Chapter III · (continued 3)

“Le Prince Reuss ayant communiqué Votre gracieuse invitation à mon frère Nicolas, il en a été très heureux et me précédera à Berlin de quelques jours, si Vous le permettez.

“La presence de Vos officiers distingués à nos occupations, en camp de Krasnoe-Selo, fût une grande satisfaction pour moi, et j’espère qu’ils en auront emporté un aussi bon souvenir que celui qu’ils ont laissé parmi nous.

“Oh! que je me réjouis de la perspective de Vous répéter de vive voix l’assurance de l’amitié sincère avec laquelle je suis, mon cher Oncle, Votre tout devoué neveu et ami,

“Alexandre.”

September 8th.—To-day the Chief gave a great diplomatic dinner in honour of the members of the suites accompanying the Russian and Austrian Emperors. Of our people, Von Thile, Von Keudell, Von Bülow, Philippsborn, and Bucher were present. The latter, with whom I had a long tête-à-tête in the evening, said: “I have seldom seen such a collection of weird faces as those Russians. The Hamburger is a regular Stock Exchange Jew. Jomini looks like a professor—you know there are professors who understand how to make themselves agreeable to ladies. There were also some strange specimens among the Austrians. I said so afterwards to the son, Herbert (so I understood him, but Bucher always speaks in a whisper and not very clearly), and he replied: ‘Yes, you are right, although many people would not trust themselves to say it aloud—but it is true all the same.’”

This evening we remained till 11 o’clock at the Ministry, where I had to write another article for the Kölnische Zeitung on the election of the Pope, which was directed, amongst other things, against the assertion of the Catholique that this election was of world-wide significance. Afterwards Bucher and I had a bottle of red wine at Friedrich’s, when he gave me a great deal of interesting news. Keudell, he said, had long been on the look-out for a substantial embassy, and the Chief has now given him Constantinople. He, Bucher, fancied that this was done because Keudell was of little further use to the Prince, as he was taking leave at every moment—town leave while the Reichstag was sitting. Constantinople was selected because a great luminary was not required there. Keudell would not do much as an Ambassador, as he had no ideas of his own. Here he frequently borrowed one from the Chief, and made use of it for his own purposes; but on the Bosphorus, far away from the Wilhelmstrasse, he would have to stand on his own legs, and, in any emergency, he would hardly be equal to it. He could hold his tongue, and that was of some value; but his political acumen was confined to his own personal affairs, in regard to which he always knew how to improve his opportunities. I then mentioned that on one occasion when I was speaking of the East Prussians, Keudell’s fellow countrymen, and said that all those with whom I had had any dealings were thoroughly selfish, the Chancellor tersely added: “Jewish horse dealers” (Pferde Juden). Referring to Aegidi, Bucher repeated what he had formerly said, namely, that he was brought to us by Keudell in order to act as his correspondent, spy, and intermediary after his departure, keeping him posted in current affairs and in the ideas of the Chief, and getting his praises sung in the newspapers as often as possible....

Bucher then mentioned that during the last week at Varzin the Chief had almost given up riding, but had, on the other hand, driven about the country a great deal, and that, too, in a basket carriage without springs, a very unpleasant conveyance when it bumped over the roots of fir trees which project across the paths. He had never seen the Prince look so cheerful as on the day of his silver wedding. In the morning, as they were about to go to church, they could not find a dress-coat for his Highness, but, just as he was preparing good-humouredly to submit to his fate, they discovered a very ancient garment of the kind required in some forgotten wardrobe, which he then donned for the festive occasion. Finally, in the evening, he brewed for himself and the company a potent beverage, composed of two bottles of port, one of old arrack, and one of champagne, which he quaffed gaily long after Bucher had had more than enough, and gone off to bed. After the second glass the Countess fell so fast asleep in her rocking-chair that she could be heard—breathing aloud....

September 15th.—A Ministerial crisis has been in progress in Munich for weeks past, and it is said that Gasser has a fair prospect of becoming Premier. His wife, a Von Radowitz and a friend of the King with whom his Majesty is in constant correspondence, is credited in a report of the 1st instant with “no inconsiderable share in the Cabinet crisis which the Sovereign has provoked.” According to a report from B. of about the same date, Von Daxenberger, the Councillor of State, is disposed to support Gasser’s candidature. At least it is said there that “he is in closer agreement both in political and religious questions with Bray than with the present Minister”; that in speaking to B. he had “endeavoured to represent Gasser as a man of moderate views, whilst he was inclined to depreciate Lutz.”

To-day I forwarded to the Kölnische Zeitung a letter dated from Munich for which Bucher conveyed to me the Chief’s instructions. It stated that the Ministerial crisis was not yet at an end, and asserted positively that the Secretary of State, von Lobkowitz, the prospective Minister of Finance, was especially active in promoting a Gasser Cabinet. On the other hand, the report that the Councillor of State, Von Daxenberger, is also working in the same direction seems less worthy of credence. “No argument on the subject,” was the Chief’s instruction.

