unt's
visit, and knowing that he would not be safe anywhere in his own house,
took refuge in the loft of his barn and drew the ladder up after him.

And yet Adam Gurowski was a true-hearted man, loyal to every good cause
and devoted to his few friends. His life continued to the last to be a
very checkered one. When the civil war broke out, his disapprobation of
men and measures took expression in vehement and indignant protest
against what appeared to him a willful mismanagement of public business.
William H. Seward was then at the head of the Department of State, and
against his policy the count fulminated in public and in private. He was
warned by friends, and at last officially told that he could not be
retained in the department if he persisted in stigmatizing its chief as
a fool, a timeserver, no matter what. He persevered, and was dismissed
from his place. He had been on friendly terms with Charles Sumner, to
whom he probably owed his appointment. He tormented this gentleman to
such a degree as to terminate all relations between the two. Of this
breach Mr. Sumner gave the following account: "The count would come to
my rooms at all hours. When I left my sleeping-chamber in the morning, I
often found him in my study, seated at my table, perusing my morning
paper and probably any other matter which might excite his curiosity. If
he happened to come in while a foreign minister was visiting me, he
would stay through the visit. I bore with this for a long time. At last
the annoyance became insupportable. One evening, after a long sitting in
my room, he took leave, but presently returned for a fresh _seance_,
although it was already very late. I said to him, 'Count, you must go
now, and you must never return.' 'How is this, my dear friend?'
exclaimed the count. 'There is no explanation,' said I, 'only you must
not come to my room again.'" This ended the acquaintance! The count
after this spoke very bitterly of Mr. Sumner, whose procedure did seem
to me a little severe.

Unfortunately the lesson was quite lost upon Gurowski, and he continued
to make enemies of those with whom he had to do, until nearly every door
in Washington was closed to him. There was one exception. Mrs. Charles
Eames, wife of a well-known lawyer, was one of the notabilities of
Washington. Hers was one of those central characters which are able to
attract and harmonize the most diverse social elements. Her house had
long been a resort of the worthies