New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-02-27
THE GERMAN EMPEROR.
A SIDE OF HIS PERSONALITY THAT Ii
NOT GENERALLY KNOWN
Lord Osborne in The Saturday Review.

Lord Osborne in The Saturday Review.
We have recently heard much about the Ger
man Emperor. but the information we have ac-
quirCd is monotonous His Majesty has a side
to his character which has not been presented.
Granted that his speeches are not in the best
taste sounding perhaps TO English ears trile
profane. and that the rhodomonta1e about the
mailed fist was silly and premature. We ought
TO remember that they were addressed TO Ger
many and that. for ali We with cur insuar
prejudice know. they may have suited their
audience Now, although our press follows the
public movements Of Emperor William almost
II not quite, as closely as it does the movements
OF our own royal family and public men. the
Information ii Nouchsafes about his private
movements, his taste and his encourage Is
measre in the extreme What is the result?
The English public. the most newspaper-reading
pubic in the world. except The America form
their ideas Of one Of the most prominent figures
OF the day entirely from one side Of his chaGac-
ter, and that the least attractive side. If the
principal English journals had been able to
send correspondents to Kiel last summer about
the time Of the Queens Jubilee. and these CORE
spondents had faithfully transmitted all that
they saw and heard, they would have done
much TO clear away misconceptions concerning
the Emperor's feeling toward the English
The kiel Regatta, which has now been !nsti-
tuted for some years comes of annually tow
ard tho end OF June and last year His Maj esty,
with the twCfold object Of giving fllip to the
reGdtta-it is 4 great scheme Of his 10 make 1t
approximate In some degree to our Cowes week
and Of doing honor TO our Queens Jubilee an
nounced his intention Of giving a prize 10 be
competed for by English yachts only the course
10 be from Dover to Helgoland. From the mo-
ment the first English yacht hove in sight the
Emperor the alert TO show the COMPETE
tors and their friends every politeness In his
power. II is no easy matter to make fifteen or
twenty Englishmcn-mos OF whom did not
know n single German present and the major
ity Of whom had never seen each other before
feel at home in a strange land; but the German
Emperor did IL. and that quickly. He gave no
any time 10 adopt the usual mol me tan
gere" attitude which is easy TO assume and
so hard to shake off. That attitude would be abb
sUrd in the presence If Emperor william when
he has thrown off his official encourage and Is
enjoying well-earned rest his own yacht.
He is so alive his laugh is even catching; and
the small jokes thrown in from time to time all
combine to make the ordinary mortal abandon
whatever reserve he has come prepared with.
Ills Majesty knowing that the competitors
had either missed altogether or curtailed TO a
great extent their participation in the Jubilee
celebrations in England. most kindly gave "a
large State dinner party on his yacht. the Hohen-
zollern. in honor Of Her Maiesty's Jubilee. to
which he Invited all the Englishmen who had
sailed the course for his cup. Next day
there were races in the Baltic. for which His
Majesty had entered his own yacht. with spe-
cal prizes for the English yachts. as they were
all cruisers and could not compete WITH the
modern racing yachts. In the evening His Maj
esty presided at "A "kneipe" or grand beer
drinking. which was held at restaurant at
small village on the Baltic, where all the Eng
lishmen were again made welcome and special
atter-ion was shown 20 them Not only were
all the entertainment arrangements carried out
i'm the most elaborate and successful manner. but
also all detai:- about tugs 10 tow the yachts,
mornings and such minutin which insure the
comfort Of "A vachtsman were thought out be-
forehand. down u the slightest particulars; and
these arrangements. ! believe. all cmanated
from the German Emperor himself
have given this very slight sketch OF the
German Emperors reception Of contingent of
English yachtsmen ut Kiel merely In order TO
point out that there is a side to His MaJestys
character ~ which at h)me hear and see too
i,,Fn thA hah n
thinking that the Emperor is always either
sending kilograms on matters which do not
concern him. on purpose to rouse up friendly
nations or else dispatchng ironclads. with no
definite object amidst a shower of winged words
OF Questionable taste. We do not realize the in
tense vitality Of the Emperor. his eaSerness 10
be up and doing. participating in some way IN
every event II importance. Nobody complained
when His Majesty telegraphed to the oxford
Cambridge might have felt aggrieved had they
not realized that il was the exuberant delight
OF a good sportsman over a good crew winning
good race.
So long as only have an opportunity of
Judging the German Emperor from MS action
and his speeches as reported in our newspapers.
so long | am afraid will he remain more or
less unpopular in this country. His actions
and his words are there. and they do not please
us: but the man is not there 10 impress NM
self upon US The vitality which prompts his
actions and the love Of excitement which is re-
sponsibe for those speeches are hidden from us;
We are dstrustful. We don't exactly know what
~ but we are dstrustful: so shake our insu-
lar heads and say we do not like the German
Emperor" We should. perhaps be less far wrong
II we rushed TO the opposite extreme