16 IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE -VIII 



already stated, of the same opinion as the Washington 

 cabinet and Count Shuvaloff. He was thoroughly with 

 us, was bitter against the Canadian marauders, agreed in 

 the most straightforward and earnest manner that the 

 Interests of Russia and the United States in this question 

 were identical, and referred severely to the British en 

 croachments upon both the nations in the northern 

 seas. 1 



All went smoothly until I took up the subject at the 

 Russian Foreign Office. There I found difficulties, though 

 at first I did not fully understand them. The Emperor 

 Alexander III was dying at Livadia in the Crimea ; M. de 

 Giers, the minister of foreign affairs, a man of high char 

 acter, was dying at Tzarskoye Selo ; and in charge of his 

 department was an under-secretary who had formerly, 

 for a short time, represented Russia at Washington and 

 had not been especially successful there. Associated with 

 him was another under-secretary, who was in charge of 

 the Asiatic division at the Russian Foreign Office. My 

 case was strong, and I was quite willing to meet Sir Rob 

 ert Morier in any fair argument regarding it. I had taken 

 his measure on one or two occasions when he had dis 

 cussed various questions in my presence ; and had not the 

 slightest fear that, in a fair presentation of the matter, he 

 could carry his point against me. At various times we met 

 pleasantly enough in the anterooms of the Foreign Office ; 

 but at that period our representative at the Russian court 

 was simply a minister plenipotentiary and the British 

 representative an ambassador, and as such he, of course, 

 had precedence over me, with some adventitious advan 

 tages which I saw then, and others which I realized after 

 ward. It was not long before it became clear that Sir 

 Robert Morier had enormous &quot; influence &quot; with the above- 

 named persons in charge of the Foreign Office, and, in 

 deed, with Russian officials in general. They seemed not 

 only to stand in awe of him, but to look toward him as 

 &quot;the eyes of a maiden to the hand of her mistress.&quot; I 



1 See detailed account of this conversation previously given in this chapter. 



