42 IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE -X 



for his plain speaking, immediately answered. &quot;How are 

 you going to do it? I notice that, as a rule, you rarely 

 give a position which really involves high responsibil 

 ity to a Russian ; you generally give it to a German. 

 When the Emperor goes to the manceuvers, does he dare 

 trust his immediate surroundings to a Russian ? Never ; 

 he intrusts them to General Richter, who is a Baltic-Prov 

 ince German. And when his Majesty is here in town does 

 he dare trust his personal safety to a Russian? Not 

 at all ; he relies on Von Wahl, prefect of St. Petersburg, 

 another German.&quot; And so this plain-spoken American 

 youth went on with a full catalogue of leading Baltic- 

 Province Germans in positions of the highest responsi 

 bility, finally saying, &quot;You know as well as I that if the 

 salvation of the Emperor depended on any one of you, 

 and you should catch sight of a pretty woman, you would 

 instantly forget your sovereign and run after her.&quot; 



Richter and Von Wahl I knew, and they were certainly 

 men whom one could respect, thoughtful, earnest, de 

 voted to duty. Whenever one saw the Emperor at a re 

 view, Richter was close at hand ; whenever their Majesties 

 were at the opera, or in any public place, there was Von 

 Wahl with his eyes fastened upon them. 



The young American might now add that when a man 

 was needed to defend Port Arthur another German was 

 chosen Stoessel, whose heroism the whole world is now 

 applauding, as it once applauded Todleben, the general 

 of German birth who carried off the Russian laurels of 

 the Crimean War. 



One Russian official for whom there seemed to be deep 

 and wide respect was Count Woronzoff-Daschkoff ; and I 

 think that our irrepressible American would have made 

 an exception in his favor. Calling upon him one day re 

 garding the distribution of American relief to famine- 

 stricken peasants, I was much impressed by his straight 

 forward honesty : he was generally credited with stopping 

 the time-honored pilfering and plundering at the Winter 

 Palace. 



