BERLIN, OXFORD, ST. ANDREWS -1901-1903 203 



which the message was received showed that it would 

 have been gladly accepted had that been possible. 



On New Year s day of 1902 began the sixth year of my 

 official stay at Berlin. At his reception of the ambas 

 sadors the Emperor was very cordial, spoke most heartily 

 regarding President Roosevelt, and asked me to forward 

 his request that the President s daughter might be al 

 lowed to christen the imperial yacht then building in 

 America. In due time this request was granted, and as 

 the special representative of the sovereign at its launch 

 ing he named his brother Prince Henry. No man in the 

 empire could have been more fitly chosen. His career as 

 chief admiral of the German navy had prepared him to 

 profit by such a journey, and his winning manners assured 

 him a hearty welcome. 



My more serious duties were now relieved by sundry 

 festivities, and of these was a dinner on the night of the 

 prince s departure from Berlin, given to the American 

 Embassy by the Emperor, who justly hoped and believed 

 that the proposed expedition would strengthen good feel 

 ing between the two countries. After dinner we all sat 

 in the smoking-room of the old Schloss until midnight, 

 and various pleasant features of the conversation dwell 

 in my memory particularly the Emperor s discussions 

 of Mark Twain and other American humorists; but per 

 haps the most curious was his amusement over a cutting 

 from an American newspaper a printed recipe for an 

 American concoction known as &quot; Hohenzollern punch,&quot; 

 said to be in readiness for the prince on his arrival. The 

 number of intoxicants, and the ingenuity of their combina 

 tion, as his Majesty read the list aloud, were amazing; 

 it was a terrific brew, which only a very tough seaman 

 could expect to survive. 



But as we all took leave of the prince at the station 

 afterward, there were in my heart and mind serious mis 

 givings. I knew well that, though the great mass of the 

 American people were sure to give him a hearty welcome, 

 there were scattered along his route many fanatics, and. 



