On our return we learnt that the Chief had intended to take a drive with us. At dinner we mentioned where we had been, and I praised the park for its great extent and variety. The Prince said: “It is certainly beautiful, and formerly it was even larger than it is now. My predecessor could wander for seven or eight miles through his own forests, mostly deciduous trees. He had those great clearings made and turned into arable land, as it was believed that where beeches had grown the soil would prove good. But the wind dried up the thin layer of mould and blew it away, and I am now replanting it.” He then spoke of the Chorow farm, which Count Blumenthal had bought “out of the heart of the estate,” and which had now been repurchased by him. “I afterwards let it,” he said, “to the woman who had previously farmed it. She is also one of those by whose death I should benefit, as I am receiving a thousand thalers less rent from her than I could get if she died and I were no longer bound to her, as I have been for fourteen years.” Of his further remarks during dinner the following are of special interest. We were talking of the result of the war with France, and the Chief said: “When I was made Prince, the King wished to put Alsace and Lorraine into my armorial bearings. I should have preferred Schleswig-Holstein, as that is the diplomatic campaign of which I am most proud.” Holstein asked: “You wished that from the beginning?” “Yes, certainly,” replied the Prince, “immediately after the death of the King of Denmark. But it was difficult. Everything was against me--the Crown Prince and Princess on account of the relationship, the King himself at first and, indeed, for a long time, Austria, the small German States, and the English, who grudged us such an acquisition. It would have been possible to arrange matters with Napoleon,--he thought he could place us under an obligation to him in that way. And finally at home the Liberals were opposed to it, suddenly discovering the legitimacy of princely rights--but that was only their hatred and envy of me--and the Schleswig-Holsteiners themselves would not hear of it either. All these, and I know not who else besides. At that time we had a sitting of the Council of State, at which I made one of the longest speeches of which I ever delivered myself, and said a great deal that to my audience must have seemed unheard of and impossible. I pointed out to the King, for instance, that all his predecessors, with the exception of his late brother, had added to their territories, and asked him whether he wished to follow that brother’s example. To judge from the amazement depicted on their faces they evidently thought I had made too free with the bottle that morning. Costenoble drew up the protocol, and when I looked through it afterwards I found that the passages in which I had expressed myself most clearly and forcibly were omitted. They contained precisely my best arguments. I called his