WHITE] DIPLOMATIC SERVICE OF UNITED STATES 135 
respect recently cost the United States a sum which would have 
forever put that embassy on the very best footing,—as regards a 
permanent official residence. If an American Ambassador is to 
exercise a really strong influence for the United States as against 
other nations, he must be properly provided for as regards at least 
his residence ;—not provided for, indeed, so largely as some repre- 
sentatives of other nations, for I neither propose nor desire that the 
American representatives shall imitate the pomp of certain Ambas- 
sadors of the greater European powers ;—but he ought to be enabled 
to live respectably and discharge his duties efficiently. There should 
be, in this, what Thomas Jefferson acknowledged in the Declaration 
of Independence as a duty,—“a decent respect to the opinions of 
mankind.” The present condition of things is frequently humiliat- 
ing,—and not only to the Ambassador or Minister, but to every 
thoughtful American traveller. 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 settled home, is some- 
times in one quarter of the town, sometimes in another ;—sometimes 
almost in an attic, sometimes almost in a cellar ;—generally inade- 
quate in its accommodations, and frequently unfortunate in its sur- 
roundings. Personal experience in various European capitals has 
shown me that one secret of the great success of British diplomacy 
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 widespread social influence which counts for very much 
indeed in its political influence. The United States, as perhaps the 
wealthiest 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 provided for. Take our relations with Turkey. We have 
constantly a vast number of Americans of the very best sort, and 
especially missionaries, teachers, and men of business, who have to 
be protected throughout the whole of that vast empire. Each of the 
other great powers provides for its representative at Constantinople 
a residence honorable, suitable, and within a proper enclosure 
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 the house sacked by 
a Turkish mob. No foreign people, and least of all an Oriental 
people, can highly respect a diplomatic representative who, by his 
