It was still open, as you might have seen in any calendar. Surely you know that Friedenthal only held it provisionally. The truth is I could not explain to Bennigsen that his Most Gracious had forbidden me to negotiate with him any further.” While speaking thus the Chancellor underlined the passage referred to, page 400, lines 19 to 28, in so far as he had corrected them, adding notes of exclamation and remarks such as “No,” and “three days.” I expressed my regret at the harm that had been done and observed that it could be put right in the next number of the _Grenzboten_. He agreed to this and wished to see the correction before it appeared. I promised to submit it to him. Finding in the course of his examination, that the misfortune did not extend to more than some five lines in an article of nine pages, his excitement gradually subsided. Indeed, the “Büschchen” at the beginning had already sounded less severe, and at the close he said “I must have a breath of fresh air before dinner. Come along!” We strolled up and down in the park for about an hour longer, and spoke of other matters. I congratulated the Prince on the success with which he had repelled the attacks of his opponents in the Reichstag three or four days previously. “Yes, successfully,” he rejoined. “That’s very fine, but what good has it done? They have, all the same, refused the 80,000 marks for an adviser on political economy; and the Government has now no means of keeping itself informed.” I remarked that they had obviously been influenced by their own ignorance of practical affairs, and particularly with industrial matters, as well as by jealousy and fear. Bamberger’s assertion that they knew enough themselves was no proof of the contrary. They wished to appear before the public as the only infallible wiseacres, and also being doctrinarians, they could afford to ignore economic facts.