232 IN THE DIPLOMATIC SERVICE-XIX 



ceived answer that it was as much a marvel to them as 

 to me; he himself once told me that he found much time 

 for reading during his hunting excursions. 



Nor does he make excursions into various fields of 

 knowledge by hooks alone. Any noteworthy discovery 

 or gain in any leading field of thought or effort attracts 

 his attention at once, and must be presented to him by 

 some one who ranks among its foremost exponents. 



But here it should be especially noted that, active and 

 original as the Emperor is, he is not, and never has been, 

 caught by fads either in art, science, literature, or in any 

 other field of human activity. The great artists who can 

 not draw or paint, and who, therefore, despise those who 

 can and are glorified by those who cannot; the great com 

 posers who can give us neither harmony nor melody, and 

 therefore have a fanatical following among those who 

 labor under like disabilities; the great writers who are 

 unable to attain strength, lucidity, or beauty, and there 

 fore secure praise for profundity and occult wisdom, 

 none of these influence him. In these, as in other things, 

 the Hohenzollern sanity asserts itself. He recognizes the 

 fact that normal and healthy progress is by an evolution 

 of the better out of the good, and that the true function 

 of genius in every field is to promote some phase of this 

 evolution either by aiding to create a better environment, 

 or by getting sight of higher ideals. 



As to his manner, it is in ordinary intercourse sim 

 ple, natural, kindly, and direct, and on great public oc 

 casions dignified without the slightest approach to pom 

 posity. I have known scores of our excellent fellow-citi 

 zens in little offices who were infinitely more assuming. 

 It was once said of a certain United States senator that 

 &quot;one must climb a ladder to speak with him&quot;; no one 

 would dream of making any assertion of this sort re 

 garding the present ruler of the Prussian Kingdom and 

 German Empire. 



But it would be unjust to suppose that minor gifts 

 and acquirements form the whole of his character; they 



