I then went to Varzin to report to the Chief. It was a regular zigzag journey with obstacles.” Bucher added that he had taken shorthand notes of his conversation with Salazar, which he “still possessed.” At least, so I understood him. On the whole the Prince in his collaboration with me struck out a little over seventeen pages out of a total of nearly 900, while he contributed some twenty-two pages to the two volumes. The first edition of 10,000 copies was issued at the end of February 1884, and by the autumn of 1885, 6,500 copies had been disposed of, although the Liberal press did its worst to run the book down. An English translation was published by Macmillan in April, and some months later arrangements were made for an Italian edition. (This translation, by Brandi, was only published at Milan in the spring of 1888.) On the 14th of March, 1884, I again took up my residence in Berlin; and on the 16th I called upon Bucher, to present him with a handsomely bound copy of my book, _Unser Reichskanzler_. He had already got it, however, and had read it through without coming across any inaccuracies. He made three suggestions for some supplementary material on the issue of a new edition. According to Bucher, the Chancellor had returned this time from Friedrichsruh in excellent condition, had already been twice out riding in the Thiergarten, and once for a walk there. He had drawn up a memorandum for the Emperor, showing that the home policy of Gladstone, the extension of the franchise, must lower the position of the English aristocracy and with it that of the Crown, which was of course only its head. The Emperor’s minute said that he was much struck with this statement, and suggested that it should be laid before the Crown Prince--a suggestion to which the Chief agreed. In Bucher’s opinion the Chancellor would on certain conditions consent to remain in office when the Crown Prince came to the throne, but the latter would not keep his promises, and then Bismarck would retire. A further communication of Bucher’s was also interesting, namely, that the “refutation of the absurd attack of the _National Zeitung_” (on my account of Gablentz’s mission), which was contained in the _Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung_ was written by the Prince himself. A few days after this visit to Bucher I wrote to the Imperial Chancellor, informing him that I was again a resident of Berlin, and begging him in case there was anything I could do for him in the press to kindly let me know when I might call upon him to take his instructions. I received no answer to this letter. My intercourse with Bucher continued. On the 3rd of July, he sent me a card informing me of his departure for Laubbach, near Coblenz. On the 27th of July, I received the following letter which had been returned owing to an incorrect address and then re-despatched:-- “Kissingen, _June 30th, 1884_. “Dear Sir,