failed. A provisional government was immediately formed. It was proclaimed on the morning of Friday, the 25th, the proclamation declaring that the provisional government desired a republic, subject to the ratification of the French people. On Saturday, the 26th, Mr. Rush received an intimation that his "personal presence at the Hotel de Ville, to cheer and felicitate the provisional Government, would be acceptable." Before the day was out he imparted his determination to take the step. Monday, the 28th, was appointed for it, and on that day he repaired to the Hotel de Ville, accompanied by his secretary of legation, and delivered to the President and other members of the provisional Government there assembled an address of congratulation. On the same day he acknowledged a note written by M. Lamartine, as minister of foreign affairs of "the provisional government of the French Republic," and stated that, pending the receipt of instructions, he would be ready to transact with him whatever business might appertain to the United States or to its citizens in France. Mr. Buchanan, in transmitting to Mr. Rush a letter of credence to the French Republic, said: * "It was right and proper that the envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary from the United States should be the first to recognize, so far as his powers extended, the provisional Government of the French Republic. Indeed, had the representative of any other nation preceded you in this good work, it would have been regretted by the President. * In its intercourse with foreign nations the Gov ernment of the United States has, from its origin, always recognized de facto governments. We recognize the right of all nations to create and re-form their political institutions according to their own will and pleasure. We do not go behind the existing Government to involve ourselves in the question of legitimacy. It is sufficient for us to know that a government exists capable of maintaining itself; and then its recognition on our part inevitably follows. This principle of action, resulting from our sacred regard for the independence of nations, has occasioned some strange anomalies in our history. The Pope, the Emperor of Russia, and President Jackson were the only authorities on earth which ever recognized Dom Miguel as King of Portugal. "Whilst this is our settled policy, it does not follow that we can ever be indifferent spectators to the progress of liberty throughout the world, and especially in France. We can never forget the obligations which we owe to that generous nation for their aid at the darkest period of our Revolutionary war in achieving our own independence. It was, therefore, with one universal burst of enthusiasm that the American people hailed the late glorious revolution in France in favor of liberty and republican government. In this feeling the President a S. Ex. Doc. 32, 30 Cong. 1 sess. 2-6. * * * strongly sympathizes. Warm aspirations for the success of the new Republic are breathed from every heart."a President Polk, in a special message to Congress, spoke in similar terms, saying that Mr. Rush, called upon to act in a sudden emergency, which could not have been anticipated by his instructions, "judged rightly of the feelings and sentiments of his Government and of his countrymen, when, in advance of the diplomatic representatives of other countries, he was the first to recognize, so far as it was in his power, the free Government established by the French people. "The policy of the United States has ever been that of nonintervention in the domestic affairs of other countries, leaving to each to establish the form of government of its own choice. While this wise policy will be maintained toward France, now suddenly transformed from a monarchy into a republic, all our sympathies are naturally enlisted on the side of a great people, who imitating our example, have resolved to be free."b Congress, by a joint resolution, tendered its congratulations, in the name of the American people, "to the people of France, upon the success of their recent efforts to consolidate the principles of liberty in a republican form of government," and requested the President to transmit the resolution to the American minister at Paris, with instructions to present it to the French Government." December 2, 1851, Louis Napoleon, as President of the French Republic, issued a decree dissolving the National Assembly Revolution of 1851; and Council of State, declaring universal suffrage to Second Empire. be established, convoking the people in their primary assemblies, and proclaiming a state of siege. Mr. Rives, the minister of the United States at Paris, continued his communications, though informally, with the department of foreign affairs, but abstained for the moment from appearing at the weekly receptions of the President, pursuing in this regard a different course from that observed by the rest of the diplomatic corps, with the exception of the Swiss minister, who soon received instructions, however, to resume his attendance. "I felt it did not become me," said Mr. Rives, "representing as I did a free constitutional republic and a people imbued with a sacred hereditary attachment to the fundamental guaranties of civil and political liberty, to seem, by my presence, on an occasion succeeding so soon the successful coup d'état of the President, to give either a a Mr. Buchanan, Sec. of State, to Mr. Rush, March 31, 1848, S. Ex. Doc. 53, 30 Cong. 1 sess. 3. b April 3, 1848, S. Ex. Doc. 32, 30 Cong. 1 sess. 1-2; Richardson's Messages, IV. 576. €9 Stat. 334. See, also, Mr. Buchanan to Mr. Rush, April 6, 1848, announcing the adoption of the resolution unanimously by the Senate on that day, under a suspension of rules. (MS. Inst. France, XV. 69.) personal or official sanction to measures by which all those guaranties had been trodden under foot." a The elections held throughout France on the 20th and 21st of December, 1851, having resulted in the exhibition of the "unprecedented majority" of 7,439,216 to 640,737 in favor of prolonging and enlarging the President's powers, Mr. Rives attended his reception on the New Year.' Rives, January 12, 1852. * * * "Your dispatches have been regularly received up to the 24th of last month. Before this reaches you the Mr. Webster to Mr. election will be over; and if, as is probable, a decided majority of the people should be found to support the President, the course of duty for you will become plain. From President Washington's time down to the present day it has been a principle, always acknowledged by the United States, that every nation possesses a right to govern itself according to its own will, to change institutions at discretion, and to transact its business through whatever agents it may think proper to employ. This cardinal point in our policy has been strongly illustrated by recognizing the many forms of political power which have been successively adopted by France in the series of revolutions with which that country has been visited. Throughout