CHAPTER XXXIV 



INTERCOURSE WITH RUSSIAN STATESMEN 1892-1894 



TO return to Sir Robert Morier. There had been 

 some friction between his family and that of one of 

 my predecessors, and this had for some time almost ended 

 social intercourse between his embassy and our legation; 

 but on my arrival I ignored this, and we established very 

 satisfactory personal relations. He had held important 

 positions in various parts of Europe, and had been closely 

 associated with many of the most distinguished men of his 

 own and other countries. Reading Grant Duff s &quot;Mem 

 oirs,&quot; I find that Morier s bosom friend, of all men in 

 the world, was Jowett, the late head of Oriel College at 

 Oxford. But Sir Robert was at the close of his career; 

 his triumph in the Behring Sea matter was his last. I met 

 him shortly afterward at his last visit to the Winter Pal 

 ace: with great effort he mounted the staircase, took his 

 position at the head of the diplomatic circle, and, immedi 

 ately after his conversation with the Emperor, excused 

 himself and went home. This was the last time I ever saw 

 him; he returned soon afterward to England and died. 

 His successor, Sir Frank Lascelles, more recently my col 

 league at Berlin, is a very different character. His man 

 ner is winning, his experience large and interesting, his 

 first post having been at Paris during the Commune, 

 and his latest at Teheran. Our relations became, and have 

 ever since remained, all that I could desire. He, too, 

 in every post, is provided with all that is necessary for 

 accomplishing the purposes of Great Britain, and will 



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