366 IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE-XXV 



respectably, and to discharge his duties efficiently. 

 There should be, in this respect, what Thomas Jefferson 

 acknowledged in the Declaration of Independence as 

 a duty, &quot; a decent regard for the opinions of mankind. &quot; 

 The present condition of things is frequently humiliat 

 ing. In the greater capitals of Europe the general public 

 know the British, French, Austrian, Italian, and all other 

 important embassies or legations, except that of our 

 country. The American embassy or legation has no set 

 tled home, is sometimes in one quarter of the town, some 

 times in another, sometimes almost in an attic, sometimes 

 almost in a cellar, generally inadequate in its accom 

 modations, and frequently unfortunate in its surround 

 ings. Both my official terms at St. Petersburg showed 

 me that one secret of the great success of British diplo 

 macy, in all parts of the world, is that especial pains are 

 taken regarding this point, and that, consequently, every 

 British embassy is the center of a wide-spread social 

 influence which counts for very much indeed in her politi 

 cal influence. The United States, as perhaps the wealthi 

 est nation in existence, a nation far-reaching in the 

 exercise of its foreign policy, with vast and increasing 

 commercial and other interests throughout the world, 

 should, in all substantial matters, be equally well provided 

 for. Take our recent relations with Turkey. We have in 

 sisted on the payment of an indemnity for the destruc 

 tion of American property, and we have constantly a 

 vast number of Americans of the very best sort, and 

 especially our missionaries, who have to be protected 

 throughout the whole of that vast empire. Each of the 

 other great powers provides its representative at Con 

 stantinople with a residence honorable, suitable, and 

 within a proper inclosure for its protection; but the 

 American minister lives anywhere and everywhere, in 

 such premises, over shops and warehouses, as can be 

 secured, and he is liable, in case of trouble between the 

 two nations, to suffer personal violence and to have his 

 house sacked by a Turkish mob. No foreign people, and 



