On receipt of your letters of the 21st¹ and 22nd² instant, concerning your attitude towards the Jubilee celebrations, I thought it better to get from the Minister precise guidance for you.

The Minister considers that, without doing anything exaggerated or remarkable, you should conform to the attitude adopted by the Ambassadors and Ministers accredited to St. James, in regard to all matters relating to the Jubilee. He feels that your complete abstention from Jubilee functions at which foreign representatives are present would be a departure from the policy adopted in London since the beginning of the present quarrel with Great Britain. It would, for instance, be immediately remarked almost as a counter-demonstration if you did not decorate, or allow to be decorated, our portion of Piccadilly House. The Minister thinks that the attitude of the Irish Government will be made sufficiently apparent by the absence of Irish Ministers from the celebrations. No doubt, the British government would understand that no discourtesy was intended by you, but we could not expect them to take the trouble to secure that the judgment of other people, who might influence the future course of our relations, would be equally lenient.

I presume that there will be a service of thanksgiving of some kind in Westminster Cathedral. If there is, you should attend it in the normal course.