f publication reached me by the next city delivery after the
letter announcing their dispatch. Books which were addressed to me at
the Legation, to assure delivery when my exact address was unknown or
when my movements were uncertain, were, in every case but one, sent to
me direct from the post-office. I have no reason to suppose that I was
unusually favored in any way. I used no "influence," I mentioned no
influential names, though I had the right to do so.

An incident which procured for me the pleasure of an interview with the
chief censor for newspapers and so forth will illustrate some of the
erroneous ideas entertained by strangers. I desired to send to some
friends in Russia a year's subscription each of a certain American
magazine, which sometimes justly receives a sprinkling of caviare for
its folly, but which is not on the black list, and is fairly well known
in Petersburg. After some delay I heard from home that the publishers
had consulted the United States postal officials, and had been informed
that "_no_ periodical literature could be sent to Russia, this being
strictly prohibited." I took the letter to the newspaper censor, who
found it amusingly and amazingly stupid. He explained that the only
thing which is absolutely prohibited is Russian text printed outside of
Russia, which would never be delivered. He did not explain the reason,
but I knew that he referred to the socialistic, nihilistic, and other
proscribed works which are published in Geneva or Leipzig. Daily foreign
newspapers can be received regularly only by persons who are duly
authorized. Permission cannot be granted to receive occasional packages
of miscellaneous contents, the reason for this regulation being very
clear. And _all_ books must be examined if new, or treated according to
the place assigned them on the lists if they have already had a verdict
pronounced upon them. I may add, in this connection, that I had the
magazines I wished subscribed for under another name, to avoid the
indelicacy of contradicting my fellow-countrymen. They were then
forwarded direct to the Russian addresses, where they were duly and
regularly received. Whether they were mutilated, I do not know. They
certainly need not have been, had the recipients taken the trouble to
obtain permission as I did, if they were aware of the possibility. It is
probable that I could have obtained permission for them, had I not been
pressed for time.

I once asked a member of