THE INNER LIFE OF THE KAISER.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1610, 7 January 1903, Page 19

THE INNER LIFE OF THE KAISER.

(By T. P.)

THE KAISER’S PICTURESQUENESS

There may be more attractive figures on the other thrones of Europe—for instance, the Emperor of Russia and the King of England —but there is no figure so picturesque as that of the monarch who is at this moment on a more or less private visit to this country. When one begins to try and draw a portrait of the Emperor of Germany it recalls the saying of Lord Rosebery with regard to Mr Gladstone and his then proposed biography; he is one of the men who suggests a syndicate of biographers, instead of a single writer. To think of the different activities and gifts of the man is almost bewildering and benumbing; sometimes, indeed, there is such a breathless restlessness and such a multitudinous variety in his acts as to make one think there is justice in the reproach that, with all his great powers, the Emperor is devoid of one, namely, the power of repose—a very useful talent, especially in a monarch, be it said in passing.

Let us sum up into one paragrapn seme of bis gifts and his activities. Tne summary ones not cover every tiling; but sc*ii it is sufficiently near the truth to give something like a true picture. He can talk fluently in six languages, and if he have any one language more at his finger tips than his own, it is ours. Indeed, I have heard it said that is so much his mother tongue *as well it might be, considering that his motner was not only an English woman, but an Englisn womqp. of exceptionally strong ana almost defiant patriotism—so much, I say, is English his mother tongue tliat lie speaks German. I have been told, with something of an English accent, just as our own King—brought up by a mother who could speak, write, and even think in German as easily as in English, and whose father was a German speaks English with just a slight suspicion of the gutturalism of the Teuton. In this place it should be added that there is probably no foundation for the story so often told of his early years on the throne; that when once his nose began to bleed during his student days at Bonn, he said with half a laugh, and wholly in earnest, “There goes the last drop of English blood.” But if he did say anything of the kind, he has slioWn in more modern times that the English blood has told; that he is among the warmest friends of this country; and that his friendship was able to stand the strain at one time of a very violent popular tempest of feeling among his own subjects. FLUENT IN SIX LANGUAGES. But let us go on with the ccory of his accomplishments and performances. He can talk fluently, as I have said, in six languages. He has written a play and conducted its rehearsal. He has written a public prayer and conducted a choir. He can cook his own dinner, can play chess, paint pictures, or draw caricatures. He has learned engineering and studied electricity. Though he can use only one arm, he can shoot game for four hours at the rate of two a minute. He has over a hundred titles, and is an admiral in three of the biggest navies. In twenty-five years he has shot 23,000 head of game. .He can change his dress a dozen times a day, has a dozen valets, and his wardrobe is worth <£loo,ooo. One fact alone—it is a small Put a significant one—will show how quick he is in movement. In London, during one of his visits,- he appeared on the same day in the uniform of a Hussar, an Emperor, and an Admiral; on another day fie even beat this record, for he changed his uniform five times. He is so early a riser that sometimes he gets up while darkness is still spread over the land, and rarely is he to be found in bed after seven o’clock. He takes exercise a,s regularly as though he had nothing else in the world to do, and yet he works more hours than the poorest man in hty dominions. The story of his day is, indeed, almost as bewildering in its activities as a chapter from the daily life of the Emperor Napoleon. HIS ENGLISH BREAKFAST. He is not one of the men who think the best way to preserve health is to stick as long as possible in bed, and the indulgence of breakfast amid the sheets is one which he never gratifies. He has liis coia bath, English fashion; has put on the first uniform of the day, and has had even a little go at the dumb-bells before lie sits down to his meal; and then it is to an English breakfast both in its quality and in' its quantity. In the circumstances of the meal, wrote one who evidently knew the Emperor well, is found the keynote of the way in which Kaiser Wilhelm combines a tranquil and charming family life with all the conspicuous energy of his public career: It is the pride of the German Empress, and indeed, of her husband, that she regards herself in the good old Teutonic fashion as being the first housewife, as well as the first lady in the land. She herself supervises the preparation of breakfast, which, to suit the taste of the Emperor, who abhors complex and insubstantial kickshaws, is a rather plain and robust meal, consisting of tea, bread and butter, cold meat, and eggs._ In other respects, also, the Kaiser is like the Emperor Napoleon; he is not inclined to remain too long over his meals. He is not an acetic; enjoys a good glass of wine but he is moderate and selfcontrolled; has a horror of getting too stout; but it might be better for his health if his table were not so conducted in such a spirit of military expeditionsness. This breakfast gives the Kaiser, however, one of the glimpses of tranquility and of the domestic affections of the day; for the children are brought in, respectfully salute their parent, and have a short conversation with him. If there be any want of expansiveness, any sense of stern discipline in the manner of the father to his children, it does not impose on them far as to make them forget how deeply they axe loved; they know

