asked for my
PROOFS. ."rdnrtd them. and he was
bot, sl"r.,i and convinced. He
;isS',h' ~" 'nsr c"inp 10y them. and !
=. 4. ~ rI'. That ended the inter
H,,~'i"" - London. | reported to
NJ" '>'ct $3.50 ,gp mothers health was
iuu h 'it"fei. and ! settled down to
my dis Arties met the cabinet
ma,nhnt f,,ro.i..h ,~h,f,n thn secret had