Wilhelm III of Prussia.)

25 November, 1809

Your Excellency:

A circumstance has come to the notice of this Ministry, the
significance of which I am at a loss to define, but, since it
appears to involve matters of State, both here and abroad, I am
convinced that it is of sufficient importance to be brought to
your personal attention. Frankly, I am unwilling to take any
further action in the matter without your advice.

Briefly, the situation is this: We are holding, here at the
Ministry of Police, a person giving his name as Benjamin Bathurst,
who claims to be a British diplomat. This person was taken into
custody by the police at Perleburg yesterday, as a result of a
disturbance at an inn there; he is being detained on technical
charges of causing disorder in a public place, and of being a
suspicious person. When arrested, he had in his possession a
dispatch case, containing a number of papers; these are of such an
extraordinary nature that the local authorities declined to assume
any responsibility beyond having the man sent here to Berlin.

After interviewing this person and examining his papers, I am,
I must confess, in much the same position. This is not, I am
convinced, any ordinary police matter; there is something very
strange and disturbing here. The man's statements, taken alone,
are so incredible as to justify the assumption that he is mad. I
cannot, however, adopt this theory, in view of his demeanor,