Democratic Sentinel, Volume 14, Number 36, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 October 1890 — WILHELM THE SECOND. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WILHELM THE SECOND.

THE YOUNG EMPEROR WHO IS HIS OWN BISMARCK. A Vtgoroas, Darias Hnler— Hi* Htnie Life and Army Life—Warrior, Statesman and Hubmaa-Incidents of His Boyhood— His Chief Advisers.

bMPEROR Wilhelm r is the man of the hour. A mysterious destiny seems to >guide him on. He /rides into the field of European politics iwith clash of sword land jingle of spur; i he sets aside ancient trusty counsellors—notin anger, but with the pacific assurance that he will follow

their policy in all that is good for the German nation. He is a splendid and impressive fignre. His youth, his courage, his evident determination to follow in the footsteps of Frederick the Great, all make him interesting. The scepter fell from the dying hand of Frederick tho Noble into the grasp of this young soldier. Prom the moment that he held it he showed that he meant to be an emperor in very truth. All Europe has rung with the reports of his journeys, his alliances, his naval and military projects. He is the new man on horseback come to dazzle, to charm, perhaps to transform Europe. How many a time, during his rapid journeys north and south, and in mornings and evenings full of care and exhausting ceremony, his heart must turn back with longing to the old palace opposite the Arsenal in Berlin, in which his father lived for so many years and through the stately apartments in which he ranged freely when a little child. Here Frederick William Victor Albert, commonly called Prince William, was born January 27, 1859. His home was more homelike than most palaces, but the breath of war had blown through it, as through every other public or private edifice in Prussia. The vast ante-chambers were garnished with busts of the Generals of the wars of 1813 and 1815, interspersed with the medallions of Humboldt and other savants of Berlin. In the apartments of his mother the little Prince had a chance to acquire English tastes. All the surroundings were severely British. In one small apartment, used for boudoir and bedroom, Wilhelm doubtless passed many childish hours gazing out upon the Arsenal or the University, or amusing himself with the collections Of Iceland moss, shells from the Isle of Wight, coral necklaces and English keepsakes, with which the etageres were filled. In the Princess’ rooms there were no pictures; in her youth she seemed not to care for them. In the opposite wing were the study end the private rooms of “Papa Fritz,” in which (he young Wilhelm was now and then al'owed, as a special favor, to show his white-haired little pate. Prince Wilhelm learned one thing from his father which may stand him in good stead one day. That was .

know and appreciate the masses, to understand tlieir dialect and enter into their humor. The two often made excursions together among the toilers. When lie was seven years old the young Prince was placed under the instruction of Dr. Hinzpeter, for whom he conceived a friendship which has grown with his years, and which has caused much jealousy of the tutor in recent times. Major General Yon Stolberg was the Prince’s military governor, and the young man’s marked predilection for military studies received a great impetus from this able soldier. After his confirmation in 1874, the Prince was sent with his brother, Prince Henry, who is now the Admiral, to the Gymnasium at Cassel, where he. passed his examinations in 1877. This was tho first time that any German prince had ever been sent to • public school. He continued his studies in the University at Bonn, and there, as at Cassel, he was treated exactly like the other students and formed the habit of close application which has stood him in such good stead since he came to the throne. An English tutor who was employed by the Crown Princess to superintend the English side of the future Emperor’e education has given some interesting glimpses of tho royal household. When ho first saw the Crown Princess she told him she was anxious that her •on should acquire a good English accent. Review s and similar state functions were the only interruptions to the work of tho young Princes. Prince William, as he was universally called, except by his governor, who generally said “Lieber Prim,” coon mastered English, and speaks it ua well as ho does German. It took

him some time to learn how to write Engli.'h well; but one day ho brought his tutcr a birthday letter written to Queen Viesxrls and asked his tutor to correct it.

