450 IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE-I 



general who was allowed to sit while all the others stood, 

 I learned that he was one of the few still surviving who 

 had taken a leading part in the operations against Napo 

 leon, in 1812, at Moscow. 



It was the period of the Crimean War, and at our lega 

 tion there were excellent opportunities for observing not 

 only society at large, but the struggle then going on be 

 tween Russia on one side, and Great Britain, France, 

 Italy, and Turkey on the other. 



The main duties of the American representative were to 

 keep his own government well informed, to guard the in 

 terests of his countrymen, and not only to maintain, but 

 to develop, the friendly relations that had existed for 

 many years between Russia and the United States. A 

 succession of able American ministers had contributed to 

 establish these relations : among them two who afterward 

 became President of the United States John Quincy 

 Adams and James Buchanan ; George Mifflin Dallas, who 

 afterward became Vice-President ; John Randolph of Ro- 

 anoke; and a number of others hardly less important in 

 the history of our country. Fortunately, the two nations 

 were naturally inclined to peaceful relations ; neither had 

 any interest antagonistic to the other, and under these 

 circumstances the course of the minister was plain : it was 

 to keep his government out of all entanglements, and at 

 the same time to draw the two countries more closely 

 together. This our minister at that time was very success 

 ful in doing: his relations with the leading Russians, 

 from the Emperor down, were all that could be desired, 

 and to the work of men like him is largely due the fact 

 that afterward, in our great emergency during the Civil 

 War, Russia showed an inclination to us that probably had 

 something to do with holding back the powers of western 

 Europe from recognizing the Southern Confederacy. 



To the feeling thus created is also due, in some measure, 

 the transfer of Alaska, which has proved fortunate, in 

 spite of our halting and unsatisfactory administration of 

 that region thus far. 



