secured, thanks to your harmonious co-operation with the GovernOn looking back at the past I feel confident that for the future, too, we shall succeed by our common labours, supported by mutual confidence and undisturbed by differences of opinion on any points of fundamental importance in promoting the prosperity of the country.

"Gentlemen, in an hour of sorrow have I undertaken the duties of my royal office, but I enter on the task committed to me by the disposal of God with all the confidence of a high sense of duty, and in performing the same keep before my mind the saying of the great Frederick, that in Prussia' the King is the First Servant of the State.'"

During the reign of the Emperor Frederick both France and Russia maintained to some extent an attitude of armed suspicion. But now, on the accession of his youthful successor, who, in the opinion of his antagonists, did not enjoy any measure of support from the political parties and the German Sovereigns, the time seemed to have arrived for a renewal of the secret and open political attacks on Germany. Now was the opportunity for the Emperor William to show the whole world that he was a lover of peace, and, further, that he would take every step possible to remove all misunderstandings, and thus maintain peace. And, indeed, he himself felt that it was incumbent upon him that he should demonstrate that he was, above all, an Emperor devoted to peace and conciliation.

THE PRESERVATION OF THE PEACE

THE

OF THE WORLD

HE pronounced indication of peaceful intentions, which the Emperor displayed in paying a series of foreign visits immediately after his accession, was specially emphasised by the fact that the first Sovereign to be visited was the Emperor of Russia. It might have been thought that he would begin by visiting one of the German reigning Princes or one of the Monarchs of the Triple Alliance. But no, his first journey took him to the most powerful antagonist of his Empire-to the Tsar; and he paid this visit in order that he might personally express to the Ruler of Russia his desire for the preservation of peace. The very circumstances of his journey and visit showed a complete departure from precedent. The Emperor travelled by sea. He left Kiel for St. Petersburg on the 14th of July on his old yacht Hohenzollern, attended by Prince Henry, Count Herbert Bismarck, at that time Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, General von Hahnke, the Chief of the Military Cabinet, and a large suite. On the 19th of July the two Sovereigns greeted one another on the high seas off Kronstadt, and in the afternoon of the same day the Emperor was received by the Tsarina at Peterhof, and a family dinner and a ministerial banquet followed. Before the Emperor took his departure from Kronstadt-his visit terminated on the 24th of July-a breakfast was given on board the Hohenzollern, at which the Emperor Alexander and his Consort were present. The Tsar was chivalrous as ever, and the manner in which the Emperor utilised the occasion to work in favour of peace made a strong impression on the Russian potentate and aroused in him great admiration for the young Ruler. There cannot be any doubt that this, the first step which the Emperor William took in the cause of the preservation of peace, proved to be one of great significance, and later on helped to dissipate the dark thunder-clouds which hung over the political horizon.

The terms in which the toasts were proposed at the family dinner given on the 19th of July at Peterhof have never been published, but though it is certain that they were most cordial, the Russian Press did not by any means discontinue its intrigues against Germany. It showed a disposition to treat the Emperor's visit ironically, and, indeed, indulged in such offensive insinuations that the Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung felt called upon to offer an explanation. The initiative of the Emperor's visit to St. Petersburg," it said, "naturally originated, we repeat, in Berlin, but the inference that the German Government felt more strongly than did the Cabinet in St. Petersburg the desirability of such a rapprochement is but the conceited imagination of Asiatic arrogance and Asiatic ignorance."

The Emperor William had, indeed, reason to be well satisfied with his visit to Krassnoje Selo and Peterhof. On his way home from Kronstadt he visited the King of Sweden at Stockholm, and there his personal demeanour won for him the sympathy and the good-will not only of Oscar II. himself, but of the entire population of the Swedish capital as well. In reply to the toast of his health, which was proposed by the King of Sweden at the banquet given in his honour on the 26th of July, at the Royal Palace of Stockholm, the Emperor said :

"May the traditions which unite the Swedish with the German people, and my House with the Swedish Royal Family, and, above all, the bonds of friendship which were formed between my grandfather, my father, and your Majesty, endure for ever. The splendid reception accorded to me in this beautiful country affords me strong evidence of the sympathies which unite the Teutonic to the Scandinavian peoples."

