"Some days ago the king imparted to the emperor your sovereign by telegraph, that a certain addition to the power of Prussia through acquisitions of territory had become needful. You have lived among us," he continued, "and you well know the stake Prussia had placed on this war, the sacrifices that have been made to carry it on, the wounds which war has inflicted on the country. The Prussian people expect--demand, a reward for their sacrifices, since victory has decided in our favour: they demand, and rightly, that the blood of Prussian soldiers, the sons of the people, shall not have been shed in vain, and that the state of things shall be definitely done away with, which always has caused and always would engender strife. Those vexatious boundaries which make Prussia's geographical position, and her unity, so difficult, which neither natural nor political considerations permit, must be removed--removed for ever. Prussia, rightly to fulfil and powerfully to carry out the position assigned to her in Germany by the peace basis, must before all things be thoroughly strong and more homogeneous. The incorporation of Hanover, Hesse, and Saxony is needful, firmly and indissolubly to connect the two halves of the monarchy, and to secure it against Austria in a military point of view." Not a feature of the ambassador's smooth face changed. "I find it only natural that the Prussian people should wish to pluck the richest fruits of a war in which _their whole force_," he said, with a slight emphasis, "was sent to the battle-field. But the wishes of the people are often different from the views of princes and governments. You are as much convinced as myself," he continued, in a lower voice, "that every period has its peculiar political maxims and views. To-day, for example, they are different from what they were in the time of Frederick the Great; it was then held right to keep what you had taken. At that time interests and demands were not so moderate as at present." A slight frown appeared between Count Bismarck's eyebrows. "Well," he said, with a smile, and in a calm voice, "I think Frederick the Great found it not so easy to keep what he had taken; that political maxim was practised on a large scale in the beginning of the present century by Napoleon I." "That was the great fault of the founder of our imperial dynasty," said Benedetti, "at last it armed the whole of Europe against him; I am able to say this candidly, when I reflect on the wise moderation the emperor, my sovereign, has ever shown, when at the head of victorious armies, and the care with which he has avoided this mistake of his great uncle." Count Bismarck looked for a moment thoughtfully before him.