the
effect that the guards placed at all the entrances of the Palace of
Potsdam, in which his father had breathed his last, should be doubled,
that a cordon of troops should be drawn around the park walls, and
that no one should be allowed to enter or leave the palace without his
permission.

While there is every reason to believe that this measure was suggested
to him by Prince Bismarck, yet it must be admitted that it was to a
certain extent justified by the circumstances. Emperor Frederick
was known to have kept a most exhaustive diary throughout his entire
married life, dealing day by day with all the political questions of
the hour, the secrets of the Prussian State, the incidents of court
life, etc., just as they occurred. From a German point of view it
was a matter of the most extreme importance that this collection
of diaries should not be permitted to leave Prussia, or to reach a
foreign country, for it would practically have meant the placing at
the mercy of a foreign land all the state secrets of Prussia during
the previous thirty years. Emperor William and Prince Bismarck had
both been led to believe that Empress Frederick had made arrangements
to have these books conveyed to England by Sir Morel MacKenzie, whom
they both disliked as much as they distrusted him. The idea that
these volumes should be in the care of MacKenzie, even during the
twenty-four hours journey separating Berlin from London, was to them
quite intolerable.

Before many hours had elapsed, however, the measures were relaxed. It
was discovered that the diaries were no longer in the palace, and that
they had been taken over to England either knowingly or unknowingly by
Queen Victoria on the occasion of her visit to Potsdam, when she came
to bid adieu to her dying son-in-law.

Let me add that some time later, after a considerable amount of
explanation and negotiation, Queen Victoria, of her own accord,
returned the cases containing Emperor Frederick's diaries to her
grandson at Berlin, with the seals unbroken, taking the very sensible
ground that inasmuch as there were many Prussian state secrets
therein contained, their place was in the archives of the House of
Hohenzollern, rather than in England.

Emperor William has never forgotten the course adopted by his
grandmother in the matter, and by his manner towards her has
repeatedly shown since then that he feels how greatly he can rely
upon having his actions appreciated with perfect i