220 IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE-XIX 



able length on American topics on railways, steamers, 

 public works, on Americans whom he had met, and of the 

 things he most wished to see on our side the water; al 

 together he seemed to be broad-minded, alert, with a quick 

 sense of humor, and yet with a certain solidity of judg 

 ment beneath it all. 



After my departure from Berlin there flitted over to 

 America conflicting accounts of him, and during the short 

 reign of his father there was considerable growth of myth 

 and legend to his disadvantage. Any attempt to distil 

 the truth from it all would be futile; suffice it that both 

 in Germany and Great Britain careful statements by ex 

 cellent authorities on both sides have convinced me that 

 in all that trying crisis the young man s course was dic 

 tated by a manly sense of duty. 



The first thing after his accession which really struck 

 me as a revelation of his character was his dismissal 

 of Bismarck. By vast numbers of people this was thought 

 the act of an exultant young ruler eager to escape all re 

 straint, and this opinion was considerably promoted in 

 English-speaking countries by an ephemeral cause: Ten- 

 niel s cartoon in l Punch entitled i Dropping the Pilot. 

 As most people who read this will remember, the iron 

 chancellor was therein represented as an old, weather- 

 beaten pilot, in storm-coat and sou wester, plodding heav 

 ily down the gangway at the side of a great ship; while 

 far above him, leaning over the bulwarks, was the young 

 Emperor, jaunty, with a satisfied smirk, and wearing his 

 crown. There was in that little drawing a spark of genius, 

 and it sped far; probably no other cartoon in &quot;Punch&quot; 

 ever produced so deep an effect, save, possibly, that which 

 appeared during the Crimean War with the legend i Gen 

 eral February turned Traitor&quot;; it went everywhere, ap 

 pealing to deep sentiment in human hearts. 



And yet, to me admiring Bismarck as the greatest Ger 

 man since Luther, but reflecting upon the vast interests 

 involved this act was a proof that the young monarch was 

 a stronger man than any one had supposed him to be. 



