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.”