The German Emperor
: The Coming Conquest Of EnglandThe German Emperor was paying his annual visit to the moors at Springe.
But this year he had little time to spare for the noble sport which
usually brought him fresh vigour and recreation in the refreshing
solitude of the forest. The telegraph was busy without interruption,
and statesmen, diplomats, and high officers arrived daily at the
hunting-box, and held long conferences with the Emperor. The windows
of his study
generally found the monarch again at his writing-desk.
After a night half spent at work, to-day the yearning for a breath
of fresh air had taken the Emperor at early dawn into the silent
pine-woods.
A light hoar-frost had fallen during the night, covering the ground
with fine white crystals. The shadows of dawn still lingered between
the tree-trunks. But in the east a glowing light suffused the pale,
greyish-blue sky.
The Emperor directed his gaze in that direction. He halted under a tall,
ancient fir-tree, and his lips moved in silent prayer. He asked for
counsel and strength from Him who decides the fate of nations, to
enable him to arrive at his weighty and difficult decision at this grave
crisis. Suddenly, the sound of human voices struck his ear. He perceived
two men, evidently unaware of his presence, coming towards him hard
by, on the small huntsman's track in the wood, engaged in lively
conversation. The Emperor's keen huntsman's eye recognised in one of
the two tall gentlemen his Master of Horse, Count Wedel. The other was a
stranger to him.
It was the stranger who now said--
"It is a great pleasure to me, at last, to be able to talk to you
face to face. I have deeply mourned the rift in our old friendship and
fellowship. On my side, the irritation is long since past. I did not
wish to enter the Prussian service at that time, because I could not
bear the thought of our old, brave Hanoverian army having ceased to
exist, and I was angry with you, my dear Ernest, because you, an old
Hanoverian Garde du Corps officer, appeared to have forgotten the honour
due to your narrower Fatherland. But the generous resolution of the
Emperor to revive Hanoverian traditions, to open a new home to our old
corps of officers, and to inscribe our glorious emblems upon the flags
and standards of these new regiments, has made everything right. I hope
the time is not far distant when also those Hanoverians, who still hold
aloof in anger, will allow that a war lord of such noble disposition is
the chosen shepherd and leader of the universal Fatherland."
"Well, I have never misjudged you and your iron will. Meanwhile, you
have thoroughly made acquaintance with the world, and since you are a
merchant prince of Hamburg, I suppose you are the possessor of a large
fortune."
"My life has been both interesting and successful, but I have not got
what is best after all. I long for a sphere of activity in keeping with
my disposition. I am a soldier, as my forbears have been for centuries
before me. Had I entered the Prussian army in 1866, I might to-day be
in command, and might perhaps in a short time have the honour to lead my
corps into the field under the eyes of our Emperor himself."
"You believe Germany will be brought into this war? Against whom should
we fight?"
"If our Emperor is really the sharp-sighted and energetic spirit for
which I take him--"
The monarch did not care to let the gentlemen talk on longer in
ignorance of his presence.
"Hallo! gentlemen!" he called out merrily. "Do not betray your secrets
without knowing who is listening!"
"His Majesty!" the Count said under his breath, taking off his hat
and bowing low. His companion followed his example, and as the Emperor
looked at him with a questioning glance, said--
"At your Majesty's command; Grubenhagen, of Hamburg."
The monarch's eyes travelled over the tall, broad-shouldered figure of
the fine man, and he asked smilingly--
"You have been in the service?"
"Yes, your Majesty--as lieutenant in the Royal Hanoverian Garde du
Corps."
"There were then commoners as officers in that regiment."
"May it please your Majesty, my name is Baron von Grubenhagen, but the
'Baron' was in the way of the merchant."
The open and manly bearing of the Baron, combined with the deference due
to his sovereign, appeared to please the Emperor. He gazed long into the
clear-cut, energetic face, with its bold and intelligent eyes.
"You have seen much of the world?"
"Your Majesty, I was in America, and for many years in England, before
entering business."
"A good merchant often sees more than a diplomatist, for his view is
unbiassed, and freer. I love your Hamburg; it is a loyal city, full of
intelligence and enterprise."
"The Alster people would reckon themselves happy to hear your Majesty
say so."
"Do not the Hamburgers suffer great losses from the war?"
"Many people in Hamburg think as I do, your Majesty."
"And what is your opinion?"
"That, under the glorious reign of your Majesty, all Germans on the
Continent will be united to one whole grand nation, to which
all Germanic races of the north will be attracted by the law of
gravitation--Danes, Swedes, and Norwegians."
"You have the courage of your opinions."
"Your Majesty, we live in an age, the characteristic of which is the
formation of great empires."
The monarch interrupted him with a friendly movement of his hand.
"Let us go in to breakfast, gentlemen. Baron von Grubenhagen, you are my
guest. I shall be interested to hear more of your bold ideas."
Immediately after his return to the hunting-box, the Imperial
Chancellor, who had arrived from Berlin by a night train, had been
announced to the Emperor. With the monarch's suite he also was present
at the breakfast-table, probably not a little surprised to find a
strange guest in the company of the Emperor, who was evidently very
kindly disposed to him.
After breakfast, when the company were seated around the table in the
smoke-room, and when, upon a sign from the Emperor, the aide-de-camp du
jour had ordered the servants to withdraw, the Emperor William turned
with a grave face to Baron von Grubenhagen.
"And now let us hear, openly and without reserve, how, according to your
observation, the German nation regards the possibility of a war."
The Baron raised his fine, characteristic head. Looking openly and
naturally into the Emperor's eyes, he replied--
"Your Majesty, no one is in doubt that it would, on the one hand, be a
fatal step to declare war. By it many thousands will be sent to an early
grave, lands devastated, and commerce perhaps ruined for many long years
to come; and countless tears are the inevitable concomitants of war. But
there is a supreme law, to which all others must yield--the commandment
to preserve honour unsullied. A nation has its honour, like the
individual. Where this honour is at stake, it must not shrink from war.
For the conservation of all other of this world's goods is dependent
upon the conservation of the national honour; where peace has to be
preserved at any price, even at the price of national honour, all the
benefits and blessings of peace will by degrees be lost, and the nation
falls a prey to its neighbours. Iron is more precious than gold, for it
is to iron we owe all our possessions. What use would be our army
and navy? They are the outward sign of the political truth, that only
courage and power are guarantees for the continuance and prosperity of
a nation. Russia and France have joined hands to fight England. And the
German nation feels it is time to take its share in these struggles. But
nowhere is there any uncertainty as to which side Germany ought to
join. Our nation has for a long time past been exasperated by English
intrigues and encroachments. The human heart knows no other feeling so
profound and powerful as the sense of justice, and the sense of justice
has constantly been wounded by England's policy. Only one word from the
Emperor is needed to strike the deepest chords in the German soul,
and to raise a flame of enthusiasm that will swallow up all internal
dissension and all party quarrels. We must not ask what might possibly
happen; we must obey the dictates of the hour. If Germany fights with
the whole of her strength, she must be victorious. And victory is always
its own justification."
More
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