r which they were drawn is
contained in what seemed to be casual and incidental words. If the
current in Dresden should shift in the Prussian direction, the valuable
personal assistance which Herr von Nostitz is able to render by means of
his sense, his experience, and the credit both have won him, would be
thrown on the Prussian side with the same certainty as now on the
Austrian, unless too strong a tie were found in the fact that one of his
sons is being educated in the Austrian Naval School, while another is
already an officer in the imperial service.

Herr von Bothmer returned to this place a few days ago as representative
of Hanover; I learn from him, however, with regret, that his further
stay here is in no wise assured. Not only is his a straightforward
character that awakens confidence, but he is also the only one of my
colleagues who has sufficient independence to give me anything more than
passive assistance when I am obliged to protest against the conduct of
the Chair.

His opposite is found in Herr von Reinhard. While Herr von Bothmer is
thorough, clear, and objective in his productions, those of the
Wuertemberg envoy bear the stamp of superficiality and confused thinking.
His removal from the federal assembly might justly be regarded as a
great gain for us. I do not know whether his departure from Berlin was
connected with circumstances which have left in him a lasting dislike of
Prussia, or whether confused political theories (regarding which he
expresses himself with more ease and with greater interest than
regarding practical affairs) have brought him to believe that the
Prussian influence in Germany is deleterious: but at all events his
antipathy to us exceeds the degree which, in view of the political
situation of Wuertemberg, can be supposed to exist in the mind of his
sovereign; and I have reason to assume that his influence upon the
instructions which are sent him, and his activity, so far as this is
independent of instructions, are exerted, as a matter of principle, to
the disadvantage of Prussia.... In his bearing towards me personally
there is nothing which would justify the conclusion that his feelings
are of the sort I have indicated; and it is only rarely that a point is
reached in our debates at which, moderated by a certain timidity, his
suppressed bitterness against Prussia breaks out. I may remark
incidentally that it is he who invariably appears at our sessions last,
and too late; and