English-speaking lands, and, above all, from that all-pervading
lubricity and pornographic stench which have made the French
theater of the last half of the nineteenth century a main cause
in the decadence of the French people. In most German towns of
importance one finds the drama a part of the daily life of its
citizens--ennobling in its higher ranges, and in its influence
clean and wholesome.

It may be added that in no city of any English-speaking country
is Shakspere presented so fully, so well, and to such large and
appreciative audiences as in Berlin. All this, and more, the
Emperor knows, and he acts upon his knowledge. Interesting was it
at various times to see him sitting with his older children at
the theater, evidently awakening their interest in dramatic
masterpieces; and among these occasions there come back to me,
especially, the evenings when he thus sat, evidently discussing
with them the thought and action in Shakspere's "Julius Caesar"
and "Coriolanus," as presented on the stage before us. I could
well imagine his comments on the venom of demagogues, on the
despotism of mobs, on the weaknesses of strong men, and on the
need, in great emergencies, of a central purpose and firm
control. His view of the true character and mission of the
theater he has given at various times, and one of his talks with
the actors in the Royal Theater, shortly after my arrival, may be
noted as typical. In it occur passages like the following: "When
I came into the government, ten years ago, . . . I was convinced
that this theater, under the guidance of the monarch, should,
like the school and the university, have as its mission the
development of the rising generation, the promotion of the
highest intellectual good in our German fatherland, and the