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.”