business of the Department to other bureaux, the want of ample space is greatly felt, and the basement and attic have been converted into offices, in order to retain, as far as possible, the various branches of the service under the same roof. The Secretary of State and his immediate staff, with the Library of the Department, occupy the second storey.

The ordinary officials attached to this department, according to the "Official Register" of 1861, comprise the Secretary of State, Assistant Secretary, Chief Clerk, Superintendent of Statistics, and twenty-one clerks, divided into four classes, besides two messengers and four watchmen. The annual salary of the Secretary is about 16667.; that of the Assistant Secretary, 6251.; of the Chief Clerk, 458.; of the Superintendent of Statistics, 4167.; of the clerks, from 250l. to 3751.; and of the messengers and watchmen, from 1257. to about 1877. The aggregate of these salaries amounts to little more than 11,000%., and this sum covers only what may be denominated "office salaries," other expenses of a contingent character reaching to an amount it would be difficult to determine without pursuing statistical researches to a disagreeable extent.

The chief province of the State Department, since it has been relieved from so many other duties formerly devolving upon it, consists in the management and control of all the intercourse of the General Government with foreign nations, whether through representatives sent to such nations or accredited from them.

On the 30th of September, 1861, according to the last biennial "Official Register," the Government of the United States was represented by no less than thirty-two Ambassadors, stationed at as many different foreign Courts. Of these, twelve ranked as Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary, eighteen as Ministers Resident, and two as Commissioners. The twelve Ministers with full powers were stationed at the respective Courts of England, France, Russia, Spain, Prussia, Austria, Italy,

China, Mexico, Brazil, Chili, and Peru; the Ministers Resident at those of Portugal, Belgium, The Hague, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, Switzerland, Rome, Turkey, Japan, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, New Granada, Venezuela, Ecuador, the Argentine Confederation, and Bolivia; and the Commissioners at those of Paraguay and the Hawaiian Islands. The annual salaries of the respective Envoys to England and France are fixed by law at about 3,645%. ; of those to Russia, Spain, Prussia, Austria, China, Mexico, and Brazil, at 2,500l.; of those to Chili and Peru, at about 2,0837.; and of the Envoy to Italy, all the Ministers Resident, and the two Commissioners, at about 1,562. Το each of these Legations (except those at the Hawaiian Islands, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Paraguay) is attached a single secretary. Those at London and Paris only have also an assistant secretary. No other attachés, whether paid or unpaid, are permitted in any instance, but, on the contrary, are prohibited by law. The salaries of these secretaries are about 312. and 375l. per annum, according to the grade of the Legation-those of two only (at London and Paris) rising to about 5471.; and two others at Constantinople (where the secretary acts also as dragoman) and Pekin-to 6251. To the Japanese Mission is attached an interpreter, in lieu of a secretary, with about 5217., and to the Chinese Embassy one with about 1,0427.

The whole number of United States' Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Commercial Agents stationed in the countries already named, or their dominions, as well as at other points beyond the jurisdiction of any legation, was, at the date mentioned, two hundred and sixty-one. Of these, one hundred and forty-seven received fixed salaries, varying from about 1047. to about 1,562.-being not only entitled to no perquisites in the nature of fees (the respective amounts of which must be reported and paid over to the General Government), but also prohibited from engaging in any other business during their terms of office. The other one hundred and fourteen

received for their services only the fees accruing from such business as might be transacted at their various offices, the average amount of which would probably not exceed 50%., or, at the most, 1007. per annum. Besides these, five interpreters to legations and consulates, and seven marshals to consular courts, with salaries varying from about 2007. to 1,000l., are officially recognised.

