REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL DEPUTATION.
To the 1,050 Signers of the 12 Addresses which, from different states in Europe, were sent to His Majesty the Emperor of Russia aud Grand Duke of Finland.
GENTLEMEN:
You gave us the commission of presenting to His Majesty the Emperor of Russia and Grand Duke of Finland the addresses originated on account of the opinion current in the scientific world of Europe in consequence of the irretrievable violation with which the constitution of Finland would be threatened, in case the Im perial Manifesto of February 3/15, 1899, should be applied with all the consequences that may be connected with it.
We have performed our charge in the spirit by which it was inspired, i. e. without forgetting for a moment the feelings of reverence due to the great Mouarch who has recently given such a wonderful proof of a noble and enlightened mind, by taking the initiative of the meeting of the Peace Conference at the Hague.
Being interpreters of the principle of justice and concord, our endeavours have exclusively aimed at the use of every means in our power to lay before His Imperial Majesty the expressions of the ideas of brotherly fellow-feeling which, in different nations, unite all who consider the securing of the permanence of peace to rest on the respect of the fundamental laws of right and righteousness, no matter what the political forms of government of the respective states may be.
We have not been granted the joy of fully reaching the end of the course you marked out for us, but we hope that our enterprise will not be without its useful effects. In order to enable you to judge of this yourselves, we enclose the following report, in which we consider ourselves bound to give you a detailed account of how we employed our time at St. Petersburg. Out of due respect, we are this very day sending by post from Stockholm to His Majesty the Emperor the first copy of this report.
We remain, Gentlemen, Yours most faithfully,
L. TRARIEUX, Senator and former Minister of Justice (France).
A. E. NORDENSKIÖLD, Baron and Professor (Stockholm).
E. BRUSA, Dean of the Faculty of Jurisprudence in Turin, and late President of the International Institute of Law.
W. C. BRØGGER, Professor at the University of Christiania, Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences.
W. VAN DER VLUGT, Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Leyden.
C. M. NORMAN-HANSEN, M. D., Director of the Ophtalmological Polyclinic in Copenhagen.
Report, drawn up by the Delegates who were honoured by the commission of presenting to His Imperial Majesty, the Emperor of Russia an address from various States in Europe in favour of the Protest of the Finns against the Imperial Manifesto of February 3/15, 1899, which seems to imply a violation of their fundamental rights.
We, the undersigned, who were commissioned to deliver into the hands of the Emperor of Russia and Grand Duke of Finland, twelve addresses signed by 1,050 of the most qualified representatives of literature, science, politics, and art in France, England, Germany, Austria, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Hungary, Holland, and Belgium, started from our respective homes for St. Petersburg, where we met on June 14/26, 1899. On the day after our arrival, we asked to be received in audience by the Court Minister, His Excellency Baron Freedericksz, for the purpose of requesting him to lay before his Sovereign our wish to be received in order to fulfil our mission.
After having raised some objections as to his authority in acting as a go-between in this case, His Excellency, Baron Freedericksz, had the kindness to accept the charge; but, on second thought, he sent word by one of his attendants (expressly despatched to Hôtel de l'Europe for the purpose) that he did not think he could keep his promise, considering that the request of his mediation lay beyond his authority, and should rather be directed to his colleague, the Minister of Home Affairs.
We, the undersigned, now applied to this Minister, Mr. Goremykin, who received us on the 18/30 of June, and to whom we submitted our petition. He refused, in his turn, to accept the charge, calling our attention to the fact that it still less belonged to the scope of his office than to that of the Court Minister. In his opinion, we ought to have written to His Majesty the Emperor by post, or applied to some of his Adjutants of the Palace, if we wanted to be received in a question that did not seem to come directly under the head of any State Department.
In conformity with this advice, we set out for Peterhof on June 19/July 1. By a curious coincidence, worthy of being mentioned, we arrived there at the same time as General Kuropatkin, the Minister of War, the Court Minister, and Mr. Pobjedonostseff, the Procurator General of the Holy Synod.
We caused ourselves at once to be announced to General Hesse, the Commandant of the Palace, but were informed that he was at St. Petersburg, and that no one could receive us in his absence.
On returning to our hotel in the evening we found there a few lines from the Home Minister directed to Mr. Trarieux, inviting us to come to his private apartments to receive some information respecting the delegates.
On Sunday, June 20th (July 2nd) this visit took place at a fixed hour. We were now informed that His Excellency, the Home Minister, had received instructions from His Majesty, the Emperor, who, knowing all about our different attempts to receive an audience, had charged him to inform us that he did not find it possible to receive us.
This information was given in the politest language and caused a short exchange of opinion, during which conversation we, the undersigned, expressed our astonishment and grief that we were unable to deliver a simple message to the person concerned.
The Minister then returned to the proposal he had made before, that this message should be sent by post, if we were anxious that it should reach its destination. The Emperor's refusal to grant the requested audience, he assured us, was called forth only by the circumstance that he did not think he ought to allow a petition represented by foreigners in questions touching upon the home government, without seeming to admit the principally authoritative character of such an interference.
We, the undersigned, however, begged to state, that according to our opinion, the way in which we had sought to fulfil our charge, seemed to us the most deferential. We did not think, that by asking to be received in audience by His Majesty the Emperor, we could leave put him under any obligations whatever; the part we played was limited to laying before him the expressions of an opinion that might seem interesting to him to know.
This representation seemed for a moment to make His Excellency Mr Goremykin waver a little, and he offered to ask General Hesse by telephone, if he would not consent to receive the addresses to be laid before His Majesty the Emperor. This proposal was accepted with thanks, but the telephonic dialogue with Peterhof did nothing but confirm the declarations given before. General Hesse answered that the instructions he had received were unmistakable, and that he was not permitted to ask for fresh instructions. And they included both his refusal to receive the addresses and the impossibility of giving an audience.
We, the undersigned, then took leave of His Exellency, the Home Minister, thanking him for the kindness he had shown us, and requesting him to lay before his Sovereign the expressions of our profound reverence, which he promised to do.
Under these circumstances we, the undersigned, do consider that our charge is performed, for we cannot believe that the despatching by post of the addresses we have received will answer the import and object of this charge to the letter. It may be of interest to mention that during the course of our transactious, a copy of the twelve addresses was delivered first to Baron Freedericksz who returned it and then to Mr Goremykin, who, having taken notice of its contents, kept it.
St. Petersburg, June 20th (July 2nd) 1899.
L. TRARIEUX, Senator and former Minister of Justice (France);
A. E. NORDENSKIÖLD, Baron and Professor (Stockholm);
E. BRUSA, Dean of the Faculty of Jurisprudence in Turin, and late President of the International Institute of Law:
W. C. BRØGGER, Professor at the University of Christiania, Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences;
W. VAN DER VLUGT, Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Leyden;
C. M. NORMAN-HANSEN, M. D., Director of the Ophthalmological Polyclinic in Copenhagen.
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