—as the rest of the world ought to know —that the Emperor carries their photographs with him wherever he goes. The tamily life, indeed, of the German Emperor* is ideal in its fidelity, its tranquility. and its affectionateness. From the breakfast table the Emperor goes straight to his study. In spite of the numerous secretaries he has. there is a mass of correspondence to which he must give some personal attention; letters come to him literally by the hundred every day of his life. All kinds of reports have to get a glance; petitions come from the poor and the distressed; indeed, the Emperor could give points even to the secretary of the Charity Organisation Society as to the Protean forms of the begging letter imposter. But all this vast mass disappears rapidly, for the Emperor is a very qiiick worker. In former days he would sit down at this period of the day and write off a letter—eloquent, frank, affectionate — either to a relative or to one of the many friends lie lias in all parts of the world, for the Emperor has a great talent for friendships, and his friends all have a strong affection for him. It is well known that Lord Lonsdale is one oftyliese friends in this country; another friend, whose intimacy with the Emperor is less known, is Colonel Saunderson, the redoubtable leader of the Ulster Conservatives. In recent years this correspondence—which would in after times have been most valuable—lias had to be curtailed; and nowadays the Emperor is one of the most voluminous and frequent telegraphists in the world. He and Mr Pierpont Morgan would probably run each other a close race in this respect. HIS LITERARY BUREAU.

The Emperor is liot a great reaaer eitiier of newspapers or of books. He has not the time lor one thing; for the ocher, me thinks there is a better way of acquiring knowledge than poring over the innumerable and inky pages of newspapers and over the Gothic and hideous print in which the German newspapers are still foolish enough to persist. But all the same he knows everything worth knowing in the newspapers; and the fact of it is. the German Emperor lias invented a system by which lie reads the newspapers at once:— -

A “Literary Office’ is attached to the Prussian Ministry for the Interior, which for the last two years has been under the management of Herr Hr von Falck, a Baltic German. Dr Falck’s chief occupation- is to read the newspapers and make extracts and cuttings from .them, which a ib pasted m a book, the more important or interesting articles being underlined with red or blue pencil to catch the monarch’s attention. This booh is placed on the Emperor’s desk daily. The cuttings contain articles or extracts from articles taken from the whole of the home and foreign press. In this way the Emperor can read a dozen or more newspapers at once.

The Emperor watbhes the foreign press in Paris, London, and New York more closely than he does the German tiress. Everyone acquainted with the German Court bears witness that he has a perfect knowledge of the standing and general attitude of foreign newspapers, particularly of those countries that interest him specially, for political or other reasons. The caricatures published in London, Paris, and the United States, the articles written about him and his policy—he sees and reads, at any_ rate, the essence of them. The criticisms his speeches encounter the praises bestowed upon them—he knows them all. In this respect he is something like his grandfather. William 1., who made a careful collection of the most ridiculous caricatures of himself printed in France from 1866 onward.

when the Emperor wants to study a new subject, instead of going to the best book upon it* he sends for the best man. For instance, when he heard of the wonderful discovery made by Professor Rontgen, he wired for him to come to Berlin at once, and, after an interview which extended over several hours, the Emperor had so examined and cross-examined the great physiologist that at the end of the time he knew almost as much about the X rays as their inventor himself. Similarly, whenever the Emperor comes to England, he gets in touch with experts—especially military and naval experts—and in a short time he astounds even the quickest of them by the rapidity with which he has caught up their ideas, and the tenacity with which his memory holds to the smallest details. In other words, the Emperor seeks his information in living men and not in dead print. THE EMPEROR AS A HOST. After the first work of the morning is over, then comes an interval for exercise and open air. The Emperor either rides ox drives. When, he drives he is accompanied by the Empress. Then, when he comes back, worl£ is again resumed. and is continued till luncheon time. * Lunch is generally served at two o’clock, and again s-the children are brought in. It is one of the little intervals kept apart for the life of the family. It is a simple but ample meal; guests are not common at it. Then again more work, another outing, and the evening comes—the time of day when the Emperor to a certain extent lets himself go, and tries to forget his cares and responsibilities in the midst of pleasant social intercourse. At dinner there are guests, as there are also at supper, which is served a few hours later. The Emperor is gregarious —indeed, if he wanted solitude, he would find it very difficult to obtain. But, as a matter of fact, he does not ■want it as a rule. For in company he shines. . The quickness of his mind, the multitude and readiness of his ideas, his lightning-like power of sudden repartee; his love of imagery—which in his political speeches often give his words and voice the glow of the true orator—all these things make him one of the most fascinating, conversationalists of his time. Indeed, it is no wonder that he should thus shine in a small circle, for his mother was one of the finest minds and one of the most versatile, rich., and striking conversationalists of her age. When all the guests are gone, neither the the energies of the Emperor sometimes are entirely exhausted. He

turns on the electric lamps over bis own desk, and turns again to some document winch has excited *his interest in the morning, and often these lights remain til.gilt till the small hours. Even during the time given to sleep the activities of the extraordinary brain do not cease; he often wakes up, and paper and pencil are placed by tbe Emperor’s bedside so that he may record a thought or recall a forgotten fact or a poseponed duty. This glimpse, finally, into the private habits of thi3 interesting and powerful personality. It was given by liimself m one of those speeches whose frankness of self-revelation is one of the most curious phenomena of our strange “Every morning and evening of my life,’ ho sani in this speech to the Diet of Brandenburg, “I begin and end % the day with prayer for my empire, my kingdom, and Brandenburg, which is so near to my heart.” In this London world of ours, Avhieli is more concerned with bridge and motor cars, and now and then an elopement, such a man is a strange portent; but it is a very striking and very lofty one, and perchance we might study it with some advantage, and with a desire rather to learn than to mock. M.A.Jt.