strated with Captain Dundas, who referred him to
Admiral Bertie, the commander of the squadron, who was in his
stateroom on the quarter-deck. After a protracted opposition, the
admiral acknowledged the usage of nations, and, as an ambassador,
permitted him to pursue his voyage by the usual course through the
sound. From these and similar difficulties, Mr. Adams did not land at
St. Petersburg until the 23d of October.

The Chancellor of the empire, Count Romanzoff, received Mr. Adams in
courtly state, and requested a copy of his credential letter, with an
assurance of the pleasure his appointment had given him personally.
His presentation was postponed, from the temporary indisposition of
the emperor; but he was immediately invited, by Count Romanzoff, to a
diplomatic dinner, in a style of the highest splendor. Among the
company was the French ambassador, M. de Caulaincourt, Duke de
Vicence, the foreign ministers then at the Russian Court, and many of
the nobility. In the mansion of the Chancellor Mr. Adams had dined in
1781, as secretary of Mr. Dana, in the same splendid style, with the
Marquis de Verac, at that time French minister at the Russian Court.
His mind was more impressed with the recollection of the magnificence
he had then witnessed on the same spot, and with reflections on the
mutability of human fortune, than with the gorgeous scene around him.

The Emperor Alexander received Mr. Adams alone, in his cabinet, and
expressed his pleasure at seeing him at St. Petersburg. Mr. Adams, on
presenting his credentials, said that the President of the United
States had desired him to express the hope that his mission would be
considered as a proof of respect for the person and character of his
majesty, as an acknowledgment of the many testimonies of good-will he
had already given to the United States, and of a desire to strengthen
commercial relations between them and his provinces. The emperor
replied, that, in everything depending on him, he should be happy to
contribute to the increase of their friendly relations; that it was
his wish to establish a just system of maritime rights, and that he
should adhere invariably to those he had declared. He then entered
into a confidential exposition of the obstacles then existing to a
general pacification, and of the policy of the different European
powers, and said that he considered the system of the United States
towards them as wise and just. Mr. Adams replied, that the U