MakingtheusualvisitsinBerlinsociety，Ifoundthatpeoplequalifiedtojudgehadagoodopinionofhisabilities;andnotinfrequentwerepropheciesthattheyoungmanwouldsomedayreallyaccomplishsomething。
Myfirstopportunitytoconversewithhimcameathismarriage，whenaspecialreceptionwasgivenbyhimandhisbridetothediplomaticcorps。HespokeatconsiderablelengthonAmericantopics——onrailways，steamers，publicworks，onAmericanswhomhehadmet，andofthethingshemostwishedtoseeonoursidethewater;altogetherheseemedtobebroad—minded，alert，withaquicksenseofhumor，andyetwithacertainsolidityofjudgmentbeneathitall。
AftermydeparturefromBerlinthereflittedovertoAmericaconflictingaccountsofhim，andduringtheshortreignofhisfathertherewasconsiderablegrowthofmythandlegendtohisdisadvantage。Anyattempttodistilthetruthfromitallwouldbefutile;sufficeitthatbothinGermanyandGreatBritaincarefulstatementsbyexcellentauthoritiesonbothsideshaveconvincedmethatinallthattryingcrisistheyoungman’scoursewasdictatedbyamanlysenseofduty。
ThefirstthingafterhisaccessionwhichreallystruckmeasarevelationofhischaracterwashisdismissalofBismarck。Byvastnumbersofpeoplethiswasthoughttheactofanexultantyoungrulereagertoescapeallrestraint，andthisopinionwasconsiderablypromotedinEnglish—speakingcountriesbyanephemeralcause:Tenniel’scartoonin"Punch"entitled"DroppingthePilot。"Asmostpeoplewhoreadthiswillremember，theironchancellorwasthereinrepresentedasanold，weatherbeatenpilot，instorm—coatandsou’wester，ploddingheavilydownthegangwayatthesideofagreatship;whilefarabovehim，leaningoverthebulwarks，wastheyoungEmperor，jaunty，withasatisfiedsmirk，andwearinghiscrown。Therewasinthatlittledrawingasparkofgenius，anditspedfar;probablynoothercartoonin"Punch"everproducedsodeepaneffect，save，possibly，thatwhichappearedduringtheCrimeanWarwiththelegend"GeneralFebruaryturnedTraitor";itwenteverywhere，appealingtodeepsentimentinhumanhearts。
Andyet，tome——admiringBismarckasthegreatestGermansinceLuther，butreflectinguponthevastinterestsinvolved——thisactwasaproofthattheyoungmonarchwasastrongermanthananyonehadsupposedhimtobe。Certainlythisdismissalmusthavecausedhimmuchregret;allhispreviouslifehadshownthatheadmiredBismarck——almostadoredhim。Itgaveevidenceofadeeppurposeandastrongwill。LouisXIVhadgainedgreatcreditafterthedeathofMazarinbydeclaringhisintentionofrulingalone——oftakingintohisownhandsthevastworkbegunbyRichelieu;butthatwasthemerestnothingcomparedtothis。Thiswas，apparently，asifLouisXIII，immediatelyafterthetriumphsofRichelieu，haddismissedhimanddeclaredhispurposeofhenceforthbeinghisownprimeminister。TheyoungEmperorhadfoundhimselfatthepartingoftheways，andhaddeliberatelychosentherightpath，andthisinspiteofalmostuniversaloutcriesathomeandabroad。TheOLDEmperorWilliamcouldletBismarckhavehiswaytoanyextent:whenhischancellorsulkedhecoulddrivetothepalaceintheWilhelmstrasse，pathisoldservantontheback，chaffhim，scoldhim，laughathim，andsethimgoingagain，andnoonethoughtlessoftheoldmonarchonthataccount。ButfortheYOUNGEmperorWilliamtodothiswouldbefatal;itwouldclasshimatonceamongtheroisfatneants——themerefigureheads——"thesolemnlyconstitutedimpostors，"andinthislaynotmerelydangerstotheyoungmonarch，buttohisdynastyandtotheempire。
Hisrecognitionofthisfactwas，andis，tomeaproofthatthefavorablejudgmentsofhimwhichIhadheardexpressedinBerlinwerewellfounded。
