of the Powers who are parties to the Treaty of Peace of 1856 to meet in Conference in London on the 3rd of January next to consider the expediency of revising it. Sir A. Buchanan to Earl Granville.—(Received January 2, 1871.) My Lord, St. Petersburgh, December 27, 1870. PRINCE GORTCHAKOFF mentioned to me this morning that he had just received information that M. Jules Favre would represent France in the Conference about to be held in London, and that a safe-conduct would be granted to him on application being made for it at the military head-quarters of the King of Prussia on the part of Her Majesty's Government. I said to his Excellency that I had been told a request had been addressed to him some days ago to apply for such a safe-conduct. He said it was true he had been asked to do so; but he had answered that the request must be made through Her Majesty's Government. He had, however, mentioned the subject to the Prussian Minister, and Prince Reuss had since informed him that the safe-conduct would be granted immediately on Her Majesty's Government applying for it. I have, &c. (Signed) No. 148. ANDREW BUCHANAN. My Lord, Earl Granville to Lord Lyons. Foreign Office, January 2, 1871. AT an interview which I had with M. Tissot on the 29th ultimo, ne communicated to me, by direction of his Government, a despatch dated the 20th of December, from Count de Chaudordy. In this despatch M. Tissot was informed that the Government remaining in Paris, together with the Delegation at Bordeaux, had decided, as an evidence of the good-will with which they were animated towards those Powers who were desirous of seeing France represented in the Conference, on sending a Plenipotentiary to it; and this decision was stated to have been arrived at mainly in consequence of the urgent desire expressed by Her Majesty's Government upon the subject. After adverting to the peculiar circumstances in which France stands at the present moment, and under which she consents to join the Conference, M. de Chaudordy proceeded to instruct M. Tissot, in communicating the despatch to me, to state that the French Government had recourse to the good offices of Her Majesty's Government in order to obtain from the Prussian head-quarters a safeconduct for the French Plenipotentiary who was to leave Paris for London. In thanking M. Tissot for this communication, I stated to him that I fully appreciated the motives of the French Government in sending their representative to the Conference; that I received the information with much satisfaction, and that it would have been painful to me to attend a Conference on a subject of so much importance to both countries, and for which great sacrifices had been made in common, without the co-operation and assistance of a Representative from France. Foreign Office, January 4, 1871. I HAVE to state to your Excellency that Count Bernstorff has had the goodness to communicate to me a despatch which his Excellency has received from the Prussian Chancellor, dated the 3rd instant, stating that the supposition that M. Jules Favre was desirous of taking part in the approaching Conference appeared to be founded on some misunderstanding, for that the United States' Minister has made some inquiry of him upon the subject, and had reported that M. Favre had no knowledge whatever of the Conference, and did not intend to leave Paris. No. 150. I am, &c. My Lord, Earl Granville to Lord Lyons. Foreign Office, January 4, 1871. WITH reference to the communication made to me by Count Bernstorff of the telegram received by his Excellency from the Prussian Chancellor, and which was repeated in my telegram to your Excellency of this day, at 12:15 A.M., in regard to a supposed misunderstanding with reference to M. Jules Favre's intention to represent France in the forthcoming Conference, I have to instruct your Excellency, in case the doubt which has been raised should be founded in fact, to urge the French Government to nominate a Plenipotentiary to attend the Conference in the place of M. Jules Favre. I am informed that Mr. Moran has not yet received any acknowledgment of the receipt of the bag which was dispatched by him from London on the 16th ultimo; and it is, therefore, improbable that I can receive any answer from M. Favre for a considerable time, even if it were likely that he would modify the decision which he is reported to have taken not to leave Paris for this country. I am, &c. My Lord, Earl Granville to Lord Bloomfield. Foreign Office, January 4, 1871. I LEARN from the Prussian Head-quarters at Versailles that M. Jules Favre has declined to leave Paris for the purpose of attending the approaching Conference. Under these circumstances I have to request you to urge Count Beust to press the French Government to name a Plenipotentiary without delay to be substituted for M. Jules Favre, as it is desirable that the meeting of the Conference should not be much longer deferred. I am, &c. (Signed) GRANVILLE No. 152. Earl Granville to Mr. Odo Russell. Foreign Office, January 5, 1871. Sir, The bag in question contained a note frem me, written after communication with Count Bernstorff, in which I informed M. Jules Favre, that a safe-conduct to enable him to leave Paris for the purpose of attending the Conference would be granted to him by the Prussian Head-quarters at Versailles; and it is desirable that he should receive this note with the least possible delay. The accounts received from Versailles, and those received from Bordeaux, as to the prospects of M. Jules Favre attending the Conference are contradictory, and I should wish you to inform him, if you can find any means of doing so, that the Conference has not yet met, but that its meeting cannot be much longer delayed. (Signed) I am, &c. GRANVILLE. (Extract.) No. 153. Earl Granville to Lord Lyons. Foreign Office, January 6, 1871. AT the present moment, when a doubt has arisen whether, as Her Majesty's Government had reason to hope, the French Government will be enabled to send their Representative to attend the opening of the Conference on the question of the neutralization of the Black Sea, I should wish to recall some of the circumstances attending the discussion which has passed between Her Majesty's Government and