THE KAISER IN ANECDOTE.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 144777, 6 September 1915, Page 5

THE KAISER IN ANECDOTE.

A STRANGE MIXTURE. Fifty-sis years ago a lady of the German Court wrote to Priscilla, Countes of Westmoreland, “I must tell you of my wonderful good fortune —I have actually seen this precious child in his father’s arms. You will ask me what this child of so many prayers and wishes is like. They say that all babies are alike, I do not think so. This one has a beautiful complexion, pink and white, and the most lovely little hand ever seen, the nose, rather large. His happy father was holding him m his arms, and himself showed traces of all he had gone through at the time. The child was believed to be dead; so you may conceive the ecstasy of everyone at his lirst pry.” Two years later Queen Victoria was writing thus enthusiastically of her first grandson:—‘‘Such a little love, in a little white dress with black bows, and so good.” . . . ‘‘Dear little William came - to me, as he does every morning. He is shell a darling, so intelligent, so good and affectionate. . • Towards the end of his stay, dear little William came in and played about the room. The darling little boy was with us for nearly an hour running about so dearly and merrily. When 1 had to say good-bye to him I felt the parting deeply.” EARLY SYMPTOMS. Probably no child ever received a more rapturous welcome or made a more hopeful entry on the'stage of life than the little Prince who to-day is the .most execrated man in the world. And there can be no doubt that the boy “with Fritz’s eyes and Vicky’s month and very fair curiy hair” was as lovable a child as ever romped in a royal nurserybut it was not long'before the object of so much pride and affection and so many high hopes developed traits which caused his parents much anxiety —an anxiety reflected in the Crown Prince’s words written on his son’s thirteenth birthday—“lt is enough,” he wrote, “to frighten one to think what hopes already fill the head of this boy and how we are responsible for the direction which wo, give to his education ; this education encounters so many j difficulties owing to family considerations and the circumstances of the Berlin Court.” Long, in fact, before Prince Wilhelm | had emerged from the nursery he be- | gan to alarm his attendants by his exi hibition of temper and self-will. “The j Crown Prince,” wrote a lady of the j Court to a friend in 1866, “is developI ing character rapidly, and not altogether in amiable directions. He is a very autocratic young person, with quite an adequate sense of his import- ■ ance, and insists on having his own way with everybody, from his governess to his little sister.. If he is opposed he gets into quite a violent temper. Only a day or two ago,he slapped his governess’s face because she took a toy from him, and boxed his sister Charlotte’s ears when the toy, which was hers, was given to her.” AN ARTIST’S EXPERIENCE. It was a little earlier that ,the late Mr. W. P. Frjth, R,A„. made the acquaintance of the young Prince under the following conditions. “One of the sitters for my picture of the Prince of I Wales’s marriage was a boy of about i sis years old,, the, most restless .young I demon I have ever met in my life. In no way could I get him to keep still until I had the happy thought of tell- [ ing him that, if he would sit properly, 1 would allow him to paint a picture for himself on a blank portion of the canvas during the ‘rests.’ This plan worked very well until I was startled by loud screams from the boy’s governess. I looked round and found that the young rascal had daubed bis face all over with paint. “ ‘Oh, what shall we do? What will his mother say if she comes-in?’ wailed the governess. 1 strove to reassure her," saying that I could- easily remove the paint with a clean rag and turpentine, which I proceeded to do. Unluckily some of the turpentine went into a sore place; and never shall I forget how the young monkey howled and kicked and fought, finally bolting under a table, where he continued to yell until stopped by sheer exhaustion. I am rather glad his mother did not come in during this performance, for that boy is now known as the German Emperor.” THE “ENFANT TERRIBLE.” At the 'wedding ceremony Mr. Frith had caught his first glimpse of the future Emperor, “a very little fellow in a Scotch dress,” standing'close to the Crown Princess of Prussia, who amused all around him by firing at his mother a series of questions in a shrill little voice, such as—“ls that Uncle Wales?” “Oh, and tint’s Ganna up there, isn’t it?” “After he had exhausted his questions,” Mr. Frith says, “he disappeared mysteriously. Suddenly Prince Arthur, who was standing a little distance away, gave a snpEressed shriek, and, looking down saw is nephew,, the future Emperor, happily occupied in biting one of his ankles!” It was no doubt a relief to his parents when this enfant terrible was taken in-