There was nothing to correct, and since thatvime the young Emperor has been able to write fluently and correctly in his mother’s native language. Nothing could be more simple and

natural than the lives the Princes lived. Whether iu their Fchool rooms, , at their meals, or the manner in which thev were treated, there w r as but lifcti' i to distinguish them from the childrei j of any gentleman of good fortune. The words “Royal Highness” were never t used, but the “du,” which naturally j belongs to the German scnoolboy. was replaced by the move respectful “sie. ’ The tutor used to shake hands unceremoniously with his royal pupil every day, and Prince William would chat about what he had been doing; that Professor Helmholz had told him this, or that Count Moltke had explained to him that. He was very fond of fairy storios. The young Prince’s English relatives took care to till his mind wi.li 'eminently conservative notions. Ore ay he came to his teacher with this :ather startling question: “Uncle says that Oliver Cromwell was a horrid beast; what do you think?” The tutor hardly knew what to answer. On the whole, his youth was serious, earnest, and eminently industrious. He rarely laughed, and always seemed to bear about with him the consciousness that he had a mighty mi,siori to fulfill. “Even as a bov,” says one of his biographers, “it w a-« he, and not his father, who was pointed out as the future hope ot Germany. The evident seriousness with which he regaided himself sometimes caused smiles. Anecdote vin point were freely circulated, as, for instance, that he borrowed a penknife frbm one of his atteadauts, and returned it with the solemn remark: “Keep tliiß. It has now become a historio relic.” But this absence of any sense of humor i 3 now shown to be only the obverse side of splendid and princely characteristics. Young Wilhelm’s military career began as soon as he returned from the University, in the First Guard Fvegiment of Infantry at Potsdam, the old garrison town haunted by memories of Frederick the Great. The First Guards is Prussia’s crack regiment, and in this the Prince remained with the infantry until he rose to be Major, when he was transferred to the Potsdam Hussars, a cavalry regiment, w hose uniform he is very fond of wearing. Hunting and athletic sports have a large part in the young Emperor’s life. This is not merely because the Emperor is fond of the mere sport of knocking over small or large game, but because hunting expeditions offer an excellent pretext for assembling

together large parties cf the nobility and gentry and conversing with them. Young Wilhelm is not so enthusiastic or accomplished a sportsman as the Emperor of Austria, but he has been engaged in several very risky encounters with large game. On one occasion in Russia, when he was “Prince Wilhelm he distinguished himself by engaging a ferocious bear single-handed and came off victor. ’l'here is not much chance to shoot Urge game in Germany, and the Em-

peror, for soveral ream before his accession to the throne, was accustomed to make , excursions into Lithuania, in winter, and spending a week or two on the estates of his intimate friends, the RadziwiUs, in Russia. On this great demesne of Nieswies vast forests tilled with wild game stretch away for leagues, and afford hunters all the perils and excitements of the wilderness. Since he has become Emperor, Wilhelm has continued his pleasant relations with the Radziwills, and now and then*gives them a grand hunting party as a return for their hospitality. In 1881 Prince Wilhelm was married, at the age of 22, to Princess Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein Augustenburg, and their first-l>orn son is the fourth in the series of “four kings,” as the old Kaiser remarked in the year following, when a photograph was taken at Potsdam of himself, his son, grandson, and the infant prince, borne in the old man’s arms, thus presenting in a group the first four generations of the new imperial German house. The Princess, his wife, is not of royal blood, and by her he has a family of five boys, the eldest of whom has already a military rank in the army, and is generally attired in uniform and boots, a veritable “Puss in Boots,” to whom the soldiers have to present

arms. Crown Prince; William’s married life has not been entirely a happy one. His wife is plain, but of charmj ing character. She was very strictly ! brought up, not being allowed in her girlhood to read a novel or see a play, j The match was made by his mother, : nxt by himself, and on reaching matu e years this fact helped to anger hiii. against both his mother and his wife. He snubs her for her lackings in rovrl blood and beauty and is rarely seen in her company, she being jealous of him ard of her rank as the first lady of th land. As the second Empress A ic, rria, her influence promises to be felt. For some tim9 after her marriage Prince Wilhelm r* ’ided in Potsdam, where he was finally appointed a major general. The life '>f the young couple was simple; and ,\ en to-day, at

