ing men at home, and are therefore shelved. Entrance into the House of Lords gives a man something to do, with new friends and pleasing relations. As to the name, I would gladly have retained my own, but had no choice; in fact, when Lord John Russell was made an earl, his insisting on retaining his name was not especially liked. Various places on the Russell estates were submitted to me for my choice, and I took Ampthill."

Alas! his plans came to nothing. He died at his post before his retirement to England.

Among those then connected with the British embassy at Berlin, one of the most interesting was Colonel (now General) Lord Methuen, who has recently taken so honorable a part in the South African War. He was at that time a tall, awkward man, kindly, genial, who always reminded me of Thackeray's "Major Sugarplums." Major Sugarplums." He had recently lost his wife, and was evidently in deep sorrow. One morning there came a curious bit of news regarding him. A few days before, walking in some remote part of the Thiergarten, he saw a workingman throw himself into the river, and instantly jumped into the icy stream after him, grappled him, pulled him out, laid him on the bank, and rapidly walked off. When news of it got out, he was taxed with it by various members of the diplomatic corps; but he awkwardly and blushingly pooh-poohed the whole matter.

One evening not long afterward, I witnessed a very pleasant scene connected with this rescue. As we were all assembled at some minor festivity in the private palace on the Linden, the old Emperor sent for the colonel, and on his coming up, his Majesty took from his own coat a medal of honor for life-saving and attached it to the breast of Methuen, who received it in a very awkward yet manly fashion.

The French ambassador was the Count de St. Vallier, one of the most agreeable men I have ever met, who deserved all the more credit for his amiable qualities because he constantly exercised them despite the most wretched health : during his splendid dinners at the French embassy he simply toyed with a bit of bread, not daring to eat anything.

We were first thrown specially together by a joint representation in favor of the double standard of value, which, under

LXVI.-74

instructions from our governments, we made to the German Foreign Office, and after that our relations became very friendly. Whenever the Fourth of July or Washington's Birthday came round, he was sure to remember it and make a friendly call.

My liking for him once brought upon me one of the most embarrassing mishaps of my life. It was at Nice and at the table d'hôte of a great hotel on the Promenade des Anglais, where I was seated next a French countess who though she had certainly reached her threescore years and ten, was still most agreeable. Day after day we chatted together, and all went well; but one evening, on our meeting at table as usual, she said: "I am told that you are the American minister at Berlin." I answered: "Yes, madam." She then said: "When I was a young woman, I was well acquainted with the mother of the present French ambassador there." At this I launched out into praises of Count St. Vallier, as well I might, speaking of the high regard felt for him at Berlin, the honors he had received from the German government, and the liking for him among his colleagues.

The countess listened in silence, and when I had finished, turned severely upon me, saying: "Monsieur, up to this moment I have believed you a man of honor; but now I really don't know what to think of you." Of course I was dumfounded, but presently the reason for the remark occurred to me, and I said: "Madam, M. de St. Vallier serves France. Whatever his private opinions may be, he no doubt feels it his duty to continue in the service of his country. It would certainly be a great pity if, at every change of government in France, every officer who did not agree with the new régime should leave the diplomatic service or the military service or the naval service, thus injuring the interests of France perhaps most seriously. Suppose the Comte de Chambord should be called to the throne of France, what would you think of Orleanists and Republicans who should immediately resign their places in the army, navy, and diplomatic service, thus embarrassing, perhaps fatally, the monarchy and the country?'

At this, to my horror, the lady went into hysterics and began screaming. She cried out: "Oui, monsieur, il reviendra, Henri

Cinq; il reviendra. Dieu est avec lui; il reviendra malgré tout," etc., and finally she jumped up and rushed out of the room. The eyes of the whole table were turned upon us, and I fully expected that some gallant Frenchman would come up and challenge me for insulting a lady; but no one moved, and presently all went on with their dinners. The next day the countess again appeared at my side, amiable as ever; but during the remainder of my stay I kept far from every possible allusion to politics. The Turkish ambassador, Sadoullah Bey, was a kindly gentleman, who wandered about, as the French expressively say, “like a damnèd soul." Something seemed to weigh upon him heavily and steadily. A more melancholy human being I have never seen, and it did not surprise me, a few years later, to be told that, at one of the palace revolutions which changed the succession at Constantinople, he had been executed for complicity in the assassination of the Sultan.

