But little hope now remains for the Emperor Frederick. The
doctors differ as to the precise course of his disease, the Germans believing that the cancer is spreading lower down, while Sir Morell Mackenzie maintains that blood-poisoning has set in ; but all admit that the end must be very near. On Thursday, indeed, it was believed that the end had come; but a discharge from the throat, supposed to be through the bursting of an abscess in the trachea, temporarily relieved the Emperor, whose sufferings are so great that he told his chaplain to pray rather for his deliverance than his life. The telegrams of 2.30, Friday, are relatively favourable ; but recovery now would be almost a miracle. The Emperor maintains his courage to the last, performs every indispensable duty, though the Crown Prince has been invested with full powers to represent the Sovereign, and faces his fate like a Christian and a Hohen- zollern. The spectacle is indescribably sad, when the baffled hopes of Europe are taken into the account; and one under- stands why the Berliners stand in thousands for hours round the palace, waiting for a chance word from the physicians.
