The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-11-08

make his service laborious to his ser.
wants, his secretaries, his courtcrs. whC
| live in state of continual appreht n.
sion, fearing that they may not b,
ready for some sudden call. some unar-
,iclpated duty. There is no more alert
place in the world than the Prussiar
Court.
1--WE are like the Israelites at the
Passover Grumbled one lady: we must
| always have our lons girt. our shoes
| on our feet-shOes suitable for any and
every occasion, fit for walking on palace
floors or down muddy roads-our stan
in our hand nobody dare relax and
settle down TO be comfortable
THE Emperor dlsapprovcs of pcopl,
who want to settle down and lee com.
Portable. In jolly. cd humorcd but
none the less autocratlc kind Of way
he sets everybody doing som, thing. II,
likes to keep things moving, has n,
desire for the humdnum. the usual. tn,
everlasting sameneSs of things"
In the light of the present situation
It is interesting to read this paragraph
mo one who knows the Emperor in.
| timately can fail to see how early Eng
fish influences have helped to mould his
character, how intensely he loves and
admires English life as apart from Eng
lish politics. for which he has per-
picked, irrtated wondermont and con-
tempt"
One day in talking to Miss Topham
he said:
"Not one Of your Ministers can tell
how many ships Of the line you have
in your navy. | can tell him--he can {
tell me, And your Minister Of War
can't even ride. | offered him a mount
and every opportunity to see the ma.
nruvrcs. Thanks very much for your
Majcsty's gracious offer. Sorry can't
accept it. I'm no horscman, unfortu-
natcly.' \ Minister of War and can't
ride Unthinkable,' He gave his short
sharp laugh"
Speaking of the difference betwe, n
the English and German royal homes
Miss Topham says;
THE palaces inhabited by the En-
peror are huge, magnificent buildings
extensively and uncomfortable con-
structed; and Germany has too recently
been engaged in the stern business OF
war, her faculties are still too absorbed
in the great question of defence. to bc
able to afford the leisure to accumulate
those relics and treasures Of past age!
which are the charm of England.
"'Ah, you have never had a Napoleon
to plumber and burn your country
| houses sighed the Emperor, almost
alphabetically once when talking of hi
! English visit Your ReYnOllses anC
! GainSboroughs, where would they have
! been II NapOleOn's Marshals or his sol.
! dicrs had seen them? Perhaps burnt OF
| destroyed or sent to the Louvre. Think
| what 1t must mean to the children of q
| house to live with one of those pictures
to absorb it unconsciously into theii
mentaitles; they must grow up with q
love of beautiful things-they cannot
help 1t. We have nothing of the kind,
| our houses We're stripped and burnt
II suggested something about Crom
well and the way his gentle Ironsidc!
in their zeal smashed up the beautiful
sculptures of our Cathedrals and stable,
| their horses in the naves. Though tn.
! horses did less damage than the men
| conceded.
"'Ah, CROMWELL he replied: 'Crom
well did nothing in comparison wild
Napoleon; besides, that was muri
|
and Reynolds not yet born. All our ar
treasures We're absolutely destroyed
burnt by Napoleon. Art and war can
not live side by side We have had to,
much fighting, and now must recreate
rebuild almost from the beginning
Yes, it is lucky for us that we liv,
ON an island, and that the French fee
met its Trafalgar I said. Nelson
saved our art treasures for us, | sup
pose
II expect he did returned hi
Majesty, nodding his head cmphaticaliy
so you recognize that, do YOU" and h.
turned away laughing and still noddin.
vigorously, thinking, | am sure, GOO,
deal about Nelson and the fleet"
OF the Empress Miss Topham say,
that any one who takes her for a M, =,
house frau makes great mistake. 81
Is safe to say of her" she writes, "per
haps no other woman in the world woul,
have been so adm rahly suited to tn,
Emperor's varying moods, to his sud
denness, his volcanic outbursts %
energy. In the presence of her husban,
she is self-sacritcing, self-effacing, bu
when apart from him shows plenty o
initiative and self-ConfidenCe"
| IN INF Al.