THE EMS TELEGRAM.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SneeTATos."1
Sra,—In your article (Spectator, August 6th) and the sub. sequent correspondence the explanation which Bismarck himself gives (and it appears to be a reasonable one) has, as far as I can see, been overlooked. In chap. 22 (" Atisgabe," II., 112) he says :—
" Der Unterschied in der Wirkung des gekurzten Testes der Emser Depesohe im Vergleich mit der, welche das Original hervorgerufen hatte, war kein Ergebniss starkrer Worte, sondern der Form, welche diese Kundgebung als eine abschliessende erscheinen liess, wahrend die Redaction Abeken's nur als ein Bruchstfick einer schwebenden und in Berlin fortzusetzenden Verhandlung erschienen sein wiirde."
(" The difference in the effect of the abbreviated text of the Ems telegram as compared with that produced by the original w•!' not the result of stronger words but of the form, which made this announcement appear decisive, while Abeken's version would only have been regarded as a fragment of a negotiation still pending, and to be continued at Berlin.")
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