The Russian ambassador, M. de Sabouroff, was a very agreeable man, and his rooms were made attractive by the wonderful collection of Tanagra statuettes which he had brought from Greece, where he had formerly been a minister.

In one matter he was especially helpful to me. One day I received from Washington a cipher despatch instructing me to exert all my influence to secure the release of Mme. who, though married to a former Russian secretary of legation, was the daughter of an American eminent in politics and diplomacy. The case was very serious. The Russian who had married this estimable lady had been concerned in various shady transactions, and, having left his wife and little children in Paris, had gone to Munich in the hope of covering up some doubtful matters which were coming to light. While on this errand he was seized and thrown into jail, whereupon he telegraphed his wife to come to him. His idea evidently was that when she arrived she also would be imprisoned, and that her family would then feel forced to intervene with the money necessary to get them both out. The first part of the program went as he had expected. His lovely wife, on arriving in Munich, was at once thrown into prison, and began thence sending to the Secretary of State and to me the most distressing letters and telegrams.

She had left her little children in Paris, and was in agony about them. With the aid of the Russian ambassador, who acknowledged that his compatriot was one of the worst wretches in existence, I obtained the release of the lady from prison after long negotiations. Unfortunately, I was obliged to secure that of her husband at the same time; but as he died not long afterward, he had no opportunity to do much more harm.

Yet another good friend was Herr von Nostitz-Wallwitz, representative of Saxony, and he was able, on one occasion, to render a real service to American education. Two or three young ladies, one of whom is now the admired head of one of the foremost American colleges for women, were studying at the University of Leipzig. I had given them letters to a number of professors there, and nothing could be better than the reports which reached me regarding their studies, conduct, and social standing. But one day came very distressing telegrams and letters, and presently the ladies themselves. A catastrophe had come. A decree had gone forth from the Saxon government at Dresden expelling all women students from the university, and these countrywomen of mine begged me to do what I could for them. Remembering that my Saxon colleague was the brother of the Prime Minister of Saxony, I at once went to him. On my presenting the case, he at first expressed amazement at the idea of women being admitted to the lecture-rooms of a German university; but as I showed him sundry letters, especially those from Professors George Curtius and Ebers, regarding these fair students, his conservatism melted away, and he presently entered heartily into my view, the result being that the decree was modified so that all women students then in the university were allowed to remain until the close of their studies; but no new ones were to be admitted afterward. Happily all has been changed, and to that, as to nearly all other German universities, women are now freely admitted.

Very amusing at times were exhibitions of gentle sarcasm on the part of sundry old diplomatists. They had lived long, had seen the seamy side of public affairs, and had lost their illusions. One evening, at a ball given by the Vice-Chancellor of the Empire, which was extremely splendid and

no less tedious, my attention was drawn to two of them. There had been some kind of absurd demonstration that day in one of the principal European parliaments, and coming upon my two colleagues, I alluded to it. "Yes," said Baron Jauru of Brazil, "that comes of the greatest lie prevalent in our times--the theory that the majority of mankind are wise. Now it is an absolute fact, which all history teaches, and to-day even more than ever, that all mankind are fools." "What you say is true," replied M. de Quade, the Danish minister, "but it is not the whole truth. Constitutional government also goes on the theory that all mankind are good. Now it is an absolute fact that all mankind are bad, utterly bad." "Yes," said Jauru, "I accept your amendment; mankind are fools and knaves." To this I demurred somewhat, and quoted Mr. Lincoln's remark: "You can fool some of the people all the time, and all of the people some of the time; but you can't fool all the people all the time." This restored their good humor, and I left them smilingly pondering over this nugget of Western wisdom.

Interesting to me was the contrast between my two colleagues from the extreme Orient. Then and since at Berlin I have known the Japanese Minister Aoki. Like all other Japanese diplomatic representatives I have met, whether there or elsewhere, he was an exceedingly accomplished man. At the first dinner given me after my arrival in Berlin he made an admirable speech in German, and could have spoken just as fluently and accurately in French or English.

On the other hand, Li Fong Pao, the Chinese representative, was a mandarin who steadily wore his Chinese costume, pigtail and all, and who, though jolly, could only speak through an interpreter who was almost as difficult to understand as the minister himself.

