self-centred as this "young Emperor."

There is only one thing about which William II really concerns himself,
over and above his blind passion for increasing the forces of Germany,
and that is, other people's morals--the morals of working men or
officers. The devil has always had his days for playing the monk.



May 20, 1890. [5]

Do my readers remember my last article but one, written at a moment
when the whole Press was singing the praises of William the Pacifist,
on the eve of the day when _The Times_ published its despatch,
proclaiming the complete agreement between Tzar and Kaiser, the
_entente_ that assures the world of the peace that shall come down from
William's starry heavens? It was then that I wrote--

"Is there a single reason to be found, either in the traditions of his
race, or in his own character, or in the logic of Prussian militarism,
which can justify, any clear-thinking mind in believing that William is
a Pacifist?"

Hardly had that number of May 1 appeared when the German Emperor made
his speech at Königsberg! In his cups, the King of Prussia reveals his
true nature, just as a champagne cork flies from a badly wired bottle.
After giving expression once again to his animosity towards France, he
borrows from us one of the famous dicta of Monsieur Prudhomme--

"The duty of an Emperor," he declared, "is to keep the peace, and I am