DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENCE. F. The Minister of Belgium to Mr. Clay. ST. PETERSBURG, April 16-28, 1865. The minister of Belgium has had the honor of receiving the note which his excellency the minister of the United States has had the kindness to address him, in order to inform him of the death of the President of the United States, A. Lincoln, who was assassinated in his box at the theatre, in Washington, on 3-15th instant, as well as of the dangerous wound which menaces the life of the Secretary of State, Mr. William H. Seward. It is with an unmingled feeling of horror that the undersigned has heard of these cowardly and foul attacks, which will cause an outburst of sorrow, not only in America, but in Europe and the whole world, and he joins in the grief which cannot fail to be caused by the loss of an eminent statesman called by his fellow-citizens to direct the destinies of his country. LORYHE D'ARDŎYE. No. 149.] Mr. Hunter to Mr. Clay. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, May 5, 1865. SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your despatch of the 8th ultimo, relative to the desire on the part of Prince Gortchacow to exclude from diplomatic correspondence the subject of the intercontinental telegraph. Your proceedings in connexion with this matter are approved. I am, sir, your obedient servant, CASSIUS M. CLAY, Esq., &c., &c., &c. W. HUNTER, Acting Secretary. DEPARTMENT of State, Washington, May 22, 1865. SIR: On the 17th instant Mr. de Stoeckl read to the President a despatch (a copy of which he left with him) of the 19th ultimo, from Prince Gortchacow, expressing the sentiments of the Russian government upon the assassination of President Lincoln, and its cordial wishes that this great trial may not impede the onward march of the American people towards the re-establishment of the Union. I am charged by the President to request you to convey to his highness, on behalf of the government and people of the United States, the most profound acknowledgments for the manifestations of sensibility to the great national calamity which find place in that despatch, and for the friendly wishes which he has been pleased to express. I am, sir, your obedient servant, CASSIUS M. CLAY, Esq., &c., &c., &c. Mr. Clay to Mr. Hunter. No. 81.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, St. Petersburg, Russia, May 16-28, 1865. SIR: I have the honor to transmit to you a copy (marked A) of a letter from Prince Gortchacow of this date, expressing the sentiments of his Imperial Majesty in regard to the death of our late President Lincoln, and his thanks for the courtesy of our naval authorities and other American citizens towards the remains of the late Grand Duke Héritier. His Imperial Majesty also offers his condolence to the family of Mrs. A. Lincoln, and I beg you will transmit to her a copy of the letter. There is but one sentiment of indignation and grief at the death of our loved President throughout all Russia, shared alike by the prince and the peasant. I am in receipt of your despatches to 150 inclusive. Very truly, your obedient servant, Hon. W. HUNTER, Acting Secretary of State, Washington, D. C. Prince Gortchacow to Mr. Clay. C. M. CLAY. ST. PETERSBURG, May 16, 1865. Mr. MINISTER: In informing you, in the name of the imperial cabinet, of the profound in dignation excited by the assassination of the President of the United States, and the heartfelt sympathy which the American government and people have met with among us, in this their national grief, I was certain of having expressed the sentiments of his Majesty the Emperor. Scarcely has my august master returned to his dominions, when he orders me to testify to you his grief at this painful event. Tried himself by a woful loss, which is also a cause of national mourning for Russia, the Emperor joins in the unanimous regrets which encircle the memory of the eminent statesman, snatched away so suddenly and in so terrible a manner from his noble career. His Imperial Majesty requests us, your excellency, to transmit to you, in his name, the assurance of his living and deep sympathy with the family of the late Mr. Lincoln, and with his excellency President Johnson. I also fulfil the orders of my august master by informing you how much his Imperial Majesty has been touched by the spontaneous testimonials of respect which the federal officers have shown to the memory of his dearly beloved son, during the passage of the squadron bearing to Russia his mortal remains. I have already communicated to the federal government the thanks of his Imperial Majesty, through his representative at Washington. He asks of you the favor to reiterate them. Be assured, your excellency, of my very distinguished consideration." General CLAY, &c., &c., &c. GORTCHACOW. Mr. Hunter to Mr. Clay. No. 157.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: Your despatch of the 4th instant, No. 79, has been received. The sad events which have called it forth have inspired, universally, sentiments identical with those which you have communicated, and they have been expressed by the great powers in terms which do justice to the spirit of the age in which we live. As you were informed in instruction No. 156, Mr. de Stoeckl had already, under the direction of Prince Gortchacow, on behalf of the Emperor, in his Majesty's absence, imparted to the President his own sentiments, and his prevision of the impression which the tragical occurrences would make upon his Imperial Majesty, and had communicated at the same time the friendly wishes of the Russian government towards President Johnson and the American Union. The manifestations to which your despatch refers, and the notes which accompany it, are highly gratifying, and I must rely upon you to convey, on behalf of the government and people of the United States, in fitting terms, to the distinguished functionaries from whom they have emanated, expressions of the grateful estimation in which they are held. I am, sir, your obedient servant, CASSIUS M. CLAY, Esq., &c., &c., &c. W. HUNTER, Acting Secretary. Mr. Seward to Mr. Clay. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, MY DEAR SIR: I have received your kind letter of the 25th April last, in which you speak of the future of our country, and I have to thank you for your suggestions concerning the principles with which we should be controlled. While seriously affected by what you communicate, and while cordially agreeing with you, I am yet in too feeble a state of health to answer you otherwise than through an amanuensis. I am, my dear sir, very faithfully yours, CASSIUS M. CLAY, Esq., &c., &c., &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. No. 159.] Mr. Hunter to Mr. Clay. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, June 5, 1865. SIR: I have received your despatch of the 12th ultimo, No. 80, relative to the death of Abraham Lincoln, and the circumstances under which President Johnson occupies the presidential chair. SIR: Your despatch of the 16-28th ultimo, No. 81, enclosing a translation of a note of the 16th ultimo from Prince Gortchacow, expressing the sentiments of the Emperor in regard to the death of President Lincoln, and his Majesty's thanks for the courtesy of our naval authorities, and other American citizens, to the remains of the late Grand Duke Héritier, has been received. In reply, I have to request you to assure his Highness Prince Gortchacow that the generous and friendly sympathies which his Majesty the Emperor is pleased to express, through the note adverted to, are in happy harmony with the cordial relations which have heretofore existed between the two nations, and which have been only strengthened by the events of the civil commotions which have just now subsided in this country. I must also request you to assure Prince Gortchacow that the bereavement which his Majesty and the empire of Russia have sustained in the death of the Grand Duke Héritier has excited the most profound sympathy on the part of the government and people of the United States, and that the honors paid by our naval authorities and citizens abroad to the remains of the illustrious deceased will meet with universal approbation. I am, sir, your obedient servant, CASSIUS M. CLAY, Esq., &c., &c., &c. W. HUNTER, Acting Secretary. No. 164.] Mr. Seward to Mr. Clay. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, July 14, 1865. SIR: I transmit to you a letter of condolence from the President of the United States to the Emperor of Russia, in answer to one just received from his Majesty, announcing to the President the melancholy intelligence of the death of his Majesty's son-his Imperial Highness the Cesarowitch at Nice. An office copy of the President's letter is also enclosed. You will communicate these to the minister for foreign affairs, requesting him to place the original in the hands of the Emperor. I am, sir, your obedient servant, CASSIUS M. CLAY, Esq., &c., &c., &c., Russia. WILLIAM H. SEWARD. Andrew Johnson, President of the United States of America, to his Majesty Alexander II, Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias. GREAT AND GOOD FRIEND: I have received the letter which your Majesty addressed to me on the 28th of April last, announcing the melancholy intelligence of the decease, after painful suffering, on the 12th of that month, at Nice, of your Majesty's much-loved son, his Imperial Highness the Cesarowitch and Hereditary Grand Duke Nicholas Alexandrowitch. Deeply sympathizing in the grief into which this afflicting event has plunged your Majesty and your Majesty's Imperial house, I offer to your Majesty my sincere condolence on the occasion, and pray God to have your Majesty, and your Majesty's Imperial family, always in His safe and holy keeping. Written at Washington, this fourteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five. Your good friend, By the President: WILLIAM H. SEWARD, ANDREW JOHNSON. Secretary of State. No. 86.] Mr. Clay to Mr. Seward. [Extract.] LEGATION OF THE UNITED STATES, St. Petersburg, Russia, September 5, 1865. SIR: I have received your despatches to No. 166 inclusive, together with a copy of the letters of the Union Telegraph Company to yourself and to M. Tolstoy, the chief of the Russian telegraph department. SIR: Your despatch of the 18th of last month, No. 84, giving your views upon the requirements of our present phase in the reorganization of domestic affairs, has just reached me, and I shall not fail to submit it to the President. I am, sir, your obedient servant, CASSIUS M. CLAY, Esq., &c., &c.. &c. WILLIAM H. SEWARD No. 171.] Mr. Seward to Mr. Clay. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, October 2, 1865. SIR: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 24th of August, transmitting a copy, in Russian and English, of the convention of the 9-21st of March, agreed upon by the Russian telegraph department and Messrs. Sibley and Collins, acting on behalf of the American Western Union Telegraph Company. I shall cause the English text to be published without delay. I am, sir, your obedient servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD. SIR: I have received your despatch of the 5th ultimo, No. 86, relative to the misunderstanding existing between the Russian government and the agent of the American Union Telegraph Company, in regard to the construction to be placed upon the charter obtained from the Russian authorities. * The details of the matter are left to your discretion, but it is expected that you will give it your careful attention. I am, sir, your obedient servant, * * WILLIAM H. SEWARD. CASSIUS M. CLAY, Esq., &c., &c., &c. Mr. Seward to Mr. Clay. No 179.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 25, 1865. SIR: Your despatch of the 29th of October, No. 91, has been received. It presents certain views concerning proposed amendments to the Constitution of the United States, which you deem necessary to be effected preliminary to an admission of representatives of the insurgent States into Congress. The despatch closes with an earnest request that it may be laid before the President. I have complied with this request. I avail myself of the occasion to say a word upon requests of that kind which are found in your despatch, as well as in those of others of our representatives abroad. The practice of this department is to submit to the President of the United States, for his perusal, all despatches which emanate from it to foreign countries, and which treat of any matter of a political nature, domestic or foreign, whether they relate to personal interests of the representative or otherwise. The prac tice in regard to despatches received from our representatives in foreign countries is to submit all that relates to questions of the character I have named to the President for his consideration. It is the practice of the President to determine for himself which of the multitude of such despatches he can personally examine compatibly with the multiplicity and variety of his official engagements. |