October 10th.—Arnim recently (date not noted) sent the Chancellor a rather lengthy statement of his opinion that Thiers should not be supported any longer, as he was only strengthening France for the benefit of Gambetta. He also hinted that we might give our support to others, in which case there would be plenty to make overtures to us. The Ambassador said he had severed his connection with B., who had shown himself quite incapable, but he was now employing another agent of the same description, who seemed in general to justify the confidence placed in his cleverness and powers of hearing. Prince Czartoryski had recommended to his political friends in the province of Posen, as Parliamentary candidate, the parish priest of Zduny, a man of strong clerical and nationalist sentiments, and a friend of Kozmian. Further, a French political agent, named Orlowski, was stationed at Dantzig, where he passed himself off as a commercial traveller. Samuel, the Chief of the French Secret Police, was now staying at Lunéville. Ladislaus Witkowski, a Jesuit, who spent several years in Rome, and who was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour on Czartoryski’s recommendation, had been sent by the Prince to the Grand Duchy of Posen, in order to promote an agitation among the peasantry. Witkowski was thirty-eight years of age, tall and stout, grows a beard, and wears plain clothes. He would probably put up at Kozmian’s. In Paris, he resided with the Jesuit, Jelowicki, who has recently paid several visits to Posen, and appeared to act as a channel for communication between Rome and the Grand Duchy. Witkowski might also have instructions from Samuel.

November 8th.—This evening received from Bucher, who has returned to Varzin with the Chief, the outline of a communication to be dated from Stolp, and sent to the Kölnische Zeitung, and which should run somewhat as follows: “Permit me to constitute myself ‘An Occasional Correspondent’ from Pomerania, as I have accidentally come into possession of more detailed information than the professional correspondents seem to possess. There are no indications at Varzin of an approaching departure. I cannot say whether a very active correspondence is maintained with Berlin, but when the Prince, in speaking at his own fireside of a reform of the Upper Chamber, declares it to be of necessity for our public life, it is hardly likely that his colleagues will be unacquainted with his views in this respect. Furthermore, if one bears in mind certain conversations which are understood to have taken place, at the Parliamentary soirées, during the debate on the Inspection of Schools Bill, some idea can be formed of the direction of the intended changes. It may therefore be assumed that, as the Upper Chamber is only a poor imitation of the English House of Lords, for which neither our history nor the position of our landed aristocracy affords any justification, its future character will have to be rather that of a Senate or Council of State combining greater intelligence and usefulness.”

November 22nd.—Last week a local paper—I think it was Glasbrenner’s Montagszeitung—and the Deutsche Presse of Frankfurt, published a paragraph, which was in all probability inspired by Aegidi, stating on good authority that Herr von Keudell would shortly be recalled from Constantinople in order to take over the post of Secretary of State at the Foreign Office, as Herr von Balan must sooner or later return to Brussels. I sent this to Bucher, who would seem to have laid it before the Prince, as Aegidi said to me to-day that the Chief had asked for information respecting its origin. He added: “I will write to the Montagszeitung, but I have little hope of ascertaining anything.” At that moment I had in my pocket the following rough draft of a paragraph which I had received from Bucher: “The long absence of the Prince from Berlin, and the unfavourable reports as to his health that have been circulated by enemies of his, and also under the cloak of regret by certain friends who hanker after his inheritance, have encouraged the hopes of those who desire a change, which it is well known would not be unwelcome to a certain exalted lady.” Bucher added: “If you cannot get this into a (non-official) paper you may perhaps mention it, unintentionally as it were, to some one who will circulate it in the Press.” I secured its insertion, expanded to a somewhat greater length, in the Hannoverscher Courier, from which it was copied by other newspapers, such as the Schwaebischer Mercur (of the 16th inst.)...

