TOPICS OF THE DAY.
WILLIAM L AND WILLIAM IL OF all the surprising things that the German Emperor says the most surprising are his incessant laudations of his grandfather, William I. of Germany. They must provoke, not only in his older Paladins, but in all his subjects over fifty, so keen a perception of the contrast. - ue two men are not only unlike each other, they belong to different types of humanity. The one was of the still, strong men who were in Tennyson's mind, and the other is of the quick, vivacious, many-sided men whom ancient Greeks and modern Gauls have considered admirable. Let us grant to the Emperor of Germany the character he probably claims for himself, that of a man of genius, part statesman, part thinker, part artist, and wholly Emperor of the Titus pattern—and this it is clear is to take him at his best—and still the difference between him and his grandfather is so radical that one wonders that an admiration so deep should not produce, as it would in most men, some slight tendency to imitation. Napoleon III. tried to be, as well as to praise, Augustus Cresar. There are at least three marks in the character and career of the founder of the new German Empire which are entirely absent in his grandson. William L, alike as Prince, as Regent, as King, and as Emperor, in- variably knew what he wanted, and pressed towards that without haste, but without faltering or doubt. He was convinced that monarchy in its true sense, with the Monarch as the working head of the State, was essential to Prussia ; and he risked, and nearly destroyed, the dynasty in his passionate struggle as Prince to maintain that idea. He held, as Regent and King, that a great army was essential to the future alike of Prussia and Germany, and steadily, gravely, and strenu- ously completed its organisation, and then fought with his Parliament, -with his own older advisers, and with his people for its maintenance. Constitution or no con- stitution, legal budgets or no budgets, argumentative victories or argumentative defeats, the Army should be, and the Army was, and conquered not only Denmark, Austria, and France, but the reluctance of the people. The King never swerved from his purpose, never doubted that he knew precisely how to secure it, and at last he so absolutely prevailed that he subdued even mental opposi- tion. From the day on which Doppel was won no Prussian has ever doubted that, as regards the Army at all events, King William was wiser than his subjects. As Emperor, again, he never fidgeted, never swerved from his steady policy not to fight France and Russia together, never was anything but a great Sovereign of the old and somewhat stiffened type, never created for a moment the impression that he might do something possibly great but wild or unexpected. He was a solid man. How much of this eulogy could, be repeated of William II., who was at first to have been a "modern Cresar," intent on remedying social evils ; then descended step by step to the position of the "master by divine right," who could not allow even the Sultan to be punished for any mis- deeds; then sought tentatively and by jerks a colonial empire, at which his grandfather would have shaken his head, yet affronted England, which alone could help him to colonies ; and then wavered between Russia and Austria, between the Alliance of Central Europe and the old Holy Alliance, until there is not a, diplomatist alive who even thinks he knows what the German Emperor really wants ? Is it an extension of territory in Europe, is it relief from the pressure of hostile armies, is it a colonial empire, or is it only high repute in the eyes and ears of the whole world ? With William L upon the throne every one would have known, and the combinations of the European Powers for and against his policy would at least have been solid.
William L possessed, with many abilities, one regal faculty in a supreme degree. He could choose great men as agents with an insight which seemed infallible, and he was willing to do it. His mind was absolutely devoid of jealousy or suspiciousness of inferiors, or fears lest he himself should be less than first in the eyes of his con- temporaries. If Bismarck were more original than him- self, if Von Moltke could plan a campaign more ably, if Von Boon were a more successful disciplinarian, 80 much the better for the throne. He probably loved none of them overmuch, and rewarded none of them profusely, liking the Von Arnim type of man much better ; but he supported them steadily, he suppressed himself when necessary in a really noble spirit of self-sacrifice, as in the great matter of the cession of Bohemia, and he never by sign or word objected to the adulation diplomatists and soldiers and subjects alike poured upon their heads. He never that we can remember even claimed credit for selecting them ; but so long as he believed in their powers he adhered to them with a steadfast fidelity which made of them true pillars of the throne. William II. has shown no trace of this high quality. He removed his greatest counsellor because he too nearly overshadowed himself, and he has as yet discovered no one whom even flattery could describe as great, though Dr. Miguel is probably a man of unusual mental force. Count Caprivi, Prince Hohenlohe, Count Waldersee, Count von Enlenberg, there is no one among them all to whom Germany in an hour of great emergency would willingly commit her destinies. The lesser men are simply clerks, the Princes of the Empire are all effaced, and many of them discontented,. while of the great soldiers, though they doubtless exist,. not one has been allowed to become visible enough to secure the public confidence. There is no one in Germany except the Emperor, who may or may not be competent to fill everybody's place—time alone can decide that—but who at all events has created a solitude around him which his grandfather, who believed that the "strength of Kings is in the men who gather round the throne," would have thought disastrous. The fact may in part be accidental, and in part merely the result of the truth that each generation eats up the great men of two, its own being consumed and the next set getting no more chance of full growth than corn under spreading trees ; but still it is a fact, and it makes a terrible difference between William II. and his stately predecessor.
And, thirdly, it must have been part of the great old Emperor's policy to keep himself slightly in the shade. He was, as we have said, a man devoid of jealousy, and incapable of believing that there could be rivalry between the Sovereign and any subject, however highly placed ; but there must have been policy, too, in the retirement of William I. No one ever doubted that he ruled, that his decision was final, that the motive-force of his State was his signature; but he never stepped forward in front, never made resounding speeches, never even allowed his corre- spondence to pass under the public eye. When the credit of plans was given by the world to Prince Bismarck alone the Sovereign made no sign, when victories were attributed solely to Von Moltke's strategy he remained silent or seemed to acquiesce. He claimed no credit, rejected no discredit, made no effort to impress opinion, issued no startling general orders, but was content to be in the silence of his closet what he had described himself as being, the irremovable "pivot of power." Perhaps we are all tempted in these self-advertising days to over-estimate reticence of that kind, but it must have something in it of true magnanimity and of a pride which is not otherwise than grand. 'My place on earth,' said the Emperor to himself, is the throne ; the greater those who support it, the loftier my place.' This, at least, is no characteristic of William II. He exults in his visibility, and must always be in front, always speaking, always ordering, always the central figure whatever the horizon. He is not histrionic, we think, though that is so often alleged, for the actor, however great, must always simulate ; and this Emperor is always himself, because he is always self-believing, entirely confident that the speech, or the order, or even the sermon, was exactly what Germany, or Europe, or the world required for its enlightenment and guidance. He thinks it, if we are not mistaken, a positive failure of duty to stay in the shade for five minutes, and would believe, if he struck a grand coup, and the world attributed it to Baron von Marschall, that by such misattribution the world was wronged of a benefit. He is not vain or con- ceited or proud, as those words are commonly understood, he is only merged in an Ego which for him is the whole world, and which if it retires into shadow deprives the sunlight of something of its value and significance. We do not remember in history exactly such another character, but certainly of all Kings whose lives are remembered the one who resembled him least was the King who founded the German Empire, and who, though he had not either his • powers nor his imagination, still recalls to all who under- stand history the grand figure of Charlemagne. Germany does well to honour him'; but whether the present Emperor is wise in perpetually provoking comparisons between him- self and his grandfather is not so entirely clear. If the Emperor perceives that, there is something fine in his worship ; but somehow we fear that if questioned and forced to speak the truth, he would reply, My grandfather was great, that is certain, for do not I, I, I, recognise and acknowledge his greatness ?'
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