224 IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE-XIX 



others, the characterization of the three German Em 

 perors: the first William as &quot;Der greise Kaiser, &quot; the 

 Emperor Frederick as &quot;Der weise Kaiser,&quot; and the sec 

 ond William as i Der Reise Kaiser ; and there were un 

 pleasant murmurs regarding sundry trials for petty trea 

 son. But at the same time there was evident, in the midst 

 of American jokes at the young Emperor s expense, a 

 growing feeling that there was something in him ; that, at 

 any rate, he was not a fat-witted, Jesuit-ridden, mistress- 

 led monarch of the old Bourbon or Hapsburg sort; that 

 he had &quot;go&quot; in him some fine impulses, evidently; and 

 here and there a quotation from a speech showed insight 

 into the conditions of the present world and aspiration 

 for its betterment. 



In another chapter I have given a general sketch of 

 the conversation at my first presentation to him as ambas 

 sador; it strengthened in my mind the impression al 

 ready formed, that he was not a monarch of the old pat 

 tern. The talk was not conventional; he was evidently 

 fond of discoursing upon architecture, sculpture, and 

 music, but not less gifted in discussing current political 

 questions, and in various conversations afterward this 

 fact was observable. Conventional talk was reduced to 

 a minimum; the slightest hint was enough to start a line 

 of remark worth listening to. 



Opportunities for conversation were many. Besides the 

 usual i i functions of various sorts, there were interviews 

 by special appointment, and in these the young monarch 

 was neither backward in presenting his ideas nor slow 

 in developing them. The range of subjects which in 

 terested him seemed unlimited, but there were some which 

 he evidently preferred: of these were all things relating 

 to ships and shipping, and one of the first subjects which 

 came up in conversations between us was the books of 

 Captain Mahan, which he discussed very intelligently, 

 awarding great praise to their author, and saying that he 

 required all his naval officers to read them. 



Another subject in order was art in all its develop- 