December 16th.—During the past few weeks wrote a number of minor newspaper paragraphs upon the Chief’s instructions, as transmitted to me by Bucher from Varzin, and latterly from here. To-day again I wrote a somewhat longer article for the Kölnische Zeitung, for which Bucher brought me down directions. It ran as follows: “Last week a number of obscure and confused reports were circulated in a portion of the press respecting the intentions of the Imperial Chancellor on his return from Varzin. According to one of these rumours, Prince Bismarck proposes to resign the office of President of the Ministry of State, and, of course, also that of Minister for Foreign Affairs. Another declares that he is thinking of withdrawing from all co-operation in Prussian internal affairs. It should be pointed out in reply that the foregoing ‘of course’ is in direct contradiction to the facts. We have it on the best authority that the Prince has no idea of resigning the office of Minister for Foreign Affairs, and, consequently, does not intend to retire from the Prussian Ministry of State. In view of the close connection existing between Prussia and Germany, such a course would be inconceivable, unless he were at the same time to give up the Chancellorship of the Empire. On the other hand, the rumour in question is correct to the extent that the Prince desires to be relieved of the Presidency of the Prussian Council of Ministers. Therefore, in future, if the Emperor approves, the Prince will hold the positions, first of German Imperial Chancellor, together with that of Chief Prussian Representative in the Federal Council, and will remain Minister for Foreign Affairs, and as such retain his seat in the Prussian Ministry. The Prince’s reasons for resigning the Presidency of the Prussian Council of Ministers and restricting his share in the administration of Prussia are, in the first place, the absolute impossibility of continuing to devote the necessary energy to the duties of the various offices which he has hitherto held without danger to his health, which, by the way, is now happily restored. Under the ‘collegial’ system which prevails in the Prussian Ministry, the Presidency requires the undivided attention of a statesman in robust health. The same applies equally to the office of Foreign Minister for the Empire, as well as to the other duties devolving upon the Prince as Imperial Chancellor. As it is, it will be a severe effort for him to perform the duties of those offices which he proposes to retain, and he could scarcely continue to do so in a satisfactory manner if he were not so ably assisted and represented, as he has hitherto been, by the leading officials of the Empire. Another reason, which may have decided the Prince to ask to be relieved of the Presidency of the Prussian Council of Ministers may be the desire to bear, in future, a smaller share of responsibility than he has hitherto done, for the policy and decisions of the departmental Ministers, who, in consequence of the collegial system[7] above mentioned, are very largely independent of the President. The Mühler Ministry may be remembered as illustrating the drawbacks of this system. It allowed an official department to be utilised for the furtherance of ultramontane interests, and its real character was only detected by the Minister President after it had placed all sorts of difficulties in the way of his policy. The relations between Prussia and Germany will not be rendered less intimate by the alteration which the Prince has in view. As Foreign Minister, he has hitherto been the intermediary between Prussia and the rest of Germany. In that capacity, he has held direct communication with the King as German Emperor and has instructed the Prussian representatives in the Federal Council. All these duties and powers must unquestionably, and will, therefore, continue to be, performed and exercised by him after his resignation of the Presidency of the Prussian Council of Ministers.”

December 18th.—According to a letter from a trustworthy source in Munich, King Lewis recently sent Prince Adalbert a note, of which the following is the substance: The Prince had taken the initiative in the matter of the Gasser Ministry, therefore the discredit attaching to the failure of that attempt must fall upon him. Consequently, his Majesty must in future imperatively forbid all interference by the Prince in State affairs.

1873.

January 1st.—I note the following from a communication from Stuttgart, based upon a conversation with Mittnacht respecting the cause of the dismissal of Baron von Egloffstein (till recently President of King Charles’s Cabinet), and the situation created thereby. The King is determined to fulfil his duties towards the Empire, but Egloffstein had constantly endeavoured to influence him in a Particularist direction. Since 1870 Queen Olga has been apprehensive for the existence of Würtemberg, and is confirmed in these apprehensions by the ladies of her entourage, and in particular by the Baroness von Massenbach as well as by Von Egloffstein, who, at the instance of the Queen, has also been endeavouring to influence the King. The Ministry was therefore obliged to demand the removal of Egloffstein from his post, and to this the King at once consented....

January 21st.—An instructive and entertaining dissertation on the “history of a semi-official newspaper article” might be written from the following entries in my diary. I content myself with providing the material for it, and adding a few words calculated to give a true idea of the origin and value of this much debated work. Rumour had already been busy for a considerable time when the Kölnische Zeitung on the 10th instant published the following “disclosures”:—

“When the Upper Chamber resumed the consideration of the District Regulations last autumn, the necessity of the reform was so fully recognised in the highest quarters that not only Count Eulenburg, the Minister of the Interior, but the Sovereign also had committed himself to that measure. As far back as February, 1872, the Ministry, in view of the attitude of the Upper House, passed a resolution declaring its approval in principle of a reform of the Chamber—a reform which was, indeed, to be based solely on the idea of a Council of State, and not on that of a real Chamber of Peers in the English sense.[8] Naturally such a radical change found many opponents in exalted circles, and even the Liberal party received the proposed reform with relative coolness, being much more interested in an energetic handling of the District Regulations question. At this juncture they regarded the District Regulations as the ‘bird in the hand,’ and showed little appreciation for the reform of the Upper Chamber, which they looked upon rather as the ‘two in the bush.’

