like a father whom a son has grieved; the father may suffer thereby, but all the same he says to himself, ’He is a fine young fellow.’  When I was young I followed my King everywhere:  now that I am old I can no longer accompany my master when he travels so far.  Accordingly it is unavoidable that counsellors who remained closer to him should win his confidence at my expense.  He is very easily influenced when one puts before him ideas which he supposes will happily affect the condition of the people, and he can hardly wait to put them into operation.  The Kaiser will achieve reputation at once:  I have my own to watch over, to defend.  I have sacrificed myself for renown and will not place it in jeopardy.”

Prince Hohenlohe’s Memoirs are much more valuable in respect of positive information, and especially in supplying an account of the incident taken from the lips of the Emperor himself.  The Prince was without his great predecessor’s ability, but was much more amiable and sincere.  He was, moreover, a friend of both the parties concerned, and he impartially jotted down events at the time they occurred.  Lastly, if he was a courtier at heart, he was that not wholly unknown thing, an honest one.  Dr. Hans Blum is obviously a partisan of the great Chancellor’s, but he may also be referred to for a fairly connected account of the fall and the events that succeeded it up to the time of Bismarck’s death on July 30, 1898.

Apart from the differences in the ages and temperaments of the Emperor and the Chancellor, there were differences in their views as to certain measures of policy.  There was a difference of opinion as to German policy regarding Russia.  Friendship with that country had been the policy of both Emperor William I and Bismarck, and the latter had effected a reinsurance treaty with Russia, stipulating for Russian neutrality in case of a war between Germany and France, notwithstanding the subsistence of the Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria, and Italy.  The reinsurance treaty, which had been made for a period of three years, was now about to expire, and while Bismarck desired its renewal, the Emperor, in a spirit of loyalty to Austria, was against the renewal, and the treaty was not renewed.  This was the “new course” as it regarded Russia.  The difference with regard to the anti-Socialist Laws has been referred to in our chapter on the accession.

The Royal Order of September, 1852, which has been mentioned as leading immediately to the resignation, regulated intercourse between the Prussian Ministers and the Crown, its chief provision being that only the Minister President, and not individual Ministers, should have audience of the Emperor regarding matters of home and foreign policy.  The Emperor desired the abrogation of the Order, for he wished to consult with the Ministers individually.  The text of Bismarck’s official resignation, after describing the origin of the Order, continues: