At the same time, so far as I can ascertain, opinion here in St. Petersburg is very much divided on the subject. Our friends applaud. Others, who, since the war, have been oppressed with the foolish apprehension that victorious Germany would soon fall upon Russia, now breathe more freely. Yet another section pull wry faces at this formal proclamation of Russo-German friendship. A serious blow has been dealt at all the attempts of this party to disturb the friendship by exciting mutual suspicion. After such words as those we heard on the 8th of December, the reading public will no longer credit what they say, as such a frank statement by the Sovereign cannot be without influence in Russia. They now seek to indemnify themselves by turning the Tsar’s friendship for Prussia into ridicule. The visit of the Prussians is referred to as the German ‘butter week’; exception is taken to the presentation to Count Moltke of the general staff’s map of Poland on the occasion of his visit to the general staff; the Field Marshal and the officers who accompanied him, although they were very careful in what they said, are accused of having betrayed their contempt for the Russian military organisation, and further rubbish of the same kind. These malicious stories may doubtless, here and there, fall upon fruitful soil; but, in my opinion, they will not succeed in effacing the good impression made by the Prussian visitors.” What is here said of the Russian press was confirmed by a series of cuttings, probably emanating from Julius Eckart, of Hamburg. These were handed to me by Bucher on the 15th of December, under instructions from the Chief, and an abstract was sent by me to the _Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung_. In the meantime I had begun to prepare my article on the International. Bucher called my attention to the volumes of documents in the Central Bureau which contained useful material for this purpose, and instructed the Secretary to place them at my disposal. Here I also came across Beust’s memorandum which is mentioned in my diary under the date of the 22nd of October, and extracted the most important passages. From the style it would appear to be written by Beust himself, or, at least, to have been revised by him. Notwithstanding its somewhat florid phraseology, it is a document of unusual interest, particularly in view of the Constitutionalism which it affects. I was unable to discover in it any great ideas or new methods. The Austrian memorandum was followed by a Prussian one (see diary under 14th of April, 1872); and, to my knowledge, preparations were made for a commission, composed of the representatives of both Governments, which was to discuss the question. I am not aware what further steps were taken in the matter.