The relative rank and importance of the different countries thus diplomatically and commercially connected with the United States may be at once determined by the fact that, besides the envoy and two secretaries at London, no less than fifty of the consuls, or nearly one-fifth of the entire number, are distributed among the British dominions. Mexico ranks next, her share being twenty-two; then Spain, with nineteen; while France claims only fourteen, and the remainder are divided in still smaller proportions among the other nations of the globe. The aggregate amount of the annual salaries of all these officials at the English Court and throughout the British territories is but little more than 20,0007.-to which should be added, probably, a similar sum to cover contingent expenses, the cost of the mail and messenger service, &c. The regular appropriation for the Consular and Diplomatic Service throughout the world, for the year ending the 30th of June, 1861, amounted to 241,3297., which may be considered a fair annual average in modern times.

Although all these officials are appointed directly by the President, "by "and with the advice and consent of "the Senate," once in office, they come immediately under the supervision and actual control of the State Department, or, more properly speaking, of the Secretary of State. All their correspondence is to and from him, and the mere mechanical labour of conducting this correspondence, on the part of the Secretary, can scarcely be computed, and could never be properly accomplished, except by a man of the most energetic and systematic habits. There are no UnderSecretaries to relieve their principal from considerable portions of this la

bour, although the Assistant Secretaryan officer of modern creation-occupies a position somewhat analogous, and assumes the management of the department in case of the death, resignation, or absence of his chief.

The supervision of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps of the United States is by no means an easy or a gracious task. Were the incumbents of these various responsible offices abroad always men of education, skill, sound judgment, and practical (or even theoretical) knowledge of the world and its history, the case would be different. But, much as I regret to say it, in nothing else has that country, in modern times, so displayed its weakness, and the unsoundness of at least a portion of its governmental policy, as in its representation at foreign courts. Of the thirty-two Ambassadors, of various ranks, it is rarely that half-a-dozen could be found fitted, either by nature or by education, for the important positions into which they have been heedlessly thrust. I could readily enumerate a score, within my personal recollection, who have not even been endowed with the first and leading attribute of a legitimate diplomat, -viz., the power of holding one's tongue. I could also point to hundreds, ranking from Envoys to Consuls, thus entrusted with national business of the gravest importance, who not only have been unable to speak the language of the countries to which they were sent, but who knew no more of the laws, institutions, or even history of those countries than they did of those of the moon.

These lamentable, if not disgraceful, results have their origin in what are deemed the necessities of party; or, in other words, in the practical exemplification of the principle-dangerous, but seemingly inevitable in a democracythat "to the victors belong the spoils." Acting upon this principle, each party in turn, on succeeding to the control of the Government, deems it to be its first and most imperative duty to oust summarily from their respective offices all incumbents who hold their commissions from its political antagonist and predecessor; and this sweeping policy

extends to and embraces all ranks and classes of Government officials-from the Envoy to a foreign court, to the lowest attaché in a country post-office, and the man who trims the lamps in a lighthouse. Indeed, the system prevails, to a great extent, at every change of the Administration, whether the political or partisan character of the Government changes or not; so that no United States' official has any reasonable certainty, and scarcely any reasonable hope, of retaining his position for more than four years-the period to which the life of an Administration is limited by law. Under these circumstances, it is needless to say that in the United States there is no national school of diplomacy, and no inducement presented to such persons as might otherwise be disposed to prepare and offer themselves as candidates for the Civil Service. Where, in his own conceit, and practically in that of the Government itself, one man is as good as another; and where the patronage of the Government is distributed, not according to the merit of individuals and their fitness for the posts to which they are assigned, but rather in response to the services they may have rendered to the President himself, or to the party that chances to be in power; it could hardly be expected that all the vast number of Government appointments should be conferred upon even competent men-and, really, the greatest wonder is that, small as this class generally proves, its number is not still smaller.

A few practical illustrations will serve to convey a better idea of the manner in which these appointments are sometimes made than I can present in any other way.

