1797, in the palace inhabited till lately by the present Emperor and his wife, our Princess Royal. On the 3rd of April, twelve days later, he was christened and received the names of Frederick William Lewis, but he was known only as Prince William till 1840.

Eight months after his birth his father ascended the throne of Prussia, and in that year when Professor Heidenreich of Leipsic sent to the queen a copy of his work on Principles of Education for the Mind and the Heart, the latter, writing to thank him said: "It is my most ardent wish to educate my children so that they may become men of

the king himself choosing his son's playthings, and never failing to visit his children in their beds and give them a good night kiss. Prince William's weak constitution was a continual source of anxiety to his royal mother who scarcely hoped he would reach manhood. He continued delicate till his sixteenth year, so that in 1813 after the queen's death at the beginning of the war of freedom, the king, remembering the promise exacted from him by his lost wife not to try the boy's health too severely, did not allow him to accompany him into the field.

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humane and kind feelings." In a later letter which seems to breathe the spirit of prophesy she wrote, "If posterity cannot hand down my name amongst the names of celebrated women, yet it must say when it hears about the sorrows of these times, and what they have caused me to undergo: 'She suffered much and endured patiently!' After that all I wish is that it may also be able to say, But she gave birth to children who were worthy of better times, who strove to bring about those better times, and finally succeeded in so doing.'

The early education of Prince William was entirely intrusted to feminine hands,

The first eight years of his life were very happy years for the royal household. These were the idyllic days of Paretz. Frederick William III. disdaining the grandeurs of Sans Souci, had purchased a very modest estate on which he had erected a residence after his own heart, giving strict orders to his architect to forget he was building for a king. Here during the summer months the royal family found a home as simple as that of any country squire, the princes seeking their playmates among the village children, to whom they also gave food from their own table. At Christmas time they always took part in the distribution of gifts to the chil

dren of the military orphan asylum, and on one occasion when they were inclined to find fault with their own presents, King Frederick William III. said to them, "You always want more, but you don't think how little I had at your age. For my birthday a pot of mignonette worth three half-pence, and when my tutor wanted to make me a very handsome present one or two pennyworths of cherries."

At Christmas in 1803, under the fir tree, amongst the presents for Prince William, was a Ziethen Hussar uniform; a red coat, with white braid, and a fur "busby,"-the uniform worn by the late Prince Frederick Charles. Two sub-officers were told off to instruct and drill the princes; and from that time they were soldiers. In 1805 the first Uhlan regiment marched through Berlin. The little Prince William so much admired these smart-looking soldiers, that he begged his father to allow him to wear a similar uniform. His wish was granted.

In 1806, when the news of Jena arrived, and Napoleon was marching on Berlin, Delbrück, the governor of the young princes, took them to Schwedt for safety. Here the queen joined them soon after, and it was remarked that when, overcome with grief, she fled to her children for consolation, the Crown Prince (afterwards Frederick William IV.), was always ready with tender speeches, while Prince William silently took in the impressions of their great misfortune. By nature he seemed reserved in his younger days, and even later, at the death-bed of his dearly loved mother to whose memory, even to the end of his own long life he was devotedly attached, he showed few outward signs of grief. In moments of strong emotion he could not find words to express his feelings, and many of those about him accused him of heartlessness. Schwedt was not for long a safe refuge. Napoleon was advancing rapidly, and the Prussian royal family fled to Stettin, from there to Danzic, and on as far as Königsberg. There is no doubt that the privations of these Königsberg days were very great. Bishop Eylert, a chronicler of those times writes: 66 Money was so scarce in those days for the daily expenditure that only the barest necessaries of life could be procured. The royal dinner table was so sparingly covered, that many burgher families lived better." Salt beef with dried peas was a standing dish at the midday meal, and black bread and coffee the usual breakfast.