ButthisdecisiondidmuchtorenderhimunpopularintheUnitedStates，andvariousotherreportswhichflittedoverincreasedtheunfavorablefeeling。Therecamereportsofhisspeechestoyoungrecruits，inwhich，toputitmildly，therewaspreachedaveryhightheoryoftheroyalandimperialprerogative，andaveryexactingtheoryofthedutyofthesubject。Littleaccountwastakenbydistantobserversofthefundamentalfactsinthecase;namely，thatGermany，beinganationwithnonaturalfrontiers，withhostilemilitarynationsonallsides，andwithseriousintestinetendenciestoanarchy，must，ifsheistolive，havethebestpossiblemilitaryorganizationandacentralpowerstrongtocurballtheforcesoftheempire，andquicktohurlthem。Moreover，thesespeeches，whichseemedsoabsurdtotheaverageAmerican，hardlyastonishedanyonewhohadlivedlonginGermany，andespeciallyinPrussia。Thedoctrineslaiddownbytheyoungmonarchtotherecruitswere，afterall，onlywhattheyhadheardathousandtimesfrompulpitandschooldesk，andarealogicalresultofPrussianhistoryandgeography。Something，too，mustbeallowedtoayoungmangifted，energetic，suddenlybroughtintosoresponsibleaposition，lookingintoandbeyondhisempire，seeinghostilenationsnorth，south，east，andwest，withelementsofunreasonfermentingwithinitsownborders，andfeelingthattheonlyrelianceofhiscountryisinthegoodrightarmsofitspeople，intheirpowerofstrikingheavilyandquickly，andinunquestioningobediencetoauthority。
InthehistoryofAmericanopinionatthistimetherewasonecomicalepisode。ThestrongholdsofopinionamongusfriendlytoGermanyhavebeen，forthelastsixtyyears，ouruniversitiesandcolleges，insomanyofwhichareprofessorsandtutorswho，havingstudiedinGermany，havebroughtbackacertainlovefortheGermanfatherland。Tothemtherecameinthosedaysacurioustractatebyalittle—knownGermanprofessor——oneofthemostcurioussatiresinhumanhistory。ToallappearanceitwassimplyabiographicalstudyoftheyoungRomanemperorCaligula。Itdisplayedtheadvantageshehadderivedfromabraveandpiousimperialancestry，andespeciallyfromhisdevoutandgiftedfather;itshowedhisnaturalgiftsandacquiredgraces，hisversatility，hisgrowingrestlessness，hismanifoldambitions，hiscontemptofwisecounsel，thedismissalofhismosteminentminister，hiscarelessnessofthoughtfulopinion，hismeddlinginanythingandeverything，hisdisplaysinthetheaterandinthetemplesofthegods，hisgrowth——untiltheworldrecognizedhimsimplyasabeastofprey，amonster。ThewholenarrativewassomanagedthattheyoungprincewhohadjustcometotheGermanthroneseemedtheexactcounterpartoftheyouthfulRomanmonarch——downtothecruelstageofhiscareer;THATwaslefttoanticipation。Theparallelsandresemblancesbetweenthetwowerearrangedwithconsummateskill，andwhenevertherewasapassagewhichseemedtopresentanexactchronicleofsomewell—knownsayingordoingofthemodernrulertherewouldfollowanasteriskwithareferencetoapassageinTacitusorSuetoniusorDionCassiusorothereminentauthorityexactlywarrantingthestatement。Thispieceofhistoricaljuggleryranspeedilythroughthirtyeditions，whilefromallpartsofGermanycamerefutationsandcounter—refutationsbyscores，alltendingtoincreaseitsnotoriety。MakingashorttourthroughGermanyatthatperiod，andstoppinginabookseller’sshopatMunichtogetacopyofthistreatise，Iwasshownapileofpamphletswhichithadcalledout，atleastafoothigh。Comicallyenough，itsauthorcouldnotbeheldresponsibleforit，sincethenameoftheyoungEmperorWilliamwasnevermentioned;allitclaimedtogiveordidgivewasthelifeofCaligula，andcertainlytherewasnocrimeinwritingacondemnatoryhistoryofhimoranyotherimperialmiscreantwhodiednearlytwothousandyearsago。IntheAmericancollegesanduniversitiesthistractatedoubtlessmadegoodfriendsofGermanyuneasy，anditevenshockedsomeexcellentmenwhoknewmuchofRomanhistoryandlittleofmankind;butgraduallycommonsenseresumeditssway。AsmenbegantothinktheybegantorealizethatthemodernGermanEmpireresemblesinnoparticularthatdebasedandcorruptmasswithwhichtheimperialRomanwretcheshadtodo，andthatthenewGermansovereign，inallhischaracteristicsandtendenciesisradicallyadifferentbeingfromanyoneofthecrazybeastsofpreywhoheldtheimperialpowerduringthedeclineofRome。