Berlin, their home life is singularly free from luxury. Prince Wilhelm learned the value of simplicity from his father, and he is teaching it to his officers, by laying down certain cardinal rules about pis in living, which they all find it prudent to observe. When he thinks any garrison town is becoming too sleepy he makes it a visit and has all the troops turned out by an alarm at night—a proceeding which sometimes causes much vexation and damage. Emperor Wilhelm is fond of residing in the “Schloss,” the picturesque old castle which, with its massive portals and broad courts, looms up not far from the bridge near which stands the colossal equestrian bronze statue of the Great Elector. All the Prussian Kings and Emperors, nine in number, have at times resided in the Schloss, t except Frederick the Third and the mighty Fritz, who liked Potsdam best. The Emperor entertains weU; he loves his children, and brings them up strictly, and in all the traditions of the Hohenzollerns. He allows them to take on no airs because of their princely position. The heir-apparent, Crown Prince Frederick William, was born in May of 1882. He is a pretty boy, of promising disposition, very fond of directing mimic war operations with his little brothers. Kaiser Wilhelm has developed into a handsome and imposiug man. He is in the full flush of strength and has kept his youth very well. In his 31st year he still has the freshness and vigor of & boy, and the elasticity of his temperament is displayed whenever ho is with intimate friends. He is more than six feet tall, well put ups not of so athletic a build as the AflgloiSaxon, but strong, wiry, and supple. Since he has become Emperor he has grown a trifle stouter. His left arm is his most palpable physical defect. “It hangs listlessly,” says one biographer, “and is, I should say, about an ijfsh and a half higher

than the other arm. lam told that this malformation is a great vexation as well as inconvenience to him; but he deserves praise for the adroit manner in which he uses the hand." ‘ There is a story that the English

physician who officiated at his birth is responsible for the condition of his arm, The Emperor rarely shows himself divested of his uniform. He is wise in this, for his good looks are much enhanced by his military trappings. He rises early, takes a very light breakfast and goes for a little exercise, after which he takes a second breakfast, this time of an omelette, ham and eggs, a mutton chop or a chicken. He dines at half-past one on bouillon or broth, boiled meat with vegetables, followed by roast meat and pudding, and if there is company present an entree and an ice. His supper is of meat or fish and pudding. His favorite dishes are poulets santees, with potatoes or baked fish, especially perch, pike, sole or turbot. * When not in uniform he dresses in English style, and a marked predilection for English costumes and manners has been apparent in his dress and demeanor for sometime past, although be is intensely Prussian in sentiment. His conversion Jo English ideas in minor matters is striking, because for a long time before his father’s death he was intensely hostile even to the name of England. There was a period when he seemed estranged from both father and mother, not long before Emperor Frederick’s death, but the reconciliation was complete, so far Frederick was concerned, before that noble and generous spirit passed away. The new advisers by whom he has surrounded himself are not likely to interfere with the Emporor’s theory of being his own Bismarck. General Von Caprivi bears a striking resemblance to the old Chancellor, but he has none of the mental hardness of ’Prince Bismarck ; he may be expected to yield to the imperial policy when it differs from his own. General Coiint Alfred von Waldersee, who about a year ago was made the successor of the venerable Me’tke as Chief of General Staff and vho was long a favorite of the old Emperor, was looked on by many as likely to succeed Bismarck. He” is a man of talents, aud his policy, which is aggressive, is quite popular with Wilhelm Second. Count von Waldersee’s wife is an American lady, who has much social tact, and is very justly popular.

EMPEROR WILLIAM II.

THE EMPEROR’S CHILDREN PLAYING AT WAR.

COUNT AND COUNTESS VON WALDERSEE.

COUNT VON MOLTKE.

THE YOUNG EMPEROR IN HUNTING COSTUME.