The German Emperor delivered a striking speech last Satur- day
on the occasion of the confirmation of two of his sons. His text was the importance of Christ, who was undoubtedly "the most personal personality," and whose words, as the words of the living God, had the most lasting force among man- kind. The "whole of human life hinged simply and solely upon our attitude towards our Lord," and even those who bitterly denied Him were a proof, that Christ still lived as a person- ality which could not be ignored. His Majesty advised his sons to work without ceasing, for that was the kernel_ of the Christian life, He teaching in the parable of the talents-that the heaviest punishment &Ili upon the man Who sits still and lets others work for him. Whatever be your pursuits, continued his Majesty, be absorbed in them, always carry them forwards, and always be busied with them; lead the strenuous life, in fact. The Emperor shows true moral courage in thus clearly proclaiming his faith in a sceptical age, and that faith has wide acceptance in his country; but one can hardly resist inquiring what Frederick the Great would have said to it all. He also, though an unbeliever, almost a blasphemer, led according to his lights the strenuous life.