Given, a State, a City, a Ward, and a Precinct. The State is supposed to be able to turn the scale, at any general election, in favour of either of the rival candidates, and, in the political jargon in vogue, 66 as goes the City, so goes the State;" while the same rule holds good as to the influence of the Ward over the City, and of the Precinct over the Ward. The final results of the gene

ral election, therefore, depend upon the action of this particular Precinct. Within its limits there is certain to be one man whose local sovereignty is so confirmed and generally recognised that it cannot be defied with impunity. He may be a worthy and respectable man, or he may be the keeper of a common pothouse, according to the character of a majority of the resident voters of the Precinct. But, whoever and whatever he be, for the time being the destinies of the pending struggle hang upon his fiat, and his favour and assistance must be secured, either by conciliation or purchase, by the party that is eventually successful. If the policy of the highest bidder accords with his own, so much the better; but, if otherwise, he is satisfied to accept a promise of future reward for he knows that promise will be kept, the penalty of its violation being his hostility on another similar occasion. The bargain concluded, the election over, and his faction in power, the Ward politician claims the fulfilment of his bond. He has fixed his heart on some post abroad-I will not now say an embassy, but, at least, a consulate. Everybody but himselt knows his utter unfitness for the position he is a coarse, uneducated, even vulgar man, who, perhaps, can scarcely write his own name. He is remonstrated with, flattered, cajoled, urged to accept some station more suited to his capacities; but all in vain. The consulate he will have, and nothing else. They may give him that, or take the consequences of their refusal. And he obtains it. Although anathematizing his obstinacy, his commission is signed, and, a few weeks later, he appears in Europe, with all the conceit and swagger consequent upon his unnatural elevation, to become the laughing-stock of the strange people among whom he struts and swells-the representative of the great American Republic ! 1

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1 A consul of this class, who recently received an important document from the State Department, intended solely for his private guidance in a delicate emergency, perhaps ambitious of seeing his name in print, absolutely sent a copy of it to the local newspaper where he was stationed, whence it was quoted

I recollect an individual whose only previous training had been that of an itinerant preacher, but who eventually, in some mysterious manner, acquired the friendship and patronage of a leading politician in one of the interior States, who persuaded him to abandon the pulpit for the rostrum, and secured his return to the Lower House of Congress from a district devoted to his interests-a district in which the ignorance or stupidity of a majority of the voters is said to be such that they have not yet learned of the decease of General Jackson, but have continued to vote for him regularly, every four years, ever since the year 1824. In Congress, the transformed parson was the daily butt of his colleagues, and the perpetual target for the more jocular reporters; but the great politician, who had now become President, still protected him, and finally, at his instance, a partisan Speaker made him chairman of one of the most important committees of the house. In a short time his incompetency became so grossly manifest, and the legislative business suffered so sadly under his management, that the whole country protested against his retention in the post, and it was found absolutely necessary that he should be deposed.

But he had done the State, or rather the President, some service, and would not submit peaceably to be thus cashiered. Whether he himself fixed the price of his resignation, which could not be safely refused, or whether owing to the obstinate friendship of his powerful patron, I know not; but I do know that I soon after met him at one of the Continental Courts, where he was swelling with all the importance of an envoy extraordinary, and, if I had not known the two men apart, I should assuredly have mistaken him for the Emperor himself.

Some few years ago I passed the Holy Week in Rome. During one of the festivals at St. Peter's, my attention was directed to a beardless boy, dressed in a magnificent uniform, whom, from the throughout the kingdom, to the amusement of the people and the consternation and chagrin of its authors.

fact that he was constantly darting hither and thither in every direction, and exceedingly profuse in his obeisances and genuflexions, I determined to be, at the very least, in spite of his youth, some important officer of the Pope's body-guard, or deputy-master of the ceremonies. His officiousness and impudence were indescribable, and he evidently regarded himself as an object of the highest admiration to all those whose attention was attracted to, and disgust excited by, his ridiculous antics. What was my chagrin on being informed that he was the American consul at one of the Italian cities! Another beardless boy was at that time the consul at an important seaport in the same territory. In these two instances, as the precocious youths were scarcely out of their teens, it was impossible that they could have rendered political services entitling them to such distinction from the Government; but their fathers had, and thus they claimed and received their reward, and disposed of sons they did not know what to do with at home.