“The leading statesman thought differently. He was of opinion that if one secured a twenty mark piece (the reform of the Upper House) it would be an easy matter to get change for it and secure also the thaler (the District Regulations). When, therefore, in the autumn the Upper House again showed itself recalcitrant, its attitude was by no means unwelcome at Varzin, though there was no particular enthusiasm for a creation of peers. In fact something more was desired. Hence the hints given to individual members of the Upper House that the Prince, who was then away on leave, was not at all keen about the District Regulations. In short it looked as if the then President of the Prussian Council of Ministers had no objection to an amendment of the Bill in the direction proposed by the Upper House, and did not want any secret made of his views to certain of his colleagues who were members of that Chamber. If this is an accurate statement of facts it is easy to conjecture what plans were being laid. The Prince would have had an opportunity of intervening, and ultimately the Upper House would have been confined to that consultative position which he regards as indispensable, if it is to be retained as a living factor in the State. It will be remembered that this scheme was frustrated by a creation of peers. The latter measure was opposed in a memorandum from Varzin, which declared in favour of an immediate reform of the House of Peers. But this proposal was supported only by one member of the Ministry, namely Count Roon. Count Eulenburg carried the day with the majority of the Cabinet, the hints given to certain members of the Upper House with regard to amendments of the District Regulations Bill having in the meantime reached the ears of the Sovereign.

“Prince Bismarck and Count Roon were therefore left together in the minority, although the former, as Minister President, still bore in the eyes of the public the responsibility for a policy which he had expressly opposed within the Cabinet. This was very little to the taste of the Imperial Chancellor, for whom it was a fresh illustration of the drawbacks of the collegial system obtaining in the Prussian Council of Ministers.

“Here, therefore, he hoped to find an opportunity for intervention and reform, while taking up once more the question of reorganising the Upper House, which always occupied the first place in his thoughts. When he left Varzin he was already preceded by a swarm of rumours, all of which turned upon his relations with the Prussian Ministry and an extension of the Imperial Ministries. It almost appeared as if henceforth Prussia’s task was to be confined to her domestic affairs. Like the navy, the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Communications, the army seemed fated to fall within the jurisdiction of the Imperial Chancellor, so that the head of the War Office would, as a Minister of State, occupy about the same position towards the Imperial Chancellor as General Stosch in his capacity of chief of the Admiralty, and Herr Delbrück as President of the Federal Chancellerie. The Emperor’s decrees on military matters would never again be countersigned by the Prussian Minister of War, but by the Imperial Chancellor, &c. Concurrently with these changes the Constitution would become more homogeneous, and the formation of a real Cabinet would ensue, with a chief who would be able to pursue an independent, and, indeed, a personal policy, and, through the members of the Cabinet, extend it even beyond the limits of that body.

“This plan, however, seems to have never yet been developed officially to its full extent. When it became known in exalted quarters (where the remembrance was still fresh of the hints conveyed to the Upper House respecting the District Regulations) that, in existing circumstances, the Minister President was as such no longer disposed to allow himself to be outvoted and saddled with a policy which was not his own, the question of filling the gap was bound to arise. Count Eulenburg, who had just carried off the victory, and who once before, within the last year, had been selected for a similar position, was naturally one of the first to be considered in the Royal deliberations. At the same time it was beyond doubt that, under the Presidency of Count Eulenburg, who had just secured a victory over Prince Bismarck in the Cabinet on the question of the creation of peers, further co-operation on the part of the Minister for Foreign Affairs in matters of specifically Prussian interest could not be expected. Count Roon’s position was different. He had also tendered his resignation on the ground that he had been outvoted, and the Sovereign was strongly indisposed to part from him. His appointment as President of the Council of Ministers in succession to the Prince would by no means constitute a disavowal by the King of the Chancellor’s views with regard to the reform of the Upper House, as Count Roon had gone hand in hand with Prince Bismarck in this respect. Both men, who had had intimate personal relations with each other for years, speedily came to an understanding. Count Roon, notwithstanding his Conservative leanings, had long since frankly adopted the policy of the Imperial Chancellor. He had already proved his determination in the struggle with the clergy over the Old Catholic army chaplaincies and the encroachments of the military Bishop, Nanczonowski, and he now made no difficulty about adopting in every particular the programme of the retiring Prussian Prime Minister with regard to the fight against Rome. Both statesmen were in the most perfect agreement in the question of the Upper House. The Civil Marriage Bill had to be set aside for a time without going into its merits, as the Ministers had not yet decided what compensation should be given to the Evangelical clergy in return for the perquisites and fees which they would lose. On the other hand, the Imperial Chancellor was in a position to promise his support for an ultimate increase in the demands made upon the Reichstag for the Army Budget of the Empire, in the event of a second chief of the military administration, whom it was proposed to appoint, being more closely connected as Minister of State with the Imperial Chancellor. In short an intimate alliance and a cordial understanding were arrived at by which part of Bismarck’s original programme was immediately realised, the rest being postponed, without prejudice, to a future time.”

