James Buchanan.
In a despatch to Mr. Marcy, written soon after his appearance at the Queen’s levée, Mr. Buchanan said: “I have purposely avoided to mention the names of those with whom I have had interviews on this subject, lest it might expose them to censorious remarks hereafter; but having mentioned that of Sir Edward Cust, the master of ceremonies, in my despatch No. 13, of the 28th October last, it is but an act of simple justice to state, that at the court on Wednesday last, his attentions to me were of the kindest and most marked character, and have placed me under many obligations. In the matter of the sword, I yielded without reluctance to the earnest suggestion of a high official character, who said that a sword, at all the courts of the world, was considered merely as the mark of a gentleman, and although he did not mention the queen’s name, yet it was evident, from the whole conversation, that this was desired as a token of respect for her Majesty. He had, on a former occasion, expressed the hope that I would wear something indicating my official position, and not appear at court, to employ his own language, in the dress I wore upon the street. I told him promptly that I should comply with his suggestion, and that in wearing a sword at court, as an evidence of the very high regard which I felt for her Majesty, I should do nothing inconsistent with my own character as an American citizen, or that of my country. I might have added that as ‘the simple dress of an American citizen’ is exactly that of the upper court servants, it was my purpose from the beginning to wear something which would distinguish me from them. At the first, I had thought of United States buttons; but a plain dress sword has a more manly and less gaudy appearance. I hope I am now done with this subject forever.”
So that, after all, it appears plainly enough that, so far as the queen herself was concerned, her Majesty’s wish was only that the representative of the nation nearest in blood to her own, should honor his country by paying to her a mark of respect, by a token that would indicate the official position in which he stood before her. As soon as Mr. Buchanan perceived this, he acted as became him, and from that time forward he was as welcome a guest in the royal circle as any one who entered it.
[FROM SECRETARY MARCY.]
(Private and confidential.)
Washington, January 3, 1856.
My Dear Sir:—
I have just finished a despatch in answer to Lord Clarendon’s last on British recruitment in the United States. You will be startled at its length, and I consider it objectionable in that respect, but the peculiar character of the one to which it is a reply rendered a review of the whole subject unavoidable. You are requested to read it to Lord Clarendon, but I presume he will do as I did when his was presented to me by Mr. Crampton—I moved to dispense with the reading, or rather had it read by the title, and received the copy.
I do not mean to trouble you with any other comments upon it, but merely to remark that you will find that I have been very mindful of your kind suggestion. The suaviter in modo has really very much impaired the fortiter in re. The manner I am quite sure will please Lord Clarendon, but I presume the matter will not. I really believe he does not know how offensively British officers have behaved in this recruiting business; but he had the means of knowing all about it, and when it was made a grave matter of complaint it should have been investigated. After the issues of fact and of law made in the case, and the refusal on the part of Great Britain to do anything which could be regarded as a satisfaction, it was not possible to avoid the recall of Mr. Crampton.
You will see by the papers here that the debate in the Senate on the Central American question has opened finely. I do not think that advocates even among any of the factions can be found who will attempt to justify the conduct of the British ministry in that affair.