No. 387.
Mr. Schuyler to Mr. Fish
St Petersburg, September 4, 1872. (Received September 25.)
Sir: People here, as well as elsewhere, are lost in conjecture as to the purpose of the conference of the three Emperors of Russia, Germany and Austria, which will take place at Berlin day after to-morrow. It is thought that this meeting will be fraught with consequences of immense importance for the peace of Europe.
I am unable to give you any information, as nothing is known here, except to the very few persons in the secret, but the bare fact that the Emperors meet, each accompained by a brilliant military staff and by his minister of foreign affairs, with several officials. Count Andrassy takes with him the two leading men of the Austrian department of foreign [Page 497] affairs, and Baron Jomini and Mr. Hamburger, by far the most able men in the Russian foreign office, left here yesterday for Berlin, to meet Prince Gortchakoff there. The Emperor is accompanied by his two sons, the hereditary Grand Duke Alexander and the Grand Duke Vladimir, and his brother the Grand Duke Nicholas, as well as by a numerous staff, including the minister of war and Count Berg, the lieutenant in Poland.
The only official public utterance of any kind on the subject is a speech from the Emperor himself. On the 27th of August His Majesty was at Novotcheskask, and after religious services received the otaraan and leaders of the Cossacks, the generals, marshals of the nobility, and local authorities, and, advancing to the center of the church, spoke as follows:
“After all you heard me say yesterday in your circle, I have only one thing to add: I thank you sincerely for your cordial reception, of which I shall always keep a pleasant remembrance. God grant that it may not be necessary to shed again your precious blood, and at the present moment I see no danger menacing us., In order still more to consolidate peace, I have decided to undertake a journey abroad, and I hope that it will not be without result for us. But in case of necessity I am persuaded that the troops of the Don will reply to my appeal with the ardor they have always shown for the defense of our fatherland.”
Such words in the mouth of an emperor always mean something.
I have, &c,
Chargé d’Affaires ad int.