In case of war the friendship-indeed, even the neutrality of Sweden-would, at that time, be of great importance to Germany.

From Stockholm the Emperor set out straight for the lion's den. He visited Copenhagen. Since the events of 1864 the Danish Court had been a hotbed of intrigue against Germany. It was through Copenhagen influence that the Tsar, who was a son-in-law of the King of Denmark, was induced to lend a willing ear to the Pan-Slavists, and to entertain a certain bitterness of feeling against Germany. The genial bearing and manners of the Emperor, however, created a very favourable impression on the members of the Danish Royal Family, and disarmed them of their prejudices. The reception extended to the Emperor at

Copenhagen was cordial in every respect. At the banquet which was given at the Castle of Amalienborg on the 31st of July, the Emperor William, responding to the toast of his health proposed by King Christian IX., made the following reply:

"I express to your Majesty my respectful thanks for the toast of my health. I hope that I may often be permitted thus to visit your Majesty here. I drink to the health of your Majesty, her Majesty, and the whole Royal Family."

But this love of peace on the part of the young German Emperor was apparently misunderstood in France. It was considered to be suggestive of weakness, perhaps also of fear, and the French Press did not hesitate to declare that if the German Emperor was really anxious for peace, he could certainly purchase it by the voluntary retrocession of Alsace-Lorraine. These insinuations on the part of the French called for an energetic reply which would show how groundless they were, if only to protect the manifestations of the Emperor William II. in favour of peace from being misinterpreted in any way, and in order to make his further endeavours for the maintenance of the peace of Europe more effective abroad.

On the 16th of August, the anniversary of the battle of Marsla-Tour, the monument erected by the Third Army Corps to Prince Frederick Charles was unveiled at Frankfort-on-the-Oder. The Emperor was present at the ceremony, and, in reply to the Chief Burgomaster's address, delivered the following speech, the concluding part of which was evidently directed against the French insinuations :

"My Chief Burgomaster: I express my cordial thanks for the words which you have just addressed to me, and I beg you to convey my heartfelt thanks to the city for the warm reception it has extended to me. I am, as you have just pointed. out, very well aware of the bonds of sincere and faithful devotion which for many centuries past have united the city of Frankfort to my House. My grandfather knew it well, and it was this reason which determined him to select this city as the place for the statue. It was by his order that the late Prince was appointed to the command of the Third Army Corps. The strong, determined character of the Prince, his powerful will and strategic genius, specially qualified him for the chief command of the Army

Corps and to train up the sons of Brandenburg in a hard, stern school to that state of efficiency which they displayed in the battles of Vionville. The present is a solemn time. The great generals who led our army to victory-the two great cousins, the Crown Prince and Prince Frederick Charles-are no longer amongst us. So long as history exists, so long will my father, as the German Crown Prince, and my uncle, as the German Field Marshal par excellence, be regarded as the foremost champions and founders of the Empire.

"Just as the people of Brandenburg with unflagging energy and indefatigable industry wrest a livelihood from the sandy soil of their country, so, eighteen years ago, did the Third Army Corps wrest victory from the enemy. The splendid results, however, which the Army Corps achieved it owes to the Prince and the training he gave it.

"I raise my glass to the welfare of the city of Frankfort and to the health of the Third Army Corps. But, gentlemen, there is one point I should like to call your attention to in regard to the memorable day we are celebrating. There are people who have the audacity to maintain that my father was willing to part with what he, in conjunction with the late Prince, gained on the battlefield. We, who knew him so well, cannot quietly tolerate, even for a single moment, such an insult to his memory. He assuredly cherished the same idea as we do, namely, that nothing should be surrendered of what had been gained in those great days. We all know the Third Army Corps as well as the entire Armythat on this point there can be only one opinion, namely, that we would rather sacrifice our eighteen army corps and our fortytwo millions of inhabitants on the field of battle than surrender a single stone of what my father and Prince Frederick Charles gained."

In order to foster the good relations between Sweden and Germany, the Emperor seized the opportunity of the birth of his fifth son to request the King of Sweden to act as sponsor to the newly-born Prince. On the 31st of August, in the presence of King Oscar II., the christening took place in Berlin, and both the Swedish and the German Press spoke in the most sympathetic terms of the good relations which existed between the two

C