Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-12-10

Baron BeNenSt IOTIueIlS hS's '1'ii
Minister for Foreign Affairs arti
Belgian Minister at the Court OF
Berlin Just before the war. mas
made some Illuminating remarks on
the character of the former Kaiser
and the former Crown Prince III
1916, two yea;s after his country
was invaded.
"What manner of man, then was
William H." he asked. An am
bilious ruler of the stamp of Charles
V, Louis XIV, or Napoleon-that
Napoleon who is popular today IN
Berlin, where his portrait IS eXhlp-
tied in the shop windows more often
than those of the Prussian kings,
with the exception of old Fritz
\ great prince who has studied the
lessons OF his professors in history
and has striVen to realize the an
cient aspirations of his people? the
HohenZollernS, his teachers tel
him. after centuries of waiting are
destined TO build up that great
empire of the West for which the
heirs of Otto laid out the plans and
the Hohenstaufen reared the scat-
folding. Germany united at last
under the HohenZ0llern sway, in
vigor, in population, in intelligence,
in power or production and eXpan-
sion. superior to the decadent ma
tions that surround her. must go
forth resolurelv to conquer Europe
and after that to dominate the
world
such l think will be the flatter-
ing verdict that future German his
tor4ans will pass on William II.
In the old world outside of Ger
many the Belgians, at any rate,
. 1t fFFaEH
will not subscribe to the accuracy OF
the idealized portrait, which omits
the hitherto unsuspected features
that the war has brought to their
notice. In one who had motives for
watching him during the last years
before the catastrophe, the En-
peror aroused a sense of perpleN-
ity and fear, like some momentous
riddle that no man can read. Today
we cannot study his character with
out reference to the actions that
have displayed it in a ghastly light
His dramatic figure is lit up for his
victims by the flames of Louvain
and other ill-starred cities, and in
that same lurid glare they behold
their country writhing beneath the
blows that his insensate rage has
dealt IT.
We must picture to ourselves, the
Belgians will say, monarch
mighty in rank and power, effusive-
~ cordial to strangers whom he
wishes to charm and dazzle, but Ii
able to disappoint those who were
rash enough to trust in his kindness
of heart; always able to give the
impression of complete franknesS,
and using this as a means of seduc-
ton: really admiring nothing but
oh l. a-
own; looking with utter contempt
on small states and petty princes,
yet never loath to flatter them when
occasion demanded; a wooer of
public opinion, especially that of the
other countries, but resolved to defy
it in order to attain his ambitions;
q ruler who enjoyed a false reputa-
tion for chivalry, while he has
shown himself relentless in his mall
ice; of n faith that was sincere, If
superficial, yet did not prevent him
from setting his interests above
his most solemn engagements, and
ruthlessly tearing up any treaty
that had become inconvenient; al
ways careful to play his part, and
clever in staging his effects; accus-
toned, unfortunately, to seeing
everything bow to his will; such a
spoiled child of fortune that he
came to the point Of thinking him.
self infalhble; one whom Nietzsche
might hay- called n superman and
the Romans a demigod.
"It has been asserted that this
'demigod was merely an exalted
type of the Unbalanced or decadent
man. What a mistake! He was in
full possession of all his faculties
when he ordered that hasty mobi-
liZation which made the cataclysm
inevitable. Some have maintained
that lie was beyond all question,
the tool of caste and a party for
whom war was the sole means of
consolidating their power. He did,
indeed, listen to their advice but
only because their views were in
harmony with his own. Without
any hesitation, the verdict OF the
world will make him answerable for
the disasters that have overYhelm-