RECOLLECTIONS OF A MINISTER TO FRANCE.
CHAPTER I.
THE LAST DAYS OF THE EMPIRE.
Beginning of term of Service in France—Arrival in Paris—Paris in 1869—Presentation to the Emperor and Empress—General Dix—An election for the Corps Législatif—Discontent in Paris—M. Rouher—“Transcontinental, Memphis, El Paso and Pacific Railway”—Prince de La Tour d’Auvergne—Postal Treaty—Visit to the Imperial Palace at Compiègne—Opening of the Corps Législatif—New Year’s at the Tuileries—Change of Ministry—M. Ollivier.
I PROPOSE to record my reminiscences in Paris and France from the spring of 1869 to the fall of 1877.
My term of service as Minister of the United States to France was eight years and a half, which was a longer term than that of any diplomatic representative we ever had in that country. It comprised one of the most interesting epochs in history, and embraced the siege and Commune of Paris. I write from my personal knowledge and personal recollection, and narrate circumstances and events as they passed under my own observation. On the fifth day of March, 1869, I was commissioned as Secretary of State under the administration of President Grant. Failing health admonished me that I should not be able to discharge the duties of that office, and
