BOOKS OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2606, 30 October 1915, Page 9

BOOKS OF THE DAY.

THE KAISER ONCE ACAIN. "Toujours Perdrix" may end by boooming rather wearisome/and so many books havo' been' published, during lie last few months having the German Emperor, his public career ,'and private character, as their subject, that a hardened reviewer might bo pardoned a sigh; of satiety when' yet another is added ito the already portentous bulk. There is,'however, much in Mr. Edward' 1 Lfgge's book, "The Public and Private Life of Kaiser William II" (London: Eveleigh Nash), that is not only new and agreeably but . historically interesting and Valuable, and the volume should not be disregarded by those who desire—and who does not?—to understand ijhe curiously complex character <jif the Arch-Assaasm of Europe. MK : Lfegge's personal experiences in . the Franco-Prussian war period and his excursions into German history make interesting; reading, but he is at his best when he is dealing with the personal relations of the British and- German—and Danish and: Russian—Royalties. / The' author is very severe upon the blind faith with which so < majis English pebple accepted the Kaiser's fine professions of friendship for their country at their face value, utterly regardless of the .protests of.-the little band of journalists : .'and others, farseeing and, courageously outspoken, who for some years previous to the war had warned the British public that Germany was plotting; the ruin of Brtiain'ssupremacy as ah Empire.. , Hoch ■ leho dor Kaiser! Long live the Emperor 1 Our own in- " fatiiated.'citizeris joined the' Teutonic horde, the "alien enemies" of. to-day, in the frenzied shouts of • • .welcome which Tent the air as the I modern Caligula (so named by his I own candid subject, Quidde, the j courageous pamphleteer) 'bloated of countenance, and arrogaint of demeanour, rode past the' cheering crowds. In no other capital or • the world was the Kaiser honoured 'as London honoured him, when, time after time,, he condescended to .cross these Straits, now sown with the Imperial-murderer's mines: His worthy brother of the "mailed ' fist" was in London, his yacht was' in the Solent at the hour when William was assembling his Hunnish legions on the frontiers 'of little 1 Belgium! And four days, later the : curtain rose on .the Tragedy! English pebple might well have remembered, when the swaggering Kaiser -drove through the ■ streets of London, how disgracefully the "Young Man in a Hurry I .' had treated his English mother,' the Princess Royal of England. For tiie future Kaiser was at the head of the Court party which openly instigated the publication, of the. vilest insults against the Empress Frederick. Much has been written ;of ' the ' Emperor Frederick's illness and death, of the vile treatment of the.suffering wife • and of: the, 'great!; English doctor, Sir: Morell'Mackenzie,' whom she had sum-. moned :to Berlin; - but Mr./Legge. ad'ds many new and.curious details. . Also,, on the .mudnliscu&sed contest of wills : between the Man of Blood-and Iron, the famous German Chancellor, and his young monarch, Mr. Legge throws much new and-interesting.light. :As to the Kaiser's personal relations with the late i King Edward, they were equally discreditable to Germany's ruler, the British monarch's own nephew. Mr. Legge quotes freely from a libellous pamphlet written by a lieutenant-colonel of the' German reserve, one Reinhold Wagner, entitled Edward VII of England, the Greatest Criminal • Against Humanity in the Twentieth Century." , The ; Kaiser always hated his .uncle, who, at first, appears to have been inclined to consider his nephew a harmless megalomaniac, but who came, as years passed by, to a bettor understanding of the dangerous side of his relative' 6 colossal egotism and of his : predilection for treacherous intrigue against England. King Edward's mother, the late Queen Victoria; was not slow to perceive the growing arrogance of the Kaiser, an arrogance which extended, to his Court officials, and which on one occasion provoked the Queen'to a/telling rebuke. One of the Kaiser's officials was'_ visiting the Isle, of Wight, on a special mission, and despite the- quiet hint given to him by, a Court official to. the'effect that Her Majesty had a decided and well-known objection to her guests appearing in uniform at her dinner taole, when she was in comparative retirement at Osborne, said it was the Emperor's order that he should wear uniform,_ and wear it he would, •this characteristically Teuton breach of ?bpd manners was duly cari-ied out. Mr.. jLeggesays: "Queen Victoria was visibly displeased at the disregard of her well-known wishes in this matter, and turning smilingly to a gentleman afterdinner, expressed herself, sotto-voce,.as follows:—"I wonder if His Majesty's envoy really thinks we are 'impressed' jby uniforms." Mr. Legge tells of .one German lady at least who had the 'courage to defy the wishes of the War ..Lord of the Hohenzollerns, t'ho Admiral of the Atlantic, and future Autocrat—in .his dreams—not only of Europe, but of the whole world. The Bismarck family never forgave the Kaiser for.bis outrageously ■ungrateful treatment of the great Chancellor. When Bismarck died the Kaiser went to-the funeral of the veteran who had served him and his Imperial House so faithfully. Around the house, says Mr. Legge, stood thousands or people of every class and type, "who had jomo from all parts of the Empire. Despite the Kaiser's urgent request, which savoured of a peremptory demand, the widowed Princess, her daughter, and her stalwart sons, Herbert and William, refused to allow the Emperor to take a last look at the illustrious dead, and lie" left the house shaking with anger!" As to tho exact circumstances .which led to the Kaiser's dismissal of his Chancellor, tho author gives .some interesting, .information, {ft-was, it appears, as tho result of a personal defiance of the arbitrary will »f his Sovoreign that the age-worn Statesman was l ordered to send in his > On March 16, ho (Bismarck)-re-ceived an unoxpected and early visit from "the young man" (his contemptuous name for the Imperial bully). Bismarck was in bed. Ho dressed hurriedly, and found that tho object of the Emperor's visit was to ascertain tho nature, of his negotiations with Dr. Windhorst. Bismarck was furious, and shouted: "I can permit no one to spy upon my dealings with Deputies, and I givo no one the right to' issue orders in my house." Tho Kaiser paled as ho asked: "Not even if I issue them as your Sovereign?" "Not even in that case, Majesty. Tho orders of my Emperor stop at tho threshold." . Two days . later an aide-de-camp called upon tho Chancellor, saying- 'the Emperor awaited a request 1 for his resignation, and would bo pleased to receive it-" by two o'clock that day. Thus came about the "Dropping of

tho Pilot" which suggested John Tenniol's famous cartoon ;in' "Punch." The Kaiser had his revenge upon the too outspoken son-ait; but at'what* a cost he and Germany have yet fully to discover'. ~Mr. Leggo's book is full of interesting anecdote, and throws many; curious sidelights upon Germain and ' British history. Erom the first to the last of its pages' it is distinctly readablo. (Price, 12s. 6d.) .....