CHAPTER III

DIPLOMATIC WORK OF FIRST WINTER IN BERLIN

During this first winter in Berlin, I spent each morning in the
Embassy office, and, if I had any business at the Foreign Office,
called there about five o'clock in the afternoon. It was the
custom that all Ambassadors should call on Tuesday afternoons
at the Foreign Office, going in to see the Foreign Minister in
the order of their arrival in the waiting-room, and to have a
short talk with him about current diplomatic affairs.

In the previous chapter I have given a detailed account of the
ceremonies of court life, because a knowledge of this life is
essential to a grasp of the spirit which animates those ruling
the destinies of the German Empire.

My first winter, however, was not all cakes and ale. There were
several interesting bits of diplomatic work. First, we were then
engaged in our conflict with Huerta, the Dictator of Mexico,
and it was part of my work to secure from Germany promises that
she would not recognise this Mexican President.

I also spent a great deal of time in endeavouring to get the
German Government to take part officially in the San Francisco
Fair, but, so far as I could make out, Great Britain, probably
at the instance of Germany, seemed to have entered into some
sort of agreement, or at any rate a tacit understanding, that
neither country would participate officially in this Exposition.