Drouyn Be Lhuys to Bigelow, April 16, 1866

Mr. Drouyn de Lhuys to Mr. Bigelow

Sir: You did me the honor to write to me the 13th of this month to call my attention to the declarations made at the United States legation in London, by Mr. François Pierre, on the subject of the ill-treatment of which he had to complain on occasion of his imprisonment.

I thank you for having repelled any supposition that the hardships of which Mr. Pierre may have been the subject were caused by any ill-feeling in respect of the people or government of the United States. The conduct of the French authorities could not have been swayed by any such motive. It is probable that Mr. François Pierre exaggerated certain circumstances which unavoidably happen when there is a necessity to transfer from one place to another an individual under arrest. However it may be, I send the declarations of Mr. François Pierre to the minister of war, requesting him to order an inquiry on the subject.

I shall bave the honor at an ulterior date to inform you of the result. But at this time I cannot withhold the remark, that the first use Mr. François Pierre thought he should make of his liberty was to withdraw himself from the jurisdiction of the French courts, before which he was to prove the loss of his character of Frenchman by the acquisition of a new nationality.

Accept, sir, the assurance, &c., &c,