Sundryepigramshadalsocomeovertous;amongothers，thecharacterizationofthethreeGermanEmperors:thefirstWilliamas"DergreiseKaiser，"theEmperorFrederickas"DerweiseKaiser，"andthesecondWilliamas"DerReiseKaiser";andtherewereunpleasantmurmursregardingsundrytrialsforpettytreason。Butatthesametimetherewasevident，inthemidstofAmericanjokesattheyoungEmperor’sexpense，agrowingfeelingthattherewassomethinginhim;that，atanyrate，hewasnotafat—witted，Jesuit—ridden，mistress—ledmonarchoftheoldBourbonorHapsburgsort;thathehad"go"inhim——somefineimpulses，evidently;andhereandthereaquotationfromaspeechshowedinsightintotheconditionsofthepresentworldandaspirationforitsbetterment。
InanotherchapterIhavegivenageneralsketchoftheconversationatmyfirstpresentationtohimasambassador;itstrengthenedinmymindtheimpressionalreadyformed，——thathewasnotamonarchoftheoldpattern。Thetalkwasnotconventional;hewasevidentlyfondofdiscoursinguponarchitecture，sculpture，andmusic，butnotlessgiftedindiscussingcurrentpoliticalquestions，andinvariousconversationsafterwardthisfactwasobservable。Conventionaltalkwasreducedtoaminimum;theslightesthintwasenoughtostartalineofremarkworthlisteningto。
Opportunitiesforconversationweremany。Besidestheusual"functions"ofvarioussorts，therewereinterviewsbyspecialappointment，andinthesetheyoungmonarchwasneitherbackwardinpresentinghisideasnorslowindevelopingthem。Therangeofsubjectswhichinterestedhimseemedunlimited，butthereweresomewhichheevidentlypreferred:ofthesewereallthingsrelatingtoshipsandshipping，andoneofthefirstsubjectswhichcameupinconversationsbetweenuswasthebooksofCaptainMahan，whichhediscussedveryintelligently，awardinggreatpraisetotheirauthor，andsayingthatherequiredallhisnavalofficerstoreadthem。
Anothersubjectinorderwasartinallitsdevelopments。Duringthefirstyearsofmystayhewaserectingthethirty—twohistoricalgroupsontheAvenueofVictoryintheThiergarten，nearmyhouse。Mywalkstookmefrequentlybythem，andtheyinterestedme，notmerelybytheirexecution，butbytheirhistoricalpurpose，commemoratingastheydotheservicesofhispredecessors，andofthestrongestmenwhomadetheirreignssignificantduringnearlyathousandyears。Hewasalwaysreadytodiscusstheseworksatlength，whetherfromtheartistic，historical，oreducationalpointofview。Notonlytome，buttomywifeheinsistedontheirvalueasameansofarousingintelligentpatriotisminchildrenandyouth。Hedweltwithprideonthelargenumberofgiftedsculptorsinhisrealm，andhiscommentsontheirworkwereworthlisteningto。HehimselfhasartisticgiftswhichinhisearlierdayswereshownbyatleastonespecimenofhisworkasapainterintheBerlinAnnualExhibition;andinthewindowofasilversmith’sshopontheLindenIoncesawaprizecupforayachtcontestshowingmuchskillininventionandbeautyinform，whilenearithungthepencildrawingforitinhisownhand。
Hisknowledgeofmusicandloveforithavebeenreferredtoelsewhereinthesechapters。Noteworthywasitthathisfeelingwasnotatallformusicofathin，showysort;heseemedtobetouchedbynoneoftheprevailingfashions，buttocherishaprofoundloveforthereallygreatthingsinmusic。Thiswasoftenshown，as，forexa...完整阅读请扫描二维码下载丁香书院APP免费看：