ersation turned on Bismarck. 'When one compares what
Bismarck does with that for which poor Arnim had to suffer!'
He would do nothing, he said, against Bismarck, but the
consequences of the whole thing were very serious. Waldersee
and Bismarck couldn't abide one another. They had, however,
become allies out of common hatred of Caprivi, whose fall
Bismarck desired. What might happen afterwards neither
cared."

The following was penned after the old Chancellor's visit of
reconciliation:--

"BERLIN, 27 _January_, 1894.

"To-night gala performance at the opera. Between the acts I
talked first with different monarchs, the King of
Wuerttemberg, the King of Saxony, the Grand Duke of
Oldenburg, and so on. Then I was sent for by the Empress, of
whom I took leave. The Emperor came shortly afterwards. We
spoke of Bismarck's visit the day before and the good
consequences for the Emperor it would have. 'Yes,' said the
Emperor, 'now they can put up triumphal arches for him in
Vienna and Munich, I am all the time a length ahead. If the
press continues its abuse it only puts itself and Bismarck
in the wrong.' I mentioned that red-hot partisans of
Bismarck were greatly dissatisfied with the visit, and said
the Emperor should have gone to Friedrichsruh (Bismarck's
estate near Hamburg). 'I am well aware of it,' said the
Emperor,'but for that they would have had a long time to
wait. He had to come here.' On the whole the Emperor spoke
very sensibly and decisively, and I did not at all get the
impression that he now wants to change everything."

Prince Hohenlohe was summoned to Potsdam in October, 1894, by a
telegram from the Emperor. All the telegram said was that "important
interests of the Empire" were concerned. Hohenlohe was only aware of
the dismissal of Caprivi from a newspaper he read in Frankfort on his
way to Potsdam. The Emperor met him at the station (Wildpark) and
conveyed him to the New Palace, where the Prince agreed to accept the
Chancellorship "at the Emperor's earnest request." Princess Hohenlohe
was decidedly against her husband, who was now seventy-five, accepting
the post, and even ventured to telegraph to the Empress to prevent it.

The Prince has a note on his intercourse with his imperial master. He
is writing to his son, Prince Alexander:--

"BERLIN, 17 _October_, 1896.