This article was followed on the 14th of January by the following explanation, which appeared in the Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung:—

“The Kölnische Zeitung of the 10th instant contains an article on the secret history of the Prussian crisis, which it prefaces with the assurance that it has been derived from trustworthy sources. We are unable to say how far this assurance is justified in every particular, but we must contradict the statement that the Imperial Chancellor ever encouraged the opposition against the District Regulations Bill in the Upper House, or that any attempt whatever was made from Varzin to open up communications with the existing Opposition.

“After the Upper House had amended certain paragraphs in contradiction to the spirit of the Bill, and to the report of the Lower House, the Prince gave it to be understood that the constitutional procedure should be followed, namely, that the amendments of the Upper House should be dealt with once more in the Lower House, and opposed the idea of closing the session of the Diet after this first hostile vote of the Upper House, and forcing the position by a creation of peers.

“It is true that, on the unexpected resolution of the Upper House rescinding its own amendments, the Prince urged strongly that the reform of the Upper Chamber should be taken in hand at once, before proceeding further with the District Regulations Bill, and he still considers this reform to be one of pressing necessity, though it should not take the form of a consultative Council of State, but rather that of a two chamber system, under which the Upper House, however, must strike root and carry weight in the country.”

On the 20th of January the same organ went still farther in its comments on the disclosures of the Kölnische Zeitung:—

“We have already specified some inaccuracies in this article without entering into a complete contradiction of it. We are now in a position to assert that, in our humble opinion, this article contains about a dozen statements of very doubtful accuracy.... As, however, the Minister President has expressed in the Diet a wish that the discussion of this subject in the press should be brought to a close, and as we do not intend to run counter to a desire uttered in such a quarter, nor care to enter into a polemic with the Rhenish organ, which usually obtains its information from better sources, we forego all further correction of the contents of the article, to which—as we are in a position to state—official circles are entirely foreign.”

And now, what was the real truth of the matter? Let the reader form his own opinion from the following diary entries, remembering, in addition, that Aegidi was intimately connected with the journal last mentioned through Eckart: “January 12th.—This evening Bucher told me in reply to my question that the disclosures of the Kölnische Zeitung were correct, and that he had himself prepared the memorandum referred to therein.” “January 15th.—Wollmann informed me this evening that Aegidi had sent the article in the Kölnische Zeitung of the 10th instant to the Prince at Friedrichsruh, adding that he was aware who the author was, and giving an assurance that he had had no part in it.” “January 21st.—Bucher told me this morning that the article in the Kölnische Zeitung was written by Kruse, the chief editor of the paper, who is now in Berlin, from information given to him by Aegidi, and contains only a few unimportant errors. He, Bucher, had, under instructions from the Chief, written the mild démenti published by the Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung on the 14th instant. The sharper démenti that followed, calling the attention of the Kölnische Zeitung to the fact that no people had a right to demand a chronique scandaleuse from their journals, was dictated by the Chief and written by Aegidi, who was thus obliged to ply the rod on his own back.”

On reading these various communications, one can hardly help agreeing in some measure with the National Zeitung, which wrote as follows on the 20th of January: “We would strongly urge upon the Government the desirability of accepting the advice which we tendered to them recently, namely, that, instead of blaming the press, Ministers should keep their own motley throng of Privy Councillors and semi-official satellites in order. It is notorious that some of our Ministers are at loggerheads, and desire each other’s overthrow, and no denials will persuade people of the contrary. They may fight out their battles within the Ministry and in the proper place, but they should not bring their quarrels under the notice of the general public by mysterious insinuations, conveyed through persons who are dependent upon them, and whom they disavow at every opportunity. Altogether we would urgently request the Government to exercise a closer supervision over their semi-official mouthpieces, and not permit them to convert the performance of their official duties into a public nuisance which is steadily growing worse.”...