Thus far it seems the general rule that whereas the Japanese, like civilized nations in general, train men carefully for foreign service, in international law, modern languages, history, and the like, the Chinese, like ourselves, do little if anything of the kind. But I may add that recently there have been some symptoms of change on their part. One of the most admirable speeches during the Peace Conference at The Hague was made by a young and very

attractive Chinese attaché. It was in idiomatic French. Nothing could be more admirable as regarded either matter or manner, and many of the older members of the conference came afterward to congratulate him upon it. The ability shown by the Chinese Minister Wu at Washington would also seem to indicate that China has learned something as to the best way of maintaining her interests abroad.

This suggests another incident. In the year 1880 the newspapers informed us that the wife of the Chinese minister at Berlin had just sailed from China to join her husband. The matter seemed to arouse general interest, and telegrams announced her arrival at Suez, then at Marseilles, then at Cologne, and finally at Berlin. On the evening of her arrival at court, the diplomatic corps were assembled awaiting her appearance. Presently the great doors swung wide, and in came the Chinese minister with his wife: he a stalwart mandarin in the full attire of his rank; she a gentle creature in an exceedingly pretty Chinese costume, tripping along on her little feet, and behind her a long array of secretaries, interpreters, and the like, many in Chinese attire, but some in European court costume. After all of us had been duly presented to the lady by his Chinese Excellency, he brought her secretaries and presented them to his colleagues. Among these young diplomatists was a fine-looking man, evidently a European, in a superb court costume frogged and barred with gold lace. As my Chinese colleague introduced him to me in German, we continued in that language, when suddenly the secretary said to me in English: "Mr. White, I don't see why we should be talking in German. I was educated at Rochester University under your friend President Anderson, and I come from Waterloo in western New York." Had he dropped through the ceiling I could hardly have been more surprised. Neither Waterloo, though a thriving little town upon the Central Railroad, and not far from the city in which I have myself lived, nor even Rochester, with all the added power of its excellent university, seemed adequate to develop a being so gorgeous. On questioning him, I found that, having been graduated in America, he had gone to China with certain missionaries, and had then been taken into the Chinese service. It

gives me very great pleasure to say that at Berlin, St. Petersburg, and The Hague, where I have often met him since, he has proved to be a thoroughly intelligent and patriotic man faithful to China, while not unmindful of the interests of the United States; in one matter he rendered a very great service to both countries.

But a diplomatic representative who has a taste for public affairs makes acquaintances outside the diplomatic corps, and is likely to find his relations with the ministers of the German crown and with members of the Parliament very interesting. The character of German public men is deservedly high, and a diplomatist fit to

represent his country should bring all his study and experience to bear in eliciting information likely to be useful to his country from these as well as from all other sorts and conditions of men. My own acquaintance among these was large. I find in my diaries accounts of conversations with such men as Bismarck, Camphausen, Delbrück, Windthorst, Bennigsen, George von Bunsen, Lasker, Treitschke, Gneist, and others; but to take them up one after the other would require far too much space, and I must be content to jot down what I received from them wherever, in the course of these reminiscences, it may seem most pertinent.

ON

N the first warm evening of the next spring Ma Gladden and Persephone sat on the front porch. The grass was already emerald in spots over the houseplot, and the climbing rose-bushes showed small, reddish leaves. At the end of the path that led to the road was a stile, upon which Pa Gladden sat in meditation. His eyes were fixed upon a sky of fiery splendor.

"I am shore, Persephone," observed the elder woman, "thet yer Pa Gladden air gittin' ready fer one of his old-fashioned tromps ag'in."

The younger woman eyed her affectionately, but asked no question.

"Pa uster git them spells erlong erbout every spring," went on Ma Gladden; "but sence he air older they hain't troubled him so reg'lar-like. 'Peared like he hed ter walk eroun' three er four days afore the season laid holt on him prupperly. Them

days I uster worrit turrible. When he went off the fust spring arter we war merried, I eenymost cried my eyes out. But law! Persephone, all men hez blood cranks o' one sort er ruther. Pa would allers turn up inside of a week jes ez happy ez a king, plumb satisfied with life, an' thet glad ter git back ter me thet it 'most paid fer all the worry. Lemme see, now. It air four years sence he walked plumb over ter Lexin'ton, an' brung hum my flowered shalli in his hand."

"He likes to walk a long ways—is that it?" asked Persephone, timidly.

"All the Gladdens war born trompers," declared Ma Gladden; "leastways, so I hed it from Mary Jane Ann, my cousin in Kansas, who heared thet from her mother. Not one o' them thet war airly in this valley ever minded a twenty-mile jaunt afore breakfast. An' thet, shorely ez the sap come up, nothin' would do them but