Mr. Clay to Mr. Seward
Sir: On Saturday last a grand dinner was given by the “English Club” (now Russian) to the Americans. This club comprises the aristocracy of Russia; and two hundred and fifty persons sat down. Prince Gortchacow presided. I was seated on his immediate right, and Assistant Secretary G. V. Fox on his immediate left; Count Adleberg, grand chargé and minister of the court, his imperial Majesty’s first minister of the household, was immediately opposite Prince Gortchacow, Captain Murray, senior officer, on his right, and Commander Beaumont, of the Miantonomoh, on his left. The first toast was: “The health of the Emperor;” the second, “To the health of the Empress, of the Czarevitsh, the grand duke heritier, and all the imperial family.” The third was: “To the prosperity of the American people, and to the health of their President, and of their representatives here—the ordinary and the extraordinary.”
After dinner, according to custom, began the speeches. J. Tolstoy, the minister of telegraphs and ports, an old director, said: “Prince Alexander, son of Michael, our assembly begs you to express to our American guests the sympathy we have for them; we thank them that they have not refused our invitation; we rejoice that once more they have had an opportunity to witness the expression of the sentiments which Russia cherishes for America.” Prince Gortchacow responded: “Gentlemen, our friends from beyond the Atlantic know the sentiments which their presence among us and the object of their coming inspires. These sentiments have been expressed to them by all the degrees of the social scale—there where mind ornaments thought, and where the heart only knows its primitive expression. They make themselves known as the echo of a single voice—mine could hardly embellish it. The exceptional act, unique in history, by which Congress has sent a message of affection to our sovereign, the choice of the person who has been charged with it, of whom all of us have appreciated the high distinction, calm dignity united to warmth of heart, the courageous skill of those who have directed the passage, in resolving a problem, which till now had eluded modern science; finally the fact that among us is found a representative of that nation, who, during a series of years and under all circumstances has given proofs of the highest desire to maintain the good understanding! between the two countries—all that, gentlemen, completed work of harmony without disaccord.
[Page 419]“I rejoice at the presence of these gentlemen in our midst; for I believe that Russia loses nothing by being seen more closely (de pres.) Distance rounds the lines of the far horizon, but it prevents a thorough knowledge of the details of the situation.
“I congratulate myself that practical minds, strangers to all prejudice, have come to judge us as we are. They will have had also an opportunity of appreciating the sovereign, who is the greatest glory of the country, and the nation, who is his strength.
“It is said that good reigns constituse the blank pages of history. This saying is not absolutely true. If there is a reign whose every page is fruitful of reforms of high bearing in the interest of the interior organization; if there is a reign devoted in its present solicitude in view of a great future, it is that which to-day unites the affectionate and devoted sentiments of the country, because all of us have the inmost conviction that every interest of that noble existence is consecrated with unlimited self-denial to the well-being of our country. I will only cite among those many works the greatest of all, that of the emancipation, and I here ask our American friends the permission of an outbreak of frankness (d’un elau de franchise.) The message of the Congress contains an error, which can only be explained by the intervening distance, when they make mention of an ‘enemy of emancipation.’ The madman to whom allusion is made belonged to no nationality. He had no personal stake in the destinies of the country. He represented only the blind chance of his birth. In Russia, gentlemen, there exists not a single enemy of emancipation. The class upon which that measure has imposed heavy sacrifices have hailed it with the same enthusiasm as those who owe to it their liberty. That is a testimony which our sovereign was the first to render to his territorial nobility; and I believe, gentlemen, that in these walls, where are united the intelligence and interests of that class, there will no voice be raised to contradict my words.
“I need not insist upon the manifestations of sympathy between the two countries. They shine out in broad daylight. It is one of the most interesting facts of our day—a fact which creates between two peoples—I will venture to say between two continents—the germs of good will and reciprocal friendship which will bear fruit; which create traditions, and which tend to consolidate between them relations based upon a true spirit of Christian civilization. That understanding does not rest upon geographical neighborhood—the sea’s abyss divides us; nor does it rest upon parchments—I find no trace of it in the archives of the ministry confided to myself; it is instructive; from this time I venture to call it providential. I approve of that good understanding (entente;) I have faith in its duration. In my political policy, all my cares will tend to its consolidation. I say cares (soins) and not efforts (efforts) when we have to do with a reciprocal and spontaneous attraction.
“One motive which leads me to proclaim aloud that entente is, because it is not a menace or a peril to anybody. It inspires me with no coveteousness, with no afterthought. The Lord has made the existence of the two countries upon such conditions that their great interior life is for them enough. The United States are at home invulnerable. That state of things does not alone depend upon the fact that an ocean rampart defends then from European conflicts, but upon the public spirit which there reigns upon the personal character of their citizens.
“America can experience no other evil than what she may inflict upon herself. We have veiled with black the melancholy pages of these latter times. We have seen with profound regret the struggle between the brothers of the north and the brothers of the south; but we have always had faith in the final triumph of the Union; and we hope for its durable consolidation from the efforts of the actual President, whose policy, breathing at the same time firmness and moderation, has all our sympathies.
“I allow myself to find also a certain analogy between the two countries. [Page 420] Russia by her geographical position can be drawn into European complications. The chances of war may make us submit to reverses. Nevertheless I think that the same invulnerability exists equally for Russia, which she would at all times prove when the dignity and honor of the country should be seriously threatened; for then, as in all the crises of her history, the true power of Russia would be manifest. It does not consist only in the territorial vastness, or in the number of her population; it is in the intimate and indissoluble tie which binds the nation to the sovereign, and which consigns to his hands all the material and intellectual forces of the empire, as it concentrates in him to-day all the sentiments of love and devotion. I thank you, gentlemen, for the indulgence you have given my words whilst regretting that the sentiments which animate us have received so imperfect utterance.