February 15th.—Among the documents which I read to-day I found one of last month that was of exceptional interest, as Bucher had added a number of marginal notes, obviously for the purposes of the Chief’s reply. It was a despatch from Arnim excusing himself to the Chancellor, who had charged him with giving utterance in his communications to opinions at variance with the fundamental principles of German policy. The Ambassador asserted that no divergency of views existed between them. The Prince had laid it down that the first task of Germany in connection with France was to prevent the latter being in a position to form alliances, and “he (Arnim) had also kept that end constantly in view.” It was only with respect to the means towards that end that he had expressed an opinion differing from the views of the Chief (who regards the maintenance of the Republic and of Thiers as the best course). The quotations from previous despatches show that there is as little truth in this statement as there was in the assertion that on his return to Paris in October last he had “found the President’s position strengthened to a greater degree than was desirable.” In reply to this assertion Bucher quotes the following sentences: “It is even now questionable whether Thiers, who imagines that he has come to terms with the agitator (Gambetta) is still a match for him” (Report of the 3rd of October), and “the continuance of the present régime only benefits the Radical extremists, in whose programme the revanche goes hand in hand with their campaign against the monarchies and the entire social system of Europe.” (Report of the 13th of November.) Finally, in his present defence, Arnim tries to show that he had formerly “observed, not without uneasiness, that Thiers was making arrangements intended to secure his own power for a number of years.” Thereupon the Chief had remarked: “He can hardly have observed that,” and Bucher quoted the following passage from a despatch of the Ambassador’s, dated the 30th of November: “The power which he is accumulating will pass into other hands (Gambetta’s).” Finally, the Count now asserts that he had only recommended “that M. Thiers’s prestige should no longer be promoted through the inspired German press.” In his report of the 29th of November the Ambassador persists in his opinion that “the President’s Government must be regarded as a source of serious anxiety for monarchical Europe.” In the despatch of the 30th of November Count Arnim recommends that we should bring about a crisis which should result in bringing either Gambetta to power or a Government which would seek support from Germany. We should then be justified in overthrowing Gambetta, and indeed obliged to do so (according to Arnim’s view of the case, on account of his propaganda). He would advise us to withdraw our support from Thiers. In conclusion, according to Bucher’s notes, Arnim says, in a report of the 6th of December: “It may be taken for granted that the President will find it very difficult to govern if he does not make up his mind to lean on the Conservative majority.”

February 20th.—It appears from a report of Arnim’s of the 17th of last month that he has engaged a certain Lindau[9] to furnish him with detailed reports from the French press. In a despatch of the 8th instant, the Ambassador states that Lindau has asked not to be deprived of the assistance of Beckmann (who was probably objected to as a suspicious character, or otherwise unsuitable). Arnim strongly supported this request, “in the interests of the service.” Lindau must have some one at his disposal who would undertake the more compromising portion of the whole arrangement.... Besides, neither Herr Lindau, nor any other official at the Embassy, was in a position to deal with all the material and to furnish full and satisfactory reports on the press, and at the same time to write articles himself for German, Italian, and Russian newspapers. According to Arnim, Lindau also proposed to start a publication for Russia, probably a news agency.

March 3rd.—All these suggestions were rejected by the Chief in a despatch of yesterday’s date. He will have no formal Press Bureau, no Russian news agency, and no influence exercised upon the German papers by the Paris Embassy.

I closed my diary at the last-mentioned date to let it rest for some years. The period which I had set myself, on the cessation of my direct intercourse with the Prince, for my further continuance at the Foreign Office was at an end; and this intercourse had not been renewed. I therefore, on the 28th of February, wrote to the Chief, as follows:—

“Most Noble Prince, Most Mighty Chancellor, Most Gracious Chief and Master.

“A few days ago I completed my third year of service at the Foreign Office. In connection therewith I venture dutifully to beg that your Serene Highness will allow me to retire from that service at the end of March, and to return, at first, to Leipzig; and at the same time to take into consideration the concluding sentence in the order of the 15th of March, 1870. The sentence in question says: ‘I would add that, in case your present occupation should sooner or later cease, you will be granted an annuity of 1,200 thalers, on condition that you still devote your literary activity to the support of our policy, as you have done during recent years.’

“The employment for which I was engaged here, according to your Serene Highness’s verbal instructions on my presentation to your Serene Highness on the 24th of February, 1870, ceased on the 1st of July, 1871, and with it, gradually, everything in the way of duty that was associated therewith. Notwithstanding this, I have honestly endeavoured to make myself useful; but I must confess to myself that these endeavours would be more fruitful in a different position to that which I now hold.

“In view of the circumstances, I ought perhaps to have sent in the foregoing dutiful petition immediately after the change which deprived me of the honour of direct intercourse with your Serene Highness. Had I taken such a step at that time, however, it might have been misunderstood; and I moreover had still to inform myself fully as to the purport of the instruction to ‘support our policy,’ in order to avoid possible mistakes; and, furthermore, I was anxious to be able to bequeath to future generations a picture of your Serene Highness’s life, painted not only with affection but also with knowledge. The latter has been for years past, and will remain, my sole ambition. It will at the same time afford me compensation for the loss of personal intercourse with your Serene Highness to renew it more actively in the spirit.

“Although during the three years which I have spent here I have certainly not acquired nearly sufficient positive information, I hope I have made considerable progress in freeing myself from political prejudices, as well as in matter-of-factness. One can, moreover, never leave off learning, although in other studies a triennium is considered sufficient.

“I may, therefore, confidently hope that your Serene Highness will kindly grant my dutiful petition; and perhaps I may not be disappointed if I add the fainter hope that when I begin the larger biography which I have in view, your Serene Highness will give me assistance similar to that which others would appear to have had before me.

