MY RECOLLECTIONS OF WILLIAM 11-1879-1903 227 



decadence of the French people. In most German towns 

 of importance one finds the drama a part of the daily 

 life of its citizens ennobling in its higher ranges, and in 

 its influence clean and wholesome. 



It may be added that in no city of any English-speak 

 ing country is Shakspere presented so fully, so well, and 

 to such large and appreciative audiences as in Berlin. 

 All this, and more, the Emperor knows, and he acts upon 

 his knowledge. Interesting was it at various times to see 

 him sitting with his older children at the theater, evi 

 dently awakening their interest in dramatic masterpieces ; 

 and among these occasions there come back to me, espe 

 cially, the evenings when he thus sat, evidently discussing 

 with them the thought and action in Shakspere s &quot; Ju 

 lius Caesar and i Coriolanus, as presented on the stage 

 before us. I could well imagine his comments on the 

 venom of demagogues, on the despotism of mobs, on the 

 weaknesses of strong men, and on the need, in great emer 

 gencies, of a central purpose and firm control. His view 

 of the true character and mission of the theater he has 

 given at various times, and one of his talks with the actors 

 in the Royal Theater, shortly after my arrival, may be 

 noted as typical. In it occur passages like the following : 

 &quot;When I came into the government, ten years ago, . . . 

 I was convinced that this theater, under the guidance of 

 the monarch, should, like the school and the university, 

 have as its mission the development of the rising genera 

 tion, the promotion of the highest intellectual good in our 

 German fatherland, and the ennobling of our people in 

 mind and character. ... I beg of you that you continue to 

 stand by me, each in his own way and place, serving the 

 spirit of idealism, and waging war against materialism 

 and all un-German corruptions of the stage.&quot; 



After various utterances showing his steady purpose 

 in the same direction, there came out, in one of the later 

 years of my stay, sundry remarks of his showing a new 

 phase of the same thought, as follows: &quot;The theater 

 should not only be an important factor in education and 



