No. 152.
Mr. Moran
to Mr. Fish.
Legation of the
United States,
London, November 23, 1872.
(Received December 9.)
No. 420.]
Sir: I have the honor to inform you that I had a
visit on the 8th instant from General J. O. Kirkham, an
Englishman calling himself “Special envoy of His Majesty Yourness, Emperor
of Abyssinia,” who requested me to transmit a sealed letter from him to the
President, which he had written in his official character. I explained to
him that such a letter from the Emperor himself would be proper, but that
any communication he had to make as representative of that sovereign should
be addressed to you. He accordingly sent me on the 16th instant the letter
which I have now the honor to enclose herewith.
I have since learned informally from Lord Granville that General
Kirkham presented himself some time ago at the
foreign office as special envoy from Abyssinia, but, being an Englishman,
was not received in that capacity. He bore a sealed autograph letter from
the Emperor to the Queen, which was accepted from him as special bearer
thereof, and delivered to Her Majesty, but not before a copy had been placed
in Lord Granville’s hands, His lordship did not, therefore, receive General
Kirkham officially $ but as Her Majesty’s
government are disposed to cultivate friendly relations with Abyssinia he
was accepted in the capacity of a bearer of a special communication to the
Queen from the Emperor Yourness, with the understanding that the foreign
office could hold no official relations with him. This course is not,
however, intended to cast discredit on him or his mission, but is in
accordance with the practice of Her Majesty’s government not to receive any
of her subjects as diplomatic representatives of foreign powers, The case of
Sir John Bowning is in point, a full report of which
will be found in Mr. Motley’s No. 514, addressed to you on the 10th of
November, 1870.
I understand that General Kirkham has addressed a
similar letter to the one inclosed to M. de Eemusat for M. Thiers, which was
forwarded to Paris through the French embassy in London, and formally
acknowledged.
I do not learn that General Kirkham has a letter of
credence from the Emperor of Abyssinia, but believe from his reception at
the French embassy that he is provided with one.
Herewith I send copies of a letter addressed to me by General
Kirkham, and my reply.
I am, &c.,
[Inclosure 1.]
General Kirkham to,
Mr. Fish.
London, November 14,
1872.
Sir: I have come from Abyssinia as the special
envoy of the Emperor Yourness to the Emperors of Russia, Germany,
Austria, the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland ancl the President of
the French Republic.
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Before quitting the Abyssinian capital I had frequent conversations with
His Majesty the Emperor Yourness concerning the United States. The
Emperor Yourness is a keen man, but he knows more of his own cherished
antiquities than he does of the institutions which have wrought out your
American prosperity. He could not exactly understand a republic. For
this reason I am not a bearer of an autograph letter from His Majesty to
the President of the United States, yet I was authorized by the Emperor
to solicit aid and sympathy from the Christian world, because I have
been for four years his commander-in-chief, and I am proud to know from
my travels in your country that Americans voice is both potent and
sincere.
In all of Abyssinia we have nearly 8,000,000 Christians. They are the
prey of Mussulmans, and are sought as slaves. For many centuries the
Turks and Egyptians have succeeded in seducing or coercing them into
bondage, and the function of Christian Abyssinia in Africa is now
considered to be the slave-mart for the Turkish Empire. Egypt, in order
to further her schemes against Abyssinia, undertook a hostile expedition
against the Emperor Yourness when His Majesty was absent in the
Azobo-Galla country endeavoring to suppress a rebellion.
The Viceroy of Egypt has seized a great province called Bogos, and now
holds it by the power of conquest. The Emperor considers this forcible
and unjustifiable occupation of his territory as a crime. The Emperor
Yourness is a progressive ruler. He saw by the Magdala campaign that
progress was necessary for his people, and he has ever sought to
establish it in Abyssinia, but he has not been encouraged. The Christian
powers know nothing of his country, though Bruce and Salt wrote of its
vast resources a century ago. My mission is therefore threefold:
- First. To prevent Egypt from an aggressive movement against
Abyssinia.
- Second. To give Abyssinia a port on the Red Sea, in order that
she may communicate with the outside world.
- Third. The establishment of a commercial treaty.
While the United States are nobly looking for the development of heathen
Japan in the West, it does seem to me that they may cast a sympathetic
glance at Christian Abyssinia in the East. America has lately given
freedom to 4,000,000 of slaves; can she not also give her moral support
to 8,000,000 of Christians honestly struggling out of African bondage
and barbarism? If the Government of the United States can give to
Abyssinia moral if not material support, we promise them we can
extinguish one of the great fountains of the African slave-trade in the
Walla-Galla country, from which land is recruited 90,000 slaves a
year.
Abyssinia is the true highway to Central Africa, and to the solution of
all natural and geographical problems now surrounding that unknown
region. If, when the Abyssinian rulers applied to the Portuguese kings,
those monarchs had listened to the entreaties of Abyssinia, I believe
Africa would not have required Dr. Livingstones or Sir Samuel Bakers
to-day. The whole continent would have been well known and in a fair
state of civilization. I address you, therefore, as Secretary of State,
knowing that by your distinguished qualities as a statesman you can
appreciate the aspirations as well as the miseries of a people who, if
they are not great, are yet the pioneers of Christianity in Africa.
I respectfully ask that these and any statements I may address to you may
be laid before the Congress of the United States, and that an
acknowledgment of this dispatch may be sent to Henry Samuel King, esq.,
65 Cornhill, London.
Any further and special information will be cheerfully forwarded to the
Government of the United States.
I remain, sir, your humble and obedient servant,
Hon. Hamilton
Fish,
Secretary of
State, Washington.
[Inclosure 2.]
Mr. Kirkham to Mr.
Moran.
London, November 6,
1872.
Sir: Will you be kind enough to inform me when
and where I can deliver to you dispatches for the President of the
United States, coming from me, a special envoy of His Majesty Johannez,
Emperor of Abyssinia?
[Page 312]
I have the honor to remain, sir, with sentiments of my most distinguished
consideration,
Your very obedient servant,
J. C. KIRKHAM,
39 Guilford Street.
Hon. Benjamin
Moran,
Chargé d’Affaires
of the United States.
[Inclosure 3.]
Mr. Moran to Mr.
Kirkham.
Legation of
the United States,
5 Westminster
Chambers, November 7,
1872.
Sir: I have had the honor to receive your
letter of yesterday’s date asking to be informed when and where you can
deliver to me dispatches for the President of the United States, coming
from you as the special envoy of His Majesty Johannez, Emperor of
Abyssinia, and I beg to say that I shall be happy to receive you here at
12 o’clock tomorrow, the 8th instant.
I am, sir, with great respect, your very obedient servant,
J. C. Kirkham, &c., &c., &c.,
39 Guilford Street, London.
