The Portland daily press., 1888-06-16

and we all know that it is mere matter Of
months before he will be the autocratie mas
ter Of 100000 armed men, itisn't Of so much
Importance whether he is nice or not. The
real question is: What will he do?
The most common answer is that he will
oyerrun Europe. One Of the really great es-
says OF the decade, Taine's recent study of
Napoleon, has its basis In the idea that the
Corsican marvel was a freak Of heredity-a
strange posthumous brother Of the medieval
mercenary soldiers Of Italy. 1t seems very
probable that some future Taine, century
hence, perhaps, will write to show that
William III. Of Prussia and the German en-
pire was a mysterious, belated survival of
Attila born thousand and more years after
his time. The young man is practically all
German in blood. 1t is true that his mother
Is called English, but as a matter Of fact one
has to go back among her ancestors to
ShakespeaIe's time to find strain of any
thing but Teutonic blood In the Guelphs. 1t
is true also that his great-grandmother was
a daughter of the Gar Paul But it happens
that the Romanotfs have scarcely trace of
Tartar blood in their veins, so steadily have
German wives. Prince William is, in truth
as purely North German by heredity. as
wholly product Of Wend and Saxon and
Goth and Borussian intermixture. as can be
found. one may call him, indeed, a cnlmi-
nation OF the Hohenzollern type Of soldier
statesman, reached curiously enough by the
same crossing of blood that produced Fred
erick the Great. The mother of that wonder
ful warrior was also Guelph-Sophie Doro-
thea the sister Of George |. 1t Is passing
strange that when century and half later,
a Hohenzollern crown prince next again
takes wife from the Brunswick house the
eldest son should again be marked by nature
for for world fighter. Why this result should
Guelphs may be, they distinctly are not a
military family With the doubtful excep-
tions Of the Dukes Of York and Cumber-
land, the race has never produced q soldier
who could do more than avoid tripping over
his sabre, and falling off his saddle at trot
Yet when Sophie Dorothea or a Victoria
Adelaide is welded by Frederick William
Of Hohenzollern, 10 and behold the issue is
born captain OF men.
What this means is that the army here in
Germany Will utterly swamp what organ
lied pacific instincts there are in the empire
the moment young fighting Kaiser draws
his sword and cries out, "Who will follow
me?" The fact Of the existence ofBismarck's s
colossal army will magnify itself in the pop
ulaI mind; the spirit in which he built it up
the peaceful intent, the patriotic aim-wlii
all vanish like steam on a lamp chimney
the iron chancellor has done maryels toward
creating manufacturing, trading, money
making Germany, with new, great vested in
terest IN peace, and new large business
class whose concern is to promote commerce
and preserve quiet. But to do this he has
had side by side to create much more nu-
merous and important class whose profess
sion II Is TO fight and whose entire material
concern it is to promote warfare and open a
swift current Of promotion and honor. This
second class-this military elass-is all pow
erful In all the upper middle and higher
grades Of society. Very little Of provocation
OF popular appeals to national feeling, would
make it master Of nine tenths of the German
people. Kaiser William III, in the glamor Of
his youthful distinction of face and figure, Of
his deep Teutonic prejudices, of his all-con-
trolling belief in himself and his race
and his destiny-could hurl a prac-
tically united Germany in warfare east, west
or south month after he had assembled the
Hohenzollern throne The whole German
nation from Basle to Konigsberg would rise
to his enthusiastic support. Every young
man from Thorn to Kobenz would burn to
ride with him for conquest and glory.