-moral responsibility will rest with them.’— Mr. Washburne: ‘I don’t see that. I can’t 
do anything in the matter. You had better see Lord Lyons.’ 

“So ended our interview. I left Mr. Washburne sadly disappointed. I found a 
man rude and haughty, with none of those feelings of fraternity you might expect 
to find in the representative of a democratic republic. On two occasions I had had 
the honour of an interview with Lord Cowley, when he was our representative in 
France. His frank, courteous manner formed a striking contrast to the cold, 
pretentious, and would-be-aristocratic style of the American Ambassador. 

“T also urged upon Lord Lyons that, in the defence of humanity, England was 
bound to make an earnest effort at reconciliation, feeling convinced that the British 
Government could. not look coldly on such atrocities as the massacres of the 
Clamart station and Moulin Saquet, not to speak of the horrors of Neuilly, without 
incurring the malediction of every lover of humanity. Lord Lyons answered me 
verbaily through Mr. Edward Malet, his secretary, that he had forwarded my letter 
to the Government, and would willingly forward any other communication I might 
have to make on that subject. At one moment matters were most favourable for 
reconciliation, and had our Government thrown their weight in the balance, the 
world would have been spared the carnage of Paris. At all events, it is not the fault 
of Lord Lyons if the British Government failed in their duty. 

“But, to return to Mr. Washburne. On Wednesday forenoon, the 24th of May, 
I was passing along the Boulevard des Capucines, when I heard my name called, 
and, turning round, saw Dr. Hossart standing beside Mr. Washburne, who was in 
an open carriage amidst a great number of Americans. After the usual salutations, 
I entered into a conversation with Dr. Hossart. Presently the conversation became 
general on the horrid scenes around; when Mr. Washburne, addressing me with 
the air of a man who knows the truth of what he is saying,— ‘All who belong to the 
Commune, and those that sympathize with them, will be shot.’ Alas! I knew that they 

Mr. Washburne, The American Ambassador, in Paris 381 

were killing old and young for the crime of sympathy, but I did not expect to hear it 
semi-officially from Mr. Washburne; yet, while he was repeating this sanguinary 
phrase, there was still time for him to save the Archbishop.” 

II 

“On the 24th of May, Mr. Washburne’s secretary? came to offer to the 
Commune, then assembled at the Mairie of the 11th Arrondissement, on the part of 
the Prussians, an intervention between the Versaillese and the Federals on the 
following terms:— 

“Suspension of hostilities. 

“*Re-election of the Commune on the one side, and of the National Assembly 
on the other. 

“The Versailles troops to leave Paris, and to take up their quarters in and 
around the fortifications. 

“*The National Guard to continue to guard Paris. 

“No punishment to be inflicted upon the men serving or having served in the 
Federal Army.’ 

“The Commune, in an extraordinary sitting, accepted the propositions, with the 
proviso that two months should be given to France in order to prepare for the 
general elections of a Constituent Assembly. 

“A second interview with the Secretary of the American Embassy took place. At 
its morning sitting of the 25th May, the Commune resolved to send _ five 
citizens— amongst them Vermorel, Delescluze, and Arnold—as plenipotentiaries to 
Vincennes, where, according to the information given by Mr. Washburne’s 
secretary, a Prussian delegate would then be found. That deputation was, however, 
prevented from passing by the National Guards on duty at the gate of Vincennes. 
Consequent upon another and final interview with the same American Secretary, 
Citizen Arnold, to whom he had delivered a safe conduct, on the 26th May, went 
to St. Denis, where he was—-not admitted by the Prussians. 

“The result of this American intervention (which produced a belief in the 
renewed neutrality oi, and the intended intercession between the belligerents, by 
the Prussians) was, at the most criticial juncture, to paralyze the defence for two 
days. Despite the precautions taken to keep the negotiations secret, they became 
soon known to the National Guards, who then, full of confidence in Prussian 
neutrality, fled to the Prussian lines, there to surrender as prisoners. It is known 
how this confidence was abused by the Prussians, shooting by their sentries part of 
the fugitives, and handing over to the Versailles Government those who had 
surrendered. 

“During the whole course of the civil war, Mr. Washburne, through his 
secretary, never tired of informing the Commune of his ardent sympathies, which 
only his diplomatic position prevented him from publicly manifesting, and of his 
decided reprobation of the Versailles Government.” 

This statement, No. II., is made by a member of the Paris 
Commune,” who, like Mr. Reid, will, in case of need, confirm it by 
affidavit. 

a J. A. McKean.— Ed. 
b Au. Serraillier.— Fd. 

To fully appreciate Mr. Washburne’s conduct, the statements of 
Mr. Robert Reid and that of the member of the Paris Commune 
must be read as a whole, as part and counterpart of the same 
scheme. While Mr. Washburne declares to Mr. Reid that the 
Communals are “rebels” who deserve their fate, he declares to the 
Commune his sympathies with its cause and his contempt of the 
Versailles Government. On the same 24th of May, while, in presence 
of Dr. Hossart and many Americans, informing Mr. Reid that not 
only the Communals but even their mere sympathizers were 
irrevocably doomed to death, he informed, through his secretary, 
the Commune that not only its members were to be saved, but 
every man in the Federal army. 

We now request you, dear Citizens, to lay these facts before the 
Working Class of the United States, and to call upon them to 
decide whether Mr. Washburne is a proper representative of the 
American Republic. 

The General Council 
of the International Working Men’s Association: — 

M. J. Boon, Fred. Bradnick, G. H. Buttery, Cathill, William Hales, 
Kolb, F. Lessner, George Milner, Thos. Mottershead, Chas. Murray, 
P. MacDonnell, Pfander, John Roach, Rühl, Sadler, Cowell Stepney, 
Alfred Taylor, W. Townshend. 

Corresponding Secretaries: — 

Eugéne Dupont, for France; Karl Marx, for Germany and Holland; 
F. Engels, for Belgium and Spain; H. Jung, for Switzerland; 
P. Gtovacchini, for Italy; Zévy Maurice, for Hungary; Anton Zabicki, 
for Poland; James Cohen, for Denmark; J. G. Eccarius, for the 
United States. 

Hermann Jung, Chairman. George Harris, Financial Sec. 
John Weston, Treasurer. John Hales, General Secretary. 

Office— 256, High Holborn, London, W.C., 
July 11th, 1871