456 IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE I 



these, having been given pay and rapid advancement, in 

 the hope that this would strengthen American feeling 

 favorable to the Russian cause, were naturally hated by 

 the Russian surgeons; hence many of these young com- 

 patriots of ours were badly treated, some so severely 

 that they died, and it became part of our minister's duty 

 to extricate the survivors from their unfortunate position. 

 More than once, on returning with him from an interview 

 with the Minister of War, I saw tears in Governor Sey- 

 mour's eyes as he dwelt upon the death of some of these 

 young fellows whom he had learned to love during their 

 stay in St. Petersburg. 



The war brought out many American adventurers, some 

 of them curiosities of civilization, and this was especially 

 the case with several who had plans for securing victory 

 to Russia over the Western powers. All sorts of nostrums 

 were brought in by all sorts of charlatans, and the efforts 

 of the minister and his subordinates to keep these gentle- 

 men within the limits of propriety in their dealings with 

 one another and with the Russian authorities were at 

 times very arduous. On one occasion, the main function- 

 aries of the Russian army having been assembled with 

 great difficulty to see the test of a new American invention 

 in artillery, it was found that the inventor's rival had 

 stolen some essential part of the gun, and the whole thing 

 was a vexatious failure. 



One man who came out with superb plans brought a 

 militia colonel's commission from the governor of a West- 

 ern State and the full uniform of a major-general. At 

 first lie hesitated to clothe himself in all his glory, and 

 therefore went through a process of evolution, beginning 

 first with part of his uniform and then adding more as 

 his courage rose. During this process he became the 

 standing joke of St. Petersburg; but later, when he had 

 emerged in full and final splendor, he became a man of 

 mark indeed, so much so that serious difficulties arose. 

 Throughout the city arc various corps de garde, and the 

 sentinel on duty before each of these, while allowed merely 



