ter you observe: "The publication of my
letter, which is to produce this result, is to be the act of the
government, and not my act. But if the President should think that the
slightest injury to the public interest would ensue from the disclosure
of my views, the letter may be buried in the archives of the department,
and thus forgotten and rendered harmless."

To this I have to remark, in the first place, that instances have
occurred in other times, not unknown to you, in which highly important
letters from ministers of the United States, in Europe, to their own
government, have found their way into the newspapers of Europe, when
that government itself held it to be inconsistent with the interest of
the United States to make such letters public.

But it is hardly worth while to pursue a topic like this.

You are pleased to ask: "Is it the duty of a diplomatic agent to receive
all the communications of his government, and to carry into effect their
instructions _sub silentio_, whatever may be his own sentiments in
relation to them; or is he not bound, as a faithful representative, to
communicate freely, but respectfully, his own views, that these may be
considered, and receive their due weight, in that particular case, or in
other circumstances involving similar considerations? It seems to me
that the bare enunciation of the principle is all that is necessary for
my justification. I am speaking now of the propriety of my action, not
of the manner in which it was performed. I may have executed the task
well or ill. I may have introduced topics unadvisedly, and urged them
indiscreetly. All this I leave without remark. I am only endeavoring
here to free myself from the serious charge which you bring against me.
If I have misapprehended the duties of an American diplomatic agent upon
this subject, I am well satisfied to have withdrawn, by a timely
resignation, from a position in which my own self-respect would not
permit me to remain. And I may express the conviction, that there is no
government, certainly none this side of Constantinople, which would not
encourage rather than rebuke the free expression of the views of their
representatives in foreign countries."

I answer, certainly not. In the letter to which you were replying it was
fully stated, that, "in common with every other citizen of the republic,
you have an unquestionable right to form opinions upon public
transactions and the conduct of public men. But it w