A partisan politician-a Congressman, perhaps a Senator-whose previous services cannot be ignored, but who has run through his fortune, and for whom his creditors lie in wait at every turnin other words, who has proved himself utterly incapable of managing his own affairs-is unhesitatingly intrusted with those of the nation, and sent to maintain its dignity at one of the most important foreign Courts; and he does it, according to his notion, by imposing all the labour of the embassy upon his secretaries, while he reads novels in his private apartment, chews tobacco incessantly, and borrows money of every person who ventures to intrude upon his retirement.

Another, who, after passing through the various grades of official life, becomes a Cabinet Minister, and shortly after is found implicated in certain peculations on a magnificent scale, barters his seals of office, in response to an intimation that his resignation would be acceptable (for he is still too powerful to be treated more harshly), for an embassy abroad, and turns up an envoy somewhere be

tween the poles and the equator, where he remains until the old scandal is forgotten.

Such cases as these might be multiplied indefinitely, and I have no hesitation in recounting them, because the evil is a glaring one, and one that might and should be remedied. A little legislation, resulting in the establishment of civil service regulations even less stringent than those adopted in England, would effectually preclude the chances of at least nine-tenths of the applicants for these offices, and enable the Government, without offending its partisans, to make a more judicious selection of its representatives abroad. I do not mean to say that all, or even a large majority, of these representatives are of the character indicated by the illustrations just presented; but I may safely declare, without uttering treason, that too many of them are. I may also add that I know of but one country where the United States' Government has been invariably represented by men of the first order-whether regarded in reference to their private character, public eminence, or general statesmanship-and that is Great Britain. The simple fact, that the American Ambassadors to the Court of St. James have always been the very best men that the country could afford, while little or no deference has been paid to other nations in this particular, ought to be regarded as an evidence of the real respect entertained by the offspring for the parent, in whose eyes it desires to maintain a reputable appearance, in spite of the rebellious and obstinate attitudes it may sometimes assume on minor occasions.

It is over this heterogeneous regiment of diplomatists that the Secretary of State must keep a constant and unwearying watch, and it cannot be doubted that he finds much difficulty in preserving anything like discipline over that portion of it that may be properly denominated the "awkward squad." His weekly, and often semi-weekly, correspondence with these officials is necessarily enormous, and it is no small tax upon his mental organization to retain in his memory the particulars

necessary to a comprehension of each individual case. He must depend, of course, to a great extent, upon the assistance of his immediate staff and corps of subordinates, but still it is absolutely necessary that no order should be issued, and no response received, without his personal cognizance.

In connexion with this portion of his duties, the Secretary of State is also the medium of communication between the Government and the representatives of foreign powers resident at Washington. The diplomatic corps in this city may be said to form a society of its own, almost exclusive in its character, as its members generally, although courteous and accessible on all proper occasions, naturally cling to the social customs with which they have been familiar in their respective countries, and do not readily adopt the system of indiscriminate fraternisation that prevails with the people and Government to which they are accredited. In 1860,

their number was twenty-six; of whom sixteen were of the rank of envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary, five were ministers resident, and five chargés d'affaires. Except on extraordinary occasions, their business is all transacted with and through the Secretary of State; and, when it is remembered that this business comprises that of every class and nature, from the making of a treaty to the settlement of a private claim, it may be readily seen that the duties of this official, in his character of Foreign Minister only, are of the most complicated and laborious character.

Besides and in addition to all this, he supervises and controls the action of the governors of the various territories, or incipient states, which, on the 30th of September, 1861, were seven in number; also the commissioners appointed under certain treaties and conventions with foreign powers; and performs other duties that in England are more properly included within the province of the Home Department. It is, however, in his capacity of Foreign Secretary that he is best known, and, as he conducts this branch of the