all these changes the Government of the United States has conducted itself in strict conformity to the original principles adopted by Washington, and made known to our diplomatic agents abroad, and to the nations of the world, by Mr. Jefferson's letter to Gouverneur Morris, of the 12th March, 1793; and if the French people have now substantially made another change, we have no choice but to acknowledge that also; and as the diplomatic representative of your country in France, you will act as your predecessors have acted, and conform to what appears to be settled national authority. And while we deeply regret the overthrow of popular institutions, yet our ancient ally has still our good wishes for her prosperity and happiness, and we are bound to leave to her the choice of means for the promotion of those ends." Mr. Webster, Sec. of State, to Mr. Rives, Jan. 12, 1852, S. Ex. Doc. 19, 32 See, also, message of March 21, 1853, S. Ex. Doc. 7, 32 Cong. special session. On the establishment of the Second Empire, under Louis Napoleon as Napoleon III., Mr. Rives was furnished with a new credence in the usual way, and was instructed to recognize the imperial authority, the assurance being repeated that the United States gladly recognized the right of every nation to determine the form of its government. a Mr. Rives to Mr. Webster, Sec. of State, Dec. 10, 1851, S. Ex. Doc. 19, 32 Cong. 1 sess. 8, 13. bS. Ex. Doc. 19, 32 Cong. 1 sess. 18. e MS. Inst. France, XV. 165, 169, Dec. 17 and Dec. 18, 1852; S. Doc. 40, 54 Cong. 2 sess. 3. Napoleon III. having been deposed and a Republic having been proclaimed under the provisional government of the The Republic, 1870. National Defense Committee, Mr. Washburne, the minister of the United States at Paris, September 6, 1870, was instructed: "If provisional government has actual control and possession of power, and is acknowledged by French people, so as to be, in point of fact, de facto government, of which you will be able to decide by the time this reaches you, you will not hesitate to recognize it." a On the same day another telegram was sent: "It appearing by your last dispatch that new government is fully installed and Paris remains tranquil, you will recognize." And later, another: "As soon as situation in your judgment shall justify, tender the congratulations of President and people of United States on the successful establishment of Republican government." September 7, Mr. Washburne recognized the new government, being the first diplomatic representative to do so. "As soon as I learned that a Republic had been proclaimed at Paris, and that the people of France had acquiesced in the change, the minister of the United States was directed by telegraph to recognize it, and to tender my congratulations and those of the people of the United States. The reestablishment in France of a system of government disconnected with the dynastic traditions of Europe appeared to be a proper subject for the felicitations of Americans. Should the presentstruggle result in attaching the hearts of the French to our simpler forms of representative government, it will be a subject of still further satisfaction to our people. While we make no effort to impose our institutions upon the inhabitants of other countries, and while we adhere to our traditional neutrality in civil contests elsewhere, we can not be indifferent to the spread of American political ideas in a great and highly civilized country like France." President Grant, Second Annual Message, Dec. 5, 1870. "The regular Government of France, constituted by the will of the people as expressed through the National Assembly at Bordeaux, having been driven from Paris by the insurrectionary movement and established itself at Versailles, I deem it my duty to follow that Government, and shall, therefore, on to-morrow or the next day, remove thither with the legation, leaving one of the secretaries in charge here. Every member of the diplomatic corps will also leave." Mr. Washburne to Mr. Fish, Mar. 19, 1871, MS. Dispatches, France. a Mr. Davis, Acting Sec., to Mr. Washburne, telegram, Sept. 6, 1870, For. Rel. 1870, 67. For. Rel. 1870, 67. Mr. Washburne was instructed by telegraph, March 11, 1871: "You will recognize the government of M. Thiers." (Mr. Fish, Sec. of State, to Mr. Washburne, MS. Inst. France, XVIII. 489.) In November, 1794, Mr. John Quincy Adams, then minister to the Netherlands, sought instructions as to the course he Case of Absorption. should pursue in case of the conquest of the country by France. Mr. Randolph, Secretary of State, replied: "The maxim of the President toward France has been to follow the government of the people. Whatsoever regimen a majority of them shall establish, is both de facto and de jure that to which our minister there addresses himself. If therefore the independency of the United Netherlands continues, it is wished that you make no difficulty in passing from the old to any new constitution of the people. If the new rulers will accept your old powers, and credentials, offer them. If they require others, adapted to the new order of things, assure the proper bodies or individuals that you will write for them, and doubt not that they will be expedited." Should the United Netherlands, added Mr. Randolph, become a dependency of France, Mr. Adams' mission would of course be ended by the extinction of the nation itself; but in such case he was to continue on the ground, report, and await instructions, and avoid giving offence to either side; and, should it be doubtful in whose hands victory would ultimately rest, prudence would prevent his committing the government till he could see his way clear. He would be best able to judge whether, under this or any other circumstance, he could not contrive an adequate pretext for retiring to some spot, within the seven provinces or their dependencies, until he should receive an answer from his government. But such a retirement ought to be so managed as to have nothing of the air of design, or of alienation from the existing rulers. It would be a delicate step, and would require to be thoroughly matured. "The only end proposed by this suggestion is that you may shelter yourself from inconvenient importunities.” Instruction of Feb. 27, 1795, MS. Inst. to U. S. Ministers, II. 323, 324. "A war between the United Provinces and France broke out in 1793. In 1795 the Stadtholder was driven from the country and the Batavian Republic was established. This was succeeded by the Kingdom of Holland, after which the country was incorporated into the French Empire, and remained a part of that Empire until the abdication of Napoleon. On the reconstruction of Europe at the Congress of Vienna, a new Kingdom was formed, called the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in which was included the territories which had formed the United Provinces of the Netherlands. The new Power opened Diplomatic Relations with the United States by sending a Minister to Washington." (Davis, Notes, Treaty volume, 1776– 1887, p. 1235.) |