On reaching his tenth year, according to the Hohenzollern family law, Prince William

This

was entitled to officer's rank; the king therefore ordered a suitable uniform to be prepared at Königsberg for the new year of 1807, as at Memel, whither they were to proceed, it might be impossible to procure one on the prince's tenth birthday. first officer's dress, consisted of a blue tailcoat, with a red turn-down collar, dark closefitting breeches, and boots reaching the knee, and required powder and a pigtail. As the prince's hair was not yet long enough to make a tail, a false one was provided for him to wear. Certainly the child not yet ten years old must have presented a rather quaint appearance thus attired.

The journey to Memel was undertaken under most trying circumstances, but the French were approaching Königsberg, and flight was imperative. The queen and the young Prince Carl were both dangerously ill, and had to be removed with their beds in a waggon. Prince William soon after also caught typhoid fever, but he recovered, and was able to take part in all the drills and parades of the army at Memel. There is no doubt that the fact that Prussia was no longer a Nation, but only an Army, entered so deeply into his silent, thoughtful brain, that even at that early age he felt how all important was the efficiency of the army to the security of Prussia. In 1808 the queen recovered from the fever, wrote to her father, the grand Duke of Mecklenbergh: "Our William-allow me, venerable grandfather, to introduce your grandsons according to their ages will turn out if I be not very much mistaken, like his father, simple, honest and intelligent. He is also most like him in personal appearance, only I do not think he will be so handsome."

In 1809 Berlin was evacuated by the French, and the royal family returned thither. The health of Prince William still being delicate learning was not forced upon him, but he was very fond of reading, and between 1810 and 1812 he devoured the writings of Frederick the Great. About this time his tutor, Captain Reiche, wrote of him: "Prince William distinguishes himself by quiet appreciation and practical understanding; a great love of order; talent for drawing, and, for his age, a very earnest and firm character."

Sorrows and privations had so undermined the health of Queen Louise, that in 1810 she died of disease of the heart, brought on by grief.

After his mother's death the young prince continued his military studies, and his health becoming stronger he accompanied his father

in the campaign against the French. At the battle of Bar sur Aube in 1814, the youthful captain (by this time he had been twice promoted) performed such striking acts of valour that the Emperor Alexander of Russia decorated him with the cross of St. George, a highly prized and rarely bestowed distinction; and, on his mother's birthday, the anniversary of the foundation of the order, his father presented him with the Iron Cross.

PRINCE OTTO VON BISMARCK-SCHÖNHAUSEN.

From this time he became almost entirely absorbed with military affairs. He was already at that time intent on the reorganisation of the Prussian army. Perhaps he threw himself more eagerly into active work, because his mind had been disturbed by an unhappy love affair. In 1829 he married Princess Augusta of Saxe Weimar, whose sister, Princess Marie, had only shortly before been united to his younger brother Carl. Two years later his son was born, and so strong

was his military feeling, that he ordered that the infant should wear a military cap, and the mantle of a common soldier of the 1st Regiment of Guards, as soon as he could be carried out into the air.

In 1840 King Frederick William III. died, and one of the first acts of the new king was to decree that Prince William should henceforth bear the title of Prince of Prussia as heir apparent to the throne, there

being little likelihood that the king would have direct heirs. Then came 1848 with its keen and bitter trials for the prince. His constant struggles on behalf of the army had made the civilians hate and distrust him. They felt no sympathy with his aspirations for the future greatness of Prussia through her army. The press calumniated him in every possible way. The Berlin mob went so far as to break his windows, and force him into seeking a retreat in Potsdam. Even the king did not see the way to protecting him, and advised his retreat to England. In England the prince was received with the greatest possible cordiality. Many Assemblies were given in his honour, by leaders of society, and he consented to become for a short time the guest of the Duke of Wellington at Strathfieldsaye. During his stay in London he attended the Lutheran service at the Savoy Chapel, and he carefully marked in his prayerbook the psalm sung on that occasion. There is no doubt the warm welcome accorded to him made a lasting impression on his mind and he was thenceforth a great admirer of all things English.

