I went without any loss of time to the Comte de Chaudordy, and asked him to give me, if possible, the means of sending to your Lordship at once the information you required. He said that, as matters stood, it was impossible for him to give me a definitive answer on the part of the French Government. He must, he said, wait for instructions from the Government at Paris, to whom the invitation had been referred. He expected to receive those instructions by the first opportunity; he thought it, indeed, not improbable that they might be in a balloon which was reported to have come down at Honfleur. He would promise to let me know the instant he received the orders of the Paris Government. In the meantime, however, he particularly begged me to say to your Lordship that, under certain conditions, the Delegation at Bordeaux would have no hesitation in accepting at once, on behalf of the whole Government, the invitation to the Conference. If Her Majesty's Government would obtain for France an armistice on the basis of a proportionate revictualling of Paris, and thus facilitate the convocation of a National Assembly; or if Her Majesty's Government would give the French Government an assurance that the questions between France and Prussia should be treated in the Conference, there would be no further difficulty. On either of these conditions the Delegation here would be warranted in declaring immediately the assent of France. On leaving M. de Chaudordy I despatched a telegram to your Lordship conveying the substance of what he had said. My Lord, Foreign Office, December 20, 1870. I HAVE to-day received your Excellency's telegram of the 19th instant, and I have to request that you will express to the French Government the satisfaction with which Her Majesty's Government have learnt the decision come to by them to send a Representative to the proposed Conference; and I need not say that I shall receive with pleasure any one whom the French Government may think fit to appoint with this object. Count Bernstorff, with whom I have communicated on this subject, has expressed his readiness to forward to Versailles my application for a safe-conduct for the French Envoy, as soon as I am enabled to furnish him with his name. It will be desirable that your Excellency should ascertain from the French Government whether they are aware that the proposal is that there should be only one Plenipotentiary appointed to represent each country at the Conference; and that all the other countries taking part therein have appointed their Representatives at the Court of London. Without venturing to offer the French Government advice in this respect, I may be allowed to express the great regret which I should feel at the absence of M. Tissot from the deliberations of the Conference, as his intimate acquaintance with the affairs of the East, and the excellent position which he has created for himself in this country, would have rendered his services of no little value. My Lord, Foreign Office, December 21, 1870. I HAVE received your Excellency's despatch of the 8th instant, reporting your communications with the Count de Chaudordy as to the acceptance by the Members of the French Government at Paris of the proposed Conference on the Russian question, and in which his Excellency represented the anomalous position in which France would stand in such a Conference, and urged upon Her Majesty's Government the duty of insisting upon such concessions being made by Prussia as would render it possible for France to appear in the Conference with dignity and honour, with which object the Government of National Defence again urge Her Majesty's Government to use their efforts to obtain for France an armistice on reasonable conditions. The despatch which I addressed to your Excellency on the 10th instant,* after the receipt of your telegram of the 8th of this month, and in which I recorded my communications with M. Tissot on the points adverted to in your present despatch, together with my despatch to your Excellency of the 14th instant,† recording my interview with M. Reitlinger, state so fully the views of Her Majesty's Government on this subject, as well as their conviction of the inutility of any more active steps on their part at the present moment with a view to bring about an armistice, that I feel it is not necessary for me to recapitulate them in answer to your present despatch. I am, &c. My Lord, In thanking M. Tissot for this communication I assured him that it would encourage me to send out the formal invitations to the Conference; that I should consider the French Government uncommitted in regard to accepting the invitation, but that, on the other hand, I trusted that the forwarding them to the various Courts would not be construed into any want of respect by the French Government. M. Tissot entirely agreed to these observations. I am, &c. My Lord, Lord Lyons to Earl Granville.