No. 224.
Mr. Washburne to Mr. Fish.
Paris, June 18, 1875. (Received June 26.)
Sir: Returning this moment from the funeral of Count de Rémusat at the Madeleine, where a vast throng, including the most illustrious men of France, gathered to do honor to his memory, I have thought it proper to devote the few lines of this dispatch to this illustrious man, with whom I was long brought into official and personal relations, and who was so distinguished for his liberal opinions, and well known for his friendship for our country and its institutions.
Every intelligent American will sympathize in the grievous loss which France has sustained in the sudden demise of this statesman and scholar, whose name was one of the glories of the republic.
Count Charles Francois Marie de Rémusat died at his residence in this city on Sunday morning last, in the 79th year of his age. The impression caused by his death, particularly in the ranks of those who cherished liberal political opinions, and in the circles of literary men, has been wonderfully marked, and elaborate and touching tributes have been everywhere paid to his memory. Born at Paris, in 1797, he had consecrated his long life to study, to letters in almost every department, to active politics, to the service of his country. In 1830 he was elected a member of the chamber of deputies, and in 1840 was made minister of the interior in what was known as the cabinet of the first of March. In 1846 he was chosen a member of the Academy, and has ever since held a conspicuous position in that illustrious body of savants. After the revolution of February 24, 1848, he was elected a member of the Constituent Assembly from the Haute-Garonne, and re-elected in 1849 to the Legislative Assembly, of which he was still a member when he was driven into exile by the coup d’état of 1851. Referring to this exile, the Duke d’Audiffiet-Pasquier, the president of the Assembly, who is as much noted for hostility to the empire and to Bonapartism as he is distinguished by his high honor and chivalrous character, in announcng the death of the eminent deputy yesterday to the Assembly, said: “The empire did him the honor to proscribe him.” From that time until 1871, he remained in dignified retirement, devoting his ever-active mind to literature, philosophy, and science. He ranked among the profound scholars of this age, and his literary activity was extraordinary.
At the close of the Franco-German war, yielding to the wishes of Mr. Thiers, whom he admired, and with whom he had been closely allied for forty years, in answer to an appeal to his friendship and patriotism, he accepted the position of minister of foreign affairs, although he was then in private life and not a member of the Assembly. He held this post until the overthrow of the Thiers government, on the 24th May, 1873.
At the time of his death he was a member of the Assembly from the Haute Garonne, a department in which he had a large property, near Toulouse, and where he spent a portion of every year with his family.
It was when he became minister of foreign affairs that I first made the acquaintance of Count de Rémusat. As he held that position from August, 1871, until May, 1873, I had occasion to see much of him officially and socially, and I cherish with profound satisfaction the souvenirs of my intercourse with him, and of the friendly feeling he always evinced for our country; and what was my own experience was that of the whole diplomatic corps. No man in an official capacity was ever [Page 471] more amiable or cordial in his personal intercourse. To quick intelligence and rare culture, he united the simplest manners and most unaffected modesty. His genial disposition, the graces of his spirit, and the charm of his conversation, left upon all the impression of his purity and worth as a citizen, his accomplishments as a statesman, and his fidelity, honesty, and patriotism as a public servant. The love of France was the hope and inspiration of his life.
Madame Rémusat, who survives him, was a Mile, de Lasleyrie, and grand-daughter of Lafayette. Her partiality for Americans has made her well known to many of our country-people, by whom she is beloved, as she is by all who have the happiness to know her; for she possesses all the graces and virtues that adorn the female character.
Count Rémusat belonged to that political group of the chamber, known as the center left, embracing such men as Thiers, Casimir Perier, Leon Say, Dufaure, Calmon, Waddington, Laboulaye, and Oscar de Lafayette. Though always holding liberal opinions, his inclinations were monarchical; but yielding to the logic of events and the demands of circumstances, it was his judgment that the republic was the only form of government that could give peace and safety to France. Hence he loyally accepted it, and gave it the support of his influence and his name, and sustained it by his counsels, his votes, and his sympathy.
Eminent as was M. de Rémusat in the fields of literature and politics,, it was in private life, in that highly cultivated, thoughtful, and appreciative society in which he moved, that his character showed its finest traits. Such was the elevation of his tone, the beauty of his interior life, and the interest of his conversation, that he was the charm of every circle.
As I write, the last of those who formed his funeral cortège are returning from the cemetery of Picpus, where his remains are placed near the ashes of Lafayette and many other distinguished members of that family.
I have, &c.,