“I am greatly depressed at being unable, on receipt of your Majesty’s gracious communication of the 9th instant, to proceed to Berlin at once and place myself at your Majesty’s disposal in the present crisis, all the more so as towards the end of last month I believed I should soon be sufficiently restored to do so. Since my return from Berlin I found my strength constantly increasing, and for that reason and also through my interest in the matter, I allowed myself to be tempted, in opposition to the urgent warnings of the doctor, to yield to Count Eulenburg’s frequent appeals, and endeavour to influence the course of affairs by communications to your Majesty, and correspondence with the Ministers and with Members of the Upper House. That is certainly very hazardous to proceed in such a fashion, and at such a distance, in the absence of discussions which might throw light upon the questions at issue, without knowledge of the opposing views, and also without sufficient assistance. I had hoped, however, that it would only last a few days and that things would soon again enter upon a more peaceful course. Unfortunately, this attempt only too speedily convinced me that my doctor was right, and that my store of newly-recovered strength was very slight. I am greatly discouraged, as my intervention will have exercised rather a disturbing influence than otherwise, while the few days’ work and excitement, with the nervous irritability which it involves, have sufficed once more to prove to me clearly the lassitude of my intellectual powers. I fear I am more exhausted than I should like to confess to myself. This anxiety, as well as the feeling of shame that I am unable to be at my post and at your Majesty’s service at such an important moment, is a source of great depression, even when I say to myself that I must humbly submit to the will of God, who does not require my co-operation and puts limits to my strength. My uneasiness is counterbalanced by the confidence which your Majesty expresses at the close of your letter, and which I fully share, that the grace of God which has hitherto blessed your Majesty’s Government will continue to assist it. The course which your Majesty has sanctioned in Council can lead to the same ends just as well as that proposed by me, provided there is no breach with the present Parliament and my colleagues remain united among themselves. They will do that for your Majesty’s sake, although up to the present there have been many indications of differences. I fear that my correspondence with some of them individually, in reply to questions addressed to me, may have sometimes increased the elements of discord, and that misunderstandings may have arisen with respect to myself owing to the fact that the contents of my reports were fully known only to those to whom they were addressed. I have therefore requested Roon only to consult me at your Majesty’s express command, and I have informed