THE POTSDAM ALTRUIST.

[_The Frankfurter Zeitung_ protests against the idea that "the KAISER
in Germany's gravest times allows anxiety about himself or his dynasty
to have access to his thoughts."]

Among the penalties imposed on Kings
Who govern absolutely by divine right,
I am no more affected by the things
That Socialists and other dirty swine write
Than when a pin is thrust
Into a pachyderm's indifferent crust.

But now I deign to answer, even I,
The vilest yet of these revolting sallies,
Where they allege that when our German sky
Rocks to the air of "_Deutschland über alles_,"
"_Und Ich,_" I add (aside),
"_Ich über Deutschland!_" There the blighters lied.

I'm not like that. I never use the first
Personal pronoun, like the Monarch LOUIS,
Who said (in French--a tongue I deem accurst),
"_L'etat, c'est moi._" My conscience, clear and dewy,
Tells me that, as a Kaiser,
I am a very poor self-advertiser.

This is a feature of our dynasty;
And no historian who has ever studied