“However that may be, I shall leave here with the same deep sense of veneration for the regenerator of our nation with which I came, and will act accordingly. With this feeling will always be associated a grateful recollection of the days, so happy for me, when I was permitted to have personal intercourse with your Serene Highness, and particularly of the seven months of the great war, when that intercourse was most direct, and when I sometimes believed myself justified in thinking that I enjoyed your Serene Highness’s good will.

“Your Serene Highness’s

“Dutiful and devoted

“Dr. Moritz Busch.”

I read over this paper first of all to Bucher, who approved of it as being “perfectly dignified,” and who, on his own suggestion, laid it before the Chief in an open envelope. The Prince read it through carefully, and then said, “I suppose he cannot get on with Aegidi.” Bucher replied that he was not acquainted with our relations, and only knew that I was not satisfied with my present position. The Chief then finally ordered: “Do not let it go through the office, but hand it direct to Bülow, who should see me about it.”

No reply was received for nearly three weeks. Finally, on the 20th of March, Aegidi informed me that he was instructed by the Prince to say that he wished to speak to me, and that he had fixed 2 P.M. on the 21st for that purpose. When I went upstairs to the Chief’s residence at the hour named, I had to wait for about ten minutes in the Chinese Salon while Bülow was with him. (The following was written down immediately after this audience, and gives a literal reproduction of all that was said by the Imperial Chancellor.) Mantey, the Chancery attendant, then announced me. As I entered, the Prince, who looked very well and greeted me with a friendly smile, was seated at his writing-table dressed in his blue silk dressing gown. He shook hands, and invited me to take a seat opposite him, the same place which I occupied at my first interview in February, 1870. The following conversation then began:—

He: “So you wish to leave? You have written me a letter. (He opened out the letter which lay before him, and I saw that he had marked one passage in blue pencil.) Excuse me for not answering it sooner. You referred to an arrangement which I could not recall to mind. I therefore had the letter sent to Keudell, and his answer on the subject only arrived yesterday. From that it appears that you are within your rights, and I have instructed Bülow to arrange the matter accordingly. You will receive what has been promised to you, but according to the understanding, the services to be rendered by you in return will be slight and purely voluntary.”

I replied that I would nevertheless be as diligent as possible. I was chiefly taken up with politics, and in supporting his policy I should only be obeying a moral imperative. I could not possibly act otherwise, had written in support of his views long before I was paid for it, and so forth. I not only wished to be, but should be soon, in a position to serve him, as in a few months I should take over the chief editorship of the Hannoverscher Courier, a newspaper with a circulation of about 10,000. I would only ask for good information.

He: “You will doubtless not wish to receive it through Aegidi, yet it must be so. There must be only one source from which information goes forth.”

I: “Well, there is another man here who, if I may take the liberty to express an opinion, is the best of all those who work under you, in character, ability, and knowledge.”

He: “And who might that be?”

I: “Bucher. If your Serene Highness would only sometimes let me know through him what you desire and intend. One is accustomed to some extent to your Serene Highness’s way of thinking, and can guess a great deal; nevertheless, new and unexpected ideas may frequently arise of which some indication should be given me.”

He: “Yes, Bucher. A real pearl! Well, put yourself in communication with him. A very able man, if I can only keep him; but he seems to me to be in anything but good health.”

I said that was certainly true, but when he was exhausted he was always able to recuperate by sleep, so that in spite of his hard work he could keep up to the mark. The Prince then continued:—

“But now to come to the second point. You have said in your letter that you wish to write my biography. I have nothing to say against that, and it may even prove very useful. It is not a matter of indifference to me who writes it. A great deal has already been written, but it includes a lot of rubbish. I will assist you in it, although it will not be easy. I am ready to answer all the questions you put to me and to give you every possible information. But first read what has already been written on the subject, and then send me a sheet or two of questions. Or, better still, write the history of the headquarters in France. You were there. That may prove very useful to me, and also to history. I will give you every possible information. You can also question my sons, and my cousin Charles, whom you know. By the way, an attempt has been already made to levy blackmail upon me. A Leipzig bookseller wrote me that you had kept a diary in which you had written down everything that I had said about the King. Five copies of it were deposited in five different places, and would be published unless I sent him a hundred thousand thalers. I considered you to be a man of honour incapable of that kind of thing, so I wrote: ‘Not five groschen!’ nor would I set a single policeman in motion on that account. It would certainly not be a matter of indifference to me if it were printed and published, and if all that I had said in my own way about the King and other exalted personages when I was excited and indignant—rightly indignant—were to become known. But the King knows that I had already said much worse things of him. Besides, now that I have resigned the Presidency of the Council of Ministers I am on a much better footing with him. He thinks now that I can no longer stand in his way and prevent him carrying out his wishes when he has some unpractical idea in his head, or when prejudice makes him reluctant to sanction some necessary measure. But my influence over the other Ministers has only increased with the change. I have never had so much influence upon them as now, and since then I have been able to carry through much more. My health, however, is not good. I was almost six months away last year, and it was not of the least benefit. I am no longer what I was—only a Ziska drum,[10] you know, nothing but the skin.”

