The Czar was received on Friday week in Berlin with
great military display, but no popular cordiality. His Imperial host was, however, of course civil ; and at the State dinner on Friday week in the Schloss, drank to his "honoured friend and guest, his Majesty the Emperor of Russia, and to the continuance of the friendship which has existed between our Houses for more than a century, and which I am resolved to cultivate as a legacy received from my ancestors." The Czar, who seemed embarrassed, answered in French, thank- ing his entertainer for his bonnes paroles ; but in the official report he allowed himself to add that he "entirely sympathised in the Emperor's sentiments." The scene pro- duced an impression of estrangement ; but the Czar sub- sequently gave Prince Bismarck an audience of an hour and a half, which was presumably satisfactory, as he presented the Prince with a snuff-box containing his portrait,—the reason, we fancy, why that useless article is still the regular present in diplomacy. The Czar returned to Russia on Sunday, travelling via Dantzic, with the usual excessive precautions to avoid assassination. The general impression made in Europe is that the visit altered nothing, but rather sweetened the Czar's individual temper.
