“Yes, do that,” he replied; “but at the same time remember the press laws. Be very cautious, diplomatic, and not too venomous; and always emphasise the fact that it is foreign influences that are working against me; not the Emperor, but the reigning lady and her mother.”... “But,” I said, “will it not throw an unfavourable light on the Emperor, making him appear weak and pitiable, if one says that he is opposed to the Battenberg project, but may be brought to give in to the demands of the ladies?” He replied: “It is not necessary to say that in so many words; but it is nevertheless a fact—and it was much the same with the late Emperor, who had also to struggle against feminine influence, and was thankful to me when I stiffened him against it. In these cases he used to say to me: ‘Do it in such a manner that they may fancy they have had their way, while we really manage as it should be.’ On the whole, I got on well with him.”
After I had been with him somewhat over three-quarters of an hour, he called my attention to a very curious little work of art which stood on his writing-table. It consisted of a large grey pearl mounted with diamonds and rubies, representing the head of a greyhound with a golden tobacco pipe in its mouth. This, he explained, was “a present from Mexico.” I then took my leave, and he was about to lie down to sleep. In the antechamber Theiss told me that while I had been with the Chancellor the Grand Duke of Baden called to see him. He had told him, however, that the Prince “had a conference,” and he accordingly went away. I proceeded direct to Bucher’s in order to repeat to him as literally as possible my conversation with the Chief, and thus to impress it more firmly on my mind. He had the Duke of Coburg’s pamphlet, which he lent me. He also gave me the following example of the manner in which the feminine half of the present Imperial family have been anglicised. “Princess Victoria, the Battenbergerin in spe, had a difference with her brother on one occasion respecting some household arrangement. ‘After all, that is much better managed at home,’ she said. ‘At home? What do you mean?’ he asked. ‘Why, at home in England,’ she replied. The particular epithet which Prince William applied to her is not known for certain, but it was either ‘goose’ or ‘sheep’”. (...)
On my return home at 6 o’clock I found the following note, enclosing an extract from the Deutsches Tageblatt, lying on my table:—“Dear Sir,—Prince Bismarck begs you to kindly introduce the article discussed to-day by a reference to the enclosed statements of The Times, in order that it should not appear to be written without any immediate occasion.—Yours truly, Rottenburg.”
On the 8th of April, having again been summoned to the Chief, I called at the Chancellor’s palace, and was shown in without much delay. The Prince, who was reclining in a chaise longue near the window, was reading the Kölnische Zeitung. I had to draw up an armchair close to him. He said: “Here is the Kölnische Zeitung writing against The Times, and also the Frankfurter Zeitung. You might also mention this in the article of which we were speaking yesterday, and correct them where necessary. The main point is that the Emperor is on my side. A syllable must be added here” (he pointed to the word “Kaiser,” which was underlined in red)—“Kaiserin. It is a struggle between the Emperor and Empress. She, as an Englishwoman, is in favour of the Battenberger; he will not have him, first for political reasons, like myself, and then because he actually hates him, for he dislikes the idea of a mésalliance, as he is very proud of his dynasty and position. Two Empresses are fighting against his opinion and mine,—those of India and Germany; and Victoria the daughter simply talks him down. She can make much better use of her tongue than he can. It has always been so, and now more than ever, owing to his illness and the way in which worry affects him. Besides, he is deeply devoted to his family. I was present on one occasion when she set at him so violently with her feminine logic and volubility that at last he sat there quite silent and depressed. He is delighted every time that I come to his assistance against his combative wife.” I related Bucher’s story about Victoria No. 3 and her brother. “Yes,” he said, “that is quite credible. At home with her daughters, she, the German Empress, only speaks English, the language of the Chosen People, and the Princesses write English letters to their father.”
