_July 16th._--After it had been whispered in the press for some time that the Emperor Frederick had left a diary which did not throw a very favourable light upon Bismarck, and that this was at present in the hands of the Queen of England, a second version of the story (_Berliner Boersenzeitung_, evening edition of the 13th) is now reproduced from the _Matin_ and other French papers. This is to the following effect. During the lifetime of the Emperor William I. Prince Bismarck prepared a frank statement respecting the European situation and his own political views, which he handed to the Emperor, believing that the latter would survive his son, and that the document would thus pass direct, without any intermediary, from the grandfather to the grandson. Frederick ascended the throne, and found the Bismarck memorandum. All the efforts made by the Chancellor to recover possession of it were in vain, and on Frederick’s death it was found that the document, which contained the most secret ideas and schemes of the Chancellor, had come into the possession of Queen Victoria, who declined to give it up. In this form the story is doubtless akin to that of the sea-serpent, and yet it is perhaps not entirely without foundation. Anyhow, it is possible that a diary by the late Emperor may be in existence, and may have been put into a place of safety by his consort or her mother. On the 20th of September I received from Grunow the October number of the _Deutsche Rundschau_, containing the diary of the Emperor Frederick during the war. I reviewed it in No. 40 of the _Grenzboten_ without having any doubt as to its being in the main genuine. On the 24th Hedwig announced the arrival of one of the Chancery attendants who had been sent by Rottenburg to request me to call upon him at 2.30 P.M. I went, and he showed me a letter from the Imperial Chancellor (written by an amanuensis) desiring him to request me to come to Friedrichsruh, and to bring with me my notes taken during the war, as the diary of the Emperor Frederick appeared to contain inaccuracies. I promised to start next morning, whereupon Rottenburg arranged to telegraph to Rantzau to stop the 8.30 A.M. train at Friedrichsruh where it does not usually stop. Nothing was to be said in the newspapers about my visit. I replied that that went without saying so far as it depended upon me. I had always felt disgusted at the merest mention of my name by that pack. On the same evening Rottenburg sent me a letter requesting me not to leave Berlin, but to come to the Imperial Chancellerie at 10 A.M. on the following morning, as other arrangements had been made.