The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-03-31
EMPEROR WILLIAM AS he WAS.
From the London Truth.

Emperor William had simple, sunny man.
ners, but he was not interesting and had
not much conversation. In this respect ne
contrasted with Bismarck ,fwho can be de-
lightful boon companion. because he has SO
much to say, and says it in such an original
way.
Williams countenance went a long way
in giving charm to his address, whereas the
countenance of his Chancellor has often
! CLEANS of savage ferocity, and shows that
the cunning of a wild animal can be united
to intellect. AT different times, and on
noteworthy occasions, | saw both
master and man together. William was
much more puzzle to me than Bismarck.
There were moments when he struck me
as being somewhat the fduG bonhomnle,
and then l thought that he had a tender
conscience, and left things as much as he
did to his Chancellor SO as to be able to
cheat it, He liked to be on good terms with
Providence, to be true to his principles, and
to set a good moral as well az military ex-
ample to his armed nation. 1t was not he,
but Bismarck, you will observe, who vio-
lated the divine right principle by Selling
on the estates, private and public, OF the
Hanoverian Guelphs, tile Ducal Nassaus,
and the Electoral Hesses
Taking all in all, William think, was,
when | first saw him, the inest-looking
elderly gentleman whom | ever beheld. If
| he lived in a soldiers uniform from the age
of to 81, and was a strict disciplinarian to
himself, he was free from bGckram and
pipe clay. His smile was inviting. When
younger, he kept in mind that Venus was
soldiers goddess. There are lots of Fitz-
williams, and they are all well off. There
was | know lady in the suite of this war
man at the Versailles Prefecture in the terri
BILE winter She was known to the Germans
then there as Die Kaffee Mams.ll 1t
may be urged in extenuatiOn that William
never loved Augusta, however much he adj
mlred her intellect, which he candidly
owned was superior to his own. The mar
rlage was always loveless. After the birth
of the Grand Duchess of Baden, between
which and the birth of the present Emperor
there was an Interval of seven years, Will
lam and Augusta agreed to divorce each
other. They were to be husband and wife
for courtly purposes and no other, and there
was on each side to be perfect freedom with
in the limits of social covenants. This slack
chain did not gall, and with age and the
common interests of grandchildren they be-
came cordial friends.
The Emperor let the ladies of his family
be as exacting as they pleased, except in
military affairs or politics. Nor would he
have minded them interfering in the latter
if Bismarck had not stood against 1.-THE pet
tlcoat Camarilla." William remembered
his mothers virtual kingship of Prussia to
It's advantage. Then, he rather enjoyed
yielding to feminine deSpotism. His weakness
III this respect made the Chancellor wage a
relentless war on the Empress and her tea
party cronies. THE Victorias" were his
pet animosity after the Won Arnim affair.
But he had to let the Grand Duchess of
Baden alone She was her fathers darling,
and became, as years crept on him, more
and more his companion, Bismarck there
fore made her feel that the stronger he him
self became the better 1t would be for her
children's future settlement, and for herself,
too, when the Emperor's private estate
came to be divided.
Though not miSerly, William loved thrift
and plain living. What he spent on him
self was trifiing. His household was kept
up on the economical lines dear to his an
cestors. The Crown Princes income was
small The Empress had often to make the
birthday gifts she wanted to present to
friends and relatives, her privy purse was
SO slender So had the Crown Princess.
She gave pictures of her own painting
Her mother-in-law gave standard works, in
which were bound blank sheets filled up by
her with autograph annOtations. The En-
perOr thus became a CrOesus When Prince
of Prussia he was fond of romping games
and practical jokes in the home circle. He
had a sense of fun and of humor. In
music, of which he was fond, he preferred
Weber to Wagner.
Notwithstanding the order in which EN-
peror William kept his papers, Re left guam
titles of letters in cupboard at the YER
sailles Prefecture, where Mme Theirs found
them Hundreds of them were letters from
French victims of the war or exasperated
patriots. They were all annotated in the
Emperor's handwriting. The marginal OBJ
servations were creditable to him. In not
ing complaints of how PrusSian soldiers had
harried villages, he said, This must be put
a stop to-" In another letter he was accused
of waging a wicked war, so he wrote: "This
may be true. God give me iight~ There
were notes of orders for money to be sent to
some families which had been burned out
of house and home