He continued: “Look here! There they talk of my attachment to the dynasty. Well, that is quite correct, but it was more so under the father, the old master. I had all along wanted to retire at his death, and if I remain it may be taken as certain that I do so only on an understanding that I continue the old policy I have followed hitherto, and am protected from foreign influence and from the interference and misgovernment of women, which was never carried to such lengths as it is at present. I would therefore beg of you to call attention to the Progressist journals, to these Court Jacobins—use that word—who receive their orders from Charlottenburg, through the women whose names figure at the head of the Address, Frau Helmholtz, Schrader, and Stockmar, whose late husband was Secretary to the Englishwoman when she was Crown Princess. These Byzantine hypocrites, these democrats who wag their tails and crawl more abjectly than the most extravagant absolutist, would like to degrade me from being a servant of the State and of its head into a Court menial, although of course it is both my right and my duty to form my own opinion and maintain it like anybody else, all the more as I bear the responsibility for the mistakes, or, as in the present instance, the obvious follies that are committed in important matters.” He continued to dilate on this theme for a few minutes; and then again suggested that I should make use of the pamphlet of Duke Ernst of Coburg. He sent for Rottenburg, and told him that in using it elsewhere the passages which I should quote were not to be employed. When Rottenburg had gone I asked: “Are you quite sure that it was he who wrote it? It is very strong for him, although from the style, which is rather vulgar and careless, it might well be his work, besides which he is acquainted with the facts through being closely connected with the Queen.” He replied, smiling: “He himself told me so” (in English). I then spoke of his autobiography, which I described as badly arranged and prolix. “Yes,” he said, “he has somewhat the same failing as Beust. He can suppress nothing—not the most trifling circumstance respecting what he has done or tried to do, and collected.” I inquired as to the instructions respecting Beust’s book. He replied: “That must wait. We have now more important matters to deal with. Later on, perhaps. For the present you might get them to give you the book. I have underlined a few things which appear to me to be incorrect. But now I must try to get some sleep. At present my pulse goes on an average fifteen beats in the minute faster than it did during the preceding reign.” I took my leave, with good wishes for his speedy improvement. I had been with him about twenty minutes. In the following three days I wrote the desired article, and sent it to the Grenzboten, where it appeared in No. 17, under the title, “Foreign Influences in the Empire.”
April 25th.—This evening at Knoop’s, Bucher described the candidature of the Prince of Hohenzollern, in which he himself had taken a part, as a “trap for Napoleon.” He added that neither the Emperor William nor the Crown Prince had the least idea of this feature of Bismarck’s manœuvre, of which he, Bucher, also gave particulars to the Crown Prince after his journey. They both regarded the candidature as a means of exalting the glory of their House.
April 28th.—This afternoon met Bucher in the Königin Augusta Strasse.... He said, smiling: “I have just heard a surprising piece of news. Grandmamma behaved quite sensibly at Charlottenburg. She declared the attitude of the Chief in the Battenberg marriage scheme to be quite correct, and urged her daughter to change her ways. Of course it was very nice of her not to forget her own country and to wish to benefit it where it was possible for her to do so, but she needed the attachment of the Germans, and should endeavour to secure it; and finally she brought about a reconciliation between Prince William and his mother.” I asked, “Have you that on good authority?” “On very good authority,” he replied. “Well,” I said, “that is highly satisfactory, and we shall act accordingly in the immediate future, for, of course, we do not hate Victoria II. on account of her extraction, but because she feels as an Englishwoman and wishes to promote English interests at our expense, and because she despises us Germans. The question is whether in the long run she will heed this maternal admonition. It is not easy to rid one’s self of a habit of thought of such long standing.” He agreed with me in this.
April 29th.—I read this morning in the Berliner Boersenzeitung: “We are in a position to state that the Imperial Chancellor, as was indeed to be expected, is most indignant at the notorious article in the Grenzboten slandering the Empress Victoria, and that he has given expression to his condemnation in very strong terms. In this connection exceptional importance is to be attached to the sympathetic article in the Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung on the Queen of England’s visit.” Doubtless as that paper is in the Bleichröder’s service, this utterance has been inspired by that firm, over which floats the flag of the British Consulate General. Well informed? Possibly, indeed probably. A disclaimer? Why not! Quite in order! Tempora mutantur? But I shall never change towards him, nor he doubtless towards me. He will once more call for his little archer when he again wants an arrow shot into the face of this or that sun, and “Büschlein’s” bow shall never fail him. My “libellous article” was, I see, indignantly denounced in the Daily Telegraph and the Neue Freie Presse. In doing so the former described the Grenzboten as “a publication which, for well-known reasons, is read with attention throughout Germany.” The Neue Freie Presse spoke of a want of tact which would be regarded as impossible if it were not in evidence in black on white. Excellent! In this manner what I had written secured a wide circulation, particularly as other journalistic hacks will probably without wishing it have recommended the article in a similar way. (...)
After the death of the Emperor Frederick, I wrote to Bucher a few lines expressing the satisfaction I felt that we were relieved of that incubus, and that his place was now to be taken by a disciple and admirer of the Chief.