atmosphere, it is firmly rooted in earth and breathes of real life, yet it conveys a sense of something superhuman. It must furthermore be remembered that many of the bitter remarks, such as those made previous to March, 1890, were the result of temporary irritation, while others were perfectly justified. The strong self-confidence manifested in some of these utterances, and the angry expression of that need for greater power and more liberty of action, common to all men of genius and energetic character, arose from the consciousness that, while he alone knew the true object to be pursued and the fitting means for its achievement, his knowledge could not be applied because the right of final decision on all occasions belonged by hereditary privilege to more or less mediocre and narrow minds. I will allow the Prince himself to answer the question as to my authority for communicating to others without any reserve all that I ascertained during my intercourse with him. “Once I am dead you can tell everything you like, absolutely everything you know,” said Prince Bismarck to me in the course of a conversation I had with him on the 24th of February, 1879. I saw clearly in the way in which he looked at me that, in addition to the permission I had already received on previous occasions, he wished that I should then consider myself entirely free and expressly released from certain former engagements, some of which had been assumed by myself, while others had been imposed upon me. Since then my knowledge increased owing to his growing confidence in me, while his authorisation and the desire that I should use what I knew to the advantage of his memory remained undiminished. On the 21st of March, 1891, during one of my last visits to Friedrichsruh, the Prince--apparently prompted by a notice which he had read in the newspapers--remarked, “Little Busch (Büschlein) will one day, long after my death, write the secret history of our time from the best sources of information.” I answered “Yes, Prince; but it will not be a history, properly speaking, as I am not capable of that. Nor will it be _long_ after your death--which we naturally pray to be deferred as long as possible--but on the contrary very soon after, without any delay. In these corrupt times, the truth cannot be known too soon.” The Prince made no answer, but I understood his silence to indicate approval. Finally, in the preceding year he had affirmed the absolutely unrestricted character of my authority. On the 15th of March, 1890, when the measures for his dismissal were already in progress, and he himself was engaged in packing up a variety of papers preparatory to his journey (a work in which I was allowed to assist him), he asked me to copy a number of important documents for him and to retain the originals and copies in my possession. On his remarking that I could get these documents copied, I called his attention to the fact that a stranger might betray their contents to third parties. He