He paused for a moment, and then returning to the attempt at blackmail, said: “The bookseller wrote once more on the subject, and this time he said he would be satisfied with fifty thousand thalers. I kept to my former decision, however. ‘Not five groschen, and not a single policeman.’” With the exception of my own family and a few old friends, I had spoken to no one about the diary I kept during the war, and least of all to a bookseller, at Leipzig or elsewhere. I was quite certain of that; it was utterly impossible; and I was, therefore, absolutely dumbfounded at these remarks. This, then, was obviously the reason—which I had so long sought vainly to discover—why he had broken off all direct intercourse with me. I had been calumniated, and he mistrusted me. I was more than once on the point of saying that this bookseller was a myth, and, what was more, a gross and palpable invention by some malignant fellow, who found me in his way because he could not use me for the advancement of his own selfish ambition. I checked myself, however, and only said I was thankful to him for his confidence. It was not unjustified. The diary certainly existed, but I had never intended to publish it. It was only for myself, and it by no means consisted merely of what he had said respecting the King and other Princes. “And besides,” I concluded, “it was no secret for the Foreign Office. At Versailles Abeken had called attention to it at table, and you observed that it would one day be quoted, ‘Conferas Buschii,’ &c.”

“Yes,” he observed, “that is quite right. I remember now. By the way, you will hardly have cared much for Abeken either.”

I replied: “Well, not very much.”

“Nor did I,” he added. “He was only happy in the atmosphere of the Court and at the Radziwills; and when he had his nephews with him, ‘my nephews, the Counts York,’ he was quite beside himself with delight. He was useful, however, in his own red-tape fashion. He had such a sackful of phrases that, when I wanted some, he had only to shake it out, and there I had a whole pile.”

He then referred for the third time to the fabulous bookseller, who still seemed to cause him some anxiety; and I again assured him that I had no idea of publishing my notes. “After my death,” I said, “some fifty years hence, perhaps.” “It need not be so long,” he replied. “You may even now write on the subject; and, indeed, I should be pleased if you did. And just ask me when there is anything you do not know or are in doubt about. It should be my epitaph. I should not like to have it done by Hesekiel, though. But you will proceed with tact and discrimination, and in this respect I must trust entirely to you. But you must not let Decker publish it, but some other publisher, or people will notice that I have had a hand in it.”

I again observed that the matter was not so simple, as all the material had to be properly collected, sifted, and arranged if it were to be done as it ought to be, and that in the immediate future I should not have the necessary leisure for this purpose. Besides, when I wrote the book I would beg leave to submit the proofs to him sheet by sheet for revision and correction. He agreed, imposing one condition—that I should observe silence respecting his collaboration, “for, of course, that would be to collaborate.” I called his attention to the fact that letters with questions and envelopes with proofs would be opened in the Central Bureau downstairs. “Register them, then; writing ‘Personal’ on the cover, and in that way they will reach me unopened,” he replied. With these words he stood up and gave me his hand, said he had been glad to see me again, hoped I would visit him later when I came to Berlin, and repeated that I was right in what I said respecting my promised pension, which I should receive. He then shook hands with me once more, and I took leave, delighted with his amiability, and determined to do everything possible to please him. In the evening I gave Bucher an account of my interview, and on the following Monday I dined with him at a restaurant in Unter den Linden, when we made all the necessary arrangements for the supply of information to me. He had as little faith as myself in the mythical bookseller, but thought it quite possible that some one had tried to palm off that fiction on the Chief, and imagined that in that case it was probably Keudell who had instigated the intrigue.

A day or two later Balan came to my desk, and said: “I congratulate you, Herr Doctor. A pension of 1,200 thalers, and thanks for your services in addition. That is a great deal.” Thanking him for his congratulation, I replied that the amount was payable under an old contract, and that if I had not earned it up to the present I should try to do so in the future. A few hours later I received the order, signed by the Imperial Chancellor; and on my going again to the Ministry next morning to take leave of my colleagues, I found the following letter on my writing-table: “The Imperial Chancellor and Princess Bismarck request the honour of Dr. Busch’s company on Saturday, the 29th of March, at 9 P.M.” Of course I accepted the invitation. It was one of the Chief’s Parliamentary evenings, which I had never yet attended. Next day, at noon, I left Berlin, half sad, half glad. Sad, because I was leaving him in whom all my thoughts were centred, and glad because I had recovered my liberty, and should henceforth no longer pace those floors where intrigue crawls at the feet of the honest and unsuspecting, causing them, by knavish and underhand trickery, to stumble and to fall.