AS ATTACHE AT ST. PETERSBURG-1854-1855 459 



arrive in time. When the hour of departure came he was 

 at the post-house waiting for his pass, and as he had been 

 assured that it would duly reach him, he exerted himself 

 in every way to delay the coach. He bribed one subordi- 

 nate after another ; but at last the delay was so long and 

 the other passengers so impatient that one of the higher 

 officials appeared upon the scene and ordered the coach to 

 start. At this our American was wild with rage and 

 began a speech in German and English so that all the 

 officials might understand it on Russian officials and on 

 the empire in general. A large audience having gathered 

 around him, he was ordered to remove his hat. At this 

 he held it on all the more firmly, declared himself an 

 American, and defied the whole power of the empire to 

 remove it. He then went on to denounce everything in 

 Russia, from the Emperor down. He declared that the 

 officials were a pack of scoundrels; that the only reason 

 why he did not obtain his passport was that he had not 

 bribed them as highly as they expected; that the empire 

 ought to be abolished ; that he hoped the Western powers 

 in the war then going on would finish it indeed, that he 

 thought they would. 



There was probably some truth in his remark as to the 

 inadequate bribing of officials ; but the amazing thing was 

 that his audience were so paralyzed by his utterances and 

 so overawed by his attitude that they made no effort to 

 arrest him. Then came a new scene. While they were 

 standing before him thus confounded, he suddenly turned 

 to the basket of provisions which he had laid in for his 

 seven days' journey, and began pelting his audience, 

 including the official above named, with its contents, hurl- 

 ing sandwiches, oranges, and finally even roast chickens, 

 pigeons, and partridges, at their devoted heads. At 

 last, pressing his hat firmly over his brows, he strode 

 forth to the legation unmolested. There it took some 

 labor to cool his wrath; but his passport having finally 

 been obtained, we secured for him permission to use post- 

 horses, and so he departed from the empire. 



