AS AMBASSADOR TO GERMANY-1897-1903 141 



and not a statesman. Like so many antitheses, this is mis 

 leading. It may be just to say that his methods are, in 

 general, those of a diplomatist rather than of a statesman ; 

 hut certain it is that in various debates of my time he 

 showed high statesmanlike qualities, and notably at the 

 beginning of the war with China and in sundry later con 

 tests with the agrarians and socialists. Even his much 

 criticized remark during the imbroglio between Turkey 

 and Greece, picturing Germany as laying down her flute 

 and retiring from the &quot;European Concert, &quot; which to 

 many seemed mere persiflage, was the humorous presenta 

 tion of a policy dictated by statesmanship. Nor were all 

 his addresses merely light and humorous ; at times, when 

 some deep sentiment had been stirred, he was eloquent, 

 rising to the height of great arguments and taking broad 

 views. 



No one claims that he is a Richelieu, a William Pitt, or a 

 Cavour ; but the work of such men is not what the German 

 Empire just now requires. The man needed at present is 

 the one who can keep things going, who can minimize dif 

 ferences, resist extremists, turn aside marplots, soothe doc 

 trinaires, and thus give the good germs in the empire a 

 chance to grow. For this work it would be hard to imagine 

 a better man than the present chancellor. His selection 

 and retention by the Emperor prove that the present 

 monarch has inherited two of the best qualities of his illus 

 trious grandfather : skill in recognizing the right man and 

 firmness in standing by him. 



The next thing which an ambassador is expected to do, 

 after visiting the great representatives of the empire, is to 

 become acquainted with the official world in general. 



But he must make acquaintance with these under his 

 own roof. On his arrival he is expected to visit the Em 

 peror and the princes of his family, the imperial chancel 

 lor, and the minister of foreign affairs, but all others are 

 expected to visit him ; hence the most pressing duty on my 

 arrival was to secure a house, and, during three months 

 following, all the time that I could possibly spare, and 



