I scarcely get free of the discussions all day long; I do not find the Ministers more united than their predecessors were." Disgusted with the long waiting and uncertainty he pressed for a decision; after a fortnight's delay he was appointed Minister at Paris, but this was in reality only a fresh postponement; nothing had really been decided; the King expressly told him not to establish himself there.

To his wife he wrote from Berlin: "I am very much pleased, but the shadow remains in the background.

I was already as good as caught for the Ministry.
Perhaps when I am out of their sight they will discover another Minister-President.

I expect to start for Paris to-morrow; whether for long, God knows; perhaps only for a few months or even weeks.

They are all conspired together that I should stay here.