the Delegation, in regard to the French nation being represented in the Conference. It is unnecessary that I should refer to the terms in which I have urged your Excellency to make known to the French Government the earnest desire entertained by that of Her Majesty that France should bear her part in any discussions which might take place upon a question of so much interest to all the Great Powers of Europe; and your Excellency has from time to time informed me of the views entertained by the French Government on this matter. The objections which have been entertained by the Delegation of the Government to sending a Representative to the Conference have been very frankly stated to your Excellency by Count de Chaudordy, in the various conversations which you have had with him upon this subject. Yielding, however, ultimately to the earnest wish expressed not only by Her Majesty's Government, but by other Powers who would be represented in the Conference, the Delegation of the Government ultimately gave in their adhesion to the proposal, subject to the assent of the Government at Paris, which Count de Chaudordy engaged to endeavour to obtain; and, on the 26th ultimo, Her Majesty's Government had the satisfaction of receiving your Excellency's telegram of the previous day, in which you reported that the Count de Chaudordy had communicated to you the desire expressed by M. Jules Favre to proceed himself to London to join the Conference; and M. de Chaudordy at the same time requested your Excellency to take steps to obtain, as soon as possible, a safe-conduct for M. Favre, and to request the Prussians to send it themselves into Paris. The steps which Her Majesty's Government have taken in order to bring about this object have already been made known to your Excellency, and it was therefore with some surprise and disappointment that I received from Count Bernstorff the communication of the telegram from Count Bismarck, which I recorded to your Excellency yesterday, to the effect that the supposition that M. Jules Favre was desirous of taking part in the Conference seemed to be based upon some misunderstanding; for that the American Minister had made inquiries of him and had written to say that M. Favre had no knowledge of the Conference, and did not intend to leave Paris, although the report of your Excellency's communication on this subject, recorded in your telegram of yesterday, would warrant the hope that M. Jules Favre's intentions may have been misunderstood, since it would appear that he was probably in ignorance, at the time when the American Minister made his report, of all that had passed between Her Majesty's Government and the Delegation at Bordeaux in regard to the arrangements for the Conference. I have already instructed your Excellency to explain to the French Government the reasons for which they so sincerely desired the presence of a French Representative at the Conference, and it is the less necessary for me to recapitulate them here since they have been fully done justice to by the French Government themselves. Her Majesty's Government have all along deemed it of importance to the Provisional Government to be represented at the Conference, and they considered it very essential to the position which France should henceforth hold in Europe to show that, even at a time of temporary defeat, she has not lost her interest in questions of European importance, and particularly in one in which she herself is so closely concerned; and that she should bear in mind that although engaged in a fearful struggle, she is still the most powerful maritime power of the Continent. I should not have consented to enter the Conference unless France had been invited to attend; I took care to assure myself that her Representative would be treated with all the respect due to the Representative of a great nation; and I shall now take every care that any decision which may be come to, either in the form of a Declaration, or a Protocol, or a Convention, shall be left open for the ultimate adhesion of France, and I shall make a point of communicating with the Representative of France in London before and after each sitting of the Conference: My Lord, No. 154. Lord Lyons to Earl Granville.-(Received January 7, 1871.) Bordeaux, December 31, 1870. THE Comte de Chaudordy told me this morning that he had forwarded to Paris by the most expeditious means at his disposal the intelligence that the Prussian authorities declined to send a flag of truce to Paris, but would grant M. Jules Favre a safe-conduct to go to the Conference if he would apply for one to the Commander-in-chief of the besieging army. He went on to say that, unfortunately, little dependence could be placed upon his despatch's reaching M. Jules Favre in any reasonable time. He added that he had, however, received a telegram from M. Tissot stating that your Lordship had agreed with him upon making an endeavour to induce the Prussian authorities to send some French officer to Paris with the announcement of the safe-conduct, and that you had said that, this failing, you would request the Prussians to forward through the United States' Legation a letter which you would write to M. Jules Favre. Upon this I informed M. de Chaudordy that it appeared from a telegram which had just reached me from your Lordship that a letter had been sent on the 28th instant from Versailles to Paris, by means of the United States' Legation, announcing that M. Jules Favre would obtain a safe-conduct on applying to the Commander of the Third German Army. At the time, M. de Chaudordy said little more than that he feared that, if the latter so sent proceeded only from the Prussian authorities it might not be read with perfect confidence, and that he should be glad that a letter from your Lordship should also be sent. Later however in the day he came to me and observed that it certainly did appear from the letters having been sent from Versailles, that Count Bismarck was in earnest in desiring to enable M. Jules Favre to attend the Conference. This being so, there could, he said, be no reason to doubt that M. Jules Favre would arrive in time to take his proper share, as French Plenipotentiary, in the proceedings, if only a reasonable delay