142 IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE -XV 



much that I ought not to have spared, was given to excur 

 sions into all parts of the city to find it. No house, no am 

 bassador. A minister plenipotentiary can live during his 

 first year in a hotel or in a very modest apartment ; an am 

 bassador cannot. He must have a spacious house fully 

 furnished before he can really begin his duties; for, as 

 above stated, one of the first of these duties is to make the 

 acquaintance of the official world, the ministers of the 

 crown, the diplomatic corps, the members of the Imperial 

 Parliament, the members of the Prussian legislature, the 

 foremost men in the army and navy, and the leaders in 

 public life generally, and to this end he must give three 

 very large receptions, at which all those personages visit 

 him. This is a matter of which the court itself takes 

 charge, so far as inviting and presenting the guests is con 

 cerned, high court officials being sent to stand by the side 

 of the ambassador and ambassadress and make the intro 

 ductions to them ; but, as preliminary to all this, the first 

 thing is to secure a residence fit for such receptions and 

 for entertainments in connection with them. 



Under the rules of European nations generally, these 

 receptions must be held at the ambassador s permanent 

 residence ; but, unfortunately, such a thing as a large fur 

 nished apartment suitable for a foreign representative is 

 rarely to be found in Berlin. In London and Paris such 

 apartments are frequently offered, but in Berlin hardly 

 ever. Every other nation which sends an ambassador to 

 Berlin and the same is true as regards the other large 

 capitals of Europe owns a suitable house, or at least 

 holds a long lease of a commodious apartment; but, al 

 though President Cleveland especially recommended pro 

 vision for such residence in one of his messages, nothing 

 has yet been done by the American Congress, and the con 

 sequence is that every ambassador has to lose a great 

 amount of valuable time, effort, and money in securing 

 proper quarters, while his country loses much of its proper 

 prestige and dignity by constant changes in the location of 

 its embassy, and by the fact that the American representa- 



