File No. 763.72119/222
The Ambassador in France ( Sharp ) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 20, 8.30 a. m.]
1752. Am informed that the President of the Council stated before the Senate this afternoon that the French Government had yesterday received the German proposal for peace from this Embassy, not as the representative of the American Government but as transmitting the communication only; that this note was a veritable war ruse, and that the neutral governments had not allowed themselves to be deceived thereby; that the note had not been communicated to the Allies in the way which Germany would have liked to have seen it done; and that a concerted and meditated answer worthy of the country’s dignity would be made to-morrow.
The Senate later went into secret session.