CHAPTER XXX 



AS MINISTER TO GERMANY 1879-1881 



IN the spring of 1879 I was a third time brought into 

 the diplomatic service, and in a way which surprised me. 

 The President of the United States at that period was Mr. 

 Hayes of Ohio. I had met him once at Cornell University, 

 and had an interesting conversation with him, but never 

 any other communication, directly or indirectly. Great, 

 then, was my astonishment when, upon the death of Bay 

 ard Taylor just at the beginning of his career as minister 

 to Germany, there came to me an offer of the post thus 

 made vacant. 



My first duty after accepting it was to visit Washing 

 ton and receive instructions. Calling upon the Secretary 

 of State, Mr. Evarts, and finding his rooms filled with 

 people, I said: &quot;Mr. Secretary, you are evidently very 

 busy; I can come at any other time you may name/ 

 Thereupon he answered: &quot;Come in, come in; there are 

 just two rules at the State Department : one is that no busi 

 ness is ever done out of office hours ; and the other is, that 

 no business is ever done in office hours.&quot; It was soon 

 evident that this was a phrase to put me at ease, rather 

 than an exact statement of fact ; and, after my conference 

 with him, several days were given to familiarizing myself 

 with the correspondence of my immediate predecessors, 

 and with the views of the department on questions then 

 pending between the two countries. 



Dining at the White House next day, I heard Mr. Evarts 

 withstand the President on a question which has always 



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