THE VOLCANIC KAISER.

Colonist, Volume LVI, Issue 13571, 11 September 1914, Page 2

THE VOLCANIC KAISER.

Three years ago, in the "Contemporary Review," Professor Charles SaroIca disciissed the manner and matter of Wilhelra's speeches, and contended, vigorously, that 'the flamboyant rhetoric did not usually have any serious influence on the nation. "A speech with him," declares the professor, "is not preliminary arid ancillary to action; it is only'one of several outlets to his superabundant energies."' The Kaiser is volcanic, and must- have his vocal eruptions; his mouth is a psychological safty-valve for his own personal health of mind, but it may be yet a death-trap for his nation.

The professor lightly touches the Kaiser as a "living anachronism," one battling with all the fine frenzy of mediaeval faith for a "Divine Right of Kaisers,", if not of Kings, in a Ger- , many which becomes more arid *more sceptical from year to year. The pious Hohenzollern (lately described as a "pious humbug") is pictured as a lonely figure in a country which does not fully share his zeal for religious idealism, coupled with extreme malitarism. TYPICAL CLAIMS. Hero are some characteristic examples of the Kaiser's public speeches:—

"Mine is a Kingdom by the grace of God, with its heavy duties, its neverceasing cares and labours, with its awful responsibility to the Creator above, from which no man, no Minister, no Parliament, can absolve the sovereign." (August, 1897.)

"I see in the people and in the country that I have inherited a talent entrusted to me by God, and which it is my duty to increase." (March, 1890).

"In our House we consider ourselves as appointed by God to direct and lead the nations, over which it has been given us to rule, to a higher state of well-being, to the improvement of their material and spiritual interests." (April, 1890.)

"You know that I consider my whole office and duty is imposed on me by Heaven, .and that I have been called jin the service of the Highest, to whom 11 shall have to render one day an ac- | count of my trust." (February, 1891.) I DISLOYALTY A SACRILEGE? As the Kaiser has chosen to proclaim himself as one appointed by God to shape the destinies of Germany, he regards as almost sacrilegious any opposition to his imperial wishes, however lawful or constitutional a protest or objection may be. A mere questioning of the Emperor's absolute authority has been deemed to be an act of disloyalty. "I shall crush whomsoever will stand in the way of my labours," he said in his salad days of 1890, and in 1891 he remarked: "There is only one who is master in the Empire, and that is I." SPECIAL SERMONS. "Amongst the Kaiser's numberless accomplishments," states the reviewer, "there is none he prefers to preaching. He delights in acting as a substitute for one of his Court preachers, and he expounds to his sailors and soldiers the elementary truths, of Christianity. . . . Like Napoleon I. and Napoleon 111., the Kaiser would fain drive away the chatterers from the Reichstag, and rely on the sword alone, of faithful soldiers to carry out his1 supreme will. It is only among his soldiers that he finds himself at ease and at home. It is to them that he addresses most of his speeches and proclamations as well as Ms sermons." A "MAN OF DESTINY." The Kaiser has practically proclaimed himself as a "Man of Destiny," by Divine dispensation. The Germans are the chosen people- of a discriminiating God, and the Kaiser is the agent of the Deity to lead the nation to a supremacy in Europe and the wide world. The Kaiser has assured his soldiers that they are engaged in a holy war, with, God on their side. The Emperor's purpose has been to fill his Army and Navy with that zeal ■ and confidence of conquest which sent Cromweir and his warriors to victory. He has striven to obtain a maximum of moral advantage from the Destiny doctrine. But there is competition in the Destiny business. Britain, Russia, and France are strong believers in a happy Destiny for themselves, and they are convinced that a nec&ssary preliminary must be a twisting and crushing of Prussia's Mailed Fist and a turning of the Iron Heel. They know that Germany's power to disturb the world's peace must be broken for ever. This is a need, and the work will be done at any cost.— "Post."