“Before concluding, I desire that there should be no omission with which our American friends could justly reproach us if I should omit to devote some words of respect to the memory of President Lincoln; of that great citizen who has sacrificed his life in the discharge of his duty.
“Be pleased to allow me, in returning upon the health that we have already proposed, to give a toast to the prosperity of the United States; to the success of the work of pacification; to the actual President; to Mr. Fox, to whom has! been confided a task which could not have been put into better hands; to Captains Murray and Beaumont, whose intrepid skill has insured the success of this distant voyage, as well as collectively to all those who have participated in it. I will not commit the ingratitude to forget the actual representative of the United States, now among us, who has constantly given us proofs of his affection for Russia.
“When our friends from America shall return to their homes, I desire that they shall carry with them and perpetuate the sentiments which they bequeath us; that they will tell their compatriots that a great nation will never forget the evidence of sympathy offered their sovereign; that they will never forget that which is found in the history of the two nations, the moment when we and our American friends have lived the same life, when they partook of our joys and shared our woes.”
Assistant Secretary Fox spoke as follows:
“In the presence of him who has spoken in the name of Russia I should not say a word. My mission was finished when I placed in the hands of his imperial Majesty the resolution of Congress. In remaining in Russia to accept its hospitality and courtesy, I have assumed a duty very difficult and very delicate, that of representing faithfully, day after day, the spirit which dictated that resolution. Until after my return to Washington, and I shall have received the approbation or the blame of my government, I shall not know if I have been faithful to that obligation. That which I do know is, that everywhere in Russia, from the most elevated to the most humble, there has been unanimity in the welcome we have received. In the course of a reception without precedent even in this empire, the people, the great people, upon whose shoulders rests the national unity, has spread its wide sympathies before us as a garment spread under our feet. If there has been any shortcoming, it is on my part alone and not on the part of any Russian. And now to the word of welcome, and the bright skies which have accompanied it, have succeeded the word of adieu and the gloomy damp of winter which draws nigh; but beyond is the eternal sunshine. Human passions may in the future raise menacing clouds between the two countries. God grant that those who shall then have control of affairs may, like Paul, see a heavenly light shine above them, a diviner light emanating from the sympathies of these last days. When the gloomy night of civil war, was spread over America, there was one statesman whose prophetic glance perceived the dawn of final victory. His words of sympathy, fallen into our hearts, [Page 421] have there grown as pearls. He now approaches the evening of life; the glories of the setting sun, emblems of his career, shine around him. As by the grace of God the sun stood still for Joshua, so may it linger a long time before the eyes of the two nations that their gaze may be towards him, till God shall recall him to himself.
“I drink to the health of Prince Gortchacow.”
Count David off then delivered a long and complimentary speech to the Americans. It has been my policy and duty here to put forward Mr. Fox and his suite, and therefore I had not intended to say anything in response to the compliment paid me; but being called upon, I said:
“Gentlemen, I am not insensible to your kindness, but after the able and exhaustive speeches of my distinguished friends, Prince Gortchacow, Count Davidoff, and Secretary Fox, it only remains for me to return my thanks to the eminent minister of foreign affairs for the compliment he has been pleased to pay me. Having always been the friend of Russia, because she has always been the friend of my own country, I shall venture a word in the spirit which has pervaded all my political and social intercourse with this great nation. Peace seems to be deemed here, as with us, the true policy. With a people of more than seventy millions, with one language and one religion, strong in the love of their father and Emperor, Russia can treat with indifference the petty questions of the balance of power in Europe, and devote all her energies to the development of her civil, social, and material well-being. I propose as a sentiment, then: Commerce, agriculture, education, and manufactures—more powerful than arms to maintain the independence and liberties of a people.”
Captain Murray said: “I thank Prince Gortchacow for his amiable compliments; he was incapable of expressing the sentiments which filled his heart.
“However, he would say, once for all, a similar occasion presenting itself to him, perhaps for the last time, that the gracious hospitality given to the officers here, as everywhere in Russia, has produced upon them such an impression as the most remote time will never efface.
“It has been very justly remarked that the sea has its dangers, but we have braved them only to present ourselves to much greater dangers upon the land. We are not sure whether there will be allowed us a like triumph after touching upon the rocks of Russian hospitality.
“Gentlemen, I propose a toast to the prosperity of this magnificent club, which, in its present organization, has so many things worthy of admiration. It would have been preferable, perhaps, if it had borne another name, but ‘the rose under whatever name smells as sweetly’ so, long live the English Club!”
Commander J. C. Beaumont, being called for, said: “He also thanked Prince Gortchacow for the flattering mention of his name. He had desired also to have proposed the prosperity of the club, but had been anticipated by his friend Captain Murray, so that it only now remained to him with all his heart to drink to the hospitable spirit which had to-day brought us together.”
I have thus given you the principal speeches, from the French of the St. Petersburg Journal in the order in which they were made. As a semi-official shadowing of the future policy of this government, I make you a full and accurate report of Prince Gortchacow’s views on the situation. I need only remark that they were received with the greatest enthusiasm and respect.
I have the honor to be your most obedient servant,
Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.