The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1917-03-02

Il
say to the ear should 90 through the
American minister at the Russian
court, but it had been stipulated be-
tween my chief and his informers that
the documents furnished him should
be revealed to no one except the car
OF Russia and. the messenger who pre-
sented them to him.
had no difficulty in reaching the
car, for my chief had given me a let
ter stating that l was member of
the American legation to france and
bearer Of secret information for his
imperial majesty the car. The words
secret information were an "open
sesame" was accorded an interview
with the emperor the day after my
arrival at st. Petersburg, but was in
formed that IL the matter l had in
hand was of personal Importance to
his majesty l would be received at
once. thought it best to await
formal meeting and spent the interval
in preparing myself to state my case
to the best advantage. 1t would not
avail me to prepare set speech, for
I did not know in what mood or how
disposed toward what desired l
should find his majesty. could only
prepare myself in general way and
make my statement In accordance with
what should meet.
At the appointed hour / appeared at
the palace and was conducted to the
cars cabinet. He received me with
out formality and invited me to be
seated near him. informed him of
the nature Of my mission, the reasons
for its secrecy and then before pro-
ceeding further handed him the en-
velope containing the papers I had
brought to prove my case. AS he read
one after the other I saw his brows
contract and the corners of his mouth
drawn down. He read every docu-
ment, some Of them twice or thrice
over, and when he had finished sat
thinking.
Presently he summoned an attend
ant to whom he gave an order that he
desired the presence Of the French am
bassador. AS soon as the attendant
had withdrawn the car said to me:
"Since you are a diplomat you un-
derstand the necessity at times Of nom
committals. / am obliged to the Amer
lean minister to France for trans
hitting this information to me-" Here
he handed me the documents. ION
1t will be neither a written nor an oral
one, nor to you for him, nor to him
directly"
I supposed he would tell me what
kind Of reply it would be. but he did
not. l arose to go, but he stopped me.
Then he called an attendant and said
something to him that did not under
stand. The attendant motioned me to
follow him, and l was shown into an
adjoining room. There l waited for
further orders for nearly an hour. At
the end Of this time heard a.door of
tho emperor's cabinet open and the
announcement In a loud voice. 1.-THE
ambassador from France"
The door between the room where /
was and the cabinet had been left open
doubtless by the cars order-and
heard every word that passed in the
cabinet. The emperor spoke in French.
He told the ambassador that he had
learned that Napoleon was about to
intervene In American affairs and
added:
"Tell your master that If he inter-
feres in the struggle now going on in
the United States will strike him."
Whether the emperor turned away
from the man he addressed or other
wise indicated that he wished no an
swer l do not know. / heard none, but
a few moments later door was clos
ed, and assumed that the ambassador
had departed. In few minutes an
attendant appeared and led me back |
into the cabinet. The car was stand |
ing alone.
Give my thanks to your chief for
the information he has sent me-" he
said, and with this retired.
l was happy man on my return |
journey to Paris, having accomplished |
without any effort that which | knew
would delight my chief, the president
Of the United States. and the American
Unionists.
l prefer to write my own account of |
what was attained by my GRANDPA
theirs mission.
One winter morning during the war
between the states the citizens Of New
York awoke to find the harbor dotted |
with Russian war vessels For time
no one knew what it meant. Then
1t dawned OH the people that
It's presence denoted the friendliness
Of the car of Russia for those who
were struggling to perpetuate the I'm
ION. Then arose cry Of welcome.
The officers of the feet were invited
ashore and entertained royalty. Never
before nor since has New York passed
a winter of such unique gayety.
The proposed Intervention did not
take place. England withdrew her
consent to join with France in the
and France was obliged to
take its own chestnuts out of the fire.
The collapse of Napoleon's Mexican
scheme is well known to every school
boy who has studied American history. |
When the war ended the United States
had million Of men under arms with
nothing to do. Mr.. Seward. secretary