There is no end to the mental activity of the
German Emperor. Indeed, considering the pace at which his mind moves, we hardly wonder that his subjects, who, though a thoughtful, are not a rapid people, get a little exhausted by the effort to follow him, and audibly inquire whether the con- dition of their Sovereign can be quite normal. On January 8th, his Majesty invited thirty Members of Parliament to a sym- posium at the New Palace in Potsdam, and to their surprise, -delivered a speech which lasted more than two hours, on the necessity for increasing the German Navy. The speech was profusely illustrated with plans, diagrams, and tables of the progress of the German Mercantile Navy. It was, it is said, listened to with great interest, which is probable ; but one fancies that if it had been printed in a pamphlet, it would have been read with even more interest, and perhaps less fatigue. A speech of two hours about ships must have been rather a trial to some of the Southern Members, particularly such of them as never saw the sea. On the Friday previous, the Emperor, as King, had delivered a long address to the Prussian Ministers upon the way to revive the prosperity of agricul- ture, a subject upon which also he has strong views. The Emperor is certainly no faineant Monarch ; but one asks sometimes whether anybody else is alive in Germany. Certainly it is difficult for any Minister to get to the front.
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