“On the 28th instant you will celebrate a beautiful family festival which God in His mercy has granted to you. I may not, and cannot, withhold my sympathy on this occasion, and therefore you and the Princess, your consort, will accept my heartiest and warmest congratulations on this elevating festival. That your domestic happiness should always have held the first place among the numerous blessings which Providence has elected to bestow upon you both--it is for this that your prayers of thanksgiving should rise to Heaven! But our and my prayers of thanksgiving go further, inasmuch as they include thanks to God for having placed you at my side at a decisive moment, and thereby opened up a path for my Government far beyond imagination and understanding. But you will return thanks to Heaven for this also--that God granted you to achieve such great things. And in and after all your labours you have constantly found recreation and peace in your home. It is that which sustains you in your difficult vocation. My constant anxiety for you is that you should preserve and strengthen yourself for this vocation, and I am pleased to learn from your letter, through Count Lehndorff, and personally from the Count, that you now think more of _yourself_ than of the documents. “As a souvenir of your silver wedding you will receive a vase representing a grateful Borussia, of which--however fragile its material may be--every fragment will nevertheless express what Prussia owes to you for her elevation to the pinnacle on which she now stands. “Your faithful, devoted and grateful King, “William.” CHAPTER VI I AM INVITED TO FRIEDRICHSRUH--BUCHER AND THE PROPOSED “MEMOIRS”--HE DOUBTS WHETHER THE LATTER WILL BE COMPLETED--THE CHIEF--“BÜSCHLEIN” AS BEFORE--THE ANGLO-GERMAN AGREEMENT--THE EMPEROR AND RUSSIA--THREE KINGS IN THEIR NAKEDNESS--BÜSCHLEIN WILL WRITE THE SECRET HISTORY OF OUR TIMES--THE PRINCE GIVES ME IMPORTANT PAPERS TO EXAMINE IN MY ROOM: HIS RESIGNATION IN 1890, A DRAFT OF A CONFIDENTIAL STATEMENT OF THE MOTIVES OF HIS RETIREMENT AND NOTES ON THE ATTITUDE OF THE INDIVIDUAL MINISTERS ON THAT OCCASION--STILL ANOTHER BOOK ON BISMARCK IN VIEW; CORRESPONDENCE ON THE SUBJECT WITH BUCHER AND THE CHIEF HIMSELF; THE PLAN DROPPED--LAST VISIT TO BUCHER IN JANUARY, 1892--HIS DEATH--LAST STAY AT FRIEDRICHSRUH IN MAY, 1893--GOOD-BYE, DEAR OLD FRIEND. On the 23rd of February I again received a letter from Bucher, also under cover to Frau Hedwig Hämmerling: “23/2/91. He says he would like to see you once more, and requests you to visit him. You may choose the time most convenient to yourself, but give two days’ notice in advance, so as to avoid clashing with an invitation to Hamburg. Be sure to bring your sleeping garments with you, if you are as little in favour with the lady of the house as I am.”