Show haf kart kt rt h y secrets of the couris of europe tf an old ambassadors revelations of the 2 inner history of famous episodes t heretofore cloaked in mystery t Chronic chronicled hd by ALLEN UPWARD THE chancellors FALL t 3 Z w w they call that situation implom able observed the ambassador turn ing round in his clair os s the curta a fell on the firt act of a li we me in bis his cy s box at tl e corned e aran caise calse I 1 et in what is it more dmary than ome come of the scenes which I 1 hai have e n 5 3 self elf bitne eed red during my diplomatic career careers for instance 7 I 1 suggested seeing that he w m s in fn a communicative mood for instance in that affair of long ago which led to the downfall of the bismarck family regarding which so many absurd accounts appeared in the informed ill hur european press some of those accounts the ambassador added taking up his opera glass mere ft ere no doubt inspired by those who had their own reasons tor for not desiring the truth to be known nevertheless they ought not to have imposed on per sons of intelligence J V it Is tolerably u well ell kno known n that ever since the prince von bismarck per the marvelous recovery of france from the disasters of 1870 be he lived in perpetual terror of the re we might be inspired to take it Is thie this which caused him to cherish the idea of again attacking france at a disadvantage and finally crushing her by a dismemberment which would reduce her to the rank of a second class power the late AT de blowitz the famous correspondent of the london times and a man who was not to be de spiced had told the world of the scheme which this prussian conceived for falling upon us in 1875 while we were still weak from the effects of the former crime a calamity which was only averted by the personal intervene In tion in III our favor of alexander 11 II of russia the relations between the two coun count ites tiles were consequently still very strained when shortly after the accas sion slon of the present german kaiser our foreign office was mas agreeably surprised to receive an intimation that this pol icy of hatred inspired by fear was to be abandoned and that the imperial government was mas now anxious to work cordially with mith ours in the field of eu politics the portfolio of boref foreign ign affairs was at that time in the hands of AT aleu riot a m worthy orthy and patriotic man but liable lible to fits of imprudence he ile has not held a post in any recent cabinet AT fleuriot Fleur lot was charmed to re belve the assurances tendered to him by the german ambassador assur ances which were confirmed by bie bis maick himself in a confidential inter view with our representative in ber lin the german chancellor explained with characteristic bluntness that this change of front must not be attributed to him but to the personal initiative of wilhelm 11 II these admissions of the chancellor convinced AT Flo flourios that bismarck s influence on the foreign pol cy of ger many was on the decline he there fore embraced with u ith all the more conal dence the offers of friendship and alii alit ance which were made to him by the imperial ambassador this personage even cven went ment so far as to hint to our min ister tl at it was not intended that bis march marck should be privy to all the de tails of future negotiations between the two governments mattel matteis s hang arrived at this stage the ambassador commenced to throw out suggestions that the friendly understanding arrived at should be put upon a practical footing he invited at fleuriot to indicate some object which jermary might operate cooperate in se curing tor for france as the price of her defan te to abandonment of alsace lor raine AT fleuriot at once thought of egypt that prey so tre seized upon by the british lion I 1 ov ou my friend are well aware amare that I 1 do not share in the general feeling of my fellow countrymen towards great britain on the contrary I 1 la ment the hatred with mith which your na tion has pursued us ever since their defeat at waterloo D defeat feat M 1 7 I 1 ven aured to interject defeat without doubt returned hie excellency with firmness do you pretend that thit if the prussians had not arrived a single one of your country amen men would have been left alive I 1 preferred to waive this discussion it is this recollection so galling to a brave people that has doubtless doubt lesa prompted the incessant intrigues ol 01 your government against the greatness of france fortunately a frenchman knows how to be magnanimous in the face of provocation surrender egypt to us and we consent to overlook the other aggressions of albion the ambassador paused and glanced around the theater before resuming his hie narrative the english ambassador in paris parts at this time was mas a close personal friend of mine being at the moment unattached to any foreign mission I 1 was living here and it was my custom to dine every sunday at the english embassy to this circumstance ic i owing the salvation of europe from the most desolating war in history on a certain sunday about the time I 1 have indicated I 1 was dining at the embassy as usual during the meal I 1 observed that my host was mas very dis and as soot as it was over he rose up and taking r me ne by the arm led me in 0 h s pr vate study I 1 at once guessed what was mas coming and while accepting a c gar determined that r thing should be extracted from me respecting the negotiation ap otia tion I 1 have described aud and of wh mh ch AT fleuriot lad kept me partly informed my dear baron he commenced you and I 1 are old friends we should both be equally distressed it if war were to break out between our two coun tries AN without doubt I 1 replied affecting to consider the remark a mere chance observation let us be thankful that such an event is not in the least likely to take lIace i lace and I 1 added to myself unless you refuse to give up egypt he glanced at me with suspicion how far you are in the confidence of your foreign office he said I 1 nel net ther know nor do I 1 ask you to tell me I 1 desire to give you information not to receive it you are too good I 1 murmured more on my guard than ever I 1 hope at the same time he went on that what I 1 have to say to you may cause you to take ac ion in what I 1 believe to be the interest of both countries I 1 am sure that it if you use this information you will not allow its source to be discovered that Is understood of course I 1 replied bg beginning inning to be really inter ested thank you let me say at once then that I 1 have reason to believe that your government has recently proposed to the court of berlin an of alliance against england with a view to compelling us to evacuate egypt in your favor I 1 was thunderstruck truck at the acau racy of his information but my lord this Is some chimera delusion I 1 cried affecting the utmost incredulity such an idea la Is too ex trava gant tor for a feuille ton lord smiled coldly I 1 have already said that I 1 do not ask you to commit yourself my dear baron he replied I 1 will assume it you prefer it that all this is news to you but you have not yet heard what I 1 wanted to tell you As you know great britain has hitherto steadfastly refused to join the triple alliance tor for fear of being dragged by germany into a war against france it is to your interest I 1 think you will admit that we shoals continue to hold aloof I 1 shrugged my shoulders without expressing any opinion on this point now pursued lord we suddenly find ourselves placed in this dilemma e bismarck has in formed our ambassador in berlin that he will accept your proposal unless england accedes to the triple alliance within a week from today and un der takes to employ her navy in a blockade of the french coast as soon as war mar S declared 1 I was as overwhelmed the revels tion of this atrocious duplicity on the part of bismarck completely stunned me knowing what I 1 d d of his char acter it vas m as impossible to doubt the truth ot of lord disclosure dip closure it was evident that the whole of the negotiations with our foreign office had been a deliberate ruse in order to obtain the means of discrediting us in th eyes of Greaf Britain it was the beig belg an trick of 1870 over again I 1 could have dept w ept it was with the utmost difficulty that I 1 concealed my consternation from he the keen eyes of the englishman you have been deceived my friend I 1 answered in a tone of great confidence conf coni dence that bismarck should make such assertions does not sur prise me in the least but it Is a mere invention of his own believe me it such a thing had been on the carpet I 1 am tle first person with whom AT jeunot would have communicated lord I 1 evened to me witt an ail ah of indulgence as if I 1 had been a ch id again permit me to remind you that I 1 am simply giving you a warning for your own benefit he said I 1 have only to add that the prince has prom ased to show our ambassador the writ ten french proposal signed by M fleuriot net saturday unless you can reclaim that document by then angland will join the alliance and war will be declared within a fortnight it was mas useless for me to make fur ther protests they were wasted on this man of ice fee I 1 am obliged to you for your friendliness I 1 said rising no doubt the whole story is some clumsy fabri cation of prince von bismarck a which it will be easy to disprove it if I 1 should chance to meet M fleuriot FIe however I 1 will inform him of these slanders we returned to the drawing room and I 1 chatted with lady tor for twenty minutes in order to show that my mind was at ease I 1 then an bounced that I 1 had a headache and took my leave I 1 refused to allow the servants of the embassy to call me a cab lest they should overbear overhear mk m destination awa a a i J I 1 walked down the street for a hun dred yards jumped into the first empty one I 1 met and drove furiously to the ual d orsay a 1 I w was s lucky enough to find M fleu riot there and at once oce communicated to him the terrible news which I 1 had juet just heard the minister was absolutely flea did lord tell you this was his first question lord no I 1 have not seen him for days I 1 answered remember ing the caution I 1 bad had received the intelligence reached me dire direct ct from berlin by a channel which I 1 am not permitted to disclose but you may rely upon its absolute truth M fleuriot Fleur lot tore his hair beast that I 1 am he cried de I 1 ought to have suspected that this pretended alliance was on one of Dis bismarck mareks s traps and I 1 believed in the faith of that prussian slant then there