Count Bismarck to Baron Gerolt
Mr. Bancroft has had the kindness to communicate to Mr. von Thile an extract from a dispatch of Mr. Fish, Secretary of State, whereby he is directed to present the congratulations of His Excellency the President on the union of the German States under a common constitution and on the renewal of the empire in Germany. I have brought this communication to the notice of His Majesty the Emperor and King, who has received it with lively satisfaction. He directs you to thank His Excellency the President, and to assure him that he also feels confident that the German Empire, re-established upon a federative basis, will afford a guarantee for the peace of the world. His Majesty sees an indication of the fulfillment of this hope in the friendly relations which have always uninterruptedly existed between Germany and America, and in the congratulations which have just been offered by His Excellency the President.
You will, in accordance with this most high order, express yourself to Mr. Fish in the sense of this dispatch, and hand him a copy of the same, if he desires it.