-(Received December 22.) Bordeaux, December 18, 1870. I HAVE already had the honour to inform your Lordship by telegraph that the Comte de Chaudordy received this evening a despatch from Paris dated yesterday, which announced to him that the Government there had considered the proposal made to France to take part in a Conference on the question raised by the Russian circular, and had determined that a Plenipotentiary should be deputed to represent this country in the proposed Conference. M. de Chaudordy brought me this intelligence himself, and authorized me to transmit it at once to Her Majesty's Government, who would, he hoped, see in it a fresh proof of the desire of the French Government to testify its regard for them. No. 126. Earl Granville to M. Tissot. I have, &c. (Signed) LYONS. M. le Chargé d'Affaires, Foreign Office, December 23, 1870. THE several Powers parties to the General Treaty signed at Paris on the 30th of March, 1856, having agreed that a Conference should be held in London for the consideration of certain matters stipulated in that Treaty with respect to the neutralization of the Black Sea, I have the honour to request that you will acquaint your Government that I have proposed that the Conference should be opened at the Foreign Office on the 3rd of January, 1871, at 1 o'clock in the afternoon, by which time I trust that the * See "Further Correspondence respecting the War between France and Germany (No. 1: 1871)," No. 314. + Ibid., No. 317. Plenipotentiary of France will have received the requisite authority to enter upon such matters in Conference with the Plenipotentiaries of the other Powers, parties to the said Treaty. I am, &c. (Signed) GRANVILLE. No. 127. Earl Granville to Baron Brunnow.* M. le Ministre, Foreign Office, December 23, 1870. THE several Powers parties to the General Treaty signed at Paris on the 30th of March, 1856, having agreed that a Conference should be held in London for the consideration of certain matters stipulated in that Treaty with respect to the neutralization of the Black Sea, I have the honour to request your attendance at the Foreign Office on the 3rd of January, 1871, at 1 o'clock in the afternoon, to enter upon such matters in Conference with the Plenipotentiaries of the other Powers, parties to the said Treaty. No. 128. I am, &c. M. le Comte, Count Apponyi to Earl Granville.-(Received December 24.). Belgrave Square, le 27 Décembre, 1870. PAR sa note en date d'hier votre Excellence m'informe que les Puissances signataires du Traité conclu à Paris, le 30 Mars, 1856, sont convenues qu'une Conférence serait tenue à Londres afin de prendre en considération certaines stipulations de ce Traité relatives à la neutralisation de la Mer Noire, et en conséquence vous me faites l'honneur, M. le Comte, de m'inviter à me rendre au Foreign Office, Mardi le 3 Janvier, 1871, pour conférer sur les matières sus-énoncées avec les Plénipotentiaires des Puissances co-signataires du dit Traité. Ayant reçu de Sa Majesté Impériale et Royale Apostolique les pleins-pouvoirs nécessaires pour représenter son Gouvernement dans cette Conférence, je m'empresserai de me rendre à l'invitation de votre Excellence au jour et à l'heure indiqués; et je saisis, &c. M. le Comte, Belgrave Square, December 27, 1870. YOUR Excellency in your note of yesterday informs me that the Powers, signataries of the Treaty concluded at Paris of the 30th of March, 1856, have agreed that a Conference should be held in London in order to take into consideration certain stipulations of that Treaty relative to the neutralization of the Black Sea, and, in consequence, you do me the honour of requesting my attendance at the Foreign Office on Tuesday, the 3rd of January, 1871, to confer on the above-mentioned matters with the Plenipotentiaries of the Powers co-signataries of the said Treaty. to Having received from His Imperial and Apostolic Majesty the full powers necessary represent his Government in that Conference, I shall not fail to avail myself of your Excellency's invitation on the day and at the hour mentioned. I have, &c. * Similar letters were addressed to Musurus Pasha, Count Bernstorff, Count Apponyi, and the Chevalier Cadorna. (Translation.) No. 129. Count Bernstorff to Earl Granville.-(Received December 24.) Prussia House, December 24, 1870. I HAVE had the honour to receive your Excellency's invitation to the Conference which will be opened on the 3rd of January, 1871, at 1 o'clock in the afternoon at the Foreign Office, in order to take into consideration certain questions relative to the neutralization of the Black Sea, and I shall not fail to be present at the appointed sitting. No. 130. I have, &c. My Lord, Lord Lyons to Earl Granville.