Page:Dramatic Moments in American Diplomacy (1918).djvu/86

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CHAPTER FIVE

"TRADITIONS OF THE SERVICE" (Continued)

Elihu Washburne, Ambassador for the World During the Siege of Paris—The Commune Again—History Repeated—The Empress Eugénie Rescued from the Revolution by an American—The Coming of the Prussians—All the Foreign Envoys Pick Up Their Hats in a Hurry—The Deluge of Victims—The Secret Messenger of the Royal Family—The Gold of Prince Murat—Counsellor to the Republic—Vive l'Amérique—An Embassy Over a Mine and Under a Barricade.

Histories of American diplomacy have little to say about Elihu Washburne. The reason is that he had small part in controversy and barter and popular assertion of American rights and demands. For this very reason his influence was all the greater. He devoted himself to the service of other people—a method of establishing pres-

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