to the strong hands of Dr. Hmzpeter and later placed under the stern discipline of the College at Cassel. Here, wo are told, “he was under constant supervision and discipline from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.; ho had little leisure beyond half an hour for meals, and his pocketmoney was strictly limited to five shillings a week.” Here and at Bonn University, where ho was next sent, everything possible was done to check tho failings of temper, wilfulness, and conceit which he had exhibited as a child: but to what little purpose, a hundred anecdotes of his later years testify. In his boyhood and youth ho was the same incorrigible autocrat, who, in his first speech from tho Throne, declared, “1 am your Emperor by an inscrutable decree of Providence” ; and who, when he had removed from his path the only man who dared to oppose him, said, “It was absolutely necessary that my people should know that I am Kaiser—that X intended to govern and not merely to reign.” WOMAN’S INFLUENCE. But, autocrat as be is, there aro at least two persons in his Empire who do not stand in awe of him—his'wifo and liis daughter. Some years ago, when ho gave permission to his sons to see an American canoe which Mr. Poultney Biggins had presented to them, the Empress refused *o consent. “She said to mo” (it is Mr. Biggins ’who told tho story), " 'Oh, no; u. is much too dangerous. I shall never allow ray children in the canoe.’ ’But,’ protested I, ‘the Emperor has ab-eady given his consent!’ ‘Oh, that may bo',’ said she; Tie may be Emperor of Germany, but I am the Emperor of the nursery.’ ” As for his daughter, the Kaiser himself has said, “While talking to me she often forgets that I am Emperor, but sho never lorgocs that she is his Imperial Majesty’s daughter!” . When, too, at a meeting of the German Princes in Berlin, in 1892, the Kaiser enlarged upon his descent from Charlemagne and urged his claim to the title of Emperor, wiucli that monarch bad enjoyed,, he made the blunder of referring" to tho assembled Princes as “my vassals.” “No, sir,” promptly spoke out Prince Waldemar, of LippeDetraoid. “we are- not your vassals. Your allies, if you like.” THE KAISER’S HUMOUR. That the Kaiser, however, in spite of his “Almightiiiess,” is not without the saving gift of-humour the following stories prove. On the occasion of one of his many surprise visits to his garrisons the garrison included a naval detachment with a submarine section, and these were turned out, too, in the very early hours of a wintry morning. It was on observing them that an elderly colonel advanced towards another officer whom he thought he recognised in the half-darkness, and observed, pointing to the shivering submarine crew, “I sea that Gondola Willy has fished up the Aquarium this morning.” “I sea ho has,” was the Kaiser’s smil-' ing reply, as he turned his face to the horrified" colonel. It was an officer of the Ist Cuirassieurs who offered his congratulations to the Emperor -when the Crown Prince' - was gazetted to his company. “Y’es,” said the Kaiser, think the Prince takes after • his father.” “Never nJnd. He’ll grow out of it!” was the daring retort, which, it is said, sene YVilhelm into a convulsion of laughter. In his amiable moods, indeed, few Sovereigns are more skilled in the arts of popularity. One day, returning to barracks after several hard 'hours of manoeuvring with the -Berlin garrison, he walked to the raessroom, and, calling .out, “Dio wurst her!” (bring that sausage), caused several “pairs” to disappear, with tho. voracity of an Oklahoma settler. After swallowing several mugs of Snaten beer, he rubbed his stomach, and, with a sigh of repletion and happiness, exclaimed to the amused officers present, “Boys! Peace now reigns in my body.” ■ A SEAMAN’S LESSON. A few years ago the Kaiser was pac-ing-the deck of his yacht, when one of his seamen came along with a* large tankard of beer in one nand. Seeing the Emperor, he stopped in confusion, hesitated, and finally sainted him clumsily with his free hand. “Jorg, my man,” he said, “that is not tho right way to do it. Y’ou stand -over there as if you were the Emperor, and I will show you the proper way to salute!” Then, taking the tankard, he walked away, to come back assuming a bashful air. As he neared Jorg, he put the mug to his lips, drained it, and after setting it down on the deck, he drew hiipself up and saluted in correct form. “That’s how to do it,” he said; “and now go downstairs, and- tell them to fill the tankard up again, and to give you another for yourself; and say that it was I who drank it.”

It is by such exhibitions of humour and bonhomie that Wilhelm , has won the hearts of his soldiers and people, but woo to the man who inches them an opportunity for any failure of respect! It is the Emperor then, and not the bon camarade, that he has to deal with. In reviewing the life of the German Emperor, one cannot fail to realise that no man who ever wore a crown has had it within his power to leave behind him a more imperishable name as the Ruler of a great Empire and a benefactor of the world; and also that no Sovereign has ever so tragically prostituted- his gifts and opportunities, or made an egregious vanity to minister to his own undoing and to the bane of humanity. Swollen with his own conceit until he regards himself as a superman -,and the vice-regent of the Almighty, he is coming fast to his inevitable goal, which will see the wrecking of the great Empire he has so laboriously built up, and his Imperial house tumbled in ruins. His favourite motto is said to be—"Be satisfied with the day as it comes.” “Der Tag,” so long awaited, is at hand.