DIPLQLNkTIC CORRESPONDENCE.                    157 
not be prepared for the forign public at all. It, would be intended for the

agents and servants abroad 4 the American people, and it might, I think,
be 
safely left tothe discretion of th0se agents to make a proper use of their
inform- 
ation. Why should they not be as dislereet in regard to their intelligence
by 
telegraph as in regard to that which comes by post?  The difference is simIly

that letterso or newspapers by the ordinary conveyance are as antiquated

when they arrive as a letter would be-if sent from Washington to New York

by a messenger travelling on foot, instead of by the railway. Of course what

I should most crave would be a summary of facts of the past half week, made

up under your eyeby some one in whom you confide, and sent from Washing-

ton on the morning of the departure of each regular steamer on Wednesdays

and Saturdays. If anything of grave importance occurs on the day when the

steamer is touching at Halifax, that also should be sent in a separate telegram.

The word "official" might be appended to any statement that was
officially 
known at the time of writing. Where that word was not added it would be 
inferred that the writer believed the statement made, but did not vouch for
it. 
The character of the person writing the telegraphic letter would be the best

guarantee. Let simply a man of intelligence and honesty put down those things

which are kiown to have occurred during the half week. I am aware that 
there is always a margin for mistakes and self-deception, and the recipient
of 
the intelligence will always make proper allowances. But you must remember

the immense advantage which the reader will have in knowing that what he

reads is sent sincerely for his instruction; that it is only sent in the
interest of 
truth; that it is intended neither to extenuate facts nor to set them down
in 
malice, nor to invent success, nor suppress disaster; not to affect the market

price either of confederate loans or United States bonds; not to favor the
views 
of European stock jobbers or parliamentary stump orators; but simply to enable

the representatives of a great and much calumniated nation to do their duty

undisturbed by the machinations of its enemies. 
The source of the information and the object for which it would be sent 
would insure its healthfulness. An occasional error would not be so mischiev-

ous as the perpetual atmosphere of errors, delusions, and ignorance in which
we 
now exist. The telegraph letter should be sent from Queenstown at once to
the 
chiefs of the various United States legations in England, France, and the'
con- 
tinent, in order that they might receive it on the day of the steamer's arrival

there. I repeat that it shouldbe left to their discretion to make a proper
use 
of their information. The governments to which they are accredited and their

influential colleagues would always be interested to be informed of facts
which 
were both new and authentic. Tyhe public press, which is often rather indiffer-.

ent than hostile to the United States, and in many regions friendly, might

occasionally receive an indirect communication of facts, when in the interest
of 
truth such communications seemed desirable. 
Should it not be found feasible to send this telegraphic letter from Washing-

ton, for the reasons suggested in your despatches N os. 77 and 78, it would
surely 
iot be impossible to discover some trustworthy and intelligent person in
New 
York who might be charged with preparing it. For example, the telegraphic

despatches regularly sent by the Secretary of Wa; to General Dix supply the

whole American public with information. Those very telegrams published in

,the American journals reach us in that way by post many days later than
they 
might do if sent directly to the legations by telegraph. You can have no
idea 
of the effect, both irritating and paralyzing, produced on even the most
robust 
organization by the manner in which all the information of the great events
in 
which we are all so deeply interested isthus poisoned at its source. 
-But I have already saidso mch on this subject that I do notliketo say 
more. I entreat you, simply, by way of experiment, to cause such a simple
sum- 
:. *mary to be sent either from Wash ington or New York. If it works ill
it can