Among the Ministers whom I particularly esteemed His Excellency Miquel took first place. He it was who, as my Finance Minister, put through for Prussia the great reform which placed the land on a sound basis and helped it toward prosperity. Intercourse with this astute political expert gave me great pleasure, and a wealth of teaching and stimulus. The degree to which Miquel was versed in all possible matters was astounding. In conversation he was brisk, humorous, and keen in elucidating and arguing on a subject, in addition to which a strong historical bent ran, like a red thread, through his quotations. In history and ancient languages he was marvelously well equipped, so that, in his reports, he was able often to hark back to the times of the Romans and quote from his store of knowledge--not out of Büchmann[7]--pieces of Latin in support of his arguments. Even when he was instructing he was never tiresome on account of his brilliant dialectics, but used to hold his hearers spellbound to the very end. It was His Excellency Miquel likewise who incited me to favor the great canal projects and supported me when the Prussian Conservatives opposed the Central [Rhine-Weser-Elbe] Canal, and caused the failure of the plan to build it. He lent strength to the King and made the latter decide not to let up in this fight until victory was won. He knew, as I did, what blessings the canals in Holland and the splendid canal network of France had brought to those lands and what a relief they were to the ever more hard-pressed railways. In the World War we might have had a splendid east-to-west artery of transportation for ammunition, wounded, siege material, supplies, and the like, which would have made it possible, by thus relieving the railways, for the latter to transport troops on an even greater scale--moreover, this would have lessened the shortage of coal. In time of peace also, for which the canal was destined, it would have been most beneficial. Minister von Miquel was a most ardent enthusiast for the Imperial German idea and the German Empire of the Hohenzollerns: I lent an attentive ear to his spirited handling of this theme. He was a man who, clinging to the old tradition, thought in a great German, Imperial way; he was fully adequate to the requirements and demands of the new era, rightly appreciating when these were of value. From the start I concerned myself with the completion of the railway system. From the reports relating to national defense and the complaints of the General Staff, as well as from personal observation, I knew of the absolutely incredible neglect suffered by East Prussia in the matter of railways. The state of affairs was absolutely dangerous, in view of the steady, though gradual, reinforcing of the Russian troops facing our frontier, and the development of the Russian railway system.