It has long been known that, in spite of his
extraor- dinary activity, many Germans feel apprehension as to their Emperor's health. He is said to be liable to attacks of ear- ache, which indicate deep-seated disease, and that add greatly to the nervous excitability which is obviously inherent in his constitution. His descent from a father who died of cancer adds to the activity of speculation, and recently the rumours have been so persistent as even to affect the Bourse. The Government therefore has published to Europe, through the Times, a denial of these reports. The Emperor, it is admitted, requires repose, and is about to take it at Abbazia, a little place in Hungary, the fortune of which will be made by the visit; but his ear is in no state to require an operation, and his general health has for four years been unusually good. Substantially, we suppose, this may be taken as correct. No official statement about the health of a King is ever worth the paper it is written on, unless it is a bulletin signed by responsible physicians ; but the German Emperor could not rush about as he does if he were seriously ill. The truth seems to be that he takes a good deal too much out of himself, and every now and then is com- pelled to halt abruptly. Then the rumours begin, and in a fortnight, when he is just recovering, he lies, in popular gossip, at the point of death.
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