When calm was a little restored he was recalled, and, returning to Prussia, he spent some time in solitude with the Princess and his children at his lovely seat at Babelsberg, which was always his favourite summer home. Situated in the midst of what Carlyle calls "the scraggy woods and avenues of that intricate amphibious Potsdam region," on a height above one of the many lakes

When in 1866 he felt that war with Austria was inevitable, the opposition had not given way in the slightest degree, and became even more stormy than before. Meetings were held to censure the king's conduct. One mercantile corporation voted that a memorial should be presented to the King, requesting him to desist from making war, as he would only injure the material interests of his subjects. A democratic provincial committee unanimously passed the resolution, that this was a fratricidal war that must not be allowed under any circumstances. The whole of the press was, if possible, still more bitter in its tone. This was indeed the darkness before dawn, for the veteran king saw himself abandoned by all his relatives, even by his son-in-law the Grand Duke of Baden, whose defection gave him the keenest pain. He cannot himself have felt over-confident, though he may have been firmly persuaded that he was carrying out what was his duty towards Prussia, as it is related that on the eve of his departure for the battle-field he caused some large cases to be brought into his study, into which he packed all his valuables, his state papers, and all his important deeds, that all these might be safe should the fortune of war go against him. He had personally superintended all the preparations for the campaign, reviewing every regiment as it passed through Berlin on its way to the front; now he felt it his duty to be where his soldiers were fighting and he went. No considerations of personal comfort or safety weighed with him. On one occasion when his movements had been too rapid for his baggage, a hard sofa with his military mantle for a covering sufficed as a bed, and the veteran of seventy years was fifteen hours in the saddle on the day of Königgrätz.

His conduct during that short but brilliant campaign, besides augmenting his prestige as a sovereign, attached his army still more closely to him than before. The heroic old king was anxious to share the dangers of the war with his soldiers. On the Königgrätz road he exposed himself so recklessly to the enemy's shells that Bismarck, then a major in the Curassiers as well as Minister President, felt constrained to warn him against such unnecessary prodigality of his life. The Emperor's characteristic reply evidently sank into Bismarck's mind, for when in a similar position at Gravelotte, the Chancellor was careful to appear unaware of the danger.

Innumerable are the anecdotes related of King Wilhelm's kindness and little atten

tions to the soldiers. His privy councillor Schneider, who wrote a history of his military life, relates many touching instances of his active sympathy with the wounded. He never failed to visit them, speaking words of comfort to each man.

In 1867, the king visited the Paris Exhibition as the guest of Napoleon III., and in 1869 he held the grand royal military manœuvres of the North German Confederation, which created so strong an impression of Prussia's military prowess.

The events connected with the war of 1870 are of too recent occurrence to be repeated here. It will be sufficient to point out that the crowning vindication of Wilhelm's life policy, the reorganisation of the army, was the entry of that army into Paris. On the 18th of January 1871, the same day on which 170 years before, his ancestor Frederick I. had put on the king's crown at Königsberg, King Wilhelm assumed the Imperial title in the historical mirror gallery of royal Versailles. King Frederick William IV. had said on refusing the Imperial crown which the Frankfort national assembly offered to him, "It can only be won by the force of arms.' Now was the accomplishment of this prophecy.

The ceremony was not, strictly speaking, a coronation, but merely a proclamation of his assumption of the Imperial dignity to the assembled Princes of Germany, and to the Army as representing the People. Who shall say what memories the ceremony and the spot brought crowding back, what visions flitted past, what thoughts sprang up, if

indeed his mind was not in too tumultuous a condition for thought! The moment must have been a proud one to the aged hero, and is it to be wondered at if tears filled his eyes? He had justified his life-long devotion to his army, he had shown his dearly-loved Prussians that for him the cry of "For God and the Fatherland!" was not merely an empty sound. He could remember the days when his Fatherland, the kingdom of Prussia, was only little better than a kingdom in name, for the bitterness of those days had been burnt into the very soul of the silent child, and had still cast its shadow over his man hood; and now his Prussia and the whole of United Germany came to yield him their homage and to offer him the highest honours that earth could confer.

It has often been objected that he had no brilliant qualities, that he was simply, by the march of events, forced into a prominent place in the world's history, that he owed everything to his ministers. This is no doubt