—(Received December 26.) Bordeaux, December 21, 1870. IN obedience to the instructions conveyed to me by your Lordship's telegram of yesterday, I informed the Comte de Chaudordy this afternoon that I was desired to express to him the satisfaction with which Her Majesty's Government had learned that the Government of France had consented to take part in the proposed Conference on the question raised by the Russian Circular. With regard to M. de Chaudordy's request that your Lordship would obtain a safeconduct for a French Plenipotentiary to come out of Paris to attend the Conference, I said that Her Majesty's Government would receive with great pleasure any Plenipotentiary whom the French Government might select; and I added that the North German Ambassador in London had promised your Lordship to forward an application from you for the safe conduct, so soon as you should make him acquainted with the name to be inserted in it. I mentioned incidentally to M. de Chaudordy that it was proposed that there should be only one Plenipotentiary for each country, and I added that I understood that the several Governments intended to depute their ordinary Representatives in London to be their Plenipotentiaries. M. de Chaudordy begged me to give your Lordship his thanks for your readiness to apply for the safe-conduct, and said that he would let you know as soon as possible the name of the French Plenipotentiary. My Lord, Musurus Pasha to Earl Granville.-(Received December 26.) Londres, le 24 Décembre, 1870. J'AI eu l'honneur de recevoir la note que votre Excellence a bien voulu m'adresser en date du 23 de ce mois, et par laquelle, à la suite de l'accord des Puissances signataires du Traité Général du 30 Mars, 1856, pour la réunion d'une Conférence à Londres en vue d'examiner certains points stipulés dans ce Traité, elle m'invite à me rendre au Foreign Office, le 3 Janvier, 1871, à une heure de l'après-midi, pour entrer en Conférence sur ces points avec les Plénipotentiaires des autres Puissances, co-signataires du dit Traité. En réponse, je m'empresse d'informer votre Excellence que j'aurai l'honneur de me rendre au Foreign Office, au jour et à l'heure indiqués, pour prendre part à la Conférence comme Plénipotentiaire de la Sublime Porte. My Lord, (Translation.) (Signé) J'ai, &c. MUSURUS. London, December 24, 1870. I HAVE had the honour to receive your Excellency's note dated the 23rd of this month, in which, in consequence of the agreement of the Powers signataries of the General Treaty of March 30, 1856, to convoke a Conference at London with a view to examining certain points stipulated in that Treaty, you invite me to attend at the Foreign Office on the 3rd of January, 1871, at 1 o'clock, to confer on those points with the Plenipotentiaries of the other Powers co-signataries of the said Treaty. In reply I beg to inform your Excellency that I shall have the honour of attending at the Foreign Office on the day and at the hour mentioned, to take part in the Conference as the Plenipotentiary of the Sublime Porte. I have, &c. (Signed) MUSURUS. No. 132. M. le Comte, Baron Brunnow to Earl Granville.-(Received December 27.) Londres, le Décembre, 1870. J'AI l'honneur d'accuser réception de la note en date du 23 Décembre, par laquelle votre Excellence a bien voulu m'inviter à me rendre à la Conférence qui sera tenue au Foreign Office, Mardi, le 3 Janvier, à 1 heure. Conformément aux instructions de ma Cour, je me ferai un devoir de prendre part à cette réunion à l'heure indiquée. M. le Comte, London, December 14, 1870. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of the note dated the 23rd of December, in which your Excellency invites me to be present at the Conference which will be held at the Foreign Office on Tuesday, the 3rd of January, at 1 o'clock. In conformity with the instructions of my Court I shall not fail to be present at the hour named. Accept, &c. (Signed) BRUNNOW. No. 133. M. Tissot to Earl Granville.--(Received December 28.) M. le Comte, Londres, le 27 Décembre, 1870. LE Délégué du Ministre des Affaires Etrangères me charge de porter à la connaissance de votre Excellence que le Plénipotentiaire de la France désigné pour prendre part à la Conférence qui doit se réunir à Londres, le 3 Janvier prochain, est M. Jules Favre, Ministre des Affaires Etrangères. M. le Comte de Chaudordy exprime l'espoir que votre Excellence voudra bien obtenir du quartier du Général Prussien les facilités nécessaires pour que M. Jules Favre puisse accomplir cette mission. M. de Chaudordy ajoute qu'il serait désirable, afin d'éviter tout retard, que l'on fût averti à Paris, par le quartier-général Prussien, que les saufs-conduits sont accordés au Ministre des Affaires Etrangères et qu'on lui désignât le jour où il pourra en profiter. Veuillez, &c. (Signé) CH. TISSOT. (Translation.) My Lord, London, December 27, 1870. THE Delegate of the Minister for Foreign Affairs directs me to inform your Excellency that the Plenipotentiary for France appointed to take part in the Conference which will meet in London on the 3rd of January next, is M. Jules Favre, the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Count de Chaudordy expresses a hope that your Excellency will be so good as to obtain from the head-quarters of the Prussian General the facilities necessary to enable M. Favre to carry out this mission. Count de Chaudordy adds that it would be desirable, in order to avoid delay, that notice should be given at Paris by the Prussian head-quarters |