MEN OF NOTE IN BERLIN -1879 -1881 573 



for it, and wrote me to say so; but, after all, that is by 

 no means the finest palace in Germany.&quot; To this I an 

 swered, &quot;Your Majesty is entirely right; that I saw on 

 visiting the palace of Wiirzburg.&quot; At this he laughed 

 heartily, and said, &quot;Yes, I see that you understand it; 

 those old prince-bishops knew how to live. As a matter 

 of fact, various prince-bishops in the eighteenth century 

 impoverished their realms in building just such imitations 

 of Versailles as that sumptuous Wiirzburg Palace. 



He then asked me, &quot;On what ship do you go to 

 America ?&quot; and I answered, &quot;On the finest ship in your 

 Majesty s merchant navy the Elbe.&quot; He then asked me 

 something about the ship; and when I had told him how 

 beautifully it was equipped, it being the first of the 

 larger ships of the North German Lloyd, he answered, 

 &quot;Yes; what is now doing in the way of shipbuilding is 

 wonderful. I received a letter from my son, the crown 

 prince, this morning, on that very subject. He is at Os- 

 borne, and has just visited a great English iron-clad 

 man-of-war. It is wonderful ; but it cost a million pounds 

 sterling.&quot; At this he raised his voice, and, throwing up 

 both hands, said very earnestly, &quot;We can t stand it; we 

 can t stand it.&quot; 



After this and much other pleasant chat, he put out his 

 hand and said, &quot;Auf Wiedersehen &quot; ; and so we parted, 

 each to take his own way into eternity. 



The other farewells to me were also gratifying. The 

 German press was very kindly in its references to my 

 departure; and just before I left Berlin a dinner was 

 given me in the great hall of the Kaiserhof by leading men 

 in parliamentary, professional, literary, and artistic cir 

 cles. Kindly speeches were made by Gneist, Camphausen, 

 Delbruck, George von Bunsen, and others all forming a 

 treasure in my memory which, as long as life lasts, I can 

 never lose. 



