On the 28th ultimo I had an interview with Count Nesselrode on the subject of the application which I made on the 5–17 May, in behalf of Messrs. Shaw & Co., of Boston. The question has not yet been decided.
After the conversation upon this subject, the count informed me that Baron Krudener, in his last despatch, had acknowledged the receipt of the emperor’s ratification of the treaty, and on the first instant I received a note from him communicating the intelligence that the ratifications had been exchanged at Washington on the 11th of May. At this interview I had hoped he would say something concerning the proposed treaty on neutral rights, and gave the conversation such a turn as would naturally lead to the subject.
I enquired when the emperor would leave St. Petersburg. He answered that his majesty would not set out upon his journey into the interior until after the commencement of August. I then replied that before his departure, I should solicit my audience of leave, as I intended to return to the United States during the approaching autumn.
He expressed his regret at my determination and their satisfaction with my conduct as a minister; but made no allusion whatever, either to the treaty or to my note of the 18–30 of May. I felt that it would not be becoming for me again to press this subject upon his attention, and thus we parted.
Perhaps it might have been better under the circumstances not to have attempted a renewal of the negotiation at the present moment.
This government has, for some time, been in possession of secret information which has given them much concern.
The impression is that it was first communicated to the emperor by Louis Philippe. A number of Poles at Paris, driven to desperation by their sufferings, have solemnly sworn before God, and pledged themselves to each other, to assassinate the emperor, at any personal peril.
The first intimation which the public had of the existence of the conspiracy was the publication on the 8–20 June, in the St. Petersburg Journal, of an address presented to the emperor at Helsingfors, during his late visit to Finland; the subject was again referred to in the succeeding number of the 15–27 of the same month. I herewith transmit you both these numbers.
From the desperation of the Poles, and their determined character, this information has excited considerable alarm in St. Petersburg. The people here, whilst they admire and respect the emperor as the author of their security and prosperity, look with fearful apprehension to the future, in the event of his assassination.
The heir apparent is yet a minor, and although he possesses a most amiable disposition, it is believed he is deficient both in talent and strength of character. The Grand Duke Michel, who would become regent, is as universally disliked as the emperor is esteemed. Indeed, in such an event, many of the foreigners in St. Petersburg, knowing the deadly hostility felt against them by the lower orders of Russians, would entertain serious apprehensions for their lives and their property. Such is the miserable condition of despotism; and such is the feeling here, at the very moment when this government, more by its superior policy than its power, has acquired a commanding influence throughout Europe.