AMERICA, GERMANY, AND SPAIN-1897-1903 175 



me to induce the imperial authorities to station in the 

 United States a young German officer with whom an Ameri 

 can young lady had fallen in love. And these proposals 

 I was expected to further, in spite of the fact that the 

 rules for American representatives abroad forbid all 

 special pleading of any kind in favor of individual in 

 terests or enterprises, without special instructions from 

 the State Department. Discouraging was it to find that 

 in spite of the elaborate statement prepared by me dur 

 ing my former residence, which had been freely circulated 

 during twenty years, there were still the usual number 

 of people persuaded that enormous fortunes were await 

 ing them somewhere in Germany. 



One application, from a truly disinterested man, was 

 grounded in nobler motives. This was an effort made 

 by an eminent Polish scholar and patriot to wrest Ameri 

 can citizenship for political purposes. He had been an 

 instructor at various Russian and German universities, 

 had shown in some of his books extraordinary ability, had 

 gained the friendship of several eminent scholars in Great 

 Britain and on the Continent, and was finally settled at 

 one of the most influential seats of learning in Austrian 

 Poland. He was a most attractive man, wide in his know 

 ledge, charming in his manner; but not of this world. 

 Having drawn crowds to his university lectures, he sud 

 denly attacked the Emperor Franz Josef, who, more than 

 any other, had befriended his compatriots; was there 

 fore obliged to flee from his post; and now came to Berlin, 

 proposing seriously that I should at once make him 

 an American citizen, and thus, as he supposed, enable 

 him to go back to his university and, in revolutionary 

 speeches, bid defiance to Austria, Russia, and Germany. 

 Great was his disappointment when he learned that, in 

 order to acquire citizenship, he would be obliged to go 

 to the United States and remain there five years. As he 

 was trying to nerve himself for this sacrifice, I presented 

 some serious considerations to him. Knowing him to 

 be a man of honor, I asked him how he could reconcile 



