The Washington herald., 1912-02-17
THE BIRTHDAY Of
KAISER WILHELM

Had II been possible for Emperor will
helm 10 consult his own pleasure with
respect To the precise date OF his appear
ance in this world, It is pretty certain
that SO fervent a hero worshiper as he
Is proving himself would have signified
his desire to be born three days earlier
% as TO have the same natal day as
Frederick the Great. 1t was 800 years on
January "A that the great HohenEollern
ruler FIRST saw the light. and the ami
versary was celebrated at Berlin this
time with more pomp than usual
Frederick II was the third king Of
Prussia-the present vivian is the ninth
the monarchy dating from January IS
l7el, which. by the way. also was the
date when william l. the seventh Of his
royal line. wss proclaimed German En-
peror at Versailles. II is interesting
enough TO draw.a parallel between Fred
erick the Great and the monarch who
aspires to improve upon his grandsire, the
first William. upcn whom he decreed the
title great" though II never has caught
on with the Germon people, other than
TO ridicule the victor OF Sedan and Grave
lotte as William the "Greater."
The Kaiser is fond Of speaking of
Frederick the Great as his ancestor
This Is true only in an genealogical
sanse Of the word, ''antecessor" a. e.,
foregoer). William II does not descend
in direct line from the great Frederick.
hut from the latter's nephew. Frederick
Wilhelm, surnamed the Fat" an indo-
lent ruler, who allowed the hitherto in
vinciblN Prussian army to fall into such
a bad state that under his successor 1t
became an easy prey to the Corsican at
Jena and Auerstaedt.
Dining once with Queen Victoria at
Windsor. after the publication OF his
history, Macauley records that the
Queen talked much about his book. and
and owned that she had nothing to say
for her poor ancestor. James ii. mot
your maiesty's ancestor" replied Mac
auley, hut your predecessor" This may
have been rather uncourtly, but 1t was
true, and il hits the point in the case Of
the Kaiser.
On the whole, the Emperor's imita-
tive admiration for his ancestors was
mainly divided between Frederick the
Great and William !. As for that
''sainted' grandfather. he possessed
great force OF character and common
sense, but little mental power. As a
joke, il is often repeated in Berlin that
Bismarck required the largest size hat
and his imperial master the smallest.
On the other band, the present Kaiser.
It soon became clear. was gifted with a
striking combination OF both mind and
will power TO an extent as had not been
the case since Frederick the Great The
intellect came to him from his maternal
grandfather. the Prince Consort, one of
the highest cultured men of his day.
while his will power was his yHohen-
zollern inheritance. Curiously epough,
the first to detect and proclaim this was
lady destined to become the tragic
friend and admirer OF Cecil Rhodes. the
empire builder. This was Princess Cath
crime RadziwilI, who thus wrote OF him:
Prince William is the most intelIi.
gent OF all the princes OF the royal
family; withal brave. enterprising. am
bitious-hot-head butfA heart of
gold, exciting sympathy in the highest
degree-impulsive. spirited. vivaclous.
and possessed of a gift OF repartee which
makes one almost doubt that he Is a
German. He will certainly be a dis
tinguished man. and probably a great
sovereIEn-possibly even second
Frederick the Great
But there is nothing whatever OF the
sea IN the composition of Carlyle's
hero, while his present successor is
both soldier and sailor. He is the first
Of his line to have quartered outspread
a duck natant with the Prussian eagle.
And while there are many traits in
common, there are also several points
OF difference between the two mon
archs. Frederick, in his memoirs, con-
fesses that IT was his thirst for glory
Cand revenge) which impelled him 10
draw his sword against the armies of
Maria Theresa The same spirit some
how was supposed to be the main mo-
tive force of the present Kaiser when
he succeeded TO the throne. This he
dispelled at once when he said:
Il am we'll aware that the public at
large, especially abroad, imputes TO me