Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-07-03


ity turned into a flock. and all rights
trampled; the very heavens placed like a |
diadem on his tyranny; the city which |
had given birth to the men of the republic. |
bringing fourth the slaves of
Cesarism-all this caused Cesar to con-
slider himself to be above all human weak
ness and exempt from death. He deemed
himself above the mechanical laws which
govern the world; above the moral laws
which govern men.
Such were the articles of faith the poison
OF which destroyed his reason. And the
gravity of his error lay in his incapacity
to distinguish between what is possible
and what is impossible. He projected a |
code OF Roman laws that should be impos-
ed on the whole world; temple in the
held of Mars that should be consecrated to
receive the vessels of all seas; and enclyc-
padlc library, On the sacred hills, that
should contain all the productions of the
human mind, an appeal to all the races of
the globe to embrace his ideas in order
that new spirit might arise in the uni
verse. 1t contemplated a redress of the
wrongs inflicted by his mother country,
Rome, In the srdor of battle and the pride
of triumph; a resurrection of the victims.
such as Corinth and Carthage, that had
fallen on the affairs of the people, union
of the continents; Reorganization from
the shores of Asia Minor to the shores of
the Caspian Sea, and return, after hav.
ing saluted the Indies and Macedonia, by
the eastern confines of the barbarous world,
and once back in his empire, the assembl-
age therein of slaves, Scythians, Mongols.
Sarmatians and Germans, by the aid of
whom he hoped to found the new hui
mainly and prepare the advent of the new
world, -fancles whose realizations would
have demanded the lives and energies of a
thousand generations.
Now, if not an Identical, it is an ana
Joyous case with the new Gar, raised by
the caprice of heredity to a pinnacle at
very early age. He struck al his father,
eager 10 hurry him off into eternity and
take his place. He fed from the sight of
his mothers grief, as did her sons from the
unhappy and innocent Jocasta. And find
ing himself in possession of a throne,
gained at such price, he thinks it imper-
ative on him to do something as colossal as
was achieved by his grandfather, whose
image is deeply imprinted In his heart
and even before his eyes. He might enter
on warfare. But Russia is a hindrance to
him In the east. as are the French in the
west and the slaves in the south Con-
fined by these stern realities to his empire,
the dreams of winning over the workmen
of the world and proclaiming himself
Klng.of the laborers, sort of Charlemagre,
achieving just as the earlier monarch de-
tended the Catholic idea against barbarous
tribes and families, against anarchical
kings and pagans. the social redemption of
mankind By methods wholly socialistic.
But the Emperor fails to preceive that,
whereas abstract ideas, which are pliabIe,
suffice for speech, concrate realities very
recalcitrant to luminous and pure ideas,
are required for action. To lose sight of
this is to give proof that one is seriously
out of joint. And it is this mental infrm-
ity in William II. which explains the in
halved the Germanic mind: German IN
telligence is respected by the illustrious
Chancellor, Bismark; the will of Germany
by the iron Emperor William. Will that
is not guided by intelligence is lost and be-
wildered in the mazes of life. Intelligence
that is not seconded by will loses itself in
Chancellor S intelligence, and the Chancel-
III pClICNCl LII CIlC JoWCl ". npClOl
will. 1t is owing to this dove-tailng of
faculties possessed by the two mighty per-
sonages that thought and act interpene-
fruit
William |. and Chancellor Bismack could
no more be divided in Germany than will
and intelligence can afford to be sundered
in our nature. But death put an end TO
this mpanionship. Intelligence is now
separated from will. The Emperor who
knew how to accomplish all that was nee
esssary without reflection, has been re-
placed by two successors. Frederick III.
and WilliamII., liberal philosopher and
a socialist visionary, who dream and do
not act.
Bismarck accomplished great things
from his natural genius and from the af-
fectionate regard which the grandfather
has Transmitted to the grandson. Further
more the Chancellor, made aware during
the sickness of Frederick Ill, of the in
jury done to his views and aims by the
liberal doctrines, had inoculated young
William with the aversion felt by all con-
s,lmmate statesmen for perilens abstraction.
If Bismarck hoped to find in William II.
the firm will of his grandfather, he must
now have abandoned such hopes. A Victor
Emmanuel worked with Cavour, Francis
Joseph with Deack, an Alexander II. with
Gortschakoff and William of Hohenzol
with his Minister Bismarck.
But these men cannot be resuscitated;
such natures spring up In ali places, but,
like extinct species, they are not repro
duced. Humbert, Rudolph, Alexander
Ill, William II, the King of Belgium
and the King of Portugal no more resem-
BILE their predecessors than does Queen
Christina in my own country resemble her
dangerous husband, Alfonzo XII. Bis
marck, conscious oe this and perceiving
that the correct attitude and well balanced
spirit of his old lord and master had been
replaced by demeaEor manifestly incor-
rect, resolved, In the first instance, to give
up the ministry of commerce, of which he
was The economical representative, and
finally the CHARACTERISTIC, of which he
was the political representative. If he
means to assist at his own funeral, to wit
ness with his own eyes the blank he leaves
in the German nation, he must be prepar
ed for disappointment. Geniuses resem-
bles the sun in that they give light and
heat without reflection. They are like the
sue also in that they stand alone in their
respective systems.
And here | feel tempted to tell story,
very appropriate at this juncture. AS
certain devotee, on Holy Thursday, forebore
from weeping during the sermon Of the
Passion, a sorely-affiicted and weeping
cnmnaninn asked to know the reason of