The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1888. KAISER FREDERICK'S DIARY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1955, 27 September 1888, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1888. KAISER FREDERICK'S DIARY.

The few passages from the diary of tho late Emperor Frederick which have been telegraphed out to the colonies are of a somewhat startling character — m particularthatwhichrecords tho overtures made^by Louis Napoleon m 1871 with a view to a combined attack upon Eng land by Germany and France — and will greatly raise public curiosity as to what further revelations the Imperial manuscript contains. Apparently some of these are likely to be of an inconvenient port to living statesmen and dignitaries, or why should Bismarck and the present Emperor William bo so manifestly concerned about the matter. Even prior to tho death of tho late Koieor extraordinary precautions' appear to have been taken to prevent the possibility of what has occurred — the publication of his diary — anent which tho " Pall Mall Gazette " of July 10th published some very curious particulars as received from its correspondent at Berlin ; not, however, without an intimation that it did so " with all reserve, more as an illustration of tho temper that seems to prevail m Berlin than from any belief that a story so monstrous can possibly have . tho slightest foundation m fact." Tho [following is an extract from the correspondence m question : — " Very hateful rumors are flying about Berlin, which I hesitate to send without confirmation, but which I equally hesitate to withold lest they prove to bo true. It is well known that, as I saw with my own eyes, the moment the Emperor's breath was out of his body, there was a rush of soldiery to all the exists from the Castle of Friedrichsruho. No one was allowed to leave, no one to enter, for hours after the death. What was the object of this headlong and indecent blockado ? It was more than hinted at tho time that the intention Was to secure any papore which tho dead Emperor had left behind him, and, above all, the sheets of a diary which he kept, recording his opinions on matters of State. Not a scrap of paper on which tho deceased had written the commonest requests or remarks (he was for a long time reduced to this means of communication) was allowed to remain m tho possession of its recipients. It is even said that tho trunks of one doctor woro seized at the frontior and sent back] to Berlin to bo orerhaujed at the Chancollerie. It is a spectacle for the nations, that of Prince Bismarck on his knees turning out tho coutents of Dr. Hovoll's trunks. But it would awaken very different feelings,

if it were true, as is not unsparingly asserted m Berlin, that a (high personago) who is near and dear to England, and who was nearest and dearest to the dead, is weeping to-night at Friedrichsruhe m a palace which is m all but the name a prison. Cf course everyone must hope that tho story is an abominable fiction. But wherever I go I hear on all sidos that the Empress Victoria is virtually under arrest m her present residence. I fear thero is little doubt that Her Majesty is receiving very scant consideration at the hands of the men now m power."

Mr Laboticliore, writing m " Truth " about this rumor says : — " lam told on fair authority that the following are facts, but I cannot absolutely vouch for them. They are, however, openly stated m Berlin. Tho Empress was supposed to have obtained certain documents. These she, it is aaid, handed over to her mother \?hen she came to Berlin, and the Queen carried them off with her. When the Prince of Wales was over for the funeral of the lato Emperor, he tried to arrange matters, but failed, for he was not empowered to return the documents. It is further said— but this seems improbable — that certain securities are missing, and that the will of the late Emperor is to be contested. One thing is certain, there is a bitter feud between the Empress and her son, and our Queen is m a high state of indignation."

How much of truth and how much of fiction there may be m these Btories we are unable to judge, but it does, at anyrate, appear thtt a determined effort yr&B made to prevent the manuscripts of the late Kaiser from getting into print and that the effort has been frustrated, to the great consternation of high and mighty dignitaries, who, finding certain revelations highly inconvenient, are now driven to the resort of declaring that the alleged original manuscripts are forgeries. It is a " very pretty quarrel as it stands," and we suspect that the world has by no means heard the last of it.