were allowed. It could not be intended that the French Government, having been invited to the Conference, and having done what lay in them to send one of their principal Members to represent France, the proceedings should be carried on in his absence. This would not be giving France a serious part in the matter. M. de Chaudordy must, therefore, beg me to represent to your Lordship that it was hardly possible that M. Favre could under the most favourable circumstances reach London by the 3rd of next month. It seemed, therefore, to be only proper that the first meeting of the Conference should be postponed until his arrival; or that if, in consequence of arrangements already made, an absolute postponement should be very inconvenient, the Plenipotentiaries should only assemble pro forma, and should adjourn to wait for the French Representative. He begged me to lose no time in making an earnest appeal in this sense to your Lordship; and I accordingly dispatched a telegram to you directly he left me. I have, &c. My Lord, Lord Lyons to Earl Granville.-(Received January 7.) Bordeaux, January 3, 1871. THE Comte de Chaudordy expressed to me yesterday the satisfaction with which he had learned that the opening of the Conference was to be postponed for some days, so as to give time for the arrival of the French Plenipotentiary. He told me also that he had been very glad to hear from M. Tissot that your Lordship had yourself addressed a letter to M. Jules Favre, to be sent to Paris through the United States' Legation. The effect of a letter from your Lordship would, he said, be very different from that which could be produced by any communication from Count Bismarck. M. de Chaudordy proceeded to inform me that he had received a letter from M. Jules Favre dated the 30th of last month, but that it did not make any mention of a letter having been received from the Prussian head-quarters. It would seem therefore, he added, that the letter which had, according to Count Bismarck's statement, been sent into Paris on the 28th ultimo, had not reached M. Jules Favre on the 30th. I have, &c. (Signed) LYONS. My Lord, No. 156. Lord Bloomfield to Earl Granville.-(Received January 9.) Vienna, January 5, 1871. UPON the receipt of your Lordship's telegram, dated yesterday 730 P.M., I immediately communicated to Count Beust the intelligence that M. Jules Favre declines leaving Paris, and requested his Excellency, in the name of Her Majesty's Government, to press the French Government to name another Plenipotentiary in his place to attend the Conference about to be opened in London. I have since had an interview with his Excellency, when he told me that he had lost no time in telegraphing to Prince Metternich in the sense desired by your Lordship. No. 157. I have, &c. My Lord, Lord Lyons to Earl Granville.-(Received January 10.) Bordeaux, January 4, 1870. I HAD this afternoon the honour to receive your Lordship's telegram of to-day, informing me that it appeared from a telegram addressed by Count Bismarck to the Prussian Ambassador in London, that, in answer to a question put to him by Mr. Washburne, the United States' Minister at Paris, M. Jules Favre had said that he knew nothing of the Conference, and did not intend to quit the city. I went immediately to Comte de Chaudordy, and asked him what the answer thus attributed to M. Jules Favre could mean. M. de Chaudordy replied that he did not know under what circumstances Mr. Washburne had spoken to M. Jules Favre, but that it was evident that he must have appeared more or less as the Representative of Count Bismarck, and that this being the case, it was only natural that M. Favre should be extremely reserved with him. It was, moreover (M. de Chaudordy went on to say) quite true that at the time Mr. Washburne spoke, M. Favre had very little knowledge of the details respecting the Conference. The latest news from Paris which had been received at Bordeaux was of the 30th December, and on that day nothing had reached Paris from the Government Delegation here of later date than the 12th December. At the time, therefore, of his conversation with Mr. Washburne, M. Favre was in all probability ignorant of the time and place at which it was proposed that the Conference should meet, and did not know that it had been ascertained that France had been properly invited to take part in it, and that her Representative would be received on the same footing as the Plenipotentiaries of the other Powers. Nay, M. Favre could not at that moment have even known that it had been decided that he should himself be the French Plenipotentiary. After explaining his views, he had left this to be determined by the Delegation here, and they, after agreeing that his presence at the Conference would be advisable, had announced his appointment, in virtue of the authority he had given them, to the foreign Powers, and had used such means as they had at their disposal to inform M. Jules Favre as soon as poss ble of what they had done. M. de Chaudordy had himself written repeatedly to him on the subject, but (as he had already told me) nothing of later date than the 12th of last month had reached Paris on the 30th. M. de Chaudordy proceeded to observe that M. Jules Favre, after all that had occurred, could not help looking with great distrust on any communication coming directly or indirectly from Count Bismarck; and had, moreover, a strong disinclination to apply to the Prussian Head-quarters for a safe-conduct. It was, therefore, simply prudent on his part to decline to open himself to Mr. Washburne, who had, it would appear, addressed him on behalf of the Prussian authorities. I said to M. de Chaudordy that I presumed that all difficulty respecting the safeconduct had been got over, as your Lordship had yourself applied for it through the North German Ambassador in London, and had been informed that the Prussians (for reasons entirely unconnected with the Conference) were unwilling to send a flag of truce to the French outposts, but would grant the safe-conduct if a French flag of truce were sent for it. M. de Chaudordy answered that he was informed by M. Tissot that your Lordship had yourself written a letter to M. Jules Favre to be sent into Paris by means of the |