Our most natural support, therefore, still remained with Russia, due very properly to the policy of Emperor Alexander I. in this century—­not to speak of the last century at all.  In 1813 he might well have turned back at the Polish frontier, and have made peace, and later he might have dropped Prussia.  We certainly owed our reestablishment on the old basis at that time to the benevolence of Emperor Alexander I.—­or, if you wish to be sceptical, you may say to the Russian policy, which was such as Prussia needed.  Gratitude for this dominated the reign of Frederick William III.  The credit, however, which Russia had in the Prussian accounts was used up by the friendship, I may even say servility, of Prussia during the entire reign of Emperor Nicholas, and was, I own, wiped out at Olmuetz.  There Emperor Nicholas did not take the part of Prussia, nor did he keep us from evil experiences or certain humiliations, for Emperor Nicholas really preferred Austria to Prussia.  The idea that we owed Russia any thanks during his reign is a historical myth.

We did, nevertheless, not break our traditional relations with Russia while he lived; and in the Crimean War we remained true, as I said before, to our Russian duty, in spite of many threats and great dangers.  His Majesty, the late King, had no desire to play a decisive part in the war by a great levy of troops, as I believe we could have done.  We had made certain treaties requiring us to put in the field 100,000 men after the lapse of a stated time; and I proposed to His Majesty to levy not 100,000 but 200,000 men, and mounted at that, whom we could use as well toward the right as toward the left, in which case, I said, Your Majesty will be the arbiter of the Crimean War.  But the late King did not cherish warlike enterprises, and the people ought to be grateful to him.  I was younger then, and less experienced than I am today.  At any rate we harbored no resentment for Olmuetz during the Crimean War.  We came out of this war as the friends of Russia, and I was enabled to enjoy the fruit of this friendship, when as ambassador I was most kindly received in St. Petersburg, both at court and in society at large.  Even our espousing the cause of Austria in the Italian War, while not to the liking of the Russian cabinet, showed no harmful effects.  Our war of 1866 was regarded in Russia with a certain amount of satisfaction, for the Russians were glad to see Austria suffer.  In our French war of 1870 we were fortunate enough to be able to serve the Russian interests in the Black Sea at the same time that we were successful in defending and guarding our own.  The contracting parties probably would not have removed their restrictions from the Black Sea, if the victorious German troops had not been standing near Paris.  If we had been beaten, the London agreement in the interest of Russia would not have been made so easily, I believe.  Thus also the war of 1870 carried in its train no disagreement