Is such a document 9 I 1 exclaimed little less dismayed than he was m as alas yes their ambas ambassador cador in aisted that the tie alist written proposal should come from us I 1 placed it in his hands four days ago and doubtless it is by this time in bismarck s pos session I 1 have betrayed my country to that wretch I 1 exerted myself to soothe boothe him finally I 1 said give me a letter to our dor in berlin and I 1 will go there my self and regain this paper from bis marcks arck s clutches you will baron you are an angel I 1 do this and you shall have the grand cross of the legion I 1 swear it your fleuriot Fleur riot lot will regard you as his savior on the second day I 1 arrived in ber lin my first step was to see our am cassador bas there an upright and pains taking diplomatist but a man who was by no means a match tor for the infernal craft of bismarck my sudden appearance naturally caused him the greatest astonishment was as explained to him how he like M flou riot had been duped by the perfidious chancellor but what you tell me Is imps sible he exclaimed I 1 know the char acter of wilhelm 11 II too well that he should conceive the idea of trans forming the foreign policy of germany does not surprise me but that he should have the cunning to contrive a plot of this kind Is incredible he Is 1 a charles XII not a this was the very point on which I 1 desired to sound the ambassador I 1 fixed on him an ironical smile and what part has the kaiser in this affair then I 1 asked him he gazed at me in bewilderment why prince von bismarck ini in formed me he began and stopped short chilled by the sarcasm of my look I 1 bismarck Bie marck informed you that he was acting under the kaiser s instruct eions but what assurance have you that this was not part of the trick you must be right he exclaimed exclaim ed at length the kaiser never has re berred to the matter though I 1 have twice conversed with him since it waa was broached I 1 was satisfied it only remained for me to put in execution th the e design which I 1 had conceived rhe the following morning found me at the imperial palace As soon as I 1 had cent sent up my name I 1 was ushered up the great main stair case of the palace to the first landing stage and brought into his maje majesty s private cabinet the kaiser as I 1 en started up from a table on which lay the design of a battleship and welcomed me with effusion I 1 thought it well to commence by adminis administering terin 9 a compliment my government I 1 observed en ter taina sentiments of the most pro found respect for your majesty and it believes that you cherish no hostile feeling toward france I 1 your government ie to right he in so long as france con ducts herself with propriety and re trains from indulging in disturbing projects she may assure herself of my good will I 1 affected to receive this condescend cond escen slon sion with delight ah ali sire I 1 exclaimed if my coun thymen could only hear those gracious words such kindness makes my present mission easy it Is no doubt an irregular thing for my government to communicate with your majesty except through the official channels our excuse is the high regard in which france holds your majesty personally personal ay and the belief that in matters of for or eign policy it la Is no longer the prince von bismarck who exercises sole con arol the emperor drew himself up I 1 am the only person who exer alses sole control in my empire he remarked with haughtiness my chan bellor simply acts under my instruct eions so my government was assured sire and that being so it entertained a negotiation which had it proceeded from the initiative of herr von bie ble marck we should have unhesitatingly declined I 1 what negotiation do you refer to asked the emperor surprised I 1 assumed my most innocent ex pres slon to your majesty s proposal of a joint war against england with the object of restoring egypt to fr france ance the kaiser bounded in his seat I 1 propose a war with england to restore egypt to youl I 1 never heard of such madness who has dared he broke off evidently realizing that he was committing himself I 1 affected to be equally astounded with his 11 majesty 1 aaa z but this Is incredible I 1 cr cibeu I 1 e can the prince have dared to cc commit mal 1 germany to this undertaking without even consulting you youa this is worse than the time of the eld old kaiser and nay my government was assured that this new policy was due to your maje majesty s direct initiative the kaiser sat like one thunder struck chadnow I 1 had now of course satisfied my self that bismarck mas acting without his master s knowledge it remained for me to secure the emperor emperors s conal dence and deprive the prince of any chance of winning his approval for this audacious intrigue I 1 turned to wilhelm II 11 v ith an ex of deep regret sire I 1 am overwhelmed to think that you as well as my government have been deceived by this minister who has acquired the habit of over stepping his powers but I 1 know my government too well to believe it ca pable of taking advantage of this situ atlon I 1 was sent here to obtain your maje majesty s personal confirmation of this treaty I 1 learn that the entire negotiation has been without your sanction and however disappointing to france this may be I 1 have no |