&quot;ALL CONDITIONS OF MEN&quot; -1892 -1894 49 



ous errands, and I was glad to see them ; but one whose 

 visits were most heartily welcomed was a former consul, 

 Mr. Prince, an original, shrewd &quot; down-easter, &quot; and his 

 reminiscences of some of my predecessors were full of 

 interest to me. 



One especially dwells in my mind. It had reference to a 

 former senator of the United States who, about the year 

 1840, was sent to Russia as minister. There were various 

 evidences in the archives of the legation that sobriety 

 was not this gentleman s especial virtue, and among them 

 very many copies of notes in which the minister, through 

 the secretary of legation, excused himself from keeping 

 engagements at the Foreign Office on the ground of &quot; sud 

 den indisposition. 



Mr. Prince told me that one day this minister s valet, 

 who was an Irishman, came to the consulate and said: 

 1 Oi 11 not stay wid his igsillincy anny longer ; Oi ve done 

 wid him. 



&quot;What s the trouble now!&quot; said Mr. Prince. 



&quot;Well,&quot; said the man, &quot;this morning Oi thought it was 

 toime to get his igsillincy out of bed, for he had been 

 dhrunk about a week and in bed most of the toime; and so 

 Oi went to him, and says Oi, gentle-loike, Would your ig 

 sillincy have a cup of coffee ? whin he rose up and shtruck 

 me in the face. On that Oi took him by the collar, lifted 

 him out of bed, took him acrass the room, showed him his 

 ugly face in the glass, and Oi said to him, says Oi, Is thim 

 the eyes of an invoy extraorr-rrdinarry and ministher 

 plinipotentiarryf &quot; 



Among interesting reminders of my predecessors was a 

 letter in the archives, written about the year 1832 by Mr. 

 Buchanan, afterward senator, minister in London, Sec 

 retary of State, and President of the United States. It 

 was a friendly missive to an official personage in our 

 country, and went on somewhat as follows : &quot; I feel almost 

 ashamed to tell you that your letters to me, mine to you, 

 and, indeed, everything that has come and gone between 

 us by mail, has been read by other eyes than ours. This 



II. -4 



