PATER’S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3196, 16 June 1915, Page 76

PATER’S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

“THE BERLIN COURT UNDER WILLIAM II.” Last week I'promised another Chat upon this book; but a donen Chats would not exhaust its points of interest. THE DEATH OF FREDERICK 111. Frederick was a dying man when he ascended the throne, and his son knew it, which made his indiscretions of speech more reprehensible. On Prince Bismarck’s birthday, in proposing the toast, the Crown Prince was blazingly indiscreet, for he said that, seeing its late chief was dead, and the present one was wounded and incapable of presiding over its destinies, Prussia had tne Chancellor to look to as its guiding hand. “ The Empress Victoria was wildly furious, but her indignation was subordinated to her intense love for her husband.” She kept from him what their son had said, but she took an opportunity to have an interview with the Crown Prince. The interview was a stormy one, and after that day years passed before mother and son spoke together again. Sven the death of the Emperor did not throw tjiem into each other’s arms, as even the enemies of the Empress Victoria expected it would.” When the Emperor was on his deathbed, among those watching were the present Kaiser, his brother (Prince Henry), and Bismarck. The dying monarch could not speak, but after relapsing into a stupor he revived somewhat, “and, seeing Prince Bismarck, he made him a sign to approach, when, by a last effort he lifted the fingers of his Consort and put them into those of the Iron Chancellor. The action, simple as it was, deeply stirred all those who witnessed’ it.” It was a pathetic appeal to the stern, cold, statesman, who for once had lost his composure, to sink past differences, and to stand by her. “ He bent over the dying monarch and, as if to reassure him and to promise him that his last wishes would be respected, he kissed the cold hand of the Empress Victoria, saying as he did so, ‘ Sire, you may rely on me.’ Frederick’s head fell back exhausted upon his pillow, and shortly aflerwards he passed away.” Then followed scenes most pathetic. The Empress knew she had the enmity of her son, and assumed—an assumption that was correct —that Bismarck was, against her, too. She dropped upon the bed and remained there until it was necessary to remove her. “ Some hours later she reappeared, holding in her hands the sword of the late Emperor, and a laurel wreath with which she had come to meet him after the triumph of Sedan. She laid the wreath upon his breast, and with trembling fingers entwined those of the dead man around the sword. Then she fell once more on her knees, and stayed there until the morning light broke into the room, heralding the dawn of a new day.” Though the funeral did not take place for some days, she looked upon his face no more. THE KAISER’S HUMILIATION OF HIS MOTHER. When his father died the Kaiser took measures that might have well been spared. “He caused all the doors of the New Palace, where his father died, to be closed, and forbade anyone to leave its precincts. When, late in the evening, the Empress Victoria tried to come out on to the terrace to breathe a little fresh air, she found a Hussar officer stationed at the door leading thereto, who respectfully but firmly obliged her to return to her apartments.” But this was not all. Her son not only did not come near her, but “he accused her of having appropriated the papers and documents of his late father, and resorted to the most unwarrantable measures to compel her to give them up. During that trying time the Empress bore herself with the utmost dignity. She never complained, never uttered a word of blame. But she refused to see her son, and, though ultimately she forgave him, she seemed never to forget.” Her almost sole comfort at the time was the visit of her brother, then the Prince of Wales, for between them there was always a close bond of sympathy. THE KAISER AND THE PRINCE OP WALES. When the Kaiser was a little chap the Prince of Wales used to check him at times; but as the Kaiser grew up he resented advice or correction, and his illtreatment of his mother did not cause his Uncle to love him any the more. On his accession, now occupying a superior position to the Prince of Wales, he treated his uncle “ with a cool courtesy tinged with undisguised contempt, which infuriated the latter, and made him realise the great difference in rank that now separated them. The Prince, in his turn, never forgave his nephew for it; and when later on he himself ascended the throne of Great Britain, he initiated a policy which brought about that important political event, the understanding between Britain, France, and Russia. Whatever may ba done and said, it was essentially an act which could only be viewed with hostility by tba present German Emnarar.”

A SUMMING UP OF CHARACTER. The concluding part of the long chapter the Kaiser’s life up to the time he ascended, the throne and the estimate recently formed of him reads thus i He is jealous—almost to excess —of any encroachment on his Imperial power and privileges as a Sovereign. There is no abnegation in him, no spirit of self-sacri-fice, as was the case with his father and grandfather; but there is a strong spirit of justice—hard, stern, unsparing justice which he metes out to himself as well _as to others. He will always recognise when he is wrong, but he will seldom admit it; and he never forgives anyone who has the imprudence to point it out to him. His experience has been most varied. I may be forgiven wdien I say that it has not been of so much use to him as it might have been. His confidence in his own strength has always been too great, and by it he has blinded himself to the consequences oi some ol tne most important actions in his me, as well as some of the gravest decisions he has ta i 6 think I’ll build up yet another Chat upon the contents of “The Berlin Couxt Under William II.”