The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1901-06-19

after that, quickly decided on the meth
| cd of bis treatment.
1t will be remembered how the life
of the aged emperor was fastened TO
an end by his anxiety and sorrow. AS
soon as the succession to the imperial
| crown was thus secured to Freder-
lex, with all haste and in the worst
snowstorn which Europe had known
for many years, the sick man was hur-
| ried from the warmth of Italy to the
| inclement atmosphere of the north No
fear that his throat might suffer from
the exposure noWl The new empress
| was ready for all risks.
The melancholy experiences of THE
! ninety days" as Frederick's short reign
| is termed, are not yet lost from MEM
| ory The empress Immediately had va
rious schemes to carry through, most
| of which proved abortive, but which
kept the dying mans last days full of
disquiet and annoyance. An effort was
| speedily made by her to arrange for q
marriage between one of her daugh-
ters and Alexander Battenberg; but
| this plan Bismarck put prompt end to
as most impolitic in it's relation to Rus
STA, and Frederick seconded Bismarck
Battenberg's subsequent career, how
ever, must have reconcled the empress
to her disappointment.
Another of her schemes was to visit
upon Count Won Waldersee her dis
pleasure on account of the City Mission
| meeting which his excellent wife had
kindly offered to have held at their
house, and in which Prince William
had taken a prominent part. But here
again she was thwarted by Won Moltke,
who said that, If Waldersee were
touched, he himself would resign. This
City Mission meeting is sometimes call
ed 1.-THE fateful Waldersee meeting" so
much OF political capital has been
made out of it. 1t had in reality,
though, no political significance what
ever. The simple facts concerning it
were as follows: Preacher Stoecker
was at the head of the City Mission of
Berlin, and has for years done most eff
ficient service in that position. He was
also a prominent member both of the
Prussian and of the imperial parlia-
ments. Count Won Waldersee and his
American wife are eminent In Christian
circles for their piety and good works.
Prince and Princess William were, at
the period, spoken of, actively interest
ed in religious and benefcent objects
Prince William had, in the spring be-
fore his father was seriously i'll, pro-
posed to Stoecker that he would do
something in the following autumn for
the benefit of the City Mission. Accord
ingly, some months later, a meeting for
thf AF i.,ta
the mission was held at the house of
Countess Won Waldersee, in which the
prince participated. But in the inter
val between the proposal and its full
filment circumstances had completely
changed. The hale old emperor was
wearing out with anguish; the crown
prince was stricken with fatal dis
ease; all eyes were directed to Prince
William as the one who should soon
ascend the throne. His affiliaton with
religious conservatives was regarded
with disfavor by the free thinkers, and
this well-meant benevolent gathering
was construed, and assaiIed, as a DO
litcal meeting. The prince was de-
nounced for partsanship, and even ac-
cused of unflial behavior in lending his
support to those whose politics in some
respects were more those-of his grand
father than of his parents.
With the people no less than with
those high in office the Empress Freder-
lex proved unpopular, and when, on oc-
casion Of an inundatio in East Ger
many she left her dying husband that
she might make a sort of progress
through the suffering district, ostensi-
bly, to manifest her sympathy, the very
peasants complained that she would
have done better to stay by her hus-
bands bedside and send them money,
than to compel them to spend the little |
they had left in decorating their rail- |
way stations because the empress was
coming"
In fine, the traits of the Empress !!
Frederick. and the impression she made !
in her short reign. force one to con-
clude that its brevity was hardly less
4 blessing to the world than the I'M |
usual length of the reign has been
which was accorded to her illustrious
mother.