Whatever discontent there is in Germany is strongest in Berlin
; but the grief of the Berliners for their Kaiser is evidently deep and sincere. The old feeling for Royalty is by no means dead, the Emperor had realised the fondest hopes of Germans, and their view of the place he filled in the Empire differs greatly from that which prevails here, where Prince Bis- marck fills up the whole field of view. The Berliners mourned for their great King as for a father ; the great officers, says an eye-witness, stood weeping about the palace; and the people braved the torrents of rain to catch the latest news, and receiving it, discussed it in groups which, it was remarked, never spoke above a whisper. From the day of his accession, the Emperor has never been " popular " in the usual sense of the word ; but he has been reverenced and feared, and of late years a sense of a certain grandeur in his history and his character has fascinated his subjects. They feel that a rock which sheltered them has fallen, and suffer in a way the subjects of a constitutional monarchy can hardly realise. Every man in those watching crowds at Berlin who waited for hours round the palace has been a soldier, and in their minds a great, and latterly well. beloved, Colonel of